The release of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie in India has been a lot more promising than anyone would’ve expected. This is my story and thoughts about the potential rise of Anime in India.
Let’s get started.
(You can watch this video if you like)
How did I watch JJK 0?
30 June 2022
I was doing regular stuff, i.e., my work. After some time, I took a 10-minute break to pick up my phone & opened an app named “Paytm”. I went to the movies section & saw something … really interesting.
JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 was scheduled at the theatre!
The moment I saw the poster of JJK 0, I literally jumped in my chair.
The reason was that I knew that JJK 0 would come to India but in Patna? The city where I live? No way!
This was just baffling to me.
I was so thrilled that I instantly booked a ticket for the 2nd July show.
This was going to be my first time watching anime in a movie theatre surrounded by people who would be watching the same thing as me!
On the night of 1st July, I was thinking about how it would feel like to watch anime not on your phone or laptop but in an actual movie theatre.
And the fact that the movie had earned about ₹1.5 Cr didn’t help curb my excitement at all. Because if we convert ₹1.5 Cr, that is roughly $190,000 USD. This movie completely destroyed other Bollywood movies that were released on 30th June. That is just insane!
And then the day that I was waiting for, finally arrived.
02 July 2022
The day was pretty exciting. I got ready and went to the theatre, found my seat and sat on it, eager to see Gojo Satoru in front of my eyes.
Soon enough, the theatre was full.
Before the movie started, everyone respectfully stood up for the national anthem & when it got over, something exciting happened.
Someone shouted, “Eren Yeager!”
And people started laughing.
Then a second person shouted, “Kamado Tanjiro!” and then a third person screamed, “Uzumaki Naruto!” People laughed again.
And then the names of various Anime characters were being thrown around the theatre.
This was the first time that I saw how exciting our Indian people were about watching Anime. Such scenes were just chilling!
When the movie started, people started clicking pictures of Okkutsu Yuta and the starting scenes of the movie, trying to get a good picture to put some kind of story on their social media profiles.
And then, Gojo Satoru appeared on the big screen.
As I imagined, everyone screamed. They started shouting, hooting & did all kinds of stuff. Everyone was hyped. And why not, I mean, Gojo Satoru himself was on screen.
Whenever a character appeared, the fans shouted and screamed. They hyped Yuta, Gojo, Inumaki, Panda, Maki, Todo and even the mega underrated, Nanami!
Hell! The fans at the theatre even screamed when Geto made his appearance. I was so overjoyed after seeing their reaction to hyping up Geto, the main villain of this movie. This just shows that even the antagonist is loved by the fans.
And when the action scenes came in, the atmosphere was something else.
Now, why am I telling you all this?
The reason is that this surreal atmosphere at the theatre gives us the sign that Anime is on the rise in India.
This is the same country that is heavily bogged down by Bollywood. People are now realising that Anime can have everything:
- Sheer drama
- Suspense
- Storyline
- Action
- Realistic themes
- World issues
And Attack on Titan is a big example of this. Indian people just love AOT. Gone are the days when only Pokemon & Naruto were popular in India.
Times are now changing & for the better!
The scenes at the theatre that I just told you about didn’t just happen in my city alone. This was the situation across the whole country. I won’t be surprised if fans went 3 times or even 4 times to watch Jujutsu Kaisen 0 because it was really good.
Some even stayed after the post-credit scene, including me, just to listen to the amazing soundtrack of this movie.
Anime is on the rise in India!
All in all, my time at the theatre was worth every penny.
It seems people have been shown the path to a new world of entertainment. Anime is billion dollar industry already and with India, it could make a whole lot more.
I am really happy that Indians are openly accepting to watch Anime now and the rise of Jujutsu Kaisen will give a huge boost to the Indian fans.
What are your thoughts?