''The Journey'' is a Japanese–Saudi Arabian animated action

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by Kōbun Shizuno, written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and co-produced by Toei Animation and Manga Productions. The film, based on the Islamic historical event, the Year of the Elephant, revolves around a potter named Aus who joins a battle to defend his home city of Mecca. The film was released in Japan, the Middle East and North Africa on June 2021.

Premise

"As a ruthless invader threatens to enslave their people and destroy the

Kaaba The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...

, a sacred sanctuary, the people of Mecca take up arms. Only able to muster a small force against the massive army, defeat seems all but inevitable. Aus, a seemingly simple potter fighting to protect his family, is forced to reveal his dark past when he discovers amongst the defenders a long-lost friend believed to be dead - a warrior named Zurara. As fear threatens to break their resolve, Aus' strength of faith compels him to stand and fight. Aus battles his own doubts and fears as he tries to unite his friends and compatriots on the eve of battle. Abraha's army is fast approaching, and the fate of Mecca and its people hangs in the balance. Will the people of Mecca defeat the colossal army with nothing but their simple defenses and their love for their city?"

Voice cast

Japanese voice cast

* Tōru Furuya as Aus * Kotono Mitsuishi as Hind *

Hiroshi Kamiya is a Japanese voice actor, singer and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. He is best known for the voice of Levi Ackerman in ''Attack on Titan'', Trafalgar Law in ''One Piece'', Mephisto Pheles in ''Blue Exorcist'', Izaya Orihara in ''Dur ...

as Zurara * Kazuya Nakai as Musab * Takaya Kuroda as Abraha * Yuichi Nakamura as Nizar *

Mugihito , better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Musashino, Tokyo. Mugihito was formerly credited under his birth name and also . Filmography Television animation ;1976 *''Dokaben'' (Domon) ;1978 *''Future ...

as Muttalib

Arabic voice cast

*Nassar Al-Nassar as Aus *

Rasha Rizk Rasha Rizk ( ar, رشا رزق; born 5 March 1976) is a Syrian singer-songwriter. She is known for her work with the Syrian cartoon dubbing company, Venus Centre, and for singing the Arabic theme songs for popular cartoons/anime such as: Remi, N ...

as Hind *Abdullah Elfiky as Zurara *Ahmed Al-Yazidi as Musab *Abdo Chahine as Abraha *Abdul Rahman Al-Warthan as Nizar *

Jassim Al-Nabhan Jassim Al-Nabhan (Arabic: جاسم النبهان; born August 1, 1944), Kuwaiti actor. Works Plays *jonon wa fonon (1965) *hami al diyar (1985) *rahii (1992) *Richard III: An Arab Tragedy (2009) Series TV *al al dinya al salam (1987) *m ...

as Muttalib

English voice cast

Johnny Yong Bosch Johnny Yong Bosch (born January 6, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer, and martial artist. His first major role was the portrayal of Adam Park, the second Black Power Ranger and later, the Green Zeo Ranger and first Green Turbo Ranger i ...

* Jennie Kwan * Bryce Papenbrook * Alejandro Saab * Christopher Sabat * Steve Blum *Hesham Elshazly *Cedric Williams *Hussein Mohammed * Mohammed Gaber

Production

''The Journey'', which was based on Pre-Islamic History, is a joint collaboration which began in November 2017 between two animation studios; Manga Productions of Saudi Arabia and Toei Animation of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. This film is the second animated work made by Manga in collaboration with Toei; with the first being animated series ''Future's Folktales''. ''The Journey'' was directed by Kōbun Shizuno with Atsuhiro Tomioka providing the screenplay. The character design for the film was done by Tatsuro Iwamoto and musical score was by Kaoru Wada. Production work for ''The Journey'' was done both in Tokyo and Riyadh. The film project's cost ranges from $10–15 million. The film finished production by February 2020.

Release

Arabic release

''The Journey'' was originally planned to make its premiere in 2020 at the Cannes Film Festival which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released in the Middle East and North Africa theaters on June 17, 2021.

VOX Cinemas Majid Al Futtaim ( ar, ماجد الفطيم) is an Emirati holding company based in Dubai. As of 2015, it owned and operated shopping malls, retail, and leisure establishments in the Middle East and North Africa with operations in 13 co ...

has theatrical rights for the film in the Middle East and North Africa region. The film is released in Arabic and Japanese with English Subtitles.

Japanese release

Toei subsidiary T-Joy had the distribution rights for the film in Japan, and later distributed by Toei Animation. The film was released in Japanese theaters on June 25, 2021.

North American release

The film was screened in

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chines ...

on April 12, 2022. That same day, it was announced that

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

would stream the film on their website this spring.

German release

The film was released with DVD and Blu-Ray in Germany on June 16, 2022. Amazon and Apple have started streaming the film in Germany.

Global release

started to stream the film for North and South America, Asia and Europe on September 2, 2022.

Reception

''The Journey'' grossed $55,940 at the box office.

Notes

References

External links

* (in Japanese)
''The Journey'' (Arabic)
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''The Journey'' (Japanese)
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''The Journey''
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Journey, The 2021 films 2020s Arabic-language films Saudi Arabian animated films Japanese epic films 2021 anime films Toei Animation films Films about battles and military operations Films scored by Kaoru Wada Anime postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic