Many avid Kapamilya viewers were surely thrilled as the highly anticipated teleserye of 2020 finally began airing last Monday, August 17 on Kapamilya Channel and Kapamilya Online Live.
In its inaugural four episodes, we’ve witnessed the beautiful friendship of Marissa Pineda and Ellice Ceñidoza, impeccably portrayed by seasoned actresses Jodi Sta. Maria and Iza Calzado, respectively, and how one tragic crime tremendously tested their unconditional sisterly love for each other.
REVIEW: Ang Sa Iyo Ay Akin delivers with explosive pilot episode
As Marissa owned up to the unintentional murder committed by Ellice, considering the bright future awaiting for her best friend and the promise made by her Uncle Jorge (Lito Pimentel) to not let her be incarcerated and give them a whopping Php10 million afterwards. But Jorge failed to fulfil his promise as Congressman Montelibano (Johnny Revilla) made sure to avenge the death of his son Victor (Albie Casiño), who attempted to rape Ellice, by ruining his pearl company.
Thus, Marissa was convicted and had to serve eight to 12 years in prison, wherein she had to endure a totally terrible life – living far away from her beloved mom Lucing (Maricel Soriano), being bullied and harassed by her prisonmates, and getting raped by the congressman’s alleged henchmen.
On the other hand, Ellice was able to start a brand new life in the US after Gabriel Villarosa (Sam Milby), a Filipino she met at a bar, helped her get through her depression and nightmares. They later on tied the knot and moved back to the Philippines when her father got ill. It was on his deathbed wherein Jorge finally confessed to his daughter the truth about Marissa’s plight in the previous years and told her to take good care of their business.
And after so many years, Marissa surprised them with her fabulous comeback as she looks absolutely different from the last time that they’d seen her. While it obviously warmed the heart of Ellice, it was revealed later on that Marissa actually returned to exact revenge against her and to ruin her already beautiful life, just like what saving her from her crime took a toll on her.
REVIEW: Jodi delivers riveting, acclaimed performance in character’s epic return on Ang Sa Iyo Ay Akin
As Marissa reconciled with her Nanay Lucing, Ellice had a misunderstanding with Gabriel’s family, who’s encouraging her to lie low from their business and focus first on motherhood as they’ve been having difficulties in conceiving a child.
The teaser of the next episode promises that we’re going to finally see the fiery and vengeful facet of Marissa as she’s about to start making the life of her ex-best friend miserable.
Platform innovation
Apart from the much-awaited premiere of Ang Sa Iyo Ay Akin, another thing that delighted the viewers was its “Unscripted” segment that’s shown in every gap, wherein the lead cast and Direk FM Reyes were given a few minutes to discuss or share some background stories regarding the episode via video call and even to interact with the netizens tweeting or commenting about the series while watching it via the Kapamilya Online Live on the official Facebook and YouTube account of ABS-CBN Entertainment.
Aside from heaping praises to the astounding and formidable performances of the actors and the incredible jobs its creators and the other people behind it have been doing, the netizens also commend how ABS-CBN is still able to rise up amidst the circumstances it has been going through in the past months by trailblazing a platform innovation that doesn’t simply enable its fervent viewers to watch their well-loved programs online, but to also interact real-time with some of its artists as well.
At the same time, the experience is also new to the lead cast and director of Ang Sa Iyo Ay Akin, as they expressed how overwhelmed they are of the positive reactions they’ve been garnering from the audiences. In the launching of the “Unscripted” segment on the pilot episode (August 17) , we were indeed thrilled to see Jodi, Iza, and Sam bantering at each other as they recounted the fun and memorable moments they shared while filming it and read some of the comments from our beloved Kapamilya netizens.
Meanwhile, on its second serving in the fourth episode on Wednesday, August 20, it was Jodi and Direk FM who engaged with the viewers as we all witnessed the return of Marissa on the show. They both enthused how it was a delight for them to be able to directly connect with the netizens and read all their comments while the reels were running, as well as dropping short messages on the comments section.
The renowned director also acclaimed the impeccable performance of the seasoned actress, with how she “did wonderful” in pulling off her character Marissa by providing everything that it requires from the actions and the delivery of lines, up to the emotions she exuded. They also talked about the compelling portrayals of Iza and Maricel of their respective roles and how they helped Jodi in playing hers.
Furthermore, they went on to discuss, too, the goings-on in the episode and imparted what were running on their minds while certain scenes were being shot. They also read a few comments from the netizens and imparted how rewarding it is for them to know that they love everything they are seeing on the show and how they are already completely hooked just on the first few episodes!
Read some of the rave comments and reactions of the viewers below:
