Culture & Education | Friday 24 January, 2020 2:29 am |

Manga Productions, an affiliated company of the Mohammed bin Salman “Misk” Foundation, announced that it will premiere the first episode of its upcoming weekly anime series “Future’s Folktales”, on MBC1 starting Friday the 24thof January. The series that targets the Arabic-speaking and Saudi audience is the first in the Kingdom to be co-produced with TOEI Animation, the first animation studio in Japan.

The 13-episode series takes place in the future in Saudi Arabia showcasing the fascinating tales of Saudi heritage in the Arabian Peninsula that have been passed down from generation to generation. Grandmother "Asmaa" shares her stories with her grandchildren and their robot cat "Anis”, offering advice and words of wisdom from times past. The series celebrates the Arabic language and its beauty through inspiring and creative content and offers a glimpse into the past while teaching children about their history, the future technologies, as well as Arab values and customs. 

Speaking on the launch of the series, Dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, said: "We aim to create the right conditions in the Arab region and Saudi Arabia to stimulate creativity and develop unique content for future generations. We are also committed to bring the Saudi culture to the entire world in an attractive and unique way.”

A group of talented actors lent their voices to the characters including voice-over artist Hayat Ahmed who plays “Joud”, a programmer, inventor and a role model mother to her children, as well as Muna AlAmri as “Maha”, the eldest sister, Hala Halawani as "Sultan" the younger brother and the talented actor Youssef AlJarrah in the role of “Badr”, the father, with the participation of Rasha Rizk, the artist who performs the intro song, in addition to other talents from the Arab world, including Jihad AlAtrash, Wahid Jalal, Amaal Sadeddine, Elvira Younis, Iman Hayel, Abdulrahman AlAql, Jassem AlNabhan and William Ateeq. The first episode of the series will air on MBC1 on Friday, January 24th, followed by new episodes every Friday at 4pm Saudi Arabian time.

Manga Productions, together with MiSK Foundation, offered numerous training opportunities to Saudi talents at TOEI Animation studios in Japan, many of whom have taken part in this project. TOEI Animation has developed more than 50 television series since 1969, including "UFO Robot Grendizer", "One Piece", "Dragon Ball", "Tiger Mask", "Lady Lady!!" and “Yu-Gi-Oh!”.