Anime studios A-1 Pictures, most recently known for Solo Leveling, Trigger (New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt), and Nippon Animation (Chibi Maruko-chan), met with the Gulf Cooperation Council Joint Program Production Institution (GCCJPPI)’s Director General, Sheikh Mubarak Fahad Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to discuss joint ventures “that would further enhance cultural and artistic output,” Mubarak told KUNA on August 30.
The ventures would focus on boosting the creativity of personnel in the Gulf regions through Japanese expertise, and aid digital transformation, cultural expansion, and artistic output through cooperation with local, regional, and international partners. This marks the first collaboration between the GCCJPPI and Japanese anime companies in over 30 years, when the former dubbed several anime titles, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Rose of Versailles.
The meetings follow several recent collaborations between Japan and Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, as in the case of Saudi Arabia’s Manga Productions and Toei Animation’s Asateer – Future’s Folktales, and Manga Productions’ Grendizer U remake in collaboration with Dynamic Planning and others.
Meanwhile, KamiErabi God.app and Protocol: Rain were produced by a production committee including MBC Anime—the joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s MBC Group and America’s Tokyopop. A subject of controversy in recent weeks, the world’s first Dragon Ball theme park will also be built in Saudi Arabia.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprises Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Based in Kuwait, the GCCJPPI’s stated aims are to increase and accelerate joint initiatives that foster unity among the Gulf states through economic, technological, and cultural (including media production) exchange, as well as joint investment.
Anime Corner recently interviewed A-1 Pictures’ Atsushi Kaneko (Solo Leveling animation producer), Shunsuke Sugimoto (Animation Producer, Lycoris Recoil, Sword Art Online: Alicization), and Toshitaka Morioka, CG Director for Solo Leveling and Lycoris Recoil. A-1 recently launched a new label, Psyde Kick Studio, whose stated aims include championing young creators and exploring “new possibilities in animation.“
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Sugimoto confirmed that he was assigned to Psyde Kick Studio on X in July; the new label’s first two productions, Grow Up Show (TV series) and the Kusunoki no Bannin anime movie adaptation, were both credited to both Psyde Kick and A-1 (as animation production).
Studio Trigger co-founder Hiroyuki Imaishi revealed in May 2024 that he was working on a comedy project for the first time in a while. “I can’t officially reveal the title yet, but it should be available overseas,“ he told The River.
Source: KUNA
© Solo Leveling Animation Partners ©TRIGGER,Hiroyuki Imaishi/NPSG Partners © 2016 Sakura Production/Nippon Animation
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