Crunchyroll sees uptick in active users as anime finds favour in India
Solo Leveling, Jujutsu Kaisen, Mashle: Magic and Muscles, One Piece, and The Daily Life of the Immortal King have found traction in India. Crunchyroll, LLC is an independent joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment in the US and Aniplex in Japan, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corp. Crunchyroll opened its second office in India in Hyderabad earlier this month.
Its first office was opened in Mumbai last September. It has 20 employees currently. Purini said the company is investing in scaling up talent and hiring the right team to expand in the country.
The company has so far focused on distribution channels such as mobile packages and smart TVs. Going forward, it will look at partnerships with aggregator platforms soon. It is already accessible on Prime Video Channels, a content aggregation service that makes subscription-driven video-on-demand platforms available on the Prime Video app and website, in countries like the US and Canada.
The partnership could soon make its way to India as well. To be sure, Indian audiences have been exposed to Japanese anime since the early 2000s thanks to television, and the category has benefited from a loyal fan base that has been exposed to popular shows such as Digimon Adventure, Ghost in the Shell, and Princess Mononoke. Over the years, anime’s popularity has grown significantly through social media, driven by interest groups and local online communities. Japanese animation film Suzume surpassed ₹10 crore in box office sales when released in Indian theatres last year.
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