New ‘fantaserye’ makes a good first impression

VANDOLPH Quizon, Gladys Reyes and Yogo Singh as the Gaudencio family

The new teleserye “Wako Wako” may be “just a fantasy comedic drama,” but its first week of telecasts has revealed its robust ambition.

For starters, the new series had more big scenes than the usual TV production. Its debut episode featured a grand parade and procession with scores of extras beefing up the crowd scenes. Its follow-up telecast had a huge storm, evacuation, flood, landslide—the works!

This grandiose staging may strike some viewers as over the top. But it is a positive indication of the new production’s desire to give its audience its level best—no shortcuts or facile fade-to-black scenes resorted to.

“Wako Wako” is a show for kids and their like-minded relatives. It is about a boy named Moymoy (Yogo Singh) and his “magical” friend and savior, Barkan. The furry creature belongs to an unseen world beneath our own, the denizens of which are prohibited from interacting with humans.

During the flood and landslide however, Moymoy’s home is sucked into the muddy flow. He nearly perishes, but Barkan goes against his race’s official edict and uses his magical power to save Moymoy.

It is still early days in the show’s storytelling, but the new series could explore further the fascinating links between “our” world and “theirs” — a popular theme for local teleseryes to vivify for kids.

Other recent or current examples include “E-Boy,” “Daldalita,” and “Alice Bungisngis.”

The series’ other assets is its young lead, Yogo Singh. Ever since his precocious performance in Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s religious drama last year, “Ikaw ang Pag-ibig,” this child actor has struck a chord with the audience because he looks a welcome exception to the many overly slick and sassy child talents out there.

So many of them try so hard to be cute, clever, gimmicky, and “on” all the time, while Yogo plays it far more simply and naturally. He simply tries to understand and believe in what his

assigned character is supposed to be experiencing, thinking, and feeling, and portrays it credibly, and with great empathy.

Yogo is so naturally convincing in “Wako Wako” that even the series’ magical scenes and visual gimmicks come off more warmly and affectingly than what is par for the fantaserye course. Other standouts in the show are Malu de Guzman as Moymoy’s amnesiac grandmother and Vandolph Quizon as his doting dad.

At this stage, we do not know the zigs and zags the show’s plot will be made to take to keep young viewers delighted, entertained, and hooked. But we hope that the good first impression the show made on its opening week is sustained. If it does, “Wako Wako” will become an integral viewing experience and a truly magical show.