Posted on 03/19/2024 9:43:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Mark Lomas, Al Arabiya English Published: 19 March ,2024: 10:56 AM GST Updated: 19 March ,2024: 04:19 PM GST Font Size 7 min read The announcement last Friday of the death of ‘Dragon Ball’ creator Akira Toriyama was met with sadness around the world, as fans of Japanese manga and anime were united in grief at the loss of a legend. In Saudi Arabia, the news was also keenly followed.
Manga and anime have long been an important part of the social fabric of the Kingdom, with cartoons such as Captain Tsubasa (renamed Captain Majid in Arabic) winning the hearts and minds of people across multiple generations.
With an estimated 13 million anime viewers in Saudi Arabia in 2022, and around 85 million across the Arab world, the medium’s popularity in the region is undeniable.
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However, the Japanese artform is no longer just admired from afar. Saudi Arabia has emerged in recent years as a global player in the creation, production and distribution of manga and anime comics, TV shows, movies and video games.
At the center of this is Manga Productions, a subsidiary of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK Foundation. Its CEO is Dr Essam Bukhary, an avowed ‘shinnichi’ (Japanophile), who had previously worked in Tokyo as the Saudi cultural attaché, promoting cultural exchanges between the Kingdom and Japan.
“Our mission at Manga Productions is to inspire heroes of tomorrow,” Bukhary told Al Arabiya English. “We are investing in our young generations in Saudi Arabia as we believe in the power of content to shape a better future.”
That investment in young people has been manifest in the training of more than 4,000 Saudis across multiple aspects of manga, anime, and video game creations – including the development of internship programs with industry giants in Japan.
“We have a huge number of talents in Saudi Arabia, but they did not have the opportunity to practice or activate their skills,” Bukhary explained. “We have been doing our best to give them a chance as that’s what we believe in: Empowering the youth.”
Last year, an ambitious project was launched in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education, which has seen 3.5 million Saudi students from public schools take manga classes online.
“We are very proud of this, and our employees have worked hard to provide classes for kids. How to think about the idea, how to draw characters, how to draw the manga, how to deliver it, how to work as a team,” Bukhary said.
He added: “Why are we doing this? It may be the time of AI [artificial intelligence] and big data, but we need to invest in the creative power of our young generation. We have had the time of hardware, the time of software. Now, it’s the era of ‘brainwave’.”
Bukhary further said: “We are investing in the minds of our young generations by teaching them manga, which encourages creative thinking and expressing ideas in an out-of-the-box way. It is something deeper than just drawing.”
In terms of commercial success stories, the global release of the movie ‘The Journey’ has been one of Manga Productions’ major highlights to date. The picture, which tells the story of a potter named Aus who joins a battle to defend his home city of Mecca, was released in 2021.
Directed by Kōbun Shizuno, written by Atsuhiro Tomioka, and co-produced by Toei Animation, the movie’s Hollywood premiere was held at the fabled Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
“As creators from Saudi Arabia, from MENA, if we would like to succeed globally, it will not be by bringing stories of Japanese samurai or American cowboys or Vikings from Europe. We should bring our own stories to a wider audience,” Bukhary explained.
“For decades, Saudi Arabia has been a country that consumes content. Now, we are producing content, and we are exporting our content and our stories to the global market. Our stories make us unique, and they enrich people’s content choices.”
“Anime, manga, games, and movies can be a great tool for introducing countries to Saudi culture. We have seen the amazing popularity of K-Pop, of Turkish dramas, of Japanese games, of Hollywood movies. It is content that connects people to culture.”
In 2024, Manga Productions is set to release the second season of popular anime series Asateer – Future’s Folktales. The series focuses on an old woman named Asmaa, who narrates folktales from the Arabian Peninsula to her three grandchildren in the year 2050. Season One is set in Riyadh, but the follow-up will see Neom brought to life in anime for the first time.
“The first season achieved 100 million views, and is available on more than 40 platforms,” Bukhary said, adding: “We are very proud of the quality of the second season and the team is investing heavily in the distribution so that we can show the world.”
“We are also bringing back anime series ‘Grendizer’ for the first time in 40 years, distributing this project globally. It is the first time a company in the Middle East has taken the lead in worldwide IP [intellectual property] management in this way. It is not just about the creation of manga and anime. We have been building the whole ecosystem of this creative industry.”
The long-term aim for Manga Productions is an ambitious one, but Bukhary believes the company can and will establish itself as a worldwide industry innovator.
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“I hope that in five years’ time, Manga Production will be the leader in the creative content ecosystem in MENA and a global pioneer,” he said.
“I hope that when someone is writing the history of the creative content industry in Saudi Arabia, Manga Productions will be recognized as what Aramco is in the oil industry.”
“At the heart of this are our young Saudi talents, who work very hard with passion, with dreams. They are the key to our success,” Bukhary added.
So...instead of teenage girls in miniskirt school uniforms, it’s girls walking around covered in black garbage bags?
Animae and Manga have been primarily motivators for teens here to go trans.
The hyper sexuality and trans nature.... sweet young girls with short skirts and huge penises and the occult nature of the cross dressing captures and sexualizes young teens.
Interesting.
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