Honourable mention: Trese: Season 1

Trese was a short run animated series, released in 2021 and directed by various filmmakers. It originated from the Philippines and is based on a comic book series from there. It was a series that premiered on Netflix. For the actors I’m using the English-speaking cast as I watched it in English dub.

It centres around Alexandra Trese (Shay Mitchell). She has inherited the position of upholding the peace accords between the Underworld and the human world. She is often seen, with her two primary agents/bodyguards - the twins known as the Kamba (Griffin Puatu), helping Police Captain Guerrero (Matt Yang King) solve crimes with a supernatural bent. The series takes in a lot of the Filipino mythological and folkloric figures through the episodes.

aswang

The reason for the honourable mention is primarily around the inclusion of aswang. Whilst they appear fleetingly throughout the series, they are centre stage in the first episode with a train breaking down at night and the passengers – as they depart the train – being attacked by an Aswang clan. As well as the train attack Trese has to investigate the sacrifice (therefore murder) of a ghost who was trapped by using powdered mermaid bone.

Alexandra and the Kamba Twins

Trese knows that the bone could only have come from the Aswang clan by the docks and discovers that the case points back to the corrupt Mayor Sancho Santamaria (Lou Diamond Phillips). He is up for re-election but, as Trese looks deeper into the crime, she discovers he cleared out a slum area for regeneration by relocating the people to a hotel but, after tricking them there, turned the tables and they are held as a living larder for the aswang.

silhouetted creatures

Beyond the aswang we do get the occasional glimpse of manananggal but they do not play a significant role in the series. The animation was good with this but the thing, for me, that let the series down was the length. With just six episodes crowbarring Trese’s role as both detective and guardian, plus the backstory elements (seen in black and white flashback) and the conspiracy occurring around her was too much. A longer run 12 (or even 24) would have established the character's detective and occult prowess, consolidated the world, explored the backstory fully and allowed the conspiracy to unfold at slower pace, which would have built tension and character sympathy. That said, it is well worth watching as is.

The imdb page is here.