Rakista is a weekly Filipino

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 television comedy/music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

al series that centers on the exploits of a newly formed rock band composed of five Filipino college students. The show was first telecast on August 14, 2008, and airs Thursday nights (with a rerun on Sunday afternoons) on TV5

Associated Broadcasting Company

The Associated Broadcasting Company, Inc is a television network in the Philippines, with main broadcast facilities and transmitter located at 762 Quirino Highway, San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. The network was previously known as the , Associated Broadcasting Company remains the legal...

. It was among the new shows unveiled by the network (formerly known as ABC5) upon its relaunch on 9 August 2008.

Rakista was created by filmmaker Quark Henares and Diego Castillo, co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Sandwich

Sandwich (band)

Sandwich is a Filipino rock band that was formed in 1995 by Raimund Marasigan and Diego Castillo for the purpose of fulfilling their mutual desire to work together. Castillo recruited former band mates from The Aga Muhlach Experience Mike Dizon to play drums and Myrene Academia to handle bass...

. Apart from Henares and Castillo, writers for the show have included music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 director King Palisoc, Palanca Award

Palanca Awards

The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature is the Philippines' most prestigious and most enduring literary awards and is dubbed as the "Pulitzer Prize" of the Philippines...

-winning author Yvette Tan and Philippine Star columnist Erwin Romulo. Each episode also features a narration by poet and vocalist for Radioactive Sago Project

Radioactive Sago Project

Radioactive Sago Project is a Filipino jazz rock band formed in 1999 in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The band's sound is a fusion of spoken-word poetry, bebop jazz, and punk...

Lourd de Veyra

Lourd de Veyra

Lourd Ernest Hanopol de Veyra is a multi-awarded Filipino musician, emcee, poet, journalist, broadcast personality and activist who first became famous for being the vocalist of Manila-based jazz rock band Radioactive Sago Project....

. Mikey Amistoso of Ciudad and Diego Mapa of Cambio

Cambio (band)

Cambio is a Filipino rock supergroup composed of Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, Ebe Dancel, Diego Mapa and Kris Gorra-Dancel.-History:When Ely Buendia left the Eraserheads sometime in 2002, remaining members Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro and Raimund Marasigan decided to continue as Eheads by adding...

are credited with the original music for the series.

Synopsis

Rakista features a behind-the-scenes look at the on-campus and off-campus adventures of a struggling newly formed rock band named The Love Team. Its soundtrack is rock music-intensive, showcasing compositions from many Filipino bands.

Cast

Actor	Character
Carlo Aquino Carlo Aquino Carlo Aquino is a Filipino actor and a lead singer with the band Kollide. Formerly an exclusive contract star of ABS-CBN Star Magic, he now appears in some shows on the GMA Network. He played the role of Oscar in the remake series Sinasamba Kita which aired on GMA...	Caloy.
Charles Christianson	Ted
Denise Laurel Denise Laurel Denise Maria Sanz Laurel is a Filipina actress and singer. Laurel is a member of ABS CBN's circle of homegrown talents, Star Magic.- Biography :...	CC
Alcris Galura	Nix
Rhea Nakpil	Bebe
Marco Morales	Sonny
Wincy Ong	Sven
Bea Garcia	Rosemarie Joy

Critical reception

Rakista has been lauded uniquely "Pinoy

Pinoy

Pinoy is an informal demonym referring to the Filipino people in the Philippines and overseas Filipinos around the world. Filipinos usually refer to themselves as Pinoy or sometimes the feminine Pinay...

" style and for its "twisted sense of humor that has never been present in [Philippine] television." Critics have attributed as among the show's influences, Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon

Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...

, John Hughes films, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and the Michael Winterbottom

Michael Winterbottom

Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...

 film 9 Songs

9 Songs

9 Songs is a 2004 British film directed by Michael Winterbottom. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the story of the film...

.