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Anime is no longer niche.
Audience and awareness towards it have greatly expanded in recent times due to internet connectivity, facilitating the proliferation of otaku culture. But even as it grows into a global phenomenon, the fandom is not homogeneously concentrated, varying in different regions, so I would like to take the chance to reflect on its stature specifically in India.
Background
Exposure to anime starts for most through network broadcasting on TV, with series like Pokémon and Dragon Ball on the air since the early 2000s, but it is more interesting to note the permeation of 80's children's slice of life anime into Indian broadcasting during the mid-2000s.
Indian children of my generation are well-acquainted with series like Doraemon, Shin Chan, Kiteretsu, and Anpanman, as they were dominating prime time slots by 2010. Although these were well beloved in Japan, they were not the type of anime series that had achieved monumental success in the west like Sailor Moon or Pokémon.
The truth was that some of these lesser known shows, nearly two decades old by then, were cheap to license and broadcast, and came in batches of hundreds of episodes. These series went on to define an entire generation of children, and left a massive cultural footprint on India.
I'm afraid I'll have to begin with the end: this trend with slice of life anime, crudely dubbed into English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, is dying. Doraemon is currently the highest rated children's show in the country, with over 100 million viewers as of 2019, but this is the exception, not the trend. Some of the other shows mentioned are being slowly pushed out of the air (if they haven't been cancelled already); it seems they are doomed to eventual obscurity.
Nonetheless, the impact can be felt, as these series succeeded in educating the aesthetic of anime to enthusiasts, motivating them to find more of the same, facilitated by the internet and a certain other channel. The result is some diehard fans who have become more involved with the greater anime community, the reason being anime is far superior to standard Indian programming. But don't misunderstand: anime is still niche in India.
Parental prejudice and animation discrimination
These 80s anime stood out because the storytelling was more compelling and nuanced, and the action more engaging and fluid, even for a child who didn't fully comprehend such concepts. For those that bought into it, these intrinsic anime values were ingrained early on.
Not that they were competing with much, because... well... Indian kids' programming kind of sucks, and this ties into the fundamental cultural barrier to anime's proliferation in India.
The Indian entertainment market is best characterised by conformity. Even looking beyond children's cartoons, repeating concepts and abiding to tropes are staples of Indian media, and based on this tendency to conform, animation as a whole in India has been assigned the archetype of "childish".
Animated content is automatically dismissed as "kid stuff", and native production is making little effort to break this image. Animation created in India usually features immature storytelling based on cheesy and predictable concepts, the likes of which would have no appeal to anyone older than 10. And that's the point: you're not expected to enjoy animation beyond that age.
It's true that a lot of content targeted towards children globally tends to be animated, but animation can reach audiences across ages. Western series like Samurai Jack and Teen Titans held near-universal appeal, while Rick and Morty is an example of animation aimed at adults. However, it was only animated series like Ben 10 and Billy & Mandy, targeted to a younger demographic, that were consistently imported to India for mainstream broadcasting. Dexter's Laboratory was sentenced to late night slots before vanishing, and even Avatar: The Last Airbender was cancelled after two seasons!
Overall, the diversity of content has been a target over these last few years. Nickelodeon, POGO and Cartoon Network, as of the writing of this article, air exactly 5 series everyday, with hours and hours of old series repeated. Hungama TV, arguably the father of the Indian anime boom as the once-proud home of Doraemon, is currently the last bastion for anime, albeit with limited titles (read: two of them). That only leaves the Disney Channel, with its monopoly on Doraemon. In other words, we went from dozens of anime series airing daily in 2010 to a sum total of 3 survivors in 2020. (Note that this covered the major childrens' channels, not all of them.)
And that's the reality: cable broadcast anime is all but dead in India, in no small part because parents look down on animation. Breathing life into the stereotype that animation is childish, it is an Indian parent's nightmare to learn their teenage child enjoys animated anything. In turn, the prospect of animation aimed towards an older audience is equally horrifying.
The censorship epidemic
Censorship was a huge issue with anime broadcasts. Crayon Shin-chan was cancelled as early as 2008 for instances of nudity, while series like KochiKame were mutilated beyond recognition to avoid lewd showings like a kiss on the cheek. Even Doraemon wasn't safe, as it was briefly being considered for cancellation, with conservative activists complaining that the lazy, hapless protagonist, Nobita Nobi, was a bad influence to children.
This blows my mind. A show needs to be cancelled because a character shows weakness?! Even as an isolated incident, this goes a long way to show the problems with kids' television in India, and why anime failed to penetrate the market in a big way.
The issue was that aspects of anime storytelling that were meant to be nuanced for a pre-teen or teenage audience was scrutinised for the wrong reasons. However, anime's streak of success back in the day (even outside Doraemon), speaks to its value, and how it catered to an unsatisfied demand.
Why we could connect with anime
Let's take Ninja Hattori, once considered the bread and butter of Nick India, as an example. With Dragon Ball Z airing late night, this was probably the closest thing to an action anime available to kids, and although the action was sparing, the technical elements of anime action are still present. Minimalist animation techniques lend themselves naturally to movement in fight scenes, and motion in Ninja Hattori was more fluid than anything Indian TV shows could produce at the time.
These unique flairs extended towards the plots as well. These series usually consisted of easily digestible, 6-minute short episodes. The characters were well defined because of the opportunities to dedicate entire episodes to their various personality quirks. Their strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, and shortcomings were all given equal attention, so when an impetus set off the episode, they reacted in interesting ways while staying in character.
I would like to briefly fixate on Ninja Hattori in particular. Like Doraemon (they actually have the same creator), it features a hapless boy depending on the titular character to overcome his problems. Both shows make a point to disparage their parasitic tendencies at times, sometimes through them rightfully "losing".
Kanzō Hattori of the Iga Clan, accompanied with his brother Shinzō and ninja hound Shishimaru, integrates into the Mitsuba family in suburban Tokyo. The adolescent ninja finds himself assisting young Kenichi Mitsuba, a lazy and unmotivated boy constantly relying on his foster brother's abilities to solve his romantic, physical, and academic shortcomings.
Kenichi finds a romantic rival and bully in classmate Kemuzō Kemumaki, a Koga ninja and Hattori's fated enemy posing as a student, setting the stage for conniving schemes, misunderstandings, vendettas, and rivalries.
I personally liked how Ninja Hattori kept its wider world in perspective. Ninja are implied to be dangerous combatants with deadly skills. Although these abilities are usually mitigated to allow for more lighthearted circumstances, the implications of their existence are often referenced. Hattori has always carried a sword on his back, but on the rare few occasions he draws it on a person, it agitates everyone present, because they recognise he is employing a weapon meant to hurt or kill.
Similarly, though Kenichi receives his share of criticism for relying on Hattori, it is subtly understood that he sometimes has no choice. He needs to stand up against his bullies, sure, but he's up against a highly skilled shinobi who thoroughly outclasses him, and could even kill him as an afterthought.
Kemumaki receives degrees of depth as well, as he recognises that degrading his abilities to bully a normal kid or impress a girl is beneath him. As a covert ninja hiding his identity from the masses, he constantly deals with the inferiority complex of not receiving the same recognition and praise Hattori does, justifying his jealousy. He struggles with the obligations of his double life, but sticks to it nonetheless, showing a sympathetic and responsible side. It also explains his dual drives to impress (for recognition) and to undermine (out of envy).
This isn't the pinnacle of writing, but it's believable. It's human. And it makes it so much easier to grow attached to these characters, especially because hundreds of episodes surrounding them were being rerun over nearly 10 years. It was why we loved such series in the first place, and why the remake lacked the same spark.
Losing the spectacle
Ninja Hattori actually received a 2013 remake, Ninja Hattori Returns, produced in collaboration between India and Japan for an Indian broadcast. This remake is actually still airing on Nick's sister channel, Sonic, but understand that I would be hard pressed to consider it anime. Not only does it not look or feel the same, it completely misunderstands the characters and purpose.
Plots that used to move along seamlessly as characters bounced off of each other are swapped for bland, one-directional settings. The original series didn't have to rely on gimmicks, new characters, or changes in setting to get by, because the chemistry was solid. Meanwhile, the remake's tendency towards Indian conformity is apparent. It hesitates to portray the protagonists' flaws, instead centring episodes around preachy moral concepts like protecting the environment and respecting traffic laws.
In spite of the analysis so far, these slice of life series were primarily intended as comedies, and the fun of it hinged on the details of the context and the interplay of characters. These were foundations strong enough to support hundreds of episodes. Take it away and the show doesn't flow as naturally as it used to. It's just not fun anymore.
Although, I'm not trying to warn of the impending death of anime in India. Cable broadcast aside, anime has taken to the internet globally, with India being no exception. While its a shame that television is no longer a medium to transition young viewers into anime through the mainstream (Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon), those that do find their way to anime can easily find like-minded individuals and the opportunity to watch more anime online.
If there is anything to be grateful to this generation for, it's their open-mindedness. Even those who don't watch anime have been exposed to an array of diverse hobbies and interests through the internet, as well as genuine anime, like Doraemon, in their youth. Your parents might judge you for watching anime, but your friends won't. I call that hope.
The turning point
While the slice of life series mentioned so far are the most influential anime to reach Indian children, it wasn't the only one, nor the first one. You see, there is still a sizeable gap between watching Pokémon and watching Code Geass, and one particular attempt to bridge that gap comes to mind.
Animax India changed everything. A channel dedicated almost exclusively in anime, it launched in 2004, a full year before Doraemon made its debut. Animax stripped away the padding and gave us content that was more anime than it was cartoon. As an outreach project by the largest anime network in the world, Animax spoilt us. Instead of seeking out Japan for anime, Japan and the anime industry were coming straight to us.
Interest through the internet aside, this was the reason people got into anime in India in the 2000s. By aiming for the intended older demographic, it was an authentic anime experience that could avoid the censorship and the scrutiny. And in 2011, it changed everything again.
In 2011, with the airing of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (a great series, by the way), Animax quit dubbing its anime. For the first time, anime was on the Indian air, english subbed. By this point in time, India was well behind the West, where otaku were already simulcasting the likes of Fate/Zero that very year, but this was an unprecedented jump for anime in India.
The content of Animax was henceforth authentically, blatantly Japanese. It was impossible to consider it a "cartoon" any longer, given the cultural weight that a language carries. While the spread of anime wasn't exclusive to this exact moment, those that enjoyed anime series on Animax had to accept that they were enjoying it while it was Japanese, and eventually because it was Japanese.
This was instrumental to shaping the identity of anime in India. Today, the anime community in India is subtitle-elitist. I don't mean this as a passing statement: the degree of elitism is astounding, and I can only logically trace this back to one place.
When Animax India closed shop in 2017, it was the end of an era. The repercussions aside, Animax definitely served its role. I never had the opportunity to be directly influenced by it, but can still feel the consequence of its presence. I enjoy anime because of the slice of life series that breathed life into my childhood and opened me to the aesthetics of anime, but I am a member of the global anime community only because of that one friend, that one senior, that one cousin who was Animax'ed, and nudged me in the right direction.
The industry's present and future
So, at present, we have a generation with a small but existent anime community. The streaming revolution has already hit, of course. Large scale media distributors like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video provide anime content in India. The collection is small compared to the west, but gradually growing, as interest has been clearly demonstrated during the pandemic, with the viewership for longer series like Bleach and Naruto in particular spiking.
The demand has been proven, but there will be two main obstacles moving forward, and the first is the lack of viable platforms for viewing anime. Netflix and Prime Video have stepped up recently, but none of these provide anything close to the amount of anime available through services like Crunchyroll or Funimation, or even just Netflix in the USA. It also doesn't help that while Crunchyroll does exist, the selection in India is honestly pathetic.
Which brings me to the other problem: India is a hotbed for piracy. The middle class mentality has always been stingy, even when funds exist, so piracy is considered a viable alternative to "needless spending". Further, allowances or pocket money aren't widespread concepts, so a young anime fan would have no money to commit, while most parents have little tolerance for the purchase of animated media, much less merchandise.
This leads to an inevitable feedback loop, wherein kids have to watch their anime illegally while maintaining a low profile to avoid their parents. By the time they are adults who might be able to pay for their anime, they are unlikely to be so inclined, because of a childhood spent on the high seas. These tendencies will likely be passed down to the next generation. In the years to come, we can expect the proliferation of nerd culture in India due to a more globalised generation, posing a business opportunity for the anime industry.
At present, there's not much to pay for. The internet blurs national borders, but Indian anime fans lack the facilities to legally keep up with the global conversation.
Let me lay it out plain and clear: as of 2020, we have a population pushing 1.35 billion, of which approximately half uses the internet. Even if disparities in disposable income brings that figure down to 10%, there is a potential market millions-strong waiting to be capitalised on. All the streaming companies need to do is make it accessible, and make it affordable.
Closing thoughts
Given the state of economic development in India, the country's entertainment industry is at a phase where a vast majority of the industry is centred around television broadcasting (82% of the population watches TV), so the death of Animax India was a severe blow. It set a bad precedent for such an venture, such that it's unlikely for such a channel to pop up again.
Kids' television programming has begun to shift away from anime as well to support domestic shows and franchises, even if the viewers have negatively responded to this change. Television reigns supreme in India, and anime has stopped reaching the populous through it. Piracy is the preferred modus operandi as we move into a generation that is likely to openly accept the medium.
But that doesn't mean it's hopeless. The legal and mainstream appeal of anime in India has slowed down from the golden streak during the early 2010s, for sure. But the lack of general vindication towards the fandom and the formation of tight-knit communities presents hope for the future.
The seed has been planted, and the stage is set for the future of the Indian anime streaming to be decided. But whatever outcome the future yields, the legacy of a golden age of anime broadcasts is fans like me.
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