With a fan base of 180 million and growing, India is poised to become one of the most significant markets for anime content in the world after China even as the global popularity of anime, which has its roots in Japan, is on the rise.
Anime market in India is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% from 2024 to 2030, driven by factors such as Japanese pop culture, global media exposure, and demand from millennials and Gen Zs, as per the US-based Grand View Research.
It estimates the global anime market to be $31.2 billion in 2023, with a projected 9.8% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.
Experts said anime offers OTT platforms an opportunity to target teens and youngsters in the 12-24 age groups.
“Anime is a global favourite for early teens. Very little content is made for that age segment,” said Uday Sodhi, senior partner at digital strategy consulting firm Kurate Digital Consulting. “OTT platforms need to start seriously looking at anime content.”
Sony Group Corporation-owned Crunchyroll, which is dedicated to anime content, set up shop in India last year by incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary and earmarking an initial investment of $10 million.The platform has over 800 anime titles in India with 8,000 hours of content. Over 70 shows have been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Globally, Crunchyroll has 13 million paid subscribers.
Prime Video Channels, the OTT aggregation arm of Prime Video, launched Animax + Gem and Anime Times last year to cater to a growing anime audience base in the country.
Recently, JioCinema launched a dedicated Anime Hub as part of its premium offering priced at ’29/month. The platform will provide real-time global releases and a library of hundreds of hours of top anime titles.
“Over the past few years, there has been a significant growth in the popularity of anime in India, with this genre attracting a considerable fandom owing to its captivating storytelling and visually striking animation,” a JioCinema spokesperson said.
Disney+Hotstar and Netflix, too, have a good amount of anime content in their libraries.
Other OTT platforms, too, are expected to explore anime content due to its potential.
In an earlier interview with ET, Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini had said India is the second largest anime market in the world after China and is growing very fast. “In the regions where we are present, India would be the largest market in terms of potential audience. We expect 60% of the global anime growth to come from India,” he had said.
The Crunchyroll head said 53 million Indians watch anime content from official sources. He also stated that the anime audience is split 60:40 between males and females.
