It was few days or just a week ago when my younger sister and I had  a small argument about what TV show to watch. She was insisting on this “Rakista” show, which unfortunately I don’ know then, but with my curiosity, I gave in and decided to watch it.

I didn’t have any regrets at all for watching it. In fact, I find the “Eraserheads episode” cool. Though it could be a bit cheesy, it wasn’t bad at all. It is even better than to some shows being aired over the two giant networks so you should never miss “Rakista“! Honestly, it even exceeded my expectations.

So what is Rakista all about?

Rakista is a weekly television comedy about the misadventures of a newly formed rock band called The Love Team, composed of five college students. There’s Caloy (Carlo Aquino), the introverted songwriter who formed the band because of the girl he loves; Ted (Charles Christianson), the chick-hungry manager who thought being in a band could improve his chances with the ladies; Nix (Alchris Galura), the musical prodigy who thinks he is above everyone else; Bebe (Rhea Nakpil), the emotional girl who refuses to be known as such; and finally, Sven (Wincy Ong), the school weirdo whose identity is about having as many identites as possible.

The Love Team was initially formed during an Eraserheads tribute night, when the two best friends Ted and Caloy decided that forming a band would increase their chances of romance. Caloy has been head-over-heels in love for the longest time with CC (Denise Laurel), a former-prom-queen-turned-artist.

During the same night, CC and Caloy form a bond that turns the two into good friends. It’s obvious that the two are perfect for each other. There’s just one thing – CC is the girlfriend of the most popular man on campus – Sonny Valencia (Marco Morales) : swim team captain, all-around nice guy and school presidential candidate.

And that’s just the beginning. Throughout the series, the band goes through all the ups and downs that a Pinoy indie band goes through: from the first gig to recording a demo to near break-ups to hellish jamming sessions. They go through a lot of other weird things no Pinoy band goes through as well – assassination attempts, an escape from Cubao X, artist zombies, the evil ping pong team and angry mobs at the Eraserheads reunion concert.

Rakista was created by award-winning filmmaker Quark Henares and Diego Castillo, guitarist of the rock band Sandwich. Apart from the two, writers for the show include Palanca Award-winning author Yvette Tan and Philippine Star columnist Erwin Romulo.

The roster of directors include music video directors King Palisoc, Mihk Vergara, Zig Marasigan, Edsel Abesames and cult favorite RA Rivera, who won best director at MTV Pilipinas music awards for his video of Radioactive Sago Project’s Astro. Mikey Amistoso of Ciudad and Diego Mapa of Cambio are credited with the original music of the series, and each episode also features narration by poet and vocalis of Radioactive Sago Project, Lourd de Veyra.

Rakista airs every Thursday night at 7 pm, with replays on Sundays at 1 pm on TV5.

(Article and photos courtesy of Micamyx)