THE TALE OF TONYO THE BRAVE

The Tale of Tonyo the Brave by Maria Aleah Taboclaon is actually a good Filipino story under
flash fiction novel. Wherein it takes the readers in the world of supernatural creatures – and somehow
introduces the readers to Filipino culture. The introduction of the story is quite impressive because it
allows us to reminisce the moments with our grandparents. Wherein they will tell lots of stories – and
that’s how exactly the beginning of the story. The grandparent which is Apo ask his grandchildren if
they want to listen to a story. Which is commendable, because regardless of nationality most of us
probably experience the same thing – and that became one of our core memories. Definitely the
introduction provide a massive impact, since the writer chose that the first line of the story appear in
the emotion of the readers. Hence this will allow the readers to continue reading the whole story
without getting bored. Because the introduction creates a question/s in the mind of the readers like
“what is the story of Apo?” “Is it something interesting?” or “Is the story will give us a life lesson?” –
these are the question that the readers might ask to themselves if they read the introduction of the story
specifically the first two lines. Basically, the curiosity of readers about the story of Apo will lead them
to finish the whole story. Therefore, in a scale of 1-10, the introduction is 9. Simply because it creates
questions in the mind of the readers – and it is universal.

In terms of its plot, in a scale of one (1) to ten (10), it is definitely an eight (8). Since even the
story is easy to understand, it will still allow the readers to wonder what is the plot of the story. Since it
is a rural horror story, it will bring the readers in the conclusion “Is Tonyo’s family going to be safe at
the end of the story?” or “Is Apo once a brave little boy, and his story is based on experience?” in
which answered in the latter part of the story in which Apo turn out to have knowledge about the
manlalayug and how to kill it because his own father fought it. Therefore, Apo released a dagger.
Amidst the chaos regarding who’s going to kill the manlalayug. Tonyo volunteer himself even he is
scared – which is a brave move. It only show how heavy his responsibility is, because in order to avoid
the murder in the town he needs to be brave and kill the manlalayug. Imagine a child who’s going to
face something that can kill him or something that can harm his family even the whole town. But in the
end, he prove that he is brave enough by killing the manlalayug, and him being a sissy and wimp is not
true at all. That is why in the end of the story, he is known for his braveness.

The character in the story is very remarkable, especially the first character that appeared which
is Apo. Because the character of Apo remind us of our grandparents especially when they have lots of
stories regarding anything – and when they are calling us as “apo” instead of our name. Which is
beautiful to reminisce. While the character of Tonyo’s brothers who always bullied Tonyo is actually
good. Because that kind of scenario is actually happening in real life events, and it is typical in a
household wherein there are two to 3 children. And the younger sibling is always the one who cried or
getting bullied. While the character of parents which are Francisco and Carmencita is actually good
because it is parallel to real life parents, wherein they are protective, care about their children and will
do anything for the sake of safeness of their children. Aside from that, the character also shows the
typical family structure in Asian continent specifically the Philippines wherein it consist of parents,
children and grandparents. Furthermore, the character of Tonyo is quite impressive because even his
brother picked him and call him wimp. He never shows frustration, and because of that he ended up
proving that he is brave and strong. Basically, all the characters are effective in their aspects, especially
the protagonist. Because it somehow motivate readers (us) that even we are scared or someone is
saying lots of insane stuff to us we can still do something that can be proud of – just like Tonyo the
Brave. So, in a scale of 1-10, the character is a nine though some are not unique but still it delivers a
massive impact.

While the settings of the story are very commendable, because first things first the story is more
on supernatural creatures such as the mananangal and manlalayug. Therefore, the writer made a good
decision in choosing the setting of the story to be happened in a rural type of place, because it will add
intensity and scare factors. Like, when Tonyo is finding the Manlalayug, he mentioned that there is an
open field with the shades of gray which is kind of scary in real life. Imagine walking alone in a rural
place and that is the color of surrounding, definitely it will cause us to run or panicked. With that, the
battle between Tonyo and the Manlalayug happened at night, because usually in the story of our
grandparents supernatural creatures always appeared at night especially if it is full moon. And the story
prove that point, because in the story all the murder happened at night. Aside from that, Canda the town
of Tonyo described to be a far rural place in which add another scare factor, because when we are
talking to a far place, we always think of danger and possible things that we may encounter. Therefore,
the whole settings of the story is actually good and effective.

The dialogue in the novel is well-formed and organized. I mean that the dialogue reflects the technicalities of
embedding a dialogue in the story. The line is clear having put into quotation (open and close parenthesis) and
the use of ellipsis is also notable. Making the conversation not only suitable for ‘plain reading’ but also to be
delivered aloud as dialogue because one can put emotions to it. It is important to note that the novel is presented
as a frame story and is highly rooted in Filipino culture. The story is told by Tonyo to his present grandchildren
so there are two pictures in one frame. I could say that the dialogue is truly interesting and realistic. Looking at
it, it is really the kind of conversation we can imagine from a typical Filipino family, especially in the provinces.
I like to commend the way the author just specifically describes emotion in each conversation. This allows even
just silence to evoke emotion. Furthermore, the shifting of dialogue is seamless. But its weak point maybe is that
lines are not designed to reveal the character’s personality, thought process, and feelings instead those are stated
after the line. Although it does make a plot move and subtlely reveal important details. I would like to say that
conversation in this story is an element that is necessary because it’s a kind of fiction no one would like to read
the story of urban legend creatures unless it is told by convincing old people who truly believe in them. It is
quite obvious that the author is an English major because her choice of words is impeccable. Not too easy which
can bore the reader and also not too difficult, just enough to make the story appear scholastic. I also noticed that
she directly translated Filipino words referring to creatures believe to exist only in our culture and she even
keeps Filipino words within it allowing readers like me to really picture the scene having this common
background.

The novel is generally written in the first-person central point of view. In first-person central, the narrator is also
the protagonist at the heart of the plot.  The story is presented through the Filipino custom of elders telling
stories to youngsters. The story begins as Tonyo gathers his grandchildren to tell them a story and asks them to
behave not to interrupt his story. Many writers agree as well as me that the first-person point of view is not ideal
in writing. The third-person point of view is the most preferred because it is not limited and is flexible. But here,
the author manages to creatively use the first-person point of view to build intrigue.  It suits well because the
novel’s genre is around horror and mystery having it based on the supernatural. I say that it perfectly works
because the first-person point of view limits the reader’s access to information. As a reader, I only get to know
and experience what the narrator does or say. While reading, I am having guesses and thoughts about who was
the first person to kill the ‘manlalayug’ because it was not directly stated and so I link everything and it was
Tonyo’s great-grandfather. The novel successfully builds intrigue and suspense in the story. This is another
proof that mind games never fail to catch the reader’s attention if employed well.

I would probably rate the author’s style a 9/10. I personally like the way that the author presents the story.  
Maybe any reader of my level of age or interest would agree that a direct and plain story presentation with mind
tricks is good because it engages readers from the beginning to the very end. There are only a few details about
the author, Maria Aleah Taboclaon she has a wide background in proofreading and writing as well as in
blogging. She is a product of UP and has Bachelor’s degree in Education an English major. That could be a
reason she knows well the interest of readers making the story concise. Her style of writing is not much unique,
in fact, I see it as a common style but effective. When I read the story it is more like a academic ideal kind of
story. No underlying message or way that tells about the author herself.

At first look, the material l is a good example of a Filipino novel because it promotes our very own culture
validating the mystical creatures we believe exist.   So one might think that Filipino readers are the sole target
audience, but to me the author’s choice of words is inclusive and its major strength is keeping Filipino identity
within it. She keeps Filipino words such as; manlalayug, Apo, Tatay, great-lolo, etc. which adds to the credibility
building of the story. Instead of saying ‘creature’ to refer to manlalayug she uses the term “ not like ours”, sure
simply but this is the very Filipino. Furthermore, I think it is worth mentioning that the author really did pay
attention to the details of the description up to the choice of the name of the characters.

Overall, the story of ‘Tonyo the brave’ by Maria Aleah Tacboclaon is a great story of its genre which is Filipino
splash fiction.  The message of bravery is greater than fear, especially for the family is very clear in the story. I
guess the one question I had about this novel is why did the writer believe this supernatural story of her friend
that she even decide to make it a story?

TRES

The graphic novel Trese revolves around Alexandra Trese, the Kambal and Captain Guerrero, wherein they are
solving supernatural occurrences or accident. Because of that Trese is open in different perspective depends in
the issues/chapters of it. For example in the issue number one, wherein it delivers the readers in the perspective
of a happy couple wherein his partner died because of some sort of accident cause by a supernatural creatures – a
White Lady. Therefore, the woman is willing to do anything for the sake of his love one. Which is parallel to
real-life scenario, because mostly if we are under grief, we tend to do anything and sometimes it cause us
something. Just like in the first issues of Trese, wherein she gave her four months old baby to aswang in
exchange of something that can kill the White Lady. Basically, the driving force of the different character’s
action are out of their love for their family members they lost or they want to protect – some are trying to prove
something just like the Tikbalang creature. And proving something is not new to us because in life, we really
need to prove our self in order to protect something – and that’s what the Tikbalang did though because of that
he killed people. And that action reflect something, because in the act of proving ourself, sometimes we use
people or we looked down on them. Therefore, based on the above mentioned statements this graphic novel
provides different point of view depends on the readers.

The way the author presents the story is simple and plain yet, he successfully deliver every details of the whole
story. Since it is a graphic novel, which mean it includes images and shading, it is really necessary that the text is
simple. Because the rule of graphic novel is, the text should be simple in order for the reader to enjoy the
graphics and the story. Therefore, in a scale of 1-10, the writing style of the author is a 9 it is concise and the
story delivers clearly. While in terms of the root of the story, basically the author have knowledge regarding the
Filipino language as well as the culture and different supernatural creatures. That is why in the story, the word
“tabi-tabi po” were utilized many times. Aside from that, White Lady, Tikbalang, Aswang and Duwende has
been mentioned as part of story. Therefore, it is safe to say that the author is truly knowledgeable in Philippine’s
culture and supernatural creatures. Though the author’s writing style is not that unique, since many writers also
use two languages in a single story. But because of that, the story became more interesting, and it caught the
reader’s attention. Furthermore, if the readers are a Filipino, the story can easily connect with them since the
context of the story is more on the Filipino customs, culture and supernatural creatures. But in general, the story
can reach various audience, since it is not only about supernatural creatures, it is about doing anything for our
love one.

Trese is a novel that gives the breakthrough of its Filipino author named Budjette Tan who is known to write
under the genre of thriller and fiction along with his co-author ----- they manage to publish one of the most
successful=-=====. There is nothing much to dig into the author’s choice of words in this novel because it is in
the form of its sub-genre which is a comic. When I read the whole novel I can see the long years of experience in
writing because of its conciseness. He understand well the kind of sub-genre he was writing the story, so there is
no other unnecessary words or description, everything is brief and direct. The author’s choice of words is pretty
casual and usual but I commend the detail up to the sounds of expressions. Just like in other novels, there are few
Filipino words retained in the story such as the name of the ‘Tikbalang’. Also, when I say the author’s choice of
words reflects his many years of experience it is because I noticed words that for example “maverick” referring
to the stallion that bypasses the law of their tribe that very well suit it genre. I believe this parallelism in writing
wherein context matches the words used. In the story it makes the main characters appear nonchalant, cool,
mysterious heroes furthermore they are dealing with supernatural creatures who usually are evil and deviant
appearing. So to emphasize the appearance of the story they wanted to project as well as to add impact, that is
why it contains profane words. Though this is very minimal and countable, I think the comic will require adults
or parents’ permission and certainly not suitable for very young audiences. The message of the story is clear, that
we go beyond for a reason. It could be because we suffer from the loss or we wanted to protect our family. In the
story, Alexandra’s grandfather was a hunter as well as her father and they were not in the picture so she had
questions about her identity.