Darna (ABS-CBN, 2022)

Avengers, Batman, Superman, etc Discussion about comic mainstream movies and TV shows.
shzam
Henchman
Henchman
Posts: 79
Joined: 10 years ago

CJS wrote:
1 year ago
five_red wrote:
1 year ago
I think the iWantTFC streaming service is the only legal way to see the all episodes as a collection, no matter where you are in the world.
Thank you. Looks like it is $12.99, so maybe a good thing to subscribe to every so often, when enough episodes are up.
Eps are still up now on youtube. Maybe just try a free VPN like the Opera browser (i personally use pia).

Some eps don't have subs on YouTube for whatever reason though.... just random, like every 4th ep or so.

Also for IWANTFTC it's actually on there free if you VPN to show you're from Philippines, it will have ads bit you don't need to pay the subscriber fee.
shzam
Henchman
Henchman
Posts: 79
Joined: 10 years ago

CJS wrote:
1 year ago
five_red wrote:
1 year ago
I think the iWantTFC streaming service is the only legal way to see the all episodes as a collection, no matter where you are in the world.
Thank you. Looks like it is $12.99, so maybe a good thing to subscribe to every so often, when enough episodes are up.
Eps are still up now on youtube. Maybe just try a free VPN like the Opera browser (i personally use pia).

Some eps don't have subs on YouTube for whatever reason though.... just random, like every 4th ep or so.

Also for IWANTFTC it's actually on there free if you VPN to show you're from Philippines, it will have ads bit you don't need to pay the subscriber fee.
brdiy
Elder Member
Elder Member
Posts: 472
Joined: 14 years ago

In Episode 28, Darna utters "Narda" while talking to Brian. For a minute there, I was expecting her to accidentally transform into her alter ego, though the show did not exactly explain how she was able do so without tranforming (dependent on her intent to transform, I guess?).

A bit more action for Darna, but basically against regular goons still, though the show is still mostly about Brian and his sidekick, Darna... :D
Check out my superheroine-related short stories here:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/brdiy/works
User avatar
Mr. X
Millenium Member
Millenium Member
Posts: 4597
Joined: 11 years ago
Contact:

brdiy wrote:
1 year ago
In Episode 28, Darna utters "Narda" while talking to Brian. For a minute there, I was expecting her to accidentally transform into her alter ego, though the show did not exactly explain how she was able do so without tranforming (dependent on her intent to transform, I guess?).

A bit more action for Darna, but basically against regular goons still, though the show is still mostly about Brian and his sidekick, Darna... :D
Probably works like Shazam. He doesn't have to utter Billy Batson to go back to Billy
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

Attention all Darna fans in the Las Vegas area...
308925163_5799193696770805_335571857866539234_n.jpg
308925163_5799193696770805_335571857866539234_n.jpg (45 KiB) Viewed 25907 times
R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

Wow, the Las Vegas thing seems a little weird - you would think they would do a tour of California instead, with the largest concentrations of Filipinos in the US being in SF (Daly City) and LA (all over LA County). I wonder what these two ladies are going to do for $55 and up? (meet and greet? actual stage performance?)

Anyway...for those of you viewers who think that nothing happens on a Monday installment of Darna. You'd be wrong. EP31 is probably one of the
biggest must-see episodes. Darna appears in costume to save a woman from an escaped inmate's blade (a side-effect of CloneMan's jailbreak).

But the main attraction is the first appearance of the full Valentina costume. It's amazing - one of the best outfits I've seen lately on television.
An incredibly tight spandex one-piece catsuit right down to her gloves and heeled boots. A well-placed asymmetrical cleavage window just to remind everyone that she is very much a woman as well as a snake. And pretty on-point makeup - her face isn't as beautiful as when she is Regina, but that seems to be the way it should be, since Valentina is twisted and vengeful, and the rest of the costume more than makes up for it. Janella Salvador imbues the character with a very sexy reptilian walk like she is alluring you to your doom (which she basically is). Those eyes, too.

Here are some still angles, but you've got to see this appearance for yourself. There's going to be more of this awesomeness soon, I'm sure!
valentina front.jpg
valentina front.jpg (44.33 KiB) Viewed 25870 times
valentina side view.jpg
valentina side view.jpg (11.75 KiB) Viewed 25870 times
valentina full body front.jpg
valentina full body front.jpg (11.7 KiB) Viewed 25870 times
Found a Youtuber fan who made a montage already!

User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Wow, the Las Vegas thing seems a little weird - you would think they would do a tour of California instead, with the largest concentrations of Filipinos in the US being in SF (Daly City) and LA (all over LA County). I wonder what these two ladies are going to do for $55 and up? (meet and greet? actual stage performance?)
If you check out the event web site the venue is arranged like a concert, with a stage at one end and seating filling up the rest. The cheap tickets are seated at the back, expensive tickets are the front rows. Given that Janella has a pretty good singing voice, and Jane can sing and dance, we can assume there's likely going to be a concert element. This seems to be part of a US tour organised by Filipino tv to promote their shows, not just Darna, with several performers from different shows at each event. Jane and Janella are presumably only doing the Vegas leg.

How disappointed would you be to wait in line to get Jane and Janella's autograph, only to find out they'd signed their names as "Flying Girl" and "Snake Woman". :laugh:


R5

(Flying Girl and Snake Woman was, of course, one of the less well remembered Sid and Marty Krofft shows.)
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago



Got to give the Darna team credit, their special effects may not be up to the quality of a CW superhero production, but their super-villains are a lot more effective. I know we get a lot of ghost and clone people as the episode-to-episode goons, but the big evils like Borgo and Valentina are a lot more fun in their villainy than what we may have gotten on The Flash or Supergirl.

R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

five_red wrote:
1 year ago
Got to give the Darna team credit, their special effects may not be up to the quality of a CW superhero production, but their super-villains are a lot more effective. I know we get a lot of ghost and clone people as the episode-to-episode goons, but the big evils like Borgo and Valentina are a lot more fun in their villainy than what we may have gotten on The Flash or Supergirl.

R5
Plus, Valentina is very sexy. That transformation in front of the mirror tonight (Episode 32) was top notch - scary, but also super hot.
We don't see lot of really gorgeous skintight villainesses on the CW - probably the best ones were Indigo and Reign on Supergirl,
and then Shiv on Stargirl (forgive me if I've forgotten someone). This ranks way up there, for sure. And Borgo has a bit of that
Power Rangers feel to his character - he's no Rita Repulsa, but who is?

Looking forward to the next villain: is he going to be called Electricity Man or Lightning Man? We shall see what the citizens decide.

Meanwhile, once again it's interesting to see the cultural differences in the TV programming.
One of the many cellphone "Tweeters" (social media plays a bigger part in this show than in any American superhero series, except maybe for She-Hulk) actually has the nerve to call Darna "weakshit". I don't think you'd see that on the Flash!
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Plus, Valentina is very sexy. That transformation in front of the mirror tonight (Episode 32) was top notch - scary, but also super hot.
For those who haven't seen it...


R5
Supergirl763
Neophyte Lvl 5
Neophyte Lvl 5
Posts: 43
Joined: 1 year ago

Today was by far my favourite episode yet. Darna has finally become a proper superheroine and showcased her strengths against a group of criminals in what was not a bad action sequence at all. Reminded me of a lower budget No Man's Land. If we want to see peril they first have to show us how easy she has it against regular human foes. If this were a superheroine origin movie (like it was originally planned) I feel like we are at the end of the first act now.
Dazzle1
Millenium Member
Millenium Member
Posts: 1768
Joined: 10 years ago

five_red wrote:
1 year ago
Attention all Darna fans in the Las Vegas area...
308925163_5799193696770805_335571857866539234_n.jpg

R5
The Orleans (unless it has changed) is a third tier casino about a half mile from the stitp
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
Today was by far my favourite episode yet. Darna has finally become a proper superheroine and showcased her strengths against a group of criminals in what was not a bad action sequence at all. Reminded me of a lower budget No Man's Land. If we want to see peril they first have to show us how easy she has it against regular human foes. If this were a superheroine origin movie (like it was originally planned) I feel like we are at the end of the first act now.
Not a bad action sequence? :) It might be one of the best superheroine action sequences on TV of all time. I was astounded by how long it lasted and how many different displays of power Darna underwent. And then it sets up the high level of antipathy from Regina, who basically becomes the Cheetah to Narda's Wonder Woman ("she stole my thunder...again!" might as well be an almost exact quote from WW84, an otherwise terrible movie).
If you haven't done so yet, *you must watch Episode 33*. Except for maybe a few sequences on Superman and Lois here and there, and maybe some stuff from the first season of Supergirl, there hasn't been anything this glorious on American TV for a long time! Give Filipino Komiks and Mars Ravelo all the credit they deserve.
darna and all the guns.jpg
darna and all the guns.jpg (61.38 KiB) Viewed 25577 times
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

Dazzle1 wrote:
1 year ago
The Orleans (unless it has changed) is a third tier casino about a half mile from the stitp
Well that would be about right. This is a promotional tour for pinoy TV, they're not going to be playing the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House, and Royal Albert Hall. :laugh:

R5
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Not a bad action sequence? :) It might be one of the best superheroine action sequences on TV of all time.
Well it was ruined a little by the fact that the guns bounced like lightweight plastic replicas when they hit the floor. :D But the show certainly put a lot of effort into it, a lot more than we tend to see in most US superhero shows. I haven't seen a tv superhero fight sequence so full of energy since Adam West hung up his tights. :laugh:

Btw, I have a theory: the reason why we keep hearing ssssss ssssss sounds whenever Regina is on screen is not because she's secretly the Snake Woman, it's because her blood is now 95% alcohol and she's slurring all her S's. :laugh:

For those who missed it, here the fight in full...


R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

And that's not even the whole thing! The second part is when she confronts the gang leader (El Diablo, I think?), protects hid boy hostage from the bullets, crunches his gun, and then crushes his hand until he just uncles. The sequence just exudes virtue and power.

The plastic guns aren't the only questionable thing - you have to wonder how her body (which already seems to 'attract' bullets to be deflected, otherwise that hail of fire would certainly have hurt someone) can spin around to protect the girl when the bullets are coming simultaneously from
*both sides*, shot by *both* rival gangs. But then again, suspension of belief is what superhero shows are about. And her manner and poise are so
superbly superheroic throughout the sequence that it pretty much supersedes any doubt. The last thing I'm wondering, of course, is whether she sees Regina's eyes turn reptilian for that brief second. If she does, the jig is up.

Great stuff - packs two parallel plot threads into one scene.
tmon
Elder Member
Elder Member
Posts: 450
Joined: 20 years ago
Contact:

WOW great stuff!!
User avatar
Femina
Millenium Member
Millenium Member
Posts: 1473
Joined: 14 years ago
Contact:

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
Today was by far my favourite episode yet. Darna has finally become a proper superheroine and showcased her strengths against a group of criminals in what was not a bad action sequence at all. Reminded me of a lower budget No Man's Land. If we want to see peril they first have to show us how easy she has it against regular human foes. If this were a superheroine origin movie (like it was originally planned) I feel like we are at the end of the first act now.
Not a bad action sequence? :) It might be one of the best superheroine action sequences on TV of all time. I was astounded by how long it lasted and how many different displays of power Darna underwent. And then it sets up the high level of antipathy from Regina, who basically becomes the Cheetah to Narda's Wonder Woman ("she stole my thunder...again!" might as well be an almost exact quote from WW84, an otherwise terrible movie).
If you haven't done so yet, *you must watch Episode 33*. Except for maybe a few sequences on Superman and Lois here and there, and maybe some stuff from the first season of Supergirl, there hasn't been anything this glorious on American TV for a long time! Give Filipino Komiks and Mars Ravelo all the credit they deserve.

darna and all the guns.jpg
Are you kidding me? Every one of Quake's fistfights in Agent's of Shield shatters this action scene xD. This is just flash cuts to poses with some screen wipe effects.
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

Well...the end of Week 7 after the highlight of the EP33 fight with the gangs was a little bit of a letdown.

EP34 just has Darna pounding away on her mother's killer (Hergis, who assumed the identity of Master Klaudio) until she realizes killing him is a bad idea and also tells Ding not to kill him, either. Hergis just sits there and takes all the abuse, which is weird. Really, in all honesty, it would have made a lot of sense for her and Ding to kill the guy, even if it would make them seem anti-heroic. I mean, who would know, anyway? Far too much screen time for this sad-sack Hergis character as it is.

EP35 mostly has Darna fighting a brightly colored minor Extra villain who just laughs a lot, and blows up into a bouncing ball which crushes people and things. This seems like an overused trope - the 'brightly colored bouncing guy' sounds like an Akumatized villain from Ladybug, or maybe that Rubberball character from Super Crooks. He lasts for like a minute on screen, and then Darna gets blamed for causing a blackout.

Luckily, we've got some great things to come next week:
- Looks like Darna fights a seriously well-powered Extra with electric shock powers (her version of 'Electro', I guess).
- It also looks like Narda will get into terrible peril with Snake Woman. Really love Valentina's costume.
- Also, Xandra has a new tight outfit and looks great. Hopefully we see her doing some fighting in it.
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Luckily, we've got some great things to come next week:
- Looks like Darna fights a seriously well-powered Extra with electric shock powers (her version of 'Electro', I guess).
- It also looks like Narda will get into terrible peril with Snake Woman. Really love Valentina's costume.
- Also, Xandra has a new tight outfit and looks great. Hopefully we see her doing some fighting in it.
The plotlines appear to be coming to a head, with the exception of the Valentina plot which has only just started. I'm wondering how they can stretch the Borgo story much longer, without the injection of a major twist. The twist may be something that links Borgo to Regina (which has been heavily signposted over recent episodes), but I suspect this link isn't there to sustain the Borgo plot. My (total) guess is that the show is doing a chapter structure, with Borgo's chapter coming to a head soon, but his inevitable demise pushing Valentina's storyline along towards villainy in the same way that Leonor's death motivated Narda to be a hero. That would further create a parallel between the two women, both being motivated by parents lost due to the alien war.

Thoughts, anyone..?

R5
sneakly
Overlord
Overlord
Posts: 725
Joined: 10 years ago
Contact:

She does look great. I must say, Philippine garages seem to have some great ventilation. Aside from venting all the smoke from the gun battle, there was enough air flow to make Darna’s hair flutter. Her situational awareness seems to be lacking. WW was almost alway staring into the source of bullets she was deflecting. Generally, Darna seem to be trusting luck for the bullets to miss the little girl.

It does look like a lot of fun and she is gorgeous. I look forward to them figuring out how to overcome her superpowers and get her in some bat-traps.
Image
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

If you want some great superheroine action in your life, don't miss two specific episodes of Darna from this past week!

The general background:

Regina gets more and more unstable emotionally and she realizes finally that she becomes Valentina. Her very submissive worshipping servant Ali
has known all along, and she gets mad at him that he didn't tell her. But he's forgiven, because she needs a toadie.

A four-way love rectangle is starting to develop between Noah / Narda and Brian / Regina - we'll see how that one turns out in soap opera land.

And now to the important episodes:

EP37 - notable for the first battle between Darna and the latest Extra - Silent Shocker. Why he's called "Silent", I don't know, because he talks a lot.
Anyway Darna uses her super strength to lift a telephone pole.
Meanwhile, Valentina emerges, looking very sexy, to save a boy from two muggers. She bites the muggers to death, as usual, and gives the boy his wallet back. This is the first time she tells anyone her name isn't Babaeng Ahas. The savvy local media soon picks up on the Valentina nickname.

EP40 - great way to end the week with a fantastic battle between Darna and Shocker in a hospital cafeteria. Why he suddenly attacks the hospital, I'm not sure. But Darna almost meets her match due to his electric shock which knocks out Richard, Brian, and Ernie. He puts her in peril for a brief time, as she is down for the count lying amongst the bottled water and Doritos. Luckily, the bottled water gives her a way to defeat the villain (he has electric powers so use your scientific imagination). However, the problem is that earlier on, Richard saw her transform, and thus there is now yet another person in Nueva Esperanza who knows her secret. She visits Richard in the hospital, and he tells her he knows.

THIS. This made us what we are - whether it was back in the 70s and 80s, the 90s and 00s, or more recently with the current generation of DC and Marvel shows and movies. It's good to appreciate it when it's done right. Beauty and power!
darna vs silent shocker.jpg
darna vs silent shocker.jpg (81.29 KiB) Viewed 25149 times
darna ep 40 fight with shocker peril angle 1.jpg
darna ep 40 fight with shocker peril angle 1.jpg (110.97 KiB) Viewed 25149 times
darna ep 40 fight with shocker peril angle 2.png
darna ep 40 fight with shocker peril angle 2.png (643.7 KiB) Viewed 25149 times
darna vs silent shocker 2.jpg
darna vs silent shocker 2.jpg (96.48 KiB) Viewed 25149 times
sensualbarbarian
Staff Sargeant
Staff Sargeant
Posts: 176
Joined: 3 years ago

Where can one stream the new Darna series ? Let alone the 2005 series ? Have been looking but nada
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

sensualbarbarian wrote:
1 year ago
Where can one stream the new Darna series ? Let alone the 2005 series ? Have been looking but nada
It's Narda, not nada (!!) :D

For the 2022 series, legitimately all episodes are available at iWantTFC for a subscription. Episodes have been put up in parts at JeepneyTV's YouTube channel, although whether all parts of all episodes are still present and whether you need a VPN to get access I don't know.

The 2005 Angel Locsin series has never been made available, as far as I know, on any streaming platforms since it was first broadcast. So there's no legitimate way to view it, unless GMA makes it available after this modern Jane de Leon version ends.


R5
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
IEP37 - notable for the first battle between Darna and the latest Extra - Silent Shocker. Why he's called "Silent", I don't know, because he talks a lot.
Perhaps the Chatty Zapper was already taken?
However, the problem is that earlier on, Richard saw her transform, and thus there is now yet another person in Nueva Esperanza who knows her secret. She visits Richard in the hospital, and he tells her he knows.
I'm a week behind in actually watching the episodes, but isn't Richard one of the men who's smitten on Narda? Does this mean he could get jealous of her other suitors and blackmail her?

I suspect that Richard is destined to die pretty soon. When the blind girl died Narda had a kind of sixth sense that something was wrong. There was no reason for such a minor character to learn Narda's secret only to be killed immediately unless it was a foreshadowing of something. Apparently in some versions of Darna in the komiks she has a kind of spider-sense that triggers when close friends and loved ones are in danger. I'm wondering if Narda is about to learn she has a hidden superpower, and that Richard will be the sacrificial lamb that allows her to discover it(?)

R5
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

From last week...



R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

Another great week of superheroine soap-opera action!

Episode 41 - Xandra (in a tight costume) fights Narda (in her EMT uniform). So, Narda definitely knows who this villainess is.

Episode 42 - Darna catches some thieves trying to rob a gas station. It's a short fight.
Afterwards, she neglects to kick away their guns. And when Brian and the police get there, they also don't secure the guns. Guess that's not a concern - apparently knocked-out thieves never awake suddenly and grab the gun lying next to them?

Episode 43 - The best episode is in the middle of the week, this time.
Regina gets kidnapped and tossed in a van. Ali tries to defend her but is injured.
Ding uses the city's camera system to help track down their van. He explains to grandma what "hacking" is.
The kidnappers are kinky. One of them starts to smell her hair in the van. They switch from a blue van to a white van, which is smart,
but Ding is still on their trail with his computer skills. Meanwhile, instead of securing her away from prying eyes, the four kidnappers apparently
decide to rape her in an open field. Regina gets so scared that she triggers her transformation into Valentina. This is really an ideal situation for our Forum folks: life-threatening danger and peril followed by superpowers and spandex. As Valentina, she kills the four kidnappers, and reverts back
to Regina. Of course, she tells her Dad, police and the media that Valentina saved her, and she has changed her opinion of the villainess. Secretly.
she resolves to use the power of Valentina to get what she wants in the future. Hot stuff from Janella Salvador.

Episode 44 - With all of that resolved, nothing much happens, except that we see that Regina's dad is General Borgo (or is masquerading as him).
Like a typical supervillain, he says, "Everything is falling into place." I assume that means it is also going according to plan. You can skip this one.

Episode 45 - Starts out a bit slow. There's a funny bit where Noah says to Narda, "I want to treat you like a princess," and it causes Brian to spit out
his orange juice because it's so corny.
For some reason, there's a rare element called "stossium" that has to be kept in a high-security laboratory. I'm not sure what its use is - maybe Red 5 can elucidate? Anyway, Xandra disguises herself as a lab scientist and tries to walk out with the stossium. But she is detained by security, and a fight ensues. She is joined by her biker friend who has apparently now become an Extra - his skin is made of metal and he's super strong. Let's call him Metal Skin Man.
Hearing about the lab alert from Ding, Darna rushes to the scene. Xandra gets on her bike and speeds away with the stossium. Darna tries to go
after her, but the Metal Skin Man grabs her by the leg, and they fight. He slams her once to the pavement (that's the only peril, and it's very short)
after grabbing her again, but she whacks him hard and flies into the air after Xandra's bike. That's where the week ends.

Upcoming: In the previews, it look like there might be as many as three more Extras joining the fray next week, including an angry woman with bat-style makeup on her eyes who is wearing a tight black costume and fighting Darna. I'm not intimately familiar with the backlog of Darna's rogues
gallery, so maybe Red 5 can tell us who this upcoming villainess is? If she isn't brand new to this series.

OK, would love to hear from Red 5, and also anyone else regarding how they enjoyed this week's episodes!
brdiy
Elder Member
Elder Member
Posts: 472
Joined: 14 years ago

^Stossium - from what I gather, Borgo is building a device which can extract the magic stone from Darna, and stossium is the only component missing. So it's gonna be some sort of "kryptonite" for Darna, I guess? I sure do hope so. 😁
Check out my superheroine-related short stories here:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/brdiy/works
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

brdiy wrote:
1 year ago
^Stossium - from what I gather, Borgo is building a device which can extract the magic stone from Darna, and stossium is the only component missing. So it's gonna be some sort of "kryptonite" for Darna, I guess? I sure do hope so. 😁
I'm a week behind, as the English subtitled episodes now don't drop until the weekend. I believe this is one of three items Borgo needs to complete his ultimate weapon that will force the stone from Darna's body, giving him its power and rendering her powerless.

Btw, I've heard unconfirmed reports that there will be 70 episodes of Darna 2022; so we have five more weeks to go. Whether or not there'll be a second season after this, I don't know. Typically these telenovela shows don't have multiple seasons. The 2005 and 2009 Darna's ran for a lot longer than 70 episodes -- 170 and 140 respectively. But the fact that the 2022 show hasn't followed a standard telefantasya format (eg. Narda hasn't been benched for five episodes to allow Jane to have a break) suggests they may be aiming for a shorter run.

If Darna doesn't return for a second season, rumour has it that ABS-CBN picked up the rights to the whole of the Mars Ravelo portfolio, so we could see a Varga show in future. But my preferred option would be a reboot of Krystala, which was the ABS-CBN show that pretty much paved the way for Angel Locsin's Darna on rival network GMA six months later, and demonstrated the viability of prime time superheroine telefantasya.

R5
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago



Darna takes on Steel Man (aka Glass Jaw) from the latest episode.


R5
GWalb
Henchman
Henchman
Posts: 85
Joined: 6 years ago
Contact:

That look of surprise, shock and fear on D's face when he stop's her in midair is wonderful. Seems to be a good actress.
Damselbinder

five_red wrote:
1 year ago


Darna takes on Steel Man (aka Glass Jaw) from the latest episode.


R5
oh hey it's Tetsuo, the Iron Man
sneakly
Overlord
Overlord
Posts: 725
Joined: 10 years ago
Contact:

Man, that steel wool beard must be brutal when eating pussy…
Image
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

First two episodes of Week 10!

Episode 46 - Despite not really having even one outright superhero battle (the Pinoys call this a 'kilig' episode, which means it evokes a strong romantic feeling from the viewer) this episode does not disappoint.

One of the most straightforward things about this series is the acknowledgement of the beauty of the two main characters, although it's not talked about a lot in previous episodes. Here, it is emphasized. Regina herself revels in the fact that she feels (and looks) sexier since she has accepted her alter-ego as Valentina. She even says so, in one of several soliloquys (or conversations, if you count the repartee amongst her snake heads) in front of her mirror.

There's also a clear acknowledgement of how stunning Narda looks in her dress, as well. That's when the love quadrangle does their soap opera turn-and-look before going out on a double date. Brian literally does a double take.

Xandra looks fantastic walking around in her tight black leather outfits, even when she gets throatlifted (again!) by the General. And then, of course, we have the newest entry - an unassuming nerd-girl with glasses who becomes the first female Extra when she impales her attackers with spikes. Alas, Porcupine Woman (which is what I was hoping for, since it would dovetail well with the recent She-Hulk episode) is not to be (and in case you ask, yes, there is a species of porcupine native to the Philippines). Instead, the TV guy decides to nickname her Human Urchin (not even Street Urchin). Oh well. Her transformation is still hot, and I'm looking forward to seeing Urchina transform several more times.

Anyway, there's a lot to be thankful for how this show prizes beauty in a classy way.

Episode 47 - Regina remains extremely beautiful. But she's still jealous of Darna because of the connection Darna has with Brian.

Urchina kills another thug, but this time only because he cut in line at the grocery store (what?). Her costume is nice, though: a tight black spandex catsuit with a built-in corset. She could probably get lots of attention she wasn't getting as a nerd, if only she wasn't shooting spikes at everyone. Unfortunately, we don't get to find out much about her yet, because Darna literally defeats her with one punch, while sharing a brief embrace with Brian while she is protecting him from the spikes.

But then later on in the episode, Urchina gives some kind of angry speech in prison on a television broadcast. Since I don't speak Tagalog, I couldn't suss exactly what it was about, but it seemed to be some kind of Extra Liberation Manifesto? Let me know, Red 5, if I'm close or not.
Looks like we'll see Urchina in the next episode again in her tight outfit, so maybe we'll get a more protracted battle with Darna.

Also...if you are a Darna fan, I highly recommend you follow this fan page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marsravelosdarna/
It gives even more of a blow-by-blow of the new show's episodes than I'm giving, plus the writer is rather critical on a regular basis.
He'll ask questions like "why are there still crystal shards from the Cyborg blowing around the city months after the Cyborg was defeated?"

Meanwhile, here's a milestone: the very first Darna action figure available from Loose Collector.
(You mean to tell me they've been producing Darna TV shows and movies for decades, yet they've never made a doll?)
If you have $74.00 to spare, go for it! Only 500 made.

https://loosecollector.com/products/cop ... ion-figure (yes, I know the URL is weird but it's Darna)
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
Also...if you are a Darna fan, I highly recommend you follow this fan page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marsravelosdarna/
It gives even more of a blow-by-blow of the new show's episodes than I'm giving, plus the writer is rather critical on a regular basis.
He'll ask questions like "why are there still crystal shards from the Cyborg blowing around the city months after the Cyborg was defeated?"
And don't forget to post a comment about how much you lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove it when Darna does the bullets and bracelets routine, and how she should do it in every episode. :laugh:

I've come to the conclusion that Rolando has been sneaking a peek at next week's scripts, as he always seems to have advanced knowledge of what is about to happen. He tips Ding off to the fact that Chatty Zapper -- sorry, Silent Shocker -- could be defeated with water, and then he correctly predicted that this week Borgo would start teaming the Extras up. He also seemed to know that Hergis was an alien before the big reveal, and Narda was Darna before Hergis told him. My theory is that Leonor's space pod came equipped with a subscription to iWantTFC, and he's secretly been using warp technology to stream episodes from the future. :D

Serious question: what is the deal with the mayor? His storyline seems to be going nowhere, aside from playing a minor role in Noah's arc. I was anticipating that he would be playing a much bigger part in the series given his corruption, and links directly to the assassination of Brian's father. Yet these points seem to have been lost in recent weeks. He seems to spend his time sat at his desk in a bad mood. Even his rivalry with Regina has gone AWOL. He was touted in early episodes as having business connections to General Borgo via Rex Vanguardia and Xandra, yet that plot point has also been forgotten. If you edited out his scenes in each episode, nobody would notice. What's the deal..?


R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

five_red wrote:
1 year ago

And don't forget to post a comment about how much you lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove it when Darna does the bullets and bracelets routine, and how she should do it in every episode. :laugh:

R5
Yeah - the guy who runs the Mars Ravelo's Darna fanpage on Facebook seems to think that if they got rid of all the bullets-and-bracelets scenes
from the show, that the Darna series would be able to run on a large streaming service, because DC wouldn't have any problems with the character crossing over into Wonder Woman territory. Perhaps he is correct, but I'm not sure.

It's not the subtitles to the Tagalog, though: Squid Game hit #1 in 90 countries, and the Korean was entirely subtitled.

I'm content watching it the way I do now, but I'm sure a lot more people would discover Darna if it was on a regular streaming platform
with which they are familiar.
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

shevek wrote:
1 year ago
five_red wrote:
1 year ago
And don't forget to post a comment about how much you lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove it when Darna does the bullets and bracelets routine, and how she should do it in every episode. :laugh:

R5
Yeah - the guy who runs the Mars Ravelo's Darna fanpage on Facebook seems to think that if they got rid of all the bullets-and-bracelets scenes from the show, that the Darna series would be able to run on a large streaming service, because DC wouldn't have any problems with the character crossing over into Wonder Woman territory. Perhaps he is correct, but I'm not sure.
I think his problem may be (perhaps) in the fact that Darna is seen as a cheap Wonder Woman clone. This seems to be a sore point with Darna fans in general, with a minority even going as far as to point towards a the theory outlined in a recent social media video that claimed (contrary to evidence) that Wonder Woman is actually a copy of Darna. The truth is that Darna was likely inspired by Captain (Shazam) Marvel and Superman, thanks to the comics American GI's imported during the Second World War. The gender flipping wasn't an early example of woke-ism and virtue signalling, but just a nod towards a local culture that better acknowledged the role of strong mothers and women in society (Ravelo cites his own mother as an inspiration.)

Darna didn't appear until nine years after Wonder Woman*, and her predecessor -- Varga -- didn't debut until six years after Wonder Woman, yet it is likely Mars Ravelo had the inspiration for Varga/Darna long before the characters were actually formally published. The YT video theory is that William Moulton Marston somehow visited the Philippines between 1938 and 1941** (no evidence for that!) and somehow was inspired by Filipino culture, or Mars Ravelo himself, to return to America and create his own female superhero, resulting in Wonder Woman.

* = Wonder Woman = October 1941; Varga = July 1946; Darna = May 1950
** = If we assume American GIs are the source of superhero popularity in the Philippines, that gives us a very tight time frame. The United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) wasn't formed until July 1941, so three months for GIs to import US comics into the region, the locals to become inspired to create their own local female heroines, Marston to visit, then return home and take the idea of a female hero with him, and DC to get the idea onto newsstands.


The reason I joked about the bullets 'n' bracelets thing is that the guy who runs the FB page has a particular bugbear about it, to the point where he mentions it at the most inopportune moments. I get the reason why he hates it -- I'd probably hate it too if I was a Darna super-fan -- but he is a little bit too passionate on the topic. :laugh:

I think what may wind him up is that some people in the comments section have (rightly) pointed out that Darna has been doing the old B'n'B routine in movies since the 1970s -- likely because of Lynda Carter's tv show. (I've no idea when Carter's Wonder Woman was first screened in the Philippines, but I do know that The Bionic Woman was popular there by 1977, because magazine articles about the 70s Darna tv series featuring Lorna Tolentino specifically mention BW as an inspiration for the show. Also in 1980 there was the "Wander Woman Si Ako!" movie starring Maria Teresa Carlson that spoofed the Wonder Woman tv show. So I'm guessing Carter's show was on Pinoy tv in the 70s, and likely caused Darna to 'adopt' (steal) the bracelets trick.)

To be honest, regardless of what Darna does with her bracelets, I think the stigma of being a Wonder Woman rip-off won't likely go away. It is a shame really, because the superficial visual similarities between the two characters mask the reality, which is that in terms of Golden Age Darna's back story, character, and powers, there's little in common with Golden Age Wonder Woman. It is just an unfortunate accident that both heroines look similar. Both their designs draw on the same iconography of sexy women of that time -- Hollywood starlets in bathing suits with long glossy hair. Countless American female superheroes of that period wore bathing suits and boots. Darna's only crime was that Nestor Redondo (Darna's original artist) wasn't too careful about avoiding the red/gold colour scheme, perhaps because he wasn't deliberately going out of his way to avoid comparisons with a certain popular American character(?)

So my personal take is that Darna might as well just lean into the whole bullets 'n' bracelets things. It is the one thing that she actually did steal from Wonder Woman. Dropping it won't make Western audiences thinks any less that Darna is a Wonder Woman rip-off. Unfortunately without a major revamp of Darna's costume and colour scheme, I think such comparisons from uneducated comicbook fans are unavoidable. Rather than expending lots of effort denying the similarities, acknowledge them, but then follow through by pointing out that the similarities are merely surface level.


R5
brdiy
Elder Member
Elder Member
Posts: 472
Joined: 14 years ago

Speaking of bullets and bracelets, it does make no sense that in one episode she's impervious to bullets, then in another, she has to rely on her bracelets to deflect them. Though on the other hand, the inconsistency in power levels is not really exclusive to Darna alone.
Check out my superheroine-related short stories here:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/brdiy/works
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

brdiy wrote:
1 year ago
Speaking of bullets and bracelets, it does make no sense that in one episode she's impervious to bullets, then in another, she has to rely on her bracelets to deflect them. Though on the other hand, the inconsistency in power levels is not really exclusive to Darna alone.
I think we can assume that bullets don't hurt her. Perhaps she uses the bracelets to get some practice deflecting stuff that could actually hurt her, like Marta lasers? Every time some goon shoots at her with a pistol, she treats it as a training session.

Or maybe it just looks cool, and she wants the clicks on TikTok. :D

(Rationalising superhero comics is a sure path to insanity.)


R5
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

It has to be that bullets can't hurt her in the Darna form, and that she's deflecting them with her wrists just for fun and dramatics.
In the parking garage scene, all of the bullets are clearly bouncing off her *from both sides* without her using any bracelets, and on top of that,
the child she is defending doesn't get hit with any bullets even though *they are coming from both sides*, and Darna only has one body, not two.
The final analysis (a sure path to insanity, indeed) is that she is surrounded by a force field which deflects all bullets, and anyone she brings inside
that field by drawing them to her bosom (and who wouldn't want that? I'm looking to you, loverboy Brian) is automatically protected by that field.
No other explanation is consistent with what we've seen in the show so far.

As for the influences, it's very obvious that Darna is influenced by Golden Age DC heroes. As you said, Shazam (magically induced powers, the saying of her name to transform); Superman (she comes from another planet that was destroyed; she arrives in a space ship; she has a powerful parent as inspiration); and Wonder Woman (the costume colors, the flowing black hair, the bullets and bracelets). But not only did DC never bring a lawsuit against Mars Ravelo or the companies printing or filming Darna - on the contrary, they hired Darna co-creator Nestor Redondo to work for DC in the 1970s and 1980s. So unless something has radically changed in attitude, I doubt that there'd be any issues - in fact, the pursuit of diversity would at this point probably not only discourage any lawsuits against Filipinos, but also *recommend* a Filipino superhero product, especially one featuring a powerful woman (which is already largely what movies and TV shows are about these days, anyway) for dissemination in the West, simply for its 'decolonizing' effect. I think that if Darna isn't on streaming networks that Westerners can easily access, it's simply because someone dropped the ball, business-wise, and hasn't made the effort to secure a deal. Same thing with action figures: otherwise, why would a tiny, intrepid company like Loose Collector (I know of them because our friend Marvin is working with them for action figures for The Edge Comics) be the only entity to release a Darna doll?
User avatar
Mr. X
Millenium Member
Millenium Member
Posts: 4597
Joined: 11 years ago
Contact:

Same reason in the old Superman TV show shooting Superman had no effect but he would duck when the gun was thrown at him.
Supergirl763
Neophyte Lvl 5
Neophyte Lvl 5
Posts: 43
Joined: 1 year ago

General Borgo grabbing Darna by the hairs

User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
General Borgo grabbing Darna by the hairs
Yup, all happens on Monday in Episode 51, along with Valentina and the X-Triad (Acid Spitting Guy, Sexy Hypnotizing Girl, and Limb Separation Kid).
And don't forget the antics of Bizarro Brian.

brdiy
Elder Member
Elder Member
Posts: 472
Joined: 14 years ago

From the episode a few weeks back.
vlcsnap-2022-09-29-17h05m00s167.png
vlcsnap-2022-09-29-17h05m00s167.png (788.28 KiB) Viewed 24014 times


Kinda reminds me of this artwork from way back: :D
darna thugs.jpg
darna thugs.jpg (1.44 MiB) Viewed 24014 times
Check out my superheroine-related short stories here:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/brdiy/works
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

Quick update, and a question.

It seems that the Borgo storyline will be ending with episode 70. I'd previously commented that if this was the end of the series then that would make it incredibly short by telefantasya standards, for example the previous Darna tv series, 2009's Marian Rivera outing, had lasted 140 episodes. However I totally forgot (duh!) that 2009's show was broken up into two seasons of 70 episodes each. Now the uber-fan who is behind one of the main Darna Facebook groups is claiming that there will be a second season featuring more traditional Darna villains. (Up until now Valentina is the only recognisable villain taken from Darna's past canon -- all of the Extras have been invented for the show AFAIK.) Don't know where he's getting his info from, but he seems pretty well connected, so here's hoping we have plenty more Darna to come, particularly as the show is slowly starting to get into its stride with regard to action sequences and CGI.

A second season makes sense, as there's a lot of stuff around Brain's father that they set up in the early episodes but seems to have just gone nowhere. It might also explain why the major's storyline isn't really progressing very quickly too.

And talking of storylines that went nowhere... a question: Ding's teacher. She was touted as maybe being a big character a few weeks ago, then she vanished off of the radar. Ding had a crush on her, and she was also connected to Duplicate Man (whatever his name was) -- then she just disappeared like she never existed! Is she being set up for a major part in season two, or did the writers just change their mind and drop her?

R5
Supergirl763
Neophyte Lvl 5
Neophyte Lvl 5
Posts: 43
Joined: 1 year ago

Not a spoiler as it’s just my guess but it seems obvious Valentina will turn good again once she learns the truth about her dad. Either she’ll take a bullet for Darna and die or they will use Borgo’s weapon to extract the green crystal from her.

Image

Both Darna and Valentina in the forest at night (as allies or enemies ?) in what I guess will be the final fight of the season near Borgo's starship.
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
Not a spoiler as it’s just my guess but it seems obvious Valentina will turn good again once she learns the truth about her dad. Either she’ll take a bullet for Darna and die or they will use Borgo’s weapon to extract the green crystal from her.
My theory, possibly a spoiler...
Spoiler
Borgo keeps saying his super weapon has three necessary components (actually I think he only said it once but they've repeated the clip several times in the 'previously' section at the start of various episodes.) One is a piece of green crystal. Another is the Stossium stuff they attempted to steal. But component three is never namechecked. Could it be that Valentina herself is the final part of the weapon..?
Given that Janella is a major cast member, we have to assume she will continue on into any potential season two. One possibility that occurs to me is that Narda/Darna will finally learn Valentina's real identity, and will try to help her (as Narda) to tame her medusa side. But eventually Regina will relapse back into jealousy and paranoia and Darna will end up having to fight Valentina. The idea of Narda trying to help Regina control Valentina in one identity, while at the same time Regina's hatred of Darna fuelling her descent back into Valentina, creates an interesting dynamic.
Spoiler
And, of course, there's always the threat that Regina will learn that her best friend and worst enemy are one in the same, causing her to lose control totally to Valentina -- possibly that's the season two finale. Can Darna defeat her friend without killing her?!?!!

R5
Supergirl763
Neophyte Lvl 5
Neophyte Lvl 5
Posts: 43
Joined: 1 year ago

five_red wrote:
1 year ago
Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
Not a spoiler as it’s just my guess but it seems obvious Valentina will turn good again once she learns the truth about her dad. Either she’ll take a bullet for Darna and die or they will use Borgo’s weapon to extract the green crystal from her.
My theory, possibly a spoiler...
Spoiler
Borgo keeps saying his super weapon has three necessary components (actually I think he only said it once but they've repeated the clip several times in the 'previously' section at the start of various episodes.) One is a piece of green crystal. Another is the Stossium stuff they attempted to steal. But component three is never namechecked. Could it be that Valentina herself is the final part of the weapon..?
Given that Janella is a major cast member, we have to assume she will continue on into any potential season two. One possibility that occurs to me is that Narda/Darna will finally learn Valentina's real identity, and will try to help her (as Narda) to tame her medusa side. But eventually Regina will relapse back into jealousy and paranoia and Darna will end up having to fight Valentina. The idea of Narda trying to help Regina control Valentina in one identity, while at the same time Regina's hatred of Darna fuelling her descent back into Valentina, creates an interesting dynamic.
Spoiler
And, of course, there's always the threat that Regina will learn that her best friend and worst enemy are one in the same, causing her to lose control totally to Valentina -- possibly that's the season two finale. Can Darna defeat her friend without killing her?!?!!

R5
That's also true. I am not aware of the Darna's league of villains but outside of Valentina I don't believe there is a villain noteworthy enough to carry a full season so maybe they'll just keep her for season 2.
User avatar
shevek
Producer
Producer
Posts: 3742
Joined: 11 years ago
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact:

five_red wrote:
1 year ago
A second season makes sense, as there's a lot of stuff around Brain's father that they set up in the early episodes but seems to have just gone nowhere. It might also explain why the major's storyline isn't really progressing very quickly too.

And talking of storylines that went nowhere... a question: Ding's teacher. She was touted as maybe being a big character a few weeks ago, then she vanished off of the radar. Ding had a crush on her, and she was also connected to Duplicate Man (whatever his name was) -- then she just disappeared like she never existed! Is she being set up for a major part in season two, or did the writers just change their mind and drop her?
Wow, if the Borgo arc is really ending, that means there will possibly be no more Extras?
That means they will really have to pull out fully fleshed supervillains with a back story for Darna to fight, in addition to Valentina.
Hope that means some great costumes. Here's a partial rogues gallery, but others can expand on the list:

Tuod (Tree Woman) in 2009 called Lucifera
Lawin (Hawk Woman) in 2009 called Armida
Impakta (Ghoul Woman) with conjoined demon twin in 2009
Linta (Leech Woman) in 2009 called Lutgarda
these all had tight sexy costumes in 2009, so they should have them again.
and also Planetman (unless Borgo is considered to be too similar?)

I don't remember much about the Ding teacher situation, but with the mayor, he keeps meeting with this rich older woman - Miss Victoria, I think she's called? And then there's his assistant Maisha, who would fit nicely in a costume, and of course Narda's relationship with his son, Noah. There's plenty to work with, which could set up kind of a Gotham City type of dynamic.
User avatar
five_red
Veteran Member
Veteran Member
Posts: 303
Joined: 9 years ago

Supergirl763 wrote:
1 year ago
That's also true. I am not aware of the Darna's league of villains but outside of Valentina I don't believe there is a villain noteworthy enough to carry a full season so maybe they'll just keep her for season 2.
  • Babaeng Lawin (roughly Hawk Woman or Lady Falcon): one of Darna's oldest foes. She's a former circus acrobat and athlete who is experimented on by a scientist using a super-serum (or bionic enhancements in later versions) after she suffers a nasty accident. She's given wings, super strength, and a reinforced skeleton almost as strong as steel.
  • Babeng Linta (roughly Leech Lady): a bit gothic and creepy. She was abused and beaten, then left for dead in a swamp, but she didn't die. Instead she became a kind of blood sucking creature -- a bit like Dracula but with leeches instead of bats.
  • Babaeng Tuod (roughly Tree Woman or Wood Witch): possibly one of the sillier foes by today's standards. She's a sentient plant who can tap into the forces of nature and draw on its energy. She's apparently capable of growing to enormous sizes if given enough to feed on.
  • Babaeng Impakta (roughly Demon Woman): another old, and creepy, foe. She is (or rather, they are) conjoined twins, one appearing as a beautiful woman and the other an ugly dwarf creature. They can separate for a while, but both feel pain when one is attacked, and neither can die unless the other dies too.
  • Planet man: your standard alien invader, with a space ship and alien technology. I think there was also some Planet Women in one of the old 60s/70s films. Very much like Borgo, it would seem.
  • Black Darna (Dark Darna): is I think a foe that originated in the 2005 series, and the one a lot of fans are hoping to see. She's the classic trope of an evil clone version of Darna, with the same powers and abilities, but morally very different. She has the same costume as Darna except it is... surprise surprise... black not red.
None of these foes are strong enough to carry an entire season on their own (but then again neither was Borgo.) Perhaps we may get a run of different classic characters in S2(?) My plot idea would be to have Black Darna accidentally created from Darna as a result of Narda trying to remove Valentina from Regina. Perhaps Rolando tries to remove Regina's dark persona and accidentally creates a dark version of Darna instread? Something like that.


R5
Post Reply