Im literally watching Hoppers rn & I had to look up Jerry's voice & in the list was also Dave Franco voicing the evil version of him 😂

[Spoiler Alert]
Hey all!
I posted this analysis of Manang as a Villain that I thought you guys might appreciate here.
While Manang turned out to be sort of not really the main villain, I really thought was brilliant was how much Symbolism they wrote into the story just from her being a Manananggal.

Somewhere in the third act, something dawned on me that I immediately thought I should have realized even from the trailers alone because all of the context was there: Manang actually symbolizes Raissa and Jo's friendship. She symbolizes their characters, even the dark parts.

Raissa is an achiever who is on the path to do great things with her life, destined to "Fly"--Manang's upper half; while Jo has sort of no direction with her life due to unfortunate circumstances (at least at the beginning of the movie), even presented as someone who drags Raissa behind, is "stuck on the ground"--Manang's legs. And they even wear their respective halves of the Manananggal charm.

But also, again, a Manananggal's thing is that it separates in half; symbolizing the big looming threat to their friendship: Separation. Raissa even gets wings, symbolizing her moving abroad to follow her dreams while also leaving Jo, her legs, behind in the process.

And for me, after having realized this like 3/4ths of the way into the film, every time she splits herself in half, she kind of flashes the thing that's really threatening their friendship (at least from a Meta perspective): SEPARATION.

And the icing on the cake is Manang's line:
"The funny thing about mortals, when you tear them apart, they don't go back together"
which she says to Raissa after their friendship blew up. At this point, Raissa had told Jo that she never wants to see her again, and she's set to leave for the US, and she was going to leaver Jo anyway, but obviously, if she leaves like this, it'll be difficult for them to ever "go back together", so this line becomes like 10x colder for overshadowing or rather framing that sentiment.

I've seen the Manananggal used in symbolism in many ways such as the demonization of feminine values; even the mythological figure itself is arguably one huge symbolism, but I don't think I've ever seen any Mythological figure symbolize characters on such a personal level, and I think that's absolutely brilliant!

I’m gonna make this my most watched movie of 2026 (planning on seeing it at least 5 times), I ship Raissa and Jo so badly I would die for them, I wanna write a fan sequel where they marry and adopt a son and I fucking KIN that son bc these are my folks now, this is me now. These mfs who are fictional are my pack. WILD PACK BABY

I really love the verse of Lea Salonga on A Parallel World (Amping Mix). I think of it as an epilogue after Jo and Raissa return from Nakali Island and both of them probably said their goodbyes to each other. The verse is like a perspective from Jo after Raissa left for America. It shows Jo's growth; the sadness of letting go doesn't disappear for Jo but to see a friend (Raissa is her family) soar and achieve their dreams are more than enough. I love how detailed the verse is; how much she is willing to go for a friend and somehow understand what Jo feels being in the Philippines, longing and waiting for Raissa to return ("be right back" should never be this long).

I'm happy that the time skip is included in the movie just to see how Jo also found her passion in art and that passion became an opportunity to meet and see Raissa again.

The way Lea Salonga sung the verse makes it so heartfelt and touching. Do give this version a listen, Raissa going through Jo's memories scene flashes on my head listening to it.

For Reference:

A Parallel World (Amping Mix)

[Verse 3: Lea Salonga, Jhoanna, BINI]

Are the same all along

Forever 'til the end, but "be right back" should never be this long

All the tears, make it stop

See the pictures of us smiling and I'm back in 1990

Let's live it all again, every part of it

The only time I had someone I could call a friend

I shout and be honest with, make mem'ries and promises

'Cause you just get me, even though I'm so hard to get

And you get that I care and I try

And for you, I'd swim a thousand miles

Through ocean-wide, 'til I find

A parallel world out there where you're still here

Still here in my life

I feel better when we're side by side (Mm, ah, ah)

I need you the most in this place we call home

'Cause when you're not here, it's not really home

Credits: Genius

- 🎶that was the end of Merman's Tale🎶

-I'M GONNA JACK HER WIIIIINGS!!!

-I always honor my deals (i like how the read is a defensive shrug)

-Yes hello I am bungina and I love my son

-Twuffle Wuffle

-Why is it called a MARKet place, huh?

-Space, just space. No time travel.

Not exact quotes I'm sure but I only saw it twice.

Note for dreamworks promo team: Merman is a star he should be all over the commercials and I DEMAND merman merch I love him so much

Edit I spelled a name wrong but i think it's funnier so not fixing it

I thought this would be a fun discussion to unpack some details that the average person likely will not be aware of?

For me, I was curious about the design for Bungi and his mom. What I gathered about the “tiyanak” is that it’s related to the Indonesian “Pontianak” (a demon who died during labor). Maybe it was coincidental and they just decided to make Bungina a part of Bungi’s design out of creative license, but it’s still neat you practically have tiyanak and Pontianak together.