A Japanese animated film will take Saudi Arabia as its backdrop

Manga Productions, a Saudi production company, and a subsidiary of the Misk Foundation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, announced the upcoming production of an animated feature film in collaboration with Toei Animation, a famous Japanese studio that produced the Dragon Ball saga. The film, entitled “The Journey”, will take place in the Saudi kingdom.

“Most young Saudis loved Japanese animation when we were kids. We believe it’s time to export our characters and our heroes to Japan and the world. We don’t want to only export oil and petrochemicals, we want to export arts, animation, gaming, and manga to a global audience.” – Bukhary Essam, CEO Manga Productions

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. تعلن #مانجا_للإنتاج بالتعاون مع شركة Toei Animation عن المقطع التشويقي لأول أفلامها السينمائية #فيلم_الرحلة والذي يعد أول فيلم سينمائي سعودي بالتعاون مع اليابان في مجال الرسوم المتحركة، ومن إخراج المخرج العالمي شيزونو كوبون. Manga Productions, in association with Toei Animation, present the teaser video for their first feature film #Journey_Movie, directed by famed anime director Shizuno Kobun. The Journey is considered the first Saudi animated feature film in collaboration with Japan. #Manga_Productions 本日、第72回カンヌ国際映画祭2019にて、マンガプロダクションズは東映アニメーションと共同製作中の、静野孔文監督率いる映画#ジャーニー の予告編を発表します。この作品はサウジアラビアと日本による初めてのアニメ長編映画です。 لمشاهدة العرض بجودة أعلى زوروا قناتنا على اليوتيوب في رابط الوصف.

A post shared by Manga Productions (@manga_prd) on May 19, 2019 at 1:31pm PDT

The Journey, a bilateral production

For the time being, little information has been filtered out about the plot of this film. We just know the name of the hero, Aws, and the background, a war that is being prepared in a city on the Arabian Peninsula.

“The film is talking about old civilizations in the Arabian peninsula — people who are trying to protect their city from a strong enemy. The hero has a backstory that no one knows and which will affect the destiny of the city.” – Bukhary Essam, CEO of Manga.

The production of “The Journey” is expected to take about two years and three months and employ a team of 330 people including Kaoru Wada, a famous Japanese music composer. This is not the first time that Manga Productions and Toei Animation have partnered for an animation project. The two studios previously produced an animated short film, The Woodcutter’s Treasure, in Arabic and in a very Japanese style.