Celebs lend their voice to PH anime series ‘Barangay 143’

Cherie Gil

Acting in front of the camera is one thing; doing it inside a recording booth is another.

For some artists—even the most experienced lot—voice acting presents a set of challenges unlike what they typically deal with on television, film or stage. That’s what Cherie Gil, John Arcilla, Sylvia Sanchez and Paolo Contis had while lending their voice to “Barangay 143,” an upcoming Filipino anime series about basketball.

The absence of a coactor she could feed energy off, Cherie said, was quite the task.

“It was the first time I have ever done something like this—it wasn’t easy. Usually, there would be someone you can exchange lines with. Here, you’re basically just talking to the microphone,” she related at a press conference. “But I had a lot of fun.”

If anything, the experience helped her pinpoint which areas of her craft she could still work on. “Expression helps a lot when acting. But here, it’s all about your speaking voice, which perhaps isn’t my strongest suit,” the seasoned thespian admitted. “But this only challenges me to develop my voice more.”

John likened voice acting for “Barangay 143” to the dubbing they do for a movie, but with a difference: “We didn’t have a point of reference for our characters’ emotions,” John said. “We’re not looking at the animation as we do it. So, we’re out there, reading the script, pouring genuine feelings, but no animation to guide us.”

Bren’s love interest, Jinri

It will be the other way around, “The animation will follow what you give. So you need to create that character inside the studio,” he added.

Sylvia, on the other hand, stressed that—despite knowing that the viewers wouldn’t know what she looked like inside the studio—it was still important to act as if there was a camera pointing at her.

“You need to give the same intensity—you put your heart into it. When the script calls for you to cry, you literally cry, too. You don’t just make it sound like you’re doing it,” she related. “You listen and connect. And you use your heart and brain, whether you’re onscreen or behind it… but it’s all fun.”

For Paolo, voice acting was a test of creativity and an exercise in imagination. “My role is a funnyman, and it’s tough to do comedy without a coactor. You have to be funny and be effective by yourself, and that’s the challenge for me,” he said. “But what’s nice is that we’re afforded some freedom to do ad libs and put our own flavor into the character.”

A collaboration among Synergy88, August Media Holdings and TV Asahi, “Barangay 143”—which airs on GMA 7 in October—is a coming-of-age story that revolves around Bren T. Park (Migo Adecer), a Korean boy whose search for his lost father takes him to the slums of Manila.

There, Bren finds family in a group of misfit high school students, whose goal in life is to bring glory to their hometown through basketball.

Bren T. Park

John plays basketball and life mentor Coach B. Sylvia is Tita Baby; Paolo, Koboy; and Cherie, the villainess Sophia. Other celebrity voice actors include Ruru Madrid, Julie Anne San Jose and Edu Manzano.

How will the said series differ from other popular basketball-themed Japanese animes like “Slam Dunk” or “Kuroko’s Basketball”?

“It’s inspired by the Filipino way of living, the challenges we face, the ups and downs. And we would like to show that through anime,” said Synergy88 managing director and cofounder Jacqueline Chua. “They say bola is life. And it’s true: You fall down, then you bounce back up. You roll with the punches.”

The show is designed, animated and produced here in the country.

It features music from different local artists like Gloc-9 and Shanti Dope.

“The Philippines has a vibrant television and film industry with a rich culture of storytelling,” said Jyotirmoy Saha, CEO of August Media Holding. “Right from the onset, we were determined to develop the show right here, so that it captures the essence of life in Manila.”

Takahiro Kishimoto, head of animation at TV Asahi’s international business department, added: “We hope that Japanese creativity will bring the Filipino story and characters to life.”