Amin Abbas

DUBAI: Manga Production Company, an affiliate of the Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Misk Foundation announced the signing of an agreement with MBC Group.

As per the deal, to the Saudi-Japanese movie titled ‘The Journey’ will stream on the latter’s video on demand platform “Shahid VIP” starting Oct. 1.

The movie will be available in both Arabic and Japanese to give viewers a chance to choose their preferred language. The agreement is testament to the success of a series of previous projects between Manga Productions and MBC Group. ‘The Journey’ has been receiving many good reviews in the region, especially since it was earlier distributed by VOX cinemas across the MENA region.

Dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, said the movie’s deal partnership was a “continuation of the journey of the movie, which since its launch in the cinema has received positive resonance at the local and international levels.”

“This step will allow audiences who did not have the opportunity to enjoy the movie in cinemas to watch it through the Shahid platform, which has proven that Saudi content and production have great momentum, and that local and international audiences are thirsty for this type of authentic entertainment content. This agreement will be the beginning of a rich and enjoyable future business between Manga Productions and MBC Group via the Shahid VIP platform,” he added.

The movie’s narrative is set in the Arabian Peninsula 1500 years ago, and tells the story of its hero, Aws Bin Jubair.

The Japanese version of the movie features famous voice actors including the Gundam series’ Tōru Furuya, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Kotono Mitsuishi, working alongside Hiroshi Kamiya, Kazuya Nakai. Yuichi Nakamura and Takaya Kuroda.

The Arabic version of the movie features Nassar Al Nassar as the movie protagonist ‘Aws’ as well other talented artists Yassir Al Saggaf, Abdu Shaheen & Rasha Rizq.

Kobun Shizuno famous for his work on the Detective Conan films directed the movie, and Pokémon’s Atsuhiro Tomioka wrote its script. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game’s Tatsurō Iwamoto was the film’s lead character designer, and Kaoru Wada, famous for his work in Ninja Scroll, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Inuyasha, Ace Attorney composed the music for the movie.

The movie was first announced in May 2019 and was previously planned for release at the end of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of the movie was delayed to summer 2021.

Manga Productions is a subsidiary of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Foundation, also known as MiSK, and named in honor of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. The company aims to create animation, comic, and video game projects to “promote Saudi ideas and messages internationally.”