Whilst controversy continues within Spain about the legal status of Catalan, especially in schools, Netflix has launched its first series dubbed in the language.
From Tuesday this week, the streaming site is offering a Catalan version of Cardcaptor Sakura (or Sakura, la caçadora de cartes), an anime first broadcast on Catalan channel Canal 33 in 2000. The series, based on a popular manga property, premiered in Japan in 1998 and won the Anime Grand Prix in 1999.
The Twitter account Doblatge d'Anime en Català (literally, "Anime Dubbing in Catalan") had run a campaign for Netflix to add Catalan versions of TV series and films to its library. The account encouraged followers to "support it so they include more dubbed titles".
The story revolves around Sakura Kinomoto, a young girl who accidentally releases a set of magical cards a book, named after Clow, an old sorcerer. She has to travel around the world to get them back.
Netflix already offered, in different regions, a number of series originally filmed in Catalan. One example is Merlí, a series which became a phenomenon in Catalonia during its three series run (2015-2018). Others include the films Incerta glòria (Uncertain glory) and La propera pell (The next skin) and the dramas Les de l'hoquei (The hockey girls) and Benvinguts a la família (Welcome to the family).