Truly Very Yours (2020)

Truly Very Yours (2020): A Cute Pinoy BL Miniseries

Gab Torres (screenwriter), Niven Añunuevo (director), and J.ACE (production company) should be commended for their efforts to create a Filipino (Pinoy) boys’ love (BL) miniseries during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. While not as great as the forerunner in Pinoy BL series “Gameboys,” “Truly Very Yours” was still a good miniseries that introduced two promising actors, Marky Erasga and Wex Andre.

“Truly Very Yours” had a simple plot/storyline about dealing with a past relationship and a potential relationship in a time of quarantine and lockdown. With only five episodes (ranged from 4.27 to 16.46 minutes long), it’s understandable that the miniseries wasn’t able to present a comprehensive and tight narrative. But it would have been nicer if the miniseries was able to at least tie up some loose ends. Not everything was explained and resolved in the end. We still don’t know what really happened between Mark and David. It would have been better if Mark’s background as scriptwriter was clearly revisited on the last episode. I would have also wanted to get to know Kevin better. But at least there was some sort of closure and the miniseries ended in a hopeful note.

While there were a few cringy dialogues, the screenplay for the entire miniseries was generally realistic. I found the use of lines from classic and popular Filipino movies nice which gave the miniseries some Pinoy character and vibes but I would have loved it if it was sustained throughout the five episodes.

Even though they’re newbies in acting, Marky and Wex, were nevertheless ok. They had chemistry together and both were cute and endearing. I just hope we get to see them together again in a future Pinoy BL series.

“Truly Very Yours” obviously didn’t have much budget and it was evident in the weaknesses in production design, computer graphics, sound engineering, musical scoring, and editing. The last episode was particularly problematic with issues with the audio which had feedbacks and was a skip behind the video. The soundtrack “Summer Promises” by Jean Kent and Zach Jawhar was particularly catchy though.

Overall, I would still recommend rewatching “Truly Very Yours.” If you’re looking for a Pinoy BL miniseries with a simple plot/storyline with two cute and promising actors who can actually act, “Truly Very Yours” would be just fine for you.

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Kudos for Trying Something New

Points to the production team for using a vlog/video chat format to film this low budget series. It’s appropriate to the quarantine world that defines 2020. Unfortunately it’s not very well executed and frankly the story was confusing. Maybe if I had a better background in Filipino cinema I would have a better appreciation for the series as the first three episodes used old Filipino drama as dialog between characters. The acting, for newbies, was fine; a good first effort for actors who are primarily vloggers. Despite a similar format from their usual, they weren’t strong/seasoned enough to carry the series.

2020 Is turning out to be the breakout year for the BL genre in Filipino cinema and because of that this series will be compared to the first wave of better funded series such as Gameboys and Hello Stranger. Those two series are much better efforts with more cohesive storylines, better production values, and significantly better acting using the same filming format and style, Gameboys is a masterclass of series filmmaking, regardless of genre. Maybe not a fair comparison because of that. Regardless, where Truly Very Yours falls short is a storyline that was way too confusing that I just didn’t get it. I think it got a bit too dramatic for drama sake rather than clarity or story/character development.

With other choices in this genre from other countries but more importantly now in the Philippines it’s hard to justify watching this 5 episode series. Again, I commend the people involved in making Truly Very Yours part of the first wave of Filipino series in this genre and producing a series during COVID pandemic. But, the two series I’ve mentioned above are far better representatives and better show the state of Philppine filmmaking, especially in this genre. If you like the vlog /video chat style, I think you’d be better served to watch Gameboys and Hello Strangers, as well as the follow-up/companion series, Hook Up, which has some of the same characters/actors. It’s better evolved all the way around.

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