The Japanese anime series, ‘Naruto’, is one of the most highly watched animated series around the globe. While anime is still not as big in India as it is in countries like the U.S. and Canada, the two-part anime series has a very wide following within the country. The show has helped to “convert” many Indians and made them realize that anime aren’t just ordinary cartoons – they are some of the most sophisticated art forms currently available for viewing. And now, we are addressing an issue that many Indians have had with this art form over the years – lack of Hindi Dubs (Or any regional dubbing really).
All anime released from Japan over the last few decades have only been available in one language – Japanese. As these anime started to get shipped to multiple countries, these shows started providing English subtitles. As the demand for these anime grew around the globe, English DUB versions were introduced – as a major number of these shows are watched by people who can understand English. Naruto, however, managed to get dubbed in ten languages, which include – English, Japanese, Italian, German, French, Spanish (from two regions), Portuguese (two regions) and Arabic.
With the show continuing to grow popular within India, Hindi dub versions will only help to take its popularity to new heights. While the release of Hindi dub versions might create demands of Bengali, Telugu and Tamil dubbed versions of the animated show as well – the gesture will go a very long way among the collective Indian community. But, yes, we will still ask for dubbed versions of the show in multiple Regional Indian languages still. However, for now, we will settle for some regional subs for the highly rated series.
The anime series, ‘Naruto’, is currently streaming on Netflix in Japanese and English dubbed versions.