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Crunchyroll expands Indian market presence as localised dubs drive 65% of total viewership
As minutes watched per viewer double & total watch time grows 3.5X, Crunchyroll is expanding its India strategy across localisation, communities & cultural partnerships.
Siddhesh Shirsat25 Sep 2026
08:00IST
New Update
Anime’s journey in India has moved far beyond the confines of television screens and tightly knit fan communities. What was once considered a niche interest has increasingly become a visible part of youth culture, driven by streaming platforms, social media, theatrical releases, creators, cosplay and fan conventions. Today, anime is not just being watched; it is being discussed, recreated, celebrated and shared across communities.
The evolution is also changing how audiences discover entertainment. A new viewer may encounter anime through a creator, a theatrical release, a social media conversation or a collaboration involving a familiar celebrity or cultural figure. For platforms operating in this space, the opportunity is not just limited to serving established fans. It lies in making anime accessible to audiences discovering the medium for the first time and building an ecosystem around that interest.
Capitalising on early shifts in viewership habits, Crunchyroll debuted in the US on May 14, 2006, as a platform tailored to anime and Japanese media. As anime transitioned from a specialised niche into mainstream culture, the company systematically broadened its global reach, strengthening its footprint across Asia.
To deepen its commitment to one of the region’s fastest-growing entertainment sectors, Crunchyroll introduced a dedicated streaming service in India in January 2024.
For Ekta Gulechha, Director of Marketing at Crunchyroll, this evolution is evident in the transforming patterns through which Indian audiences discover and engage with anime content.
“Anime discovery in India is no longer confined to traditional fan communities. New audiences are finding anime through theatrical releases, social conversation, and cultural moments,” Gulechha says.
The growth is also showing up in engagement on the platform.
“Minutes watched per viewer have doubled, and total watch time has grown 3.5X over the past year. That has pushed our marketing beyond the core fanbase. We’re investing in localisation, mainstream cultural collaborations, creators, and experiences that lower the barrier for someone watching anime for the very first time,” Gulechha shares.
As anime finds more routes into mainstream culture, the task for platforms is becoming less about simply reaching existing fans and more about understanding how different audiences enter the category. That shift is shaping everything from media planning and partnerships to localization and community engagement.
Building fandom beyond the screen
India’s fragmented media landscape means there is no single path to anime discovery. Audiences may find a title through digital advertising, social media, creators, fan communities, events or theatrical releases. For Crunchyroll, this makes the marketing mix dependent on the title, the audience and the objective of a campaign.
Gulechha says the platform takes a fan-first and audience-led approach, increasingly combining multiple touchpoints rather than relying on one channel.
“The mix depends on the title, the audience we’re trying to reach, and the campaign objective, but we increasingly see the strongest impact when digital and social discovery is combined with creators, community engagement, events, theatrical experiences, and broader cultural moments, meeting fans wherever they discover anime,” she explains.
That approach reflects the nature of anime fandom itself. Unlike passive content consumption, fandom often extends into communities and activities beyond the screen. Fans create content, cosplay as characters, discuss theories, attend conventions and introduce friends to new titles.
“Community is at the heart of anime fandom. Anime fandom is not restricted to just watching it. Anime fans also cosplay, create content, discuss theories, attend events and introduce their friends to titles,” Gulechha says.
Crunchyroll is working with creators, conventions and fan communities, including fan clubs across regions and cities beyond the largest metros. The idea is to create experiences that audiences can participate in rather than simply consume.
“We work with creators, anime conventions, and passionate fan communities, including fan clubs across regions and cities beyond the largest metros, to build experiences people can take part in, not just consume. When fans feel genuine ownership of those moments, the community can grow sustainably,” she notes.
This expansion of fandom, however, also brings a commercial challenge. Many Indian viewers have traditionally discovered anime through television, YouTube or unofficial that casual interest into sustained engagement
That makes accessibility and value central to Crunchyroll’s growth strategy.
From casual viewers to committed fans
In a market crowded with free entertainment options and competing streaming platforms, Crunchyroll’s proposition rests on offering a specialised anime experience. The platform is focusing on a combination of catalogue depth, access to new episodes, localization, subscription options and experiences that extend beyond streaming.
“The focus is on making the official experience accessible, convenient, and valuable. That means offering a deep and diverse catalog, fast access to new episodes, localized dubs, affordable subscription options, and experiences such as theatrical releases and fan events,” Gulechha explains.
Popular titles can bring new audiences to the platform, but retaining them requires more than a single show. The wider catalogue and the ability to discover different genres play an important role in keeping viewers engaged.
“Popular titles can bring people in, while the wider catalog, localization, and the broader Crunchyroll fan experience give subscribers reasons to stay and keep discovering,” she adds.
Localisation is particularly important in India, where entertainment consumption is deeply tied to language. Gulechha says more than 65% of Crunchyroll’s anime viewership in the country comes from Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubbed content.
“Localization is about accessibility as much as it is about language. In India, more than 65% of Crunchyroll’s anime viewership comes from Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu dubbed content,” she says.
The strategy goes beyond subtitles and dubbing. Marketing and fan experiences also need to connect with local contexts, while retaining the Japanese identity and storytelling that define anime.
“Beyond this, we adapt marketing and fan experiences to local cultural contexts and create partnerships that help anime feel more accessible and relevant, while preserving the authenticity of Japanese storytelling,” Gulechha shares.
The role of localization points to a larger shift in India’s anime market. As language becomes less of a barrier, anime can reach audiences beyond traditional urban and English-speaking fan communities. But accessibility alone does not necessarily create cultural relevance.
For that, Crunchyroll is increasingly looking at the wider passions that already bring Indian audiences together.
Taking anime into the cultural mainstream
Partnerships offer Crunchyroll an opportunity to introduce anime to audiences outside established fan circles. The platform’s collaborations with Rashmika Mandanna and Shubman Gill, for instance, connected anime with two powerful pillars of Indian popular culture: cinema and cricket.
“Our collaborations with Rashmika Mandanna and Shubman Gill brought anime together with film and cricket, two of India’s biggest cultural passions, and introduced it to audiences through people they already follow and love,” Gulechha says.
Crunchyroll is also looking beyond these associations towards collaborations across entertainment, sports, music and gaming.
“These partnerships help to find authentic connections between anime and the passions that audiences already have,” she adds.
The decisions around which audiences and titles to promote are also increasingly informed by data. Gulechha says Crunchyroll looks at viewing behaviour, title and genre engagement, localization preferences and audience responses across different platforms and communities.
“In India, the growth in viewing time and the strong performance of dubbed content are important indicators. These insights help us understand what brings audiences in, what keeps them engaged, and where there are opportunities to reach new fans,” she explains.
In an increasingly competitive streaming market, Crunchyroll’s differentiation also lies in its specialisation. Rather than treating anime as one category among many, the platform is building an ecosystem around the medium, spanning content, localization, theatrical releases, gaming, events, music and communities.
“Anime is at the center of everything Crunchyroll does, from content and simulcasts to localization, theatrical releases, gaming, events, music and community engagement. That allows us to serve both dedicated fans and people discovering anime for the first time with an experience built specifically for the medium,” Gulechha notes.
The strategy ultimately links subscriber growth with the growth of anime culture itself. A larger and more engaged audience can create opportunities across streaming, theatrical experiences, events, creators and partnerships, making the ecosystem around anime as important as the content on the platform.
For Gulechha, success in India over the next few years will therefore involve more than adding subscribers. “Subscriber growth is important, but so is building a sustainable anime ecosystem in India. That means continuing to expand access through localisation, bringing more diverse titles and genres to fans, growing theatrical and live experiences, and deepening community engagement,” she shares.
As anime continues to move from the margins of entertainment culture towards a more visible place in India’s mainstream, the next phase will be defined by how platforms, creators, communities and brands build around that momentum.
“Ultimately, success is seeing anime become an even more established part of mainstream entertainment in India,” Gulechha concludes.
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