Hayop Ka!

I set my expectations low, when I saw the mainstream local actors were the voice of the characters. Its premise as typical cheap romantic comedy gives me a bad vibes because of reputation of poorly-made-overused plot lines that plagues Filipino mainstream cinema. But I still give it a chance because Filipino animations are not common. I like the cultural references and the catch of the story. I think making it as adult, dark comedy animation film is a great move. In short "Hayop Ka!" Exceeds my expectations, 7/10.

When I stumbled upon the 2020 Tagalog animated movie "Hayop Ka!", I had no idea what I was getting myself into here. But I read the synopsis for it, and have to say that I was somewhat intrigued, as "Hayop Ka!" sounded like something definitely aimed at a more mature audience.

And I will say that writers Manny Angeles, Avid Liongoren and Paulle Olivenza definitely managed to put together a story and plot that was every bit as entertaining as it was enjoyable. So yeah, "Hayop Ka!" was a wholesome animated feature for a mature audience. And when I say mature audience I don't mean that it is XXX-rated, but merely that there were references and hits towards lewd nature.

The art style in "Hayop Ka!" was strange, but enjoyably so. Initially I was a bit taken aback by the art style, but it quickly grew on me and I came to enjoy the art style that they used here because it was definitely complimenting the story and the message of the movie.

With "Hayop Ka!" being an animated movie, a proper voice cast ensemble is a must. And luckily they did have that here. While I am not familiar with Tagalog cinema, then I wasn't familiar with a single voice here. But I will say that the voice acting was good and definitely gave the characters life on the screen.

I found "Hayop Ka!" to be an enjoyable surprise of a movie, and definitely is an animated movie that I would recommend for a mature audience that enjoys light-hearted and funny stories. The fact that "Hayop Ka!" was told as an animation wasn't really a hindrance in any way.

My rating of director Avid Liongoren's "Hayop Ka!" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Really impressed w/ the visuals and animation. Story could work a bit better tho.

The Movie is pretty good, the dialogue is very witty, and very Filipino. Some or most of the Jokes I'm not sure Foreigners will appreciate as much, like when Nimfa said, "sa Pares pa talaga nag propose", LOL.

The Characterizations were also pretty good by everybody in the Cast. The Plot is also very Filipino, like Nimfa supporting her Sister's Education, etc. and it is not as predictable as you might think, there are some surprising twists in the Story also.

Stick around for the Credits, the rest of Nimfa's Story is also shown in Story Board format. And I also loved Empoy's rendition (I think it was Empoy) of Jose Mari Chan's "Beautiful Girl" at the end. Overall it is a Must Watch for me.

It's a good start! In fact, I can call the whole thing a masterpiece from a creative standpoint. Surprisingly, it was entertaining despite the usual Pinoy the-other-woman trope surrounding the plot (but come on... Filipinos are more than just a Telenovela audience). I have to commend the team behind this project, though, for being bold and for choosing an unconventional direction-we don't get to see a 2D-animated anthropomorphic characters featured in an adult infidelity-driven storyline everyday, do we? Overall, kudos to Rocketsheep Studio for a very fine job! The Philippine animation industry has really come a long way. Keep on!