Dyesebel

Synopsis

A beautiful young mermaid, Dyesebel, takes on a journey to trace her origins until she finds out that she is the daughter of a merman and a human. Disowned by the sea for being the child of Tino who was the prince of the sea and the human Lucia, she starts her adventure and explores the human world where she will meet Fredo. But this journey will be marked by a realization that she is not accepted by both worlds. And as a war between man and the underworld appears imminent, Dyesebel will choose to leave those that she loves.

— Official IWanTV! (now iWantTFC) Synopsis

Plot

The story begins when Tino, a prince of the merfolk, meets Lucia, a young woman from a fishing village. Enraged by the destruction wrought by some fishermen on marine life, Tino vows revenge on humans. However, he has a change of heart when he witnesses Lucia and her father arguing with a group against using dynamites to fish. When a stick of dynamite accidentally explodes at the height of the exchange, sending Lucia and her father plunging into the seawater, Tino decides to save them both by bringing them to the shore. While Lucia survives, her father dies due to injuries from the blast. Drawn to the young woman, Tino once again swims near the shore, only to see Lucia grieving. Tino initially looks on from a distance but decides to show himself when Lucia catches a glimpse of him and requests that she be given the chance to thank him. At first, shocked to see Tino's tail, Lucia remembers his efforts to save her and her father. She returns to the beach after initially fleeing, and sits beside Tino to talk about her life, as he does. After Haring Aurelio banishes Prinsipe Tino from their kingdom, Prinsipe Tino goes back to Lucia. He tells her that he doesn't regret his decision. He says he will always choose his family because he loves them dearly. Soon, Lucia goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl. Lucia and Tino are overjoyed and name the baby Beatriz after Lucia's mother. One night when Beatriz won't stop crying and Tino is nowhere to be found, Lucia goes to the Banca, intending to bring Beatriz to the hospital on her own. When Beatriz's feet get wet with seawater, her legs turn into a fishtail. Only the magic conch shell can turn the baby's tail back to its normal feet. Although surprised by their daughter's strange form, they promise to love their child no matter what. But in no time at all, their neighbors discovered the couple's secret. When the community is hit with a series of catastrophes, the town believes that the anomaly is caused by Dyesebel; an accusation that leads to Prinsipe Tino's death. Before her father is killed by an angry, superstitious mob, Dyesebel is taken to the ocean by him through Banak where she is sent into exile since her chances for survival are greater there than on land.

Years have passed, little Dyesebel goes near the shore and a bottle lands on her head. She inspects the bottle and she grows curious about the piece of plastic on her hand. Fredo, meanwhile, thinks he saw a little girl in the water. Dyesebel goes back home and finds Banak panicking because she is nowhere to be found. Banak scolds Dyesebel for making her worry. She scolds Dyesebel more when she finds out she went to the shallow waters. Banak remembers what happened to Prinsipe Tino. She tells Dyesebel that the people will kill her if they capture her. Dyesebel calms Banak down and tells her not to worry anymore because she's safe. She also promises not to go back to the shallow waters. Days later, Dyesebel saves Fredo from drowning during a tsunami wave. She befriends Fredo without revealing that she's a mermaid. Fredo talks to Betty and tells her about his friend Dyesebel. He tells Betty that Dyesebel is always in the water. Dyesebel, meanwhile, talks to Liro and tells him about Fredo. She tells him not to be afraid of humans because she has met a good human in Fredo. Later, Dyesebel also talks to her sea friends and reveals to them her secret. She sings to let them know that she has an unseemly voice. The other mermaids hear her singing and mock her voice. Dyesebel is very sad and she swims away to a place where she can be alone. She stays there and sings all by herself. After some years have passed, Dyesebel went swimming freely in the sea, now all grown up and very beautiful. Likewise, Fredo, Liro, and Betty have now grown into adults. Dyesebel decides to let go of her memories of Fredo. She goes to the place where she last saw young Fredo to return the bottle he left for her. When she's near the shore, Fredo is there looking out to the sea and shouting in frustration. Dyesebel thinks he's weird and she says so. Fredo hears the voice and swims towards it. While he doesn't see anyone, what Fredo sees amazes him even more. He sees the bottle he left for Dyesebel. He calls out her name and he dives into the sea to look for her. Fredo doesn't see her but he is happy because this time he knows that Dyesebel is not a figment of his imagination. This time he will do everything to look for Dyesebel.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Anne Curtis as Dyesebel / Beatriz Reyes

Ashley Sarmiento as young Dyesebel / Beatriz Reyes

Gerald Anderson as Alfredo "Fredo" Montilla

Giacobbe Whitworth as young Fredo

Supporting cast

Sam Milby as Liro

Miguel Vergara as young Liro

Andi Eigenmann as Betty Reyes

Kazumi Porquez as young Betty Reyes

Dawn Zulueta as Lucia Reyes

Eula Valdez as Reyna Dyangga

Zsa Zsa Padilla as Elena "Ena" Villamayor-Montilla

Gabby Concepcion as Dante Montilla

Gina Pareño as Stella Villamayor

Ai-Ai delas Alas as Banak

Recurring cast

Bangs Garcia as Prinsesa Coralia

Brenna Garcia as young Coralia

Baron Geisler as Kanor dela Paz

Ogie Diaz as Tomas

Nico Antonio as Gorgo

Bodie Cruz as Rafael Montilla

Carlos Dala as young Rafael

Allan Paule as Menandro

William Lorenzo as Gobi

Neil Coleta as Alvin

Marlann Flores as Sally

JV Kapunan as David

David Chua as Octavio

Erin Ocampo as Yanara

Raveena Mansukhani as young Yanara

Rigor Gorospe as Rigor

Izzy Canillo as Mako

CX Navarro as Boying

Aaliyah Belmoro as Concon

Kakai Bautista as the voice of Pinky Pusit

Thou Reyes as the voice of Karlo Kaba-kabayo

Guest cast

Bembol Roco as Fabian Reyes

Jaime Fabregas as Haring Aurelio

John Regala as Badong Manansala

Lauren Novero as Hipolonio

Markki Stroem as Ablon

Debraliz Borres as Orga

Lou Veloso as Apoika

Carlos Morales as Sylvestre

Froilan Sales as Diego

Special participation

Albert Martinez as Prinsipe Tino

Production

In April 2013, the Ravelo family granted ABS-CBN rights to 13 titles and/or characters created by the novelist. The list included "Dyesebel," which aired its pilot episode on March 17, 2014. The family of graphic novelist Mars Ravelo is proud of ABS-CBN's version of "Dyesebel," based on one of the famous characters created by the acknowledged "King of Pinoy Komiks". Dreamscape head, Deo Endrinal, revealed that to make "Dyesebel" more appealing to the new generation of Filipino viewers, they decided to make changes with the approval of the Ravelo family. He said that they did not have a difficult time convincing them to approve of the changes.

Using a technique commonly practiced by advertisers, Endrinal said they went through a "brand essence" exercise to truly understand what makes "Dyesebel" click. This also played a key role in their decision to cast actress-host Anne Curtis to play the iconic mermaid. In the beginning, the name of Anne Curtis surfaced as the lead even before GMA Network bought the rights in 2008. Edrinal explained that they actually had to go through a survey and Curtis was the people's choice to portray the 7th Dyesebel.

During filming of the series on April 3, 2014, Anne Curtis was stung by a box jellyfish and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Music

On April 14, 2014, Star Music officially released the "Dyesebel The Official Soundtrack" and is available in physical and digital formats in various music stores. Broadway actress and The Voice of the Philippines coach Lea Salonga had her own version of the Dyesebel theme song, Tangi Kong Kailangan. According to Dreamscape head, Deo Endrinal, Salonga will also be recording the soap's theme song with ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, in addition to the one performed by Yeng Constantino. Anne Curtis said she also wanted to sing the theme song, but she is contented to have a song in the official soundtrack.

Series finale

The show was originally planned to have 185 episodes, and was originally set to run until November 2014. However, it ended on July 18, 2014, with only 88 episodes produced, and 87 were aired (two produced episodes were merged into a single special for the series finale). Two episodes were pre-empted in observance of the Lenten season.