The most physically demanding series in the careers of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla will come to an end this week.
After 185 episodes, ‘La Luna Sangre’ officially closes its curtain Friday night. The third series in the ‘Lobo’ trilogy, ‘La Luna Sangre’ saw Kathryn and Daniel (as Malia and Tristan respectively) grow up from being mere mortals to full-fledged vampires while enduring some of the toughest challenges that proved their worth.
But KathNiel was not the only main attraction. The series also marked a comeback of sorts for Richard Gutierrez, who as the villainous Sandrino, tried to convince Malia to join the dark side.
The original duo of ‘Imortal’ in Angel Locsin and John Lloyd Cruz likewise made a cameo earlier on as Lia and Mateo respectively, though Angel returned midway through the series as Jacintha. The duo’s presence helped connect the story of ‘La Luna Sangre’ to its predecessor.
Throughout its lengthy run, ‘La Luna Sangre’ provided an avenue for new talent to shine. The series would mark the acting debut of another rising love team in MayWard (Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber), as well as former ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ participant Tony Labrusca.
Not to be outdone are industry veterans who were also part of ‘La Luna Sangre’, namely Randy Santiago, Gelli de Belen, Maricar Reyes and Albert Martinez. Overall, an estimate of over 50 actors, whether in a supporting or cameo role, were included in ‘La Luna Sangre’.
As far as its performance is concerned, ‘La Luna Sangre’ far and away made a huge impression. The series constantly earned ratings in the 30s while it dispatched its GMA rivals in ‘My Love from the Star’, ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’, ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ season 2 and ‘Kambal Karibal’.
That said, the high ratings and the long run of ‘La Luna Sangre’ are further proof of KathNiel’s wide commercial appeal. But more than just KathNiel’s brilliance is the fact that both Angel Locsin and Richard Gutierrez rekindled some huge memories of past GMA projects, albeit not as a love team of years past.
It will be an interesting final five episodes for this thrilling ABS-CBN primetime series. Best of luck to ‘La Luna Sangre’ on making its last stand.
From the Tube 
Interesting though that after Angel left the series, the ratings had a noticeable dip, even in Kantar. Many fans who were begging Angel to stay ended up blaming the network for the ratings slump. Still, at least in Kantar, its lead against KK was insurmountable (for AGB, KK put up a good fight, but since it’s AGB, that was mostly limited to Metro Manila).
Now that LLS’s replacement is Bagani, it remains to be seen if LizQuen can match the high expectations raised by KathNiel. With all the latest bruhaha about the casting/sinigang controversy, let’s see if Bagani will be affected by it.
I also have some thoughts about if Bagani might be closer to Amaya than Encantadia, but I’ll save those thoughts for your upcoming article on Bagani.
Even without Angel, KathNiel is still more than enough to draw a lot of viewers. GMA doesn’t have an answer to this love team.
Same can be said for LizQuen. Notwithstanding the casting and storyline issue, their presence alone could give Bagani a spike in the ratings. Again, GMA doesn’t have an answer to them. More on Bagani later this week.