Indian OTT ‘Anime Play’ To Compete Against Netflix, Crunchyroll In The Subcontinent

India is going to experience a new OTT platform for anime, and this seems to be cheaper than the existing others. But is that true?

Well, Here’s everything we knew about Anime Play and how well they stand against the fan favorite platforms like Netflix and Crunchyroll.

Origin Of Anime Play

According to reports, PlayVerse will introduce Anime Play, an OTT app streaming anime in India. But there is a little twist. To attract a large number of Indian consumers, Anime Play will also broadcast anime in Hindi, as the language is understood by a large number of the Indian audience. Yeah, Many don’t agree with watching dubbed anime, but this is what we have for now.

The parent company of this streaming service, PlayVerse, is a technology-enabled entertainment company that raised $1.5 million as seed funding from Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. This entertainment company’s primary focus is “to unlock the full potential of an IP with a 360-degree approach to content and merchandise.”

Available Platforms & Prices

Anime Play by Playverse will be India’s first full-fledged anime streaming platform, aiming to bring Hindi dubs. The app will officially be launched on 15th December this year (2022). And they have opened an Early Bird Offer for a limited time which will remain valid till 23rd October.

As per reports from their official website, the application will work on the web browser, Android, and iOS devices with only one device that can be used to log in to one account simultaneously.

The ‘Early Bird Offer’ introduces an all-access 6 Month pass for just ₹300. And any viewer or Anime enthusiast can rent their favorite titles at a 75% discount. The rent starts at ₹25/- per season only.

The exciting thing is that those who will purchase the ‘Early Bird Offer’ will now be able to access the app even after its launch in December. They will have to log in with the email they used to acquire the offer.

Their actual pricing is ₹300 only for an all-access 6 Month pass. At the same time, the rent starts at ₹99/- per season only.

What Does Anime Play Offer?

Anime Play commits its upcoming customers to provide anime in Hindi dubbed versions with an ad-free experience. But Anime in Japanese with English Subtitles will also be available there.

While talking with their representative, we discovered that they are also struggling to get the licenses as they cost heavily in Indian currency compared to other International based streaming services. Their commitment to providing anime in the Hindi language is also pretty challenging.

They have to hire Hindi voice actors to give voices to all the Indian Otaku’s favorite anime characters. They are quite excited to show how the epic fight scenes of Demon Slayer will sound in Hindi Languages.

Talking about Demon Slayer, they currently have all the Demon Slayer anime arcs, with some other popular anime like Spy x Family, both seasons 1 and 2 of Rent-a-Girlfriend, both seasons of the One Punch Man, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. They are also talking about getting more streaming licenses for the other Anime series before launching their official app. Right now, they are targeting to get at least 50k+ paid subscribers.

Their ultimate goal is to provide anime in different Indian languages to grow the number of viewers from the diverse landscapes of India. They have also opened a Telegram community to interact with Anime fans and to understand what the market demands.

PlayVerse is also planning to serve Indian consumers with unmet toys very soon as a D2C brand.

Anime Play In Comparison To Other Platforms

Anime Fans Are Disappointed As Crunchyroll & Funimation Increase Prices

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Our study suggests MUBI is the most expensive platform, and also, the fans are a little conscious about its existence. But the most popular is Netflix India and Crunchyroll because they are content-rich platforms with their original shows as well as the most popular anime among Indian audiences. However, Amazon Prime Video is not far behind in this competition. Voot Kids is very special, as it has the Hindi dubbed versions of the Pokemon anime series.

If we compare the upcoming OTT application, Anime Play, with the other significant and dominating OTT platforms, it is clear that this new platform is nowhere near the other platforms in case of content.

It is acceptable as a new platform whose app has not even been launched. But what Anime Play offers is something different, but they have to do more to beat Crunchyroll and Netflix India to attract more regional viewers than those broadcast giants. They will also have to give India-based Anime and animation studios more opportunities to present India and regionally-based content. Anime Play is also in talks to get more licenses to add more Anime series.

Right now, Anime Play is offering its services at a lesser price than the existing ones due to its ‘Early Bird Offer.’ But without this limited-period offer, they will struggle to beat Crunchyroll. But their representatives also talked about the changes in prices that may happen if the number of consumers grows.

Sources: Anime Play