''Hello Stranger'' (sometimes styled as Hello, Stranger) is a 2020 Philippine

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

starring

Tony Labrusca Anthony Angel Labrusca Jr. (; born August 7, 1995), professionally known as Tony Labrusca, is an American actor, model, and singer based in the Philippines. Labrusca first gained his popularity via a McDonald's Philippines TV ad in 2016, ''Tul ...

and JC Alcantara. Directed by

Petersen Vargas Petersen Vargas is a Filipino filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Cinema One Originals Best Picture winner '' 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' (2016) and the web series ''Hello Stranger'' (2020). Early life and education Vargas was born and rai ...

and produced by

Black Sheep Productions Black Sheep Productions (or simply Black Sheep) is a Philippine film studio that is a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Film Productions, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation. Founded in 2018, the studio produces films that are situated in between independent f ...

, the series premiered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

on June 24, 2020, airing on Wednesdays at 8:30 PM PST. It concluded on August 19, 2020 and is available for streaming on

iWantTFC iWantTFC is a Filipino over-the-top content platform and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation, formed in 2020 through the merger of two streaming services iWant and TFC Online. In a ...

. This series is currently available on Netflix PH May 10, 2021.

Plot

Amidst the lockdowns due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, two college boys in

Adamson University Adamson University ( fil, links=no, Pamantasang Adamson) also referred to by its acronym AdU is a private, Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Congregation of the Mission in Manila, Philippines. The univers ...

are about to cross paths for a school project. Mico (JC Alcantara), a nerdy college student gets to partner with the star basketball player Xavier (

). Despite their stark differences, the two boys get to form an unlikely bond that goes beyond friendship through their several online interactions.

Cast and characters

Below are the cast of the series:

Main

as Xavier de Guzman * JC Alcantara as Mico Ramos

Supporting

Vivoree Esclito Maria Vivoree Niña Matutes Esclito ( ; ; born August 3, 2000), professionally known as Vivoree, is a Filipino singer, actress, television personality and model. She came to prominence after joining '' Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7'' for which sh ...

as Kookai Yambao * Patrick Quiroz as Seph Policarpio * Miguel Almendras as Junjun Sandico * Gillian Vicencio as Crystal Santos * Meann Espinosa as Prof. Kristine Moran

Production

On June 14, 2020, Black Sheep Productions, a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

ABS-CBN Films ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Philippines, Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film ...

, previewed a teaser about their launching their first

boys' love ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created b ...

series at the height of the popularity of '' 2gether: The series'', a Thai boys' love series. Petersen Vargas, who also directed ''

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten ''2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' is a 2016 Filipino coming-of-age drama film directed by Petersen Vargas in his feature-length directorial debut and written by Jason Paul Laxamana. The film stars Khalil Ramos, Ethan Salvador and Jameson Blake. It depict ...

'', ''Lisyun Qng Geografia'', and ''Hanging Out'', was named as the web series' director.

was among the first cast revealed to be part of the series along with JC Alcantara, who played the role of Bogs in '' Halik''. Aside from Labrusca and Alcantara, Gillian Vicencio, Vivoree Esclito, Patrick Quiroz and Miguel Almendras were also announced as part of the cast.

Episodes

Reception

Its pilot episode garnered more than one million views from its digital medium several days after it was released on June 24, 2020. Prior to the release of its eighth and final episode, the web series accumulated more than fourteen million views. On August 16, 2020, the cast held its first digital fan conference.

Film sequel

A full-length film sequel to the web series was announced by its lead actors during the digital fan conference on August 16, 2020 and was confirmed by Black Sheep Productions with a tweet saying "Not a Zoom movie guys, but an actual live movie!". The film sequel was released on 12 February 2021 on

KTX Korea Train eXpress (), often known as KTX (), is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004. From Seoul Station ...

TFC IPTV The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a 24-hour global subscription television network based in Daly City, California with studios in Redwood City, California and offices in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, UAE, Ethio ...

PPV,

Sky Cable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of ...

PPV and

Cignal Cignal (pronounced as ''signal'') is a Philippine satellite television and IPTV provider, owned by Cignal TV Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the MediaQuest Holdings Inc. under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. Cignal's prepaid electronic ...

PPV.

Soundtracks

References

External links

Youtube Playlist

Black Sheep Productions
* {{IMDb title, 12545754 2020 web series debuts 2020 web series endings Philippine LGBT-related web series