The popular anime streaming service, Crunchyroll continues to expand its presence in India with a strategy that includes creating anime based on Indian stories and franchises in collaboration with Japanese creators. In a recent interview, Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini revealed that the platform plans to work directly with Japanese creatives to develop anime series that explore characters, themes and stories originating from India. Additionally, Crunchyroll is expected to launch merchandise in the country, with Purini stating that “very soon, fans will be able to wear the products from our franchises that they are so passionate about.”

This announcement follows the opening of Crunchyroll’s first office in Mumbai in October 2022, with plans for a second office in Hyderabad. The company already licenses between 25 and 40 anime series quarterly in India and collaborates with local partners to offer dubbed versions of these series, in addition to sponsoring related conventions and events. Recently, Crunchyroll aired a special program about “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” featuring voice actors from the series.

As part of its strategy to combat piracy, Crunchyroll has introduced extremely low subscription fees in India, where the service can be accessed for just 79 rupees per month (approximately 94 cents). Additionally, the company has launched a free, ad-supported channel on Amazon Prime Video in India, similar to the Crunchyroll Channel in the US, with the aim of attracting new fans before converting them into paying subscribers.

Crunchyroll's plans to adapt Indian stories into anime format reflect Purini's vision of maintaining the Japanese essence of anime. As he explained, while the source material can come from anywhere in the world, it is crucial that Japanese creators continue to actively participate in these projects. Purini highlighted the success of Korean webtoons as an example of how Crunchyroll has collaborated in the production of series, citing the case of “Soil Leveling“series that Crunchyroll proposed to Aniplex and which was well received by fans.

Source: Rest of the world