Anime is a Medium not a Genre, Big Acceptance for Dubbed Versions: Rahul Purini, President, Crunchyroll
Streaming service player Crunchyroll has recently launched its facility in Hyderabad. Rahul Purini, president, Crunchyroll discusses the evolution of niche streaming services, growing popularity of dubbed versions in India, and related aspects with B Krishna Mohan
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India market
India is a key market for anime, ranking second globally in terms of interest, trailing only behind the US. To solidify its presence, Crunchyroll, the anime streaming platform, is expanding its operations in India. The company's Hyderabad office, established as its second location in India after Mumbai, aims to grow to be Crunchyroll's largest APAC office in a year.
Investment strategy
Crunchyroll's foray into the Indian market is marked by substantial investments. The company has earmarked significant resources for content acquisition, localisation efforts, and marketing strategies. These teams are focused on expanding the anime fanbase and augmenting subscriber numbers within the region.
Industry growth and localization
With 53 million anime enthusiasts, India exhibits remarkable potential for growth within the anime ecosystem. Crunchyroll has observed a notable surge in both watch time and viewership, indicating an appetite for anime content. Notably, the platform's decision to introduce Hindi dubs has resonated well with audiences. Introduction of Telugu and Tamil dubs has succeeded in attracting a broader audience base. The dubbed versions’ engagement rate is about 58%. The
focus is on catering to regional preferences.
Technology use
Our translators, our subtitles, adaptive scriptwriters, our dubbing productions are an important part of our team. A lot of manual work is involved. We use local teams for dubbing. Subtitles are done through teams both here in India and other regions. For English, it is done by our global teams. We are experimenting with AI internally but not for anything that is in production. Subtitles are available in 10 languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Arabic and others. We have some Hindi subtitles on the platform but it is not significant as Indian fans prefer watching dubbed versions.
Subscription
Crunchyroll offers a two-tier subscription. The lowest is Rs 79 per month or Rs 799 a per year. The other is Rs 99 a month or Rs 999 annually, which allows the users to download for offline viewing. There are a lot of OTT services and we are competing for the same user. But we are focused on serving anime fans only. We have the single largest anime library in the region. We have 830 plus shows, 8,000 plus hours of content. We are not trying to be something for everyone. While the platform imposes simultaneous stream limits to discourage excessive sharing, it acknowledges the inevitability of shared passwords within familial or community settings.
Content strategy
With a focus on meeting diverse preferences of Indian audiences, the platform continually adds new shows to its library. While Crunchyroll has yet to announce any co-productions with Indian partners or IPs, the company is open to collaborations that resonate with local audiences. Anime is a medium and not a genre. While the platform's content is primarily sourced from Japan, efforts are made to ensure alignment with regional preferences and cultural nuances. We have invested in content for this market. About a year ago, we said we had about 500 plus shows in the region. At that point, it was the single largest library in the market. Right now, we are about 830 plus shows, so we've added 330 shows in the last nine months or so. We are adding between 25 to 40 shows every quarter. A significant percentage of that is also available for our Indian audience. We are also bringing movies to theatres. We recently released a movie, Demon Slayer, in theatres. At that point, it was the best opening for any international movie this year. It did more than Rs 5 crore on the opening weekend, and it is a big success. We are focused on bringing movies.
Merchandise
We have merchandise rights for Solo Leveling for India. So, you're going to see some merchandise coming out for that show soon. But, in general, merchandise is a big market. We have partners that we are working with in India that bring a lot of this merchandise for our shows into market. We are working with both sub-license partners that bring them to retail shops and e-commerce partners as well. Merchandise continues to be a big part of anime fandom.
