Trailer of The Journey, first joint Saudi Japanese anime film, released

Saudi Arabia is all set to release its first-ever Saudi-Japanese anime film in 4DX technology soon for all the anime lovers across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia's Manga Productions has released the trailer for 'The Journey', which will make way to the cinemas across the MENA and Japan this summer, during the Berlinale film festival in Germany.

The feature film will be distributed by VOX Cinemas in MENA and by T-Joy in Japan, state-run SPA reported. The anime film is directed and produced by a specialized team of Japanese experts and Saudi talents, according to Dr Essam Bukhari, CEO of Manga Productions.

"The video will be featured in the region and worldwide to export our Saudi culture and historical stories from the Arabian Peninsula. This will be the first of several videos that will be produced by Manga Productions and will be featured in cinemas in the Middle East and the world," Bukhari added.

The Journey tells the tale of Aws, a potter with a secret past who gets caught up in a battle to defend his city. The setting is inspired by the history of the Arabian Peninsula and the ancient civilizations of the region.

Co-produced with major Japanese studio TOEI Animation, the movie is directed by renowned international animation director Shizuno Kobun, who has directed anime hits including Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Detective Conan.

The Japanese version includes voice actors such as Hiroshi Kimiya, Takaya Kuroda, Toru Furuya and others, while Arab dubbing artists include famous artists such as Abdu Shaheen, Rasha Rizq and Nassar Al-Nassar.

"Anime culture is huge in the Middle East and cinemagoers across the region also crave local content so, we do not doubt that The Journey will be a big hit with movie fans. Manga Productions is a pioneer of animation and VOX Cinemas is proud to partner with them on the distribution of this film to ensure that premium Arabic language feature films are made accessible to our discerning audiences," said Toni El Massih, Chief Content Officer at VOX Cinemas.

Manga Productions is a subsidiary of the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation and is dedicated to producing value content through animations, video games and comics that target various social groups, both locally and internationally.