Marina (2004 TV series)


Marina is a Philippine television drama fantasy series broadcast by ABS-CBN, starring Claudine Barretto. It premiered on February 23, 2004. The series ended on November 12, 2004 with a total of 188 episodes; it was replaced by Lovers in Paris in its timeslot.

Synopsis

Marina takes the viewer on the fairy-tale adventures of the mermaid Marina. Born as Cristina to human parents Esther and Elias, Marina falls victim to a curse by Victoria, a sea deity disguised as a normal woman. Seeking vengeance on Elias, who spurned her love and married Esther, Victoria cursed their daughter. In the hopes that Victoria would lift her curse on the child, Elias leaves Esther but eventually falls into insanity. Esther, on the other hand, was left to raise Cristina alone. When the curse came true and the child turned into a mermaid on her seventh birthday, Esther realized that Cristina's life would be endangered in their superstitious fishing village, where mermaids are believed to be unlucky. As such, Esther is forced to release Cristina in the sea, where she is found and cared for by the mermaids headed by Istah, their beauteous queen.
With the heart and mind of a human being, Cristina, now also known among the mermaids as Marina, dreams of nothing else but to walk again and live the life that was taken away from her. This is only possible through the sea witch Dugong. Marina seeks the help of Istah, who gives her a precious necklace to be offered to Dugong in exchange for her legs.
Marina became human again and returns to the land to reclaim everything. However, she soon discovered that when the moon is full, she becomes a mermaid again and that only true love's first kiss can break the curse. Dugong, on the other hand, learned that the powerful necklace of Istah was a trap. Donning the necklace, she discovered that she cannot remove it and, worse, suffers the same injuries Marina does.
Meanwhile, Dugong's mother and Victoria's aunt, Tandang Ella, pays a visit to Victoria. She trades the power of the Aram for a chance to see her daughter again. Dugong, having been separated from her mother since she was an egg, harbored ill feelings but, upon learning that her mother is alive and is looking for her, could not help looking forward to meeting her mother. Victoria, however, tricks the old woman and kills her the moment she met her daughter, believing Dugong hated her mother anyway. She kept the power of the Aram for herself.
On the eve of Marina's 21st birthday, Victoria and her daughter Luna pay a surprise visit to give her stepdaughter her "gift". Using the powers of the Aram, she turns Marina back into a mermaid. Victoria then went to a circus where she made the poor mermaid the star attraction. When the circus master wanted more oddities to star in the circus, Victoria also used the powers of the Aram to capture Dugong and her slave, Pearly.
Rodge attempted to rescue her love but Luna had placed him under a curse, turning him into a kitten. Eventually, with the help of her newfound friends, Marina was able to get away from Victoria's clutches and eventually found her way into another fishing town, to a family of fairies.
The King of the Seas ordered to have Victoria and Luna arrested and placed inside a force field prison to prevent them from escaping. Marina, on the other hand was now able to live her life as a human when she married Rodge and was now pregnant.
All things seem well except for Victoria. She wants to get revenge on the people who foiled her evil plans. She had heard of a meteorite stone that, once in the hands of its owner, can give out an enormous power. She escaped from her prison and got her hands on one of the stones that fell that night. By using its power, the evil witch had Luna and Marina switch places, with the latter's unborn child now in Luna's womb.
One day, Marina woke up, found herself inside a prison and the shokoy guards calling her "Luna". She eventually came to the conclusion that Victoria will not rest unless she gets her way. With the help of many of her friends who see her as Marina beyond what they physically see, they were able to break Victoria's spell, although Marina's child was still inside Luna's womb.
Victoria still won't give up, that's why she had Marina killed but at the cost of her life. Marina's mother Esther began having dreams in which Marina is talking to her to get the Leafar, a magical liquid that can resurrect the dead. But Victoria was able to get into the gate connecting the world of the afterlife and the world of the living, with Marina standing in-between. Esther was surprised to see that whom she had resurrected was not her daughter but the ever-evil witch.
Marina, lost in-between the two worlds, gets help from her father, who is now a spirit. The only way to revive herself again to finally defeat Victoria is to return herself into a mermaid once more.
Eventually, she is able to defeat Victoria but at the cost of it, her last chance of being human forever. She gave her child under the care of Luna and told her to take care of her child as well as her husband, Rodge. Marina, now a mermaid for eternity, bid goodbye to Rodge and their child and returned once more into the ocean.

Character and cast guides

Human characters

Three mermaid tails were made for Claudine Barretto to play her character, Marina: two for the water and one for land. The ones for the water were heavy for the actress to wear, and sometimes required four to six people to carry her. The one tail made for land was not as difficult for the actress: she was able to move, and could take it off if she needed to.
This show started the Fantaserye mania in the Philippines. Its highest rating was 47.1%, while the average was 38.6%.
Sheryn Regis was chosen to sing the theme song of the series, a song composed by Raul Mitra and Cacai Velasquez-Mitra entitled "Kailan Kaya", which later became a big hit as part of Sheryn's debut album under Star Records entitled Come In Out of the Rain.

Awards