Japan’s cultural content drives revenue and making it a soft power leader as reflected in the Soft Power 30 Index, where Japan consistently ranks in the top 10. Now India envisions, nurtures, and globalizes its creative intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.
India, long celebrated for its rich storytelling traditions, is entering a transformative era in the global creative economy. With the WAVES Anime & Manga Contest (WAM!), the Government of India has initiated a landmark cultural and industrial policy intervention that elevates the country’s indigenous potential in anime, manga, webtoons, and cosplay. Set to culminate at WAVES 2025—the World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit—this initiative marks a paradigm shift in how India envisions, nurtures, and globalizes its intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.
Cultural Soft Power Meets Economic Strategy
In the 21st century, cultural soft power and digital content are deeply intertwined. Nations like Japan and South Korea have demonstrated how anime, manga, K-pop, and webtoons can transform not only cultural perceptions but also fuel substantial economic growth through IP exports, merchandising, tourism, and cross-platform adaptations. With WAM!, India aims to harness its youth demographic, digital agility, and narrative legacy to build a new IP-driven creative economy.
The support from global anime titan Crunchyroll—a joint venture of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex—signals international validation of India’s creative promise. Their Creator Development Grant, along with support for Team India at Anime Japan 2026 and collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Media & Entertainment Association of India (MEAI), underscores that WAM! is not just a contest, but a nation-building strategy rooted in soft power and digital IP.
WAVES 2025: A Platform with Vision
WAVES 2025, hosted at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre, represents the first national convergence of India’s AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality) ecosystem. Guided by the vision of “Create in India, Create for the World,” WAVES aims to foster cross-sectoral collaboration among artists, tech innovators, studios, and investors. The summit seeks to propel Indian creators onto global stages by transforming domestic content into exportable IPs, while also attracting foreign direct investment and co-production opportunities.
Moreover, WAVES will support local talent and startups through programs such as the Create in India Challenges, which has already seen participation from over one lakh individuals, including 1,100 international participants. After a comprehensive selection process, more than 750 finalists were shortlisted across 32 unique challenge themes.
The Importance of Original Indian IPs
For years, India has served as a major outsourcing hub for global animation and VFX projects. While this has developed a strong technical skill base, it hasn’t resulted in the creation or global recognition of original Indian intellectual properties. WAM! represents a critical shift by investing in indigenous stories, characters, and artistic styles, thereby building long-term cultural capital and economic value.
By supporting anime, manga, webtoons, and cosplay—across both student and professional categories—the initiative creates a robust pipeline of creators who can scale their ideas from concept to commercial IPs. Furthermore, by embedding cosplay into the framework, the contest taps into youth-led fan cultures and creates avenues for community-driven engagement and monetization.
This movement is pivotal for India to evolve from a backend service provider to a leading content creator nation. A robust IP ecosystem enables new streams of exports, licensing opportunities, digital streaming content, merchandising, educational products, and even tourism, thereby creating significant sector-wide benefits.
Strategic Policy Alignment
WAM! is also well-aligned with several flagship national missions. It strengthens the Digital India initiative by empowering digital-first creators. It supports Skill India by creating fresh employment pathways in the creative technology space. The program is a natural fit with Startup India, enabling new content-tech startups and creative incubators. Through Make in India, it promotes homegrown production and storytelling with global appeal. It also enhances India’s cultural diplomacy through content exports that carry Indian values, aesthetics, and narratives to global audiences.
The AVGC-XR sector has already been identified as a sunrise industry by the Indian government and is projected to significantly contribute to India’s ambition of becoming a $100 billion media and entertainment economy by 2030.
Learning from Soft Power Economies: Japan and South Korea
Japan and South Korea offer compelling case studies of how cultural content like anime, manga, K-pop, and webtoons can drive economic growth and enhance soft power. In Japan, the anime industry alone was valued at over ¥2.7 trillion (approx. $20 billion) in 2022, according to the Association of Japanese Animations. Manga continues to be a dominant publishing segment, with annual revenues surpassing ¥600 billion. Globally successful franchises like Pokémon, Dragon Ball, and One Piece have generated billions in merchandising, film adaptations, and licensing deals. The Japanese government’s “Cool Japan” initiative, which allocates around ¥50 billion for promoting Japanese culture overseas, has institutionalized the export of anime, fashion, cuisine, and design as a form of economic diplomacy. Japan’s cultural content not only drives revenue but also shapes global perceptions, making it a soft power leader as reflected in the Soft Power 30 Index, where Japan consistently ranks in the top 10.
South Korea’s rise through the Korean Wave (Hallyu) is even more recent and rapid. According to a Hyundai Research Institute report, BTS alone contributes over $5 billion annually to South Korea’s economy—more than many of the country’s major conglomerates. The global reach of K-dramas, K-pop, and webtoons has helped Korean cultural content become one of the country’s top exports. LINE Webtoon, now a global digital comic platform, recorded over 85 million monthly active users in 2023, spanning the U.S., Southeast Asia, and Europe. The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has invested heavily in creative content, allocating more than ₩1.3 trillion (approx. $970 million) annually to bolster its cultural industries. As a result, South Korea jumped to the 11th position on the Global Soft Power Index 2023, signaling that creative content is no longer just entertainment—it is national strategy.
Need of National Animation and Digital IP Development Fund
While WAM! lays the foundation, sustaining momentum will require long-term policy support and institution-building. India should consider establishing a National Animation and Digital IP Development Fund to finance new ventures. Integrating anime and manga storytelling frameworks into formal education curricula will help in grooming the next generation of creators. Further, creating bilateral co-production treaties with anime-producing nations will ease content exchange and open up global markets.
Regional content labs can nurture vernacular storytelling in global formats, ensuring inclusivity and diversity. Simultaneously, a nationwide campaign to promote copyright and IP literacy will help creators retain control and benefit economically from their creations.
India’s Anime and IP Moment
India is on the brink of a creative renaissance. WAM! and WAVES 2025 are not mere events—they represent strategic milestones in India’s quest to become a global IP superpower. By institutionalizing support for anime, manga, webtoons, and cosplay, India is making a bold statement about the future of its creative economy.
As Indian creators gain visibility on international platforms, the vision of “Create in India, Create for the World” will become more than a mission—it will evolve into a movement that redefines India’s position in the global cultural and economic order.
