MANILA, Philippines — Mark Reyes V posed the question: If not now, when?
The director of the upcoming live adaptation of 1970s Japanese anime "Voltes V: Legacy" rhetorically replied this question to the press at last Tuesday's media conference and screening of the show's cinematic version that is now showing in select SM Cinemas.
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Despite the technical glitch on the first day, reactions on the cinematic release has been generally positive so far in several social media pages and accounts.
Reyes cited the initial positive reaction when they first released the mega trailer in January. He also acknowledged the negative reactions.
"Of course, there are other reactions that, you know, the not so kind. 'Ay kaya ba nila 'yan? Baka pangit lumabas 'yan.' You know, stuff like that. That can't be denied naman no. It's part of the world right now," he said.
The director thinks that it is about time to gamble on something that has been elusive or risky for many Philippine content creators on the computer generated image (CGI)-heavy shows or films.
"Voltes V" in itself is a mecha anime that features battles between robots. To render this possible, it has to rely on CGI to create the robots and fight sequences.
"But we were at the point na if we don't do it now and no one starts this in the Philippines trying to be ambitious and do this thing at this level, when will we start?
"Madaming nagsasabi na gusto nating lumevel up, improve. So eto na. Eto na ang pruweba na ginastusan ito at pinag-isipan, pinagtrabahuhan, pinaghirapan. Ito na po. So that's why you cannot tell us not to do it. Kailangan natin gawin. If not us, who?" Reyes said.
He added that the show is a stepping stone that could "open the floodgates" for the visual effects artists and/or animators in the country.
"It's a mixed bag. There are more positives than negatives. And then once there were people that were bashing, a lot will defend even from other countries will defend the project. So that was very endearing and very heartwarming for us," shared Reyes.
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