A review of Disney+ and Bumilangit’s Tira. Indonesia has had a surge in superhero content these few years after COVID almost killed it. Although local comic sales are defeated by those of manga (which have already ruled the sale of all comics in Indonesia since at least the nineties), some notable local superhero comics were published during and after the pandemic. Films were also released.
After shocking the world with the cult classic Gundala: Rise of a Hero in 2019, Bumilangit, the nation’s largest comics intellectual property studio, already planned for many more movies in their Bumilangit Cinematic Universe… until COVID came and practically “banned” production. However, during the pandemic, they planned a superhero series as part of an overall deal with Disney, which sees Bumilangit’s movies be exclusively distributed by Disney+ on streaming and simultaneously co-produce and distribute new series produced by Bumilangit.
According to Bumilangit Cinematic Universe producer and Gundala director Joko Anwar (best known for Satan’s Slaves and Impetigore), it took a pandemic to have the first of those series to finish production. After an announcement at the 2022 Indonesia Comic Con, two Bumilangit Cinematic Universe movies (Sri Asih: The Warrior―another acclaimed Bumilangit Cinematic Universe movie―and Virgo and the Sparklings), and two gala premieres (the first one which I saw), Tira―based on a kinda-obscure local comic character―premiered on Disney+ Star (the equivalent of Hulu outside the United States) in mid-December 2023. Eight episodes in total, Tira just concluded its run in early February.
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The series follows Suci, a stuntwoman who has a traumatic past that made her fear heights. One day, she stumbles upon a child sacrifice ritual featuring a mantra written in an antediluvian conlang, or constructed language, and manages to thwart it… but not with consequences. Apparently, after the thwarting, Ben, a “teaching assistant” in her college bestowed with indigo powers, claims that she is now cursed: she only has forty days to live. Things get even more complicated after that, which I can’t put here unless you want to see a wall of text, but TL;DR: nine people have the same curse; some use them for good, but many use them for harm and power. Suci must now face them in a race against time to undo the curse.
The series is unique in that it features what could become Indonesia’s first major conlang: Armeh Luh Irashami. Created by one of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe’s planners (and not the Hollywood monopoly over modern conlanging, David J. Peterson of Dothraki fame!), Armeh Luh Irashami (itself meaning “our caged mother” in the conlang) is presented as a language that originated long before the creation of humans on Earth. The conlang is featured in some scenes throughout the series, from the first to the last episode.
Meanwhile, the fight choreography is pretty good for a mid-high budget, Disney-backed but locally-produced series, especially knowing that this is a series that follows a stuntwoman. The plot even thickens throughout the course of the show, with foes becoming friends for their own gains, etc. However, the finale climax isn’t as awesome as the rest of the series, with some people wishing that the climax could have been better and more dramatic. And the story itself ends with a cliffhanger, too. Maybe the folks at Bumilangit plan to end Tira’s curse in future Bumilangit Cinematic Universe films, particularly Godam & Tira, which was confirmed by Joko Anwar in 2022 to be filmed in mid-2023.
The series’ combination of awesome plot and awesome CGI and VFX has brought Bumilangit back into the spot it deserved, especially after Sri Asih and Virgo and the Sparklings didn’t run well in local cinemas. Unfortunately, however, despite being a Disney+ Star original series, the series might not arrive stateside; it’s currently available only in the Indonesian and Malaysian versions of Disney+. But I hope Disney brings Tira and the rest of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe stateside for streaming on Disney+ or Hulu.
What do you think of Tira on Disney+? Leave a comment and let us know.
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