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Future Folktales 2 Animated Series Reveals November 3 Debut in Japan in New Videos
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Manga Productions revealed two new videos on Friday for Future Folktales 2, the second season of Manga Productions and Toei Animation's Future Folktales (Asatir: Mirai no Mukashibanashi) animated television series. The videos reveal that the series will debut in Japan on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on November 3 at 7:00 a.m.
HIDIVE will stream the anime starting on November 4 at 10:00 a.m. EST. The company describes the anime:
In 2050 Riyadh, a grandmother named Asma takes her cherished grandchildren on a whirlwind journey to the past, showcasing the heritage and history of the Arabian Peninsula through retellings of the region's most beloved folktales. With the help of their robotic cat, Anis, the children learn that their modern-day dilemmas are no match for the words of wisdom passed from generation to generation through their grandmother's fascinating stories.
The new season will have 13 episodes.
Returning cast includes:
- Masako Nozawa as Asmaa
- Naomi Ōzora as Maha
- Sachiko Kojima as Rayan
- Megumi Urawa as Sultan
- Ai Maeda as Anis
- Mie Sonozaki as Mama
- Masaya Takatsuka as Papa
Hideaki Yoshio is joining first season director Masami Shimoda to direct the series at Manga Productions and Toei Animation. Hiroki Kikuta returning to compose the music. Returning scriptwriters Yoshifumi Fukushima, Ryuu King, Uiko Kudō, and Toshio Yoshitaka join new scriptwriter Hiroshi Yamaguchi. Original character designers include: Mernan Behri, Sara Alhazmy, Sara Oulddaddah, Atheer Alkubayer, Abdullah Alhusaynan, Jude Ganag, and Hamidah Hamadah. Those adapting those designs for animation include: Yūko Matsui, Shin`ya Takahashi, Atsushi Yamagata, Satoshi Hirayama, Yoru Ogino, Kōki Murao, Fadel Dahnim, Hajime Matsuzaki, and Riyadh Waleed.
Manga Productions had announced in 2020 that it has entered a partnership agreement with NEOM for the production of the second season. The new season of the series will take place in NEOM, which is a planned smart city in Saudi Arabia.
The first season premiered in Japan in April 2020, and had 13 episodes. The first season streamed and aired in over 40 countries and regions and has reached an international viewership of 70 million. HIDIVE streamed the first season in North America. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series and stated plans to release it on home video.
Manga Productions streamed a teaser trailer in November 2017 for "The Woodcutter's Treasure," its first collaboration with Toei Animation. The project is a 25-minute animation based on Saudi Arabian folklore and aimed at children and families, and it served as a pilot for a television series. Manga Productions and Toei Animation have also collaborated on The Journey film.
Manga Productions is a subsidiary of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Foundation, also known as MiSK, and named for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. The company aims to create animation, comic, and video game projects to "promote Saudi ideas and messages internationally."
In February 2021, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who relocated to the United States and wrote for The Washington Post newspaper before being killed in 2018. The Saudi Arabian government "completely reject[ed]" the U.S. assessment. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has also been criticized for pursuing a war in Yemen that caused a humanitarian disaster and for cracking down on dissenting voices. He has alternately been praised for ending a ban on women drivers in 2018.
Sources: Manga Productions' YouTube channel, Comic Natalie
