For years, the Saudi Arabia anime scene has largely been built around Japanese productions, often watched in Arabic-dubbed versions. Now, a new generation of creators and producers is beginning to change that. The Kingdom is now working towards building an animation industry of its own.
At the heart of this movement is Manga Productions. The company is focused on developing local talent, creating original stories and partnering with Japanese studios to give Saudi creatives hands-on experience in the industry.
The goal isn’t simply to make animation that looks Japanese. Instead, the focus is on creating high-quality stories rooted in Saudi culture, history and identity, while still appealing to audiences beyond the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia already has a large and enthusiastic audience for anime and animation. Much of the content consumed locally, however, comes from overseas and reflects other cultures. The push to create more local productions comes as a new generation of Saudi creatives enters the industry. Meanwhile, audiences are showing greater interest in stories that reflect their own experiences.
Building Local Talent
Creating an animation industry from scratch comes with its challenges, particularly when there aren’t enough experienced local professionals to fill specialised roles.
Manga Productions has responded by investing heavily in training and international partnerships. Saudi creatives have been sent to Japan for internships, while the company has worked directly with established Japanese production teams.
These collaborations offer local artists an opportunity to learn how a mature animation industry operates, from production workflows and creative processes to the standards expected of major studios. The idea is to gradually bring that knowledge back to Saudi Arabia and give local creatives more responsibility with each project.
A successful animation industry needs a strong pool of writers, directors, animators, voice actors and producers who can develop and deliver projects independently. That talent base is still developing in Saudi Arabia, but there are signs of progress.
More than 500 people have been trained through Manga Productions’ programmes, with more than 80 per cent of the company’s talent coming through those initiatives. More than half of the employees at its Tokyo office are also Saudi. Saudi professionals are taking on directing roles for several projects, while Manga Productions is becoming increasingly involved throughout pre-production and production.
Some programme graduates have even gone on to join other creative studios in the Kingdom, helping expand the talent pool beyond Manga Productions itself.
Telling Saudi Stories Through Anime
Some of the country’s most interesting projects are already putting Saudi settings and stories at the centre of animation. ‘Future Folktales’ follows a Saudi family living in a futuristic Riyadh, where a grandmother shares stories from the past with the younger generation. The second season takes the family to Neom, bringing another distinctly Saudi setting into the story.
Meanwhile, ‘Al-Oja’ explores Saudi history through manga and animation, while ‘The Woodcutter’s Treasure’ became the first Saudi and Arab anime short film to be broadcast across seven Japanese television channels.
The expansion isn’t stopping at television and film, either. A planned ‘Future Folktales’ mobile game points towards a broader approach where Saudi stories can move between animation and gaming.
The long-term goal is to create stories that are unmistakably Saudi while still connecting with viewers around the world. If that happens, the Kingdom could evolve from being primarily an enthusiastic consumer of anime into a place where a new generation of Saudi animation is created and exported globally.
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