Justice for Love duology

"From a simple story of two siblings' rivalry, to the end of human civilization."

- Official synopsis

The Justice for Love duology (also known simply as Justice for Alicia duology in the Philippines) is a Japanese-Philippine multimedia franchise that is centered on Alicia Salvacion's miserable life and her attempts on seeking justice for herself and her loved ones. Starring Yasmien Kurdi, and mostly set in San Francisco, the duology was produced by Toho and co-produced by GMA Pictures. It is part of the larger Reiwa series.

The duology received generally positive reception in the Philippines and has been commercially successful after earning $88 million at the box office, making it one of the highest grossing Toho sci-fi films of the 21st century so far. The duology is regarded to be responsible of redefining Yasmien Kurdi's acting career, and also helped renew interest in both the disaster film genre, and the real-world discussion of asteroid impact avoidance.

Development
The concept originated from the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event, and the lack of films that visualized the possible effects of a large asteroid impact. Due to the incident, interest in asteroid impact events have drawn renewed attention, while Japanese studio Toho considered producing a science-fiction film that focuses on such event, with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event serving as the main inspiration for the film. Toho's previous sci-fi film at that time was the 2006 remake of Sinking of Japan.

The film's screenplay was adapted from The Last War, a 1961 film also produced by Toho which showcases the possible scenario of total nuclear war during the Cold War years. As the Cold War ended in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the new screenplay replaces the nuclear warfare theme with contemporary concerns regarding astronomical impact events on Earth, which includes asteroids or comets.

Following the conclusion of Justice for Love Presents: The Obsession and the release of The Final Moments short film, GMA Pictures' three-year license to the Justice for Love trademark expired in May 2022, and GMA Network allowed their rights to revert back to Toho, giving Toho the full control of the Justice for Love copyright/trademark.

Synopsis
The duology focuses on the Salvacion family, mostly on Romina's two children, Alicia and Ethan. After losing everything in what she believed to be a series of unfortunate events, Alicia realizes and later discovers that it was done intentionally by her own sibling, who is obsessed in seeking revenge, while at the same time, the world around her slowly falls apart as a 10-kilometer asteroid impacts Earth and marks the end of mankind.

Setting
The duology takes place in two locations, across the Pacific Ocean: Manila, Philippines and San Francisco, California. Additional locations include Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, and Honolulu, Hawaii. The duology takes place from 1997 until 2020, from Alicia's childhood days, to Clara's impact on Earth.

Influences
The duology is heavily inspired by multiple impact events that took place in Earth's history, such as the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which is known for wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago, following the impact of a 10 to 15 kilometer comet or asteroid in the Gulf of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Other events include the 1908 Tunguska event, the largest impact event in recorded history, and the more recent 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event.

In terms of story, the duology appears to be greatly influenced by the 2014 series Rhodora X, as many aspects in Alicia's story share similarities with the series, most notably in the prequel series. Yasmien Kurdi's character in the duology, Alicia Salvacion, is also heavily based on Angela Ferrer, Kurdi's character in the series.

The 2019 series Bihag served as the main influence for Mylene's subplot and her role in the duology. Both the series and the duology feature a scenario in which Isabelle Abiera's character gets framed for murder. Also, Jade Lopez's role in both the duology and the series is exactly the same.

Other influences on the duology are:
 * Hiram na Anak ― The streetcar accident scene bear similarities to the one shown in the series.
 * Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka ― Alicia's suicide attempt on the Golden Gate Bridge is based on a scene in the series' 42nd episode.
 * Melancholia ― The duology's depression theme was heavily based by this film. Both also feature a depressed woman as the lead protagonist, while Earth is threatened by a large impact event (a rogue planet in Melancholia while an asteroid in #JusticeForLove: End of the World).
 * Seeking a Friend for the End of the World ― Some elements of the duology share similarities with the film, such as Mylene befriending Alicia while an asteroid threatens Earth, and the story focusing only on specific individuals during a global catastrophe. Also, both have "End of the World" on their titles.
 * The Last War ― The duology's screenplay was adapted from this film. Both the film and the duology also end at the same way, depicting the ruins of a major city (Tokyo in The Last War and San Francisco in #JusticeForLove: End of the World) before showing a disclaimer stating that the events depicted in the film is a work of fiction that could happen in reality.

Themes
The duology criticizes contemporary human civilization as arrogant, destructive, and unwilling to change. Throughout the duology, the lead protagonist had suffered through a series of unfortunate events done by people that, instead of taking care of her, actually despised her for various reasons, including wealth, trust, and simple mistakes. Despite multiple attempts to have the simple life she wanted, the world around her still doesn't want her to become happy. The asteroid impact is seen by the protagonist as a way of nature to get rid of the world that despised her, believing the human race deserves to meet the same fate as the non-avian dinosaurs. The instant destruction of civilization during the impact event parallels the protagonist's suffering in the beginning, albeit on a global scale.

Legacy
Due to the continued success of the duology, Yasmien Kurdi was cast in both Godzilla: The Kaiju Invasion and in the Philippine adaptation of Start-Up. Her role in Godzilla: The Kaiju Invasion as Rebecca de Guzman was so successful that she became a recurring character of the mainstream Reiwa series.

The duology has also led to similar works in other media as well, including Don't Look Up that was released in December 2021, and Moonfall in February 2022.

Trivia

 * The Philippine adaptation of Start-Up appears to have been influenced by the unexpected success of the duology, as some of the staff and cast members from #JusticeForLove: End of the World were cast for the series, including its director Gina Alajar, its lead protagonist Yasmien Kurdi, and Lovely Rivero, who portrayed Corazon Salvacion in the duology.