A Not-So ‘InTENse’ Premiere for Beautiful Strangers, My Faithful Husband

‘InTENse’ is not the kind of word that is expected in GMA’s new-look Telebabad.

Contrary to what GMA claims in the plugs (see video above) for the upcoming series ‘Beautiful Strangers’ and ‘My Faithful Husband’, the ‘inTENse’ moniker seems to apply more towards its two rival teleseryes on ABS-CBN. ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, for one, has been the obsession of many since episode one, and now they are joined by ‘On the Wings of Love’, another potential top-rater.

‘On the Wings of Love’ has been in every viewer’s radar since the project was announced last February, and now the can’t-miss series has been given the green light. It will be the first teleserye for the love team of James Reid and Nadine Lustre (a.k.a. JaDine), but for those familiar of their work, they should be no strangers to success.

After all, JaDine starred in the hit movies ‘Diary ng Panget’, ‘Talk Back and You’re Dead’, and more recently ‘My Hopeless Romantic’. The duo also starred in ‘Wansapanatym”s ‘My App Boyfie’, fueling their popularity even further.

But ‘On the Wings of Love’ will not be the only series that GMA needs to worry about. The ever-popular ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ will be bolstered further with the arrival of Bea Bianca, portrayed by Sarah Carlos, whose role is to be the third wheel in the Angelo-Yna (Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, respectively) love affair.

Both ‘Beautiful Strangers’ and ‘My Faithful Husband’ should have their hands full facing KathNiel and JaDine, respectively. While the two series will have a good amount of star power (Heart Evangelista, Lovi Poe, Jennylyn Mercado, Dennis Trillo), they are still at a disadvantage.

A one-two punch on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida awaits the two premiering series on GMA Telebabad. For a network that still lives in the past when it comes to its stars, this is a mismatch in hell.

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Animes Return to ABS-CBN, But Problems Still Persist

ABS-CBN’s Team Animazing was dealt a huge blow with the pullout of ‘Haikyuu!!’. A new timeslot for the said anime is still to be determined. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN Animation Official Facebook)

ABS-CBN’s Team Animazing is back, but more problems await them.

Just one week into its run, ABS-CBN abruptly decided to remove the volleyball-themed anime ‘Haikyuu!!’ from the Umaganda lineup. In its place was the re-run of ‘Wansapanatym”s ‘My App Boyfie’, which currently airs as part of the seasonal version of ‘Wansapanatym’ called ‘WansapanaSummer’.

The pullout of ‘Haikyuu!!’ leaves ‘Naruto Shippuden’ as the lone remaining anime on the Umaganda block. The latter now airs after ‘Kris TV’, displacing the Filipino-dubbed Nickelodeon cartoon ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ in the process.

This sudden decision by ABS-CBN left anime fans boiling with anger. Reactions were overwhelmingly negative on social media, with some netizens questioning the motives behind ABS-CBN’s puzzling move.

Though ABS-CBN did promise to air ‘Haikyuu!!’ on a new timeslot soon (along with a new season of ‘Kuroko’s Basketball’), the bad blood over the pullout remains fresh from the minds of the Kapamilya anime fans. It was an unwise move on the part of ABS-CBN, simply because of the wrong timing surrounding the change.

The ‘Haikyuu!!’ row was the latest in a series of discouraging decisions involving ‘Team Animazing’. Just recently, ABS-CBN temporarily pulled out ‘Team Animazing’ in favor of Japanese adaptations of classic stories such as ‘Princess Sarah’, Cedie: Ang Munting Prinsipe’ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’.

For Kapamilya anime fans, the situation is simply demoralizing.

Things will only get worse once the NBA playoffs begin. ABS-CBN is expected air some playoff games on a delayed basis within the next two months, so anime fans will have to wait a little bit longer.

Right now, though, the pain of ‘Haikyuu!!’s sudden disappearance will have to be endured. Fans can only hope that the pain will dissipate once the Kapamilya network announces a new schedule for the said anime.