RIYADH: MBC’s Shahid, the world’s leading Arabic-language streaming platform, announced on Tuesday that the remake of the original anime series “Grendizer” will have its world premiere in July 2024.
Launched in collaboration with Manga Productions, a subsidiary of the Mohammed Bin Salman Foundation, Misk brings back popular characters Duke Fleed and Kouji Kabuto.
Manga Productions has unveiled the third promotional video for “Grendizer U” as well as a new key image for the new anime series.
dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, commented: “We are delighted to announce the continuation of our partnership with Shahid, which confirms that this partnership is an extension of our previous successful collaboration.
“It is worth noting that there have been several previous partnerships between Manga Productions and Shahid in the launch of notable works such as the movie ‘The Journey’ and the series ‘Future’s Folktales’ and ‘Captain Tsubasa’. It is worth noting that ‘The Journey’ ranked among the top five anime movies on the Shahid platform.”
Tareq Al-Ibrahim, Director of Content at Shahid and Head of MBC1 and MBC Drama, said: “Our strategic partnership with Manga Productions brings great value to our audience by appealing to a wide range of viewer categories and age groups.
“What sets Manga Productions apart in its industry is its commitment to high production and artistic standards combined with creative content that delivers valuable social messages and storytelling.”
He added: “This kind of content and its messages align with the region’s cultural values and resonate with audiences across the region, providing Arab families with a sophisticated, enjoyable and entertaining viewing experience.”
In 2022, a strategic partnership was announced between Dynamic Planning and Manga Productions to license the “UFO Robo Grendizer” — more commonly known as “The Grendizer” — and use it in products and characters for cities and entertainment events worldwide, except in Japan.
The new series is based on Go Nagai’s “UFO Robo Grendizer”. The general director for “Grendizer U” is Mitsuo Fukuda, the author of the series and the script is Ichiro Okouchi, and Tatsuhito Higuchi also wrote the script.
Character design is handled by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, while Mari Araki is responsible for sub-character design. The mechanical design was done by Wataru Inata, AF_KURO and Junichi Akutsu (Astrays), and the design works by Pinakes, Tomoyuki Aoki, Zenseava and Masato Yoshinaga.
The main animators are Hiroyuki Taiga, Takashi Hashimoto, Masahiro Yamane and Toru Yoshida. Art direction is handled by Hiroshi Kato and Hirofumi Sakagami (Totonyan), while Tomoe Yoshimura handles color design and Atsushi Usuta (Nexus) handles cinematography.
Yukio Nagasaki is the sound director, with sound effects by Toshiya Wada and Maki Takuma (Swara Pro). The music is composed by Kohei Tanaka, and the music production is handled by Pony Canyon. Gaina takes care of animation production.