Since its debut years ago, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir has been one of the most successful Western "anime" ever. Combining elements of magical girl anime and Western superhero comics, the series has spread from France, Japan and America to reach audiences all over the world. However, one section of the globe where it's had more than its fair share of trouble is India.
Given erratic programming schedules, poor marketing and stiff competition, the Hindi dub of Miraculous has never reached its mainstream potential. New changes in where and how the show can be watched will have a dramatic impact on this, for better or worse. Here's how the adventures of Marinette and Adrien have had a less than ideal time making a splash in India, and how it will be made available in the coming months.
Miraculous' History In India
Miraculous has in fact been released in India for years now, starting back in 2019. Part of the reason that the Hindi version of the show has never taken off is because of a combination of poor marketing and erratic scheduling. The series was one of several victims of the domination of Doraemon on Indian TV networks, with the anime taking up the majority of time slots as it was constantly marathoned.
This oversaturation of Doraemon saw legislation introduced in both India as well as Pakistan to outright ban the program, claiming that it had a negative effect on its young viewers. The situation for when and how often Miraculous was aired in India was clarified through a fan in the country in a Twitter post. Apparently, Disney India airs Doraemon for almost half of the day's programming, not leaving much room for anything else. On top of that, the company didn't promote Miraculous, which airs episodes once Monday through Friday and rarely shows reruns. Reruns do occasionally air on the Hungama Channel, but given that the main channel for the show is Disney India, this doesn't help much. This situation was compounded by its airing slot being taken at one point by Kiteretsu (which, ironically, heavily resembles Doraemon).
How Miraculous Will Now Be Released In India
Thankfully, as the new season for the show airs elsewhere, the hype for the franchise in general is finally hitting the Hindi version. A Hindi dub of Miraculous World: New York - United Heroez became available in recent months. Unfortunately though, this positive trend may not continue, given that Disney is set to shut down most of its local channels throughout Southeast Asia in an effort to bolster subscriptions to their various streaming services.
This means that additional episodes of the show's upcoming season or seasons will be exclusive to Disney+, eschewing traditional broadcast releases. The show so far is already on the app, along with the aforementioned United Heroez special, with Netflix also having the first three seasons. These are of course paid subscriptions, so those in India who wish to watch the show will need to sign up one way or another. Of course, this does mean that watching the show will finally now be easier in India -- even if it does cost a little extra to do so.
