Anime Licensing in India: How Your Favourite Shows Get Streamed

Ten years ago, being an anime fan in India meant navigating pixelated illegal streams and waiting months for subtitled episodes. Fast forward to 2025 and you’re facing a totally different problem: you’re spoilt for choice. Do you watch the latest One Piece episode simulcast from Japan on Crunchyroll, binge a brand-new Netflix Original based on the Mahabharata, or dive into a Hindi-dubbed classic on Prime Video? 

Welcome to the great Indian anime streaming war. The once-niche community has exploded into a mainstream cultural force, and the battle for your attention has become a high-stakes, multi-billion-dollar conflict. 

With global giants and a new local behemoth all vying for a piece of your watchlist, here’s your complete guide to understanding the strategies, the money, and the future of anime in India.

To understand why companies like Netflix and Jio are suddenly investing so heavily, you’d have to follow the money. The global anime market is a juggernaut, valued at over $22 billion USD in 2023 and has continued to grow since.

According to a report by EY, the Indian animation and VFX sector (including anime) is projected to reach $2.2 billion by FY26. This isn't just about what you stream. The demand for official merchandise, from character figurines to those T-shirts you see everywhere, is a massive part of this financial boom, turning a passion into a full-blown industry.

Every platform has its own game plan for this fight, and it all comes down to money and strategy.

As a dedicated anime platform, Crunchyroll’s strategy is to be the most authentic and complete source for fans. Their biggest weapon is the simulcast model, getting you new episodes just hours after they air in Japan. They achieve this through a high-risk, high-reward model of investing directly in a show's production committee in Japan, working with rights holders like Aniplex and Kadokawa.

While industry estimates suggest this investment can range from $100,000 to over $300,000 USD for a single 12-episode season. It’s a huge gamble, but when a show becomes a global hit, the payoff is immense.

This strategy, combined with high-quality Hindi dubs, has propelled India to become Crunchyroll’s second-largest market globally. Their platform is a paradise for enthusiasts, packed with a massive library of Shonen, Isekai, and Slice of Life genres.

Netflix treats anime like a prestige Hollywood production, using a big-budget approach to either license blockbusters or create exclusive "Netflix Originals." For their licensed hits, they negotiate directly with major Japanese studios like Mir, NAZ, or MAPPA, with exclusive deals often running into the multi-millions of dollars per title, announced in a press release. 

But their real power move is creating their own content. By fully funding productions from start to finish, from the award-winning Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to their ambitious Indian anime "Kurukshetra," they get something far more valuable than a temporary license.

Why? Because when Netflix owns a show, they don't have to keep paying to renew it. They can make sequels, merchandise, and video games without asking anyone's permission. It’s the difference between renting a house and owning it outright. 

This strategy is clearly working. As reported by Dentsu, 48% of Netflix subscribers are anime fans, giving them a huge, built-in audience.

The merger of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar created a behemoth focused on bringing anime to every corner of India through sheer scale. Instead of negotiating directly in Japan, their approach is based on bulk licensing from regional distributors, most notably Muse Communication, the middleman for hits like Spy x Family and Tokyo Revengers. 

This is a super cost-effective way to quickly build a large library of popular, commercially proven titles. The "Anime Hub," bundled with premium cricket and other content, combined with Jio's famously aggressive pricing, makes for an unbeatable value proposition that introduces anime to tens of millions of users.

Prime Video is playing a different game. Rather than fighting in the expensive licensing wars, they position themselves as a convenient all-in-one entertainment hub. Their main source of anime is Crunchyroll itself through the "Prime Video Channels" partnership. 

Their direct cost is minimal, as they simply take a percentage of the subscription fee you pay to the Crunchyroll channel. While they occasionally secure their own exclusives like the final Evangelion film, their main pitch is simple convenience.

Despite affordable options, we know piracy is still rampant. The motivation often isn't just about "free" content; it's about convenience (wanting all shows in one place) and speed (pirated subtitles sometimes appearing faster than official ones). 

Platforms are fighting back by closing the time gap on new episodes, offering competitive prices, and using must-watch exclusive shows as a powerful lure to keep you on their platform.

What’s Next on Your Watchlist? 

The future could see more Indian-made anime and groundbreaking collaborations between Indian and Japanese studios. Ambitious projects like Netflix's "Kurukshetra" are a major test for the market. If a high-profile anime based on Indian mythology finds a massive audience, it could result in a new wave of content rooted in local stories.

These initiatives are also now being supported by state governments, which are actively investing in the sector by establishing dedicated AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) parks and policies. 

The competition is only going to get more intense. But for us, the fans, this conflict is a golden age.