What’s Behind India’s Love for Anime?

Dear Reader,

Today’s kids are iPad kids. But we 2000s kids were TV kids.

I remember coming home from school, switching on the television, and, much to my mom’s dismay, watching it for hours on end. Disney Channel played dubbed American teen shows. Hungama TV played anime: Doraemon, Ninja Hattori and my favourite, Shin-chan.

That is where India’s anime story began.

Mishaal Wanvari, who runs Animation Xpress, a publication covering animation, VFX and gaming, told me that since then, anime, meaning animation from Japan, has amassed over 100 million Indian viewers across geography and class. And, it’s not just children who watch it. Adults also love shows like Naruto and One Piece for their emotional depth and the life lessons that they offer.

Anime’s rise in India and across the world is not entirely organic, however.

After World War II, Japan wanted to reinvent its global image. It spent decades exporting its design, electronics and cuisine to rebuild trust. In 2011, it launched a programme called ‘Cool Japan’, backed by 600 million US dollars, to promote its cultural products: anime, manga, food and fashion. The goal was to boost Japan’s creative industries and strengthen its soft power.

This strategy has worked particularly well in India. In 2024, marketing agency IMARC Group pegged the Indian anime market’s size at over a billion dollars, saying it’ll double by 2033.

25-year-old Deven, who runs an anime club in Delhi with 1,500 members, says they watch and discuss every new release that comes out of Japan. Darshan, a Master’s student in Hyderabad, says he dreams of visiting Japan one day. He loves the calm streets, the culture of cleanliness and the ramen. He regularly eats ramen from a local shop in Hyderabad, but wants to try the authentic version in Japan.

To learn more about how Japan uses anime to build influence, and to hear directly from Indian fans, listen to the latest episode of The Signal Brief.

Check out the latest episode of The Signal Brief to hear more stories like theirs. You can find us on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

I’d love to hear what you thought! Write to us at [email protected], or reach me directly on Instagram or Twitter at @thesignaldotco, or via email at [email protected].

Thanks for listening, and have a rejuvenating weekend.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

Note: There will be no episode of The Signal Brief next week. See you all on Saturday, November 29th.

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