“Trese Vol. 2: Unreported Murders“ by Budjette Tan with artt by Kajo Baldisimo is an urban fantasy graphic novel set in Manila.

Alexandra Trese hunts monsters in Manila. She’s the one the police call when something weird happens. Alexandra and her two really strange companions are very good at hunting monsters. Along the way you get to learn about some of the supernatural creatures that live in the Philippines.

I liked these dark stories and the main character is great. The police procedural setting was pretty great as well as the mood of the stories. The black and white artwork is really good.

More disconnected but still interesting stories combining noir tropes and concerns with Pilipino mythology. Trese is a it of an empty suit, but the stories are well written, the mythology is really interesting to learn, and the art, while a bit scratchy, fits the noir setting.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Liked the artwork a lot! i did not read the first one so im unsure if that matters or not (i didnt think it did) but good quick read with good, creepy art.

The blurb sounds so interesting and I’m such a nerd for graphic novels, I had to get this one even though I haven’t read vol1 and I’m so unaware of the local folklore and myths that are a central theme of these stories. My bad! I feel like I wasn’t able to properly enjoy these stories because of this, but it was still fun what I was able to understand. I kinda felt like the stories were told in a haphazard way and the focus was more on the gruesome graphics which were amazing by the way. I would have loved it ore if the graphics were colored but still, they were great and I kept staring at them for long, taking in all the details and just how cool they are. I suppose if you have been following this from vol1 and are into Filipino folklores you’d love this one too!

Described as the “modern grandchild” of local Filipino horror Komiks, Trese features strange mystery cases that involve creatures of Philippine lower mythology. Whenever the police find unfathomable occurrences around a crime scene, they call Alexandra Trese, a private detective with supernatural wit and psionic abilities capable of unravelling the strangest of cases. This new edition of Trese Vol 2 features remastered artwork of the stories and bonus pages that highlight information on the creatures featured in the stories.

I have long wanted to read Trese after reading the Thirteen Stations short story featured in Manila Noir, and this volume did not disappoint. Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s take on traditional Philippine mythology against the backdrop of the Manila concrete jungle is one that should be applauded for. Immersive and grounded both culturally and contemporarily, deep lore of the creatures such as the Duwende or Aswang is incorporated alongside the Philippine’s societal issues such as corruption, sensationalism, and underground illegal activity, presented in such a way that even rationalizes these issues in context of the mythology.

Overall, I enjoyed all four stories featured, especially A Little Known Murder in Studio 4 and The Association Dues of Livewell Village, which all had a light, standalone detective case format. I also ended up learning more about Philippine mythology. I’ve never heard of the Tiyanak, Laman Lupa, and Buhay na Bato before, and having those explained within the stories and with a dedicated page highlighting them was really helpful. My only negative comments on the novel are that the stories were quite short, which does not allow the writers to bring much depth into the character narratives, like Alexandra Trese’s family history or the Kambal’s background stories, which were an unsatisfied curiosity I had while I was reading.

Be sure to look out for Trese on Netflix this year, which is coming soon as the Philippines’ first ever anime series!

Thank you to @netgalley and @ablazepub for an eARC copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review

Impressive to say the least, the panel sequencing of this book is relatively simple and easy to get through with. Some I found rather peculiar and perplexing but the overall vibe and art style is brilliant. It evokes a sense of nostalgia for old Filipino comic strips — albeit this comic series has more darkness, grit, and visible crisp to it.

A good introduction to Philippine mythology, this book is highly entertaining and informative!

"The underworld is not as forgiving as others."

I found myself enjoying this second volume more than the first one, and the art had just become even more vivid and elevated. It was definitely a more gruesome yet very detailed work compared to its predecessor. I'm not a horror fan, but the fantasy lover in me adored its even more detailed and pristine execution.

As its usual take on the Philippine folklore and mythology with its unique presence in the World Above, I actually appreciated that not only did this volume looked into the notable folklore creatures, such as the duwende and tiyanaks, but it also added other significant real and fictional personalities in its tales, and spun it around to make it fit into the story better. This volume also explored how different current true issues and events had given the author an inspiration to incorporate it into the story. It was really amusing to see popular names of real-life businesses, celebrities, and locations given a spotlight in this volume, and any Filipino could immediately get the reference.

I even liked how there were additional diary entries from Alexandra Trese at the end of each story, because it explained more every creature that appeared in the story, which is very helpful especially for those who aren't familiar with the tales.

My absolute favorite stories in this volume were A Little Known Murder in Studio 4 and Embrace of the Unwanted.

I'm now really looking forward in continuing on with the rest of the series!

I think I like this a lot more than the first one! Trese Vol 2 follows the same format as the first volume, but in this one there were a lot of winks to Filipino urban legends (such as the Robinsons mall snake, the tiyanaks, etc) and pop culture that made me enjoy it more. I also liked the little case files in this edition that gave short descriptions about the different mythological creatures Alexandra Trese encounters. Since the short cases are compiled into one volume, you don't really get a feel of the entire cast of characters and sometimes felt two dimensional. Still, I very much enjoyed this book and it even made me laugh a few times! Can't wait to read more from the series. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in Filipino mythology and detective stories.

I'm so happy to read this since Trese is one of my favorite required reads back in high school and it shows Philippine myths and creatures I've known for my entire life. I just don't like how abortion was viewed and portrayed in this book. I don't like how the main character lowkey gaslights the doctor performing abortion because of the tiyanaks. I hated that. Why are we always blaming the victim with this, and now killing them as well for the thing that they didn't even ask for or consent for in the first place? Now I really wanted to read a Filipino story where we blame the rapists for the tiyanaks and not the victims, as it should be. The story about the reptilian man interwoven with the tiyanaks has a lot of potentials to be my favorite one in this book, however, this thing with the abortion just made me mad and disappointed.

Overall, I loved how the author gave fantastical and horror twists to real-life events that I know of here in the Philippines (except the abortion part). I also loved how Philippine creatures such as duwende, tiyanaks, and the likes, are integrated with the story and made me feel closer to my country and culture. This should've been a 5 star read, but that part about the abortion made me mad and disgusted and it doesn't sit right with me to give this a very high rating after that.

Well, after I've read the description I just couldn't walk past this graphic novel, and I have no regrets!

It was amazing! My favorite part were inserts that described certain mythical creatures! And best part of it? They were not known to me and I read a lot of fantasy! Book that has "surprise" moments is always good!

Plus female detective/cop that is dealing with different paranormal creatures, something new for sure!

Can't wait to see this on Netflix.

Thank you @DiamondPublishing and @Netgalley for ARC copy of this manga in exchange for my honest review.