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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A Good First Project

The writing is a bit meandering, introducing a whole new character without any preparation near the end of the series and never really answering any questions - I don't need everything to be explained, but it wasn't clear at all what happened between Mark & David, whether David even knew he was talking to Mark, or whether or not David was serious or playing along.

The acting was fine, not spectacular, but Marky is good at playing cute and sexy (or maybe he's just plain cute and sexy) and was a standout for me. The role didn't really stretch him as an actor, so it's hard to tell how good he is - plenty good for this role, though.

The prodcution values were just too low - there are basics of sound, lighting, and continuity that are flubbed. With only one actor on screen at any time, it should be easy to retake and edit to avoid some of the mistakes. There does seem to be basic artistry in the cinamatograhy, so with improvement in technical execution there seems to be some potential for this production crew.

Anyway, while this isn't going to make your list of favorite BLs, it's not a waste of time, and the characters continue on in Hook Up and Where We Were, so maybe some of the holes in this story will be filled.

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GAMEBOYS COPY...

First heard about this series under the Comments section of GameBoys, another filipino BL series that uses technology for its filming. It seems like the creators of this series wanted their own version of GameBoys, seeing the huge popularity of the latter series. And to be honest, it feels more like a YouTube vlog rather than a BL series at the moment (and not a very good one at that). Not surprising though as the protagonist, Mark, is played by an actual YouTuber. Anyways, the story so far is questionable. How does prank calling people with lines from films gonna help you write a script? Only the ending was interesting when a possible ex-lover is introduced. I will continue to watch this series to see where it goes. Hopefully, it'll get better!

Episode 2 was meh. We got to learn a bit about who the ex-lover is, but we barely learned anything. It doesn't help that this episode was like only 5 minutes. And why was the ex-lover's torso filmed for no apparent reason? He wasn't filming a blog like Mark. Just a weird, directorial choice.

Episode 3 wasn't that good either. We get to actually see who David is, but why he is being filmed still doesn't make sense. We are also introduced to Des, Mark's female best friend (just like GameBoys' Pearl) who Mark talks to about David. I know this isn't very important, but why is Des being filmed as if she has a camera behind her computer? Shouldn't she be filmed like Mark as if she is talking to the computer which is filming her? Anyways, we did learn a bit about who David was and what Mark's relationship with him was. Hopefully, the story will get better in the next episodes...

Episode 4 was also quite uneventful as Kevin, another love interest, is introduced. I was bored and was waiting for the episode to end the entire time. If the episodes weren't so short, I probably would've dropped this series to be honest. Poor acting. Bad writing. Ugh.

Episode 5 was quite bad too. Nothing made sense. This series was quite bad overall and has become my least favourite BL easily. Ugh...

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