“FINALLY.”
This was what fans of the hit Kapuso historical portal fantasy series “Maria Clara at Ibarra” exclaimed after the network announced its release on streaming giant Netflix by next month.
GMA Entertainment on Friday reported that the groundbreaking show would be available for viewing starting April 14, 2023.
The award-winning series aired its finale last February with a total of 105 episodes.
It previously aired on Channel 7 every weekday at 8 p.m. It was also available for streaming on GMA Network’s Kapuso Stream on YouTube, the network’s website, and the GMA Network mobile app.
The series was supposed to end around the third week of February but it was extended due to insistent public demand.
It aired its last episode on February 24.
Throughout its run, “Maria Clara at Ibarra” or MCAI gained a loyal following and produced a successful onscreen love team with Barbie Forteza and David Licauco.
Meanwhile, fans and other interested Pinoys expressed excitement over its future release on Netflix.
Others looked forward to rewatching the series while some anticipated the freedom of having to watch it at their own time and convenience compared to when it was aired on television.
“Finally. Mapapanood na nang maayos. Also, sana ma-encourage si Netflix na mag-produce ng local content,” a Twitter user partly said.
“Finally!!!! Maria Clara at Ibarra on Netflix starting April 14! This is the only show that will make me continue my subscription to Netflix, wala ng iba! Might as well hype this @Netflix_PH, @netflix and take [PH] content seriously, and please stream this to other territories!” another online user wrote.
“Finally naa na ang MCAI sa Netflix this April 14, I’ll bawi na lang, kay last year pa last watch ko, basta around [episode] 60+ na’ko,” exclaimed a different Pinoy.
“FINALLY… magagamit ko na ulit Netflix [account] ko, naka-tengga after matapos AoS.. two months natengga HAHAHAHA wala ‘kong bet panoorin, [maski] K-drama. Hinahanap ng puso ko MCAI… BUTI NILAGAY NA NILA [MCAI] MAG-RETWATCH NA ITO…” wrote a different Twitter user.
“ATTENTION! MCAI WILL BE AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX STARTING THIS APRIL 14! [heart emojis] Relive the beautiful scenes of this award-winning teleserye,” a fan account of David tweeted.
MCAI follows the story of Klay Infantes (Barbie), a Generation Z nursing student who initially doesn’t care about studying Jose Rizal and his novels.
She gets transported into the book’s world and learns more about the popular characters such as Maria Clara (Julie Anne San Jose) and Crisostomo Ibarra (Dennis Trillo).
Klay additionally gets to have a glimpse of the Philippines’ past and how Filipinos lived their lives during the Spanish Colonial Period.
Throughout its run, the series earned high ratings and reached trending status on the internet.
It also won six recognitions from the 2022 Gawad Banyuhay, the 2022 PPOP Awards, the 5th Gawad Lasallianeta, the 2023 7th GEMS Awards, and the 2023 Platinum Stallion National Media Awards.
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