The world of Doraemons and Narutos

For those who grew up in the 1990s', Jungle Book was an animation series that couldn't be missed on Sundays. But few know that the series based on the Rudyar Kipling book was an anime, a Japanese style animation.

That was the start of our fascination with Japanese animation. Indians have been one of the largest consumers of anime. It did not stop with Mowgli. There was another series, called Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was aired regularly in Doordarsan. Until a few years ago, Animax India, a channel of Sony Entertainment, telecasted Japanese anime shows before being shut down.

Today's children are enamoured with Doraemon, a Japanese television series based on Japanese comic, manga, of the same name. The series has inspired range of products.

Giving Doraemon a close competition is Crayon Shinchan, another manga-based anime. It's among the top five shows for kids aged 2-14, competing with the likes of Chhota Bheem.

Did you know Manga are hand-drawn by artists rather than using graphics?

When anime Naruto Shippuden, which follows the story of an adolescent ninja and ran for 14 years, came to an end in 2014, thousands were disappointed. Raj Kumar, 32, who runs an event management company in Chennai, was disheartened. “I have been watching it since my college days. I grew up with Naruto,” he says. “But then again that is the case with most manga,” he adds with a smile.

“It is the first thing an Indian might be caught up to, and maybe he/she doesn’t even know it is Japanese,” says Kousuke Noguchi, Director, Japan Foundation (Japanese Language and Japanese studies) on the role played by manga or anime based on manga, in promoting Japanese culture in India. “I am sure manga/anime will play more important role as a fuel to burst Japanese boom,” he adds.

Though market for manga and anime is still nascent, the likes of VIZ Media LLC, feel there is a huge potential. VIZ Media LLC, which is co-owned by Japanese publishers, entered into a partnership with Simon & Schuster India, a publishing house head quartered in the UK, for the distribution of manga in India in 2013.

Kevin Hamric, Senior Director, Sales and Marketing at VIZ Media, said in an earlier interaction with BusinessLine that since the launch, market for manga has expanded and Japanese publishing houses, which were reluctant earlier fearing piracy, are showing interest to license more titles. “The Indian market has a huge potential and hence, is an important market for us. It is still growing and within five years the market size will be significant,” Hamric had said.

Introduction of comic conventions conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and recently in Hyderabad and growing cosplay culture, where people can dress up in their favourite (anime) character, have played a role in popularising manga and anime in India.

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