First Pinoy anime ‘Barangay 143’ will show country’s love for basketball

MANILA, Philippines – Barangay 143, the first-ever Filipino anime series inspired by the country’s love for basketball, will air this October on GMA 7. Kapuso stars Julie Anne San Jose, Kelley Day, Migo Adacer, and Ruru Madrid, along with veteran actors Cherie Gil, Alice Dixson, and John Arcilla lent their voices to the characters.

“Barangay 143 is inspired by our own life, our own challenges in life, our ups and downs. Bola (Ball) is life. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down but all you have to do is be strong and roll with the punches,” said Jackeline Chua, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Synergy88 Digital during the media launch.

Dubbed as a “feel-good coming of age series,” Barangay 143 tells the story of a young Korean boy named Bren (Adacer) who finds himself in the Philippines, searching for his biological father.

He eventually finds an unlikely family in a team of misfits with one goal – bring glory to their hometown through basketball. Set against the backdrop of gritty Tondo, Barangay 143 is set to be more than just a story about basketball.

It’s meant to encourage viewers to follow their dreams, fight for love, and believe in the power of justice.

While the idea behind Barangay 143 is to show the real-life experiences of Filipinos, the producers all agreed that they have a story the global audience will take notice. Jyotirmoy Saha, CEO of August Media Holdings, shared that they see great potential in the animated series and are eager to bring it to the international market in the near future.

Barangay 143 will also be available in a form of a web comic. The Barangay 143 Street League mobile game is already available on the Google Play Store for Android and the iOS App Store.

“The game is actually a story that happens 4 years before the show so if people want to find out certain things that happened to the show, they can read about it and also can download the game to find out,” Chua explained.

Joey Abacan, First Vice President, Program Management at GMA, shared that they are “immensely proud” to be the network that brings the first Filipino anime drama series.

“GMA is actually the home of anime and we’re very known for our drama. We will make sure that Barangay 143 will have a home in GMA.”

Barangay 143 is co-produced between Synergy88, TV Asahi (Japan) and August Media Holdings (Singapore). Taking over two years from conceptualization to production, the first Filipino anime series is designed and produced here in Manila with the help crew from across Japan, South Korea, USA, Malaysia, and Singapore.

It also features original music from whole host of celebrity Filipino singers and musicians. – Rappler.com