MANGNA-FICENT

For a long time, anime and manga was looked down upon and pushed under the umbrella term of “cartoons”. India had its tryst with animated series (anime) in the early 2000s when the Japanese style of hand-drawn or computer-generated animation was telecast on TV channels like Toonami and Animax. Currently, the anime-only watchers are in a state of shock, despair, and excitement as the Shibuya incident arc in Jujutsu Kaisen series has peaked the action sequences and character arcs of all time. The Shibuya incident arc is one of the most important and longest arcs in the manga, illustrated by Gege Akutami. It covers a whopping 58 chapters. And the manga readers can’t control their excitement.   

The Shibuya Craze!

The Shibuya city in Japan experienced a real-life ‘barrier’ during Halloween much like the ‘barrier’ in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime where the outside is separated from the inside. The government banned the party-goers from celebrating the festival as Tokyo wanted to avoid huge crowds. The fans claimed that Shibuya was left to the jujutsu sorcerer/Yuji's squad this Halloween.

During the lockdown, Netflix India expanded its anime library by treating its subscribers to the unique flavours of Japanese animation series and movies. Chetan Upadhyay (24), a law student recalls, “I watched Dragon Ball Z and Inazuma Eleven but became an avid anime watcher during the lockdown.” A 2022 survey by JetSynthesys, an Indian digital entertainment company found that 83% of individuals prefer anime across all animated content options. The top three favourites are Naruto, Death Note, and Attack on Titan.

As more Japanese animation content is being streamed on OTT platforms, India is emerging as a market with a high level of anime consumption and segueing from the virtual screens to the Indian streets. What was once an elusive novelty treasure in fests like Comic Con, selective stores, and online shopping sites, anime merchandise has now hit the road and is easily accessible to the Indian fanbase. From Attack on Titan and Survey Corps T-shirts and hoodies to Naruto figurines and keychains, the local street shops have varied anime collections. Not many know that renowned film director Quentin Tarantino is a die-hard anime fan. Small wonder then that Sony-owned Crunchyroll has decided to serve a huge slice of anime pie to India. India is the second-largest anime market in the world after China. There are an estimated 180 million anime fans, who are expected to contribute 60% of global anime growth.

Content Is King

The emergence of anime as pop culture has introduced the Indian market to its counterpart, manga. Usually, the anime is an adaptation of its manga. However, it’s not a mandate for the anime to follow the story in its entirety. Simply put, anime and manga have different fanbases. Anime watchers do not necessarily read the manga as they are more fascinated by the coloured, over-dramatized visuals and Op & Ed tracks.

Manga readers have a hunger for a story to read along with compelling art illustrations. Sadija  (22), a student who started watching anime at 10 says, “My first manga was Ao Haru Ride and it was a fantastic experience. The art and storytelling were so beautiful.” Manga panels rarely move so it is easier to draw incredibly detailed artwork as seen in Kentaro Miura's renowned manga, Berserk. The readership of manga is relatively lower vis-a-vis anime binging.

Stay Booked

Awadesh Kumar Yadav, a book vendor at Flora Fountain, Mumbai who has a huge manga collection says, “After the lockdown was lifted the sales of manga increased substantially. Every day, nearly 20 customers ask for manga especially, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer.” The offline retail shopping of manga gives a pool of variety to the customer than the online sites. Aditya Sasane (25), a dentist and an avid anime watcher who started reading manga five years ago says, “As long as the word is getting out through local sales, people are going to start appreciating it more and pave their way to other stories which will eventually help the community grow.” A leading book wholesaler claimed that there has been a high manga demand from teens and young adults since 2022. “The sales are around '1.5 lakh to '2 lakh yearly.” However, just like books, reading manga requires the art of imagination.
Aayush Bhushan (25), a manga buff says, “Anime entertains but manga requires you to make an effort of visualising the artist’s illustrations.” Beyond the skill sets it requires for one to read manga, it is costly to buy as one volume of a manga set includes only eight or nine chapters. Chetan says, “For a series like Naruto, owning an entire set will cost me a fortune. So, buying one or a few volumes doesn’t complete the set.” Most fans enter the world of manga by first watching anime series. Even though anime becomes a gateway, curiosity is a mind in search of manga knowledge!

Different Strokes

What is Anime?

Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. It is a style of Japanese film, TV animation, typically aimed at young adults as well as children.

What is Manga?

Manga is a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children.

Waku Waku Times

Anime industry will have over 800 million

fans globally by 2025 India is 2nd largest anime market in the world after China

The anime market will touch $50.22 billion by 2030 Renowned film director Quentin Tarantino is an anime fan