• Commission celebrates 14 graduates chosen from more than 1,700 applicants
• With three phases and two competitions to assess the skills of artists, the program started on June 12 last year and ended on Feb. 1

Arab News

JEDDAH: Saudi artists have graduated from the second Manga Industry program in Japan, with the Kingdom’s Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission hosting a celebration ceremony.

In collaboration with Manga Productions, a Misk subsidiary, the initiative trains Saudis in the intricate art of manga through a professional program that incorporates Japanese techniques.

The graduation ceremony took place at Kadokawa Academy in Tokyo, and was attended by Mohammed Hassan Al-Wan, CEO of the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, and Essam Amanullah Bukhari, CEO of Manga Productions.

With three phases and two competitions to assess the skills of artists, the program started on June 12 last year and ended on Feb. 1.

In the first phase, Saudis took part in three workshops covering creativity in drawing, designing comic characters, and expressing emotions through anime and manga characters.

The second phase, a comprehensive six-week training program, explored manga design and character drawing, inspiring artists to bring their imaginations to life through comic storytelling.

Finalists who qualified for the last stage were awarded scholarships to pursue their studies in Japan, where they received training from renowned manga artists.

More than 1,700 trainees, both male and female, registered for the virtual workshops. Of those, 75 qualified for the intensive training program and produced 75 comic stories. Fourteen trainees were sent to Japan to further develop their skills.

Additionally, the program received 130 applications for the Mangnaha competition and more than 70 applications for the Manga Al-Qaseed competition. Both events focused on transforming Arabic poems into manga.

The commission, in collaboration with Manga Productions, aims to enrich the creative content industry in the Kingdom.

In a related event, Growth Cafe, a literary partner of the commission, organized a manga cultural evening in Tabuk, hosted by writer Fatima Reda Boukhamsin.

Boukhamsin’s presentation explored the intricacies of manga literature, differentiating it from other forms such as comics, manhwa, manhua and Webtoon.

Discussion covered manga story classifications, drawing styles, character portrayal and page layout. The event also touched upon the influence of Arabic culture on Japanese manga literature, and the involvement of AI in the creation and production of manga stories.

Boukhamsin wrapped up the evening by presenting illustrated examples of manga stories and addressing audience inquiries about Japanese storytelling arts.