JEDDAH: The desert plains of Saudi Arabia and the colorful, all-action "anime" pop culture of Japan seem like they are worlds apart.
But that’s not the case with Desert Knight — the star of a new, wildly popular video trailer that manages to fuse these two seemingly disparate cultures.
The character was devised by a Jeddah-based media company, along with its Japanese partner, with the aim of both entertaining global audiences and giving a broader insight into the Arab world.
The three-minute trailer — set in ancient times in the Arabian desert — gives a brief introduction into "Desert Knight", telling the tale of a boy whose town is ransacked by bandits and his family killed.
Filmed in the Japanese anime style, the film shows how the boy steps up to challenge the tyranny of the bandits – promoting qualities of peace, teamwork and family.
The trailer was made by the Jeddah-based ARINAT — part of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), which also publishes Arab News — along with Japan-based GAINAX studio.
News of the Desert Knight promo has been carried in more than 100 news outlets in 14 countries, including the US, Japan and China. The YouTube video has received 80,000 views, with 300,000 visitors to the Facebook page, ARINAT says.
This is all good news given one of the wider aims of the Desert Knight promo, the media company says.
“I believe animation is a great tool to introduce Saudi Arabia to the world, and to the global audiences,” Essam Bukhary, executive manager of ARINAT, told Arab News.
Bukhary was speaking from ARINAT's office in Jeddah, where a team of artists was busy at work on its animated productions. The media company specializes in animation, video games and comics, and is also working on 3D-style productions similar in style to those made by Disney or Pixar.
The Desert Knight video is subtitled in Japanese — a language in which Bukhary is fluent thanks to his 19 years spent in the East Asian country, most recently as Saudi Cultural Attaché to Japan.
Given that, Bukhary is already well versed in bridging the Saudi and Japanese cultures — something he is continuing with Desert Knight.
“What we are trying to do is to deliver a new message about Saudi Arabia to the world, to global audiences, in innovative ways,” he said.
“We hope that we will not only transmit knowledge of animations and video games from Japan to Saudi Arabia but also deliver something new from Saudi Arabia to the world.”
Bukhary said there is strong demand for Japanese-style animation in the Arab world. Popular characters from Japanese series like Grendizer and Captain Tsubasa are already popular in the region, he said.
“There is a big need for Arab animation in the region — there is a market there,” Bukhary said. “They love Japan because of those heroes, who came from the animation.
“What we are trying to do is to create Saudi heroes, to create Arab heroes that might be (good) for children, for young generations, to learn from them how to be honest… how to serve your country, your community.”
Amr Almaddah, the chief operating officer at ARINAT, said that the project aims to help change perceptions of Saudi Arabia internationally.
“One of the misconceptions in the world is that… they only have one image about Saudi Arabia, (that the people here have only) one way of dressing,” said Almaddah.
“So the main idea of our project is that we can visualize Saudis in different environments, in different settings… So people will be able to understand Saudis better, can sympathize with their causes and ideas more.”
Decisions over the future of the Desert Knight — and whether it may eventually become a movie or TV series — are yet to be made, and depend partly on the audience reaction to the trailer.
But Bukhary said ARINAT's Japanese partners are “are keen to do it”, and that it has attracted offers from Japanese investment firms.
If the project is carried forward it would, of course, be a continuation of the rich history of storytelling from the region.
“Remember that the Arab world is the origin of the Arabian Nights,” Bukhary said. “So why don’t we do it again?”
Arab anime hero gives more animated view of Saudi culture
Arab anime hero gives more animated view of Saudi culture
A look back at how Arab News marked its 50th anniversary
- In a year crowded with news, the paper still managed to innovate and leverage AI to become available in 50 languages
- Golden Jubilee Gala, held at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh, now available to watch on YouTube
RIYADH: In 2025, the global news agenda was crowded with headlines concerning wars, elections and rapid technological change.
Inside the newsroom of Arab News, the year carried additional weight: Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily marked its 50th anniversary.
And with an industry going through turmoil worldwide, the challenge inside the newsroom was how to turn a midlife crisis into a midlife opportunity.
For the newspaper’s team members, the milestone was less about nostalgia than about ensuring the publication could thrive in a rapidly changing and evolving media landscape.
“We did not want just to celebrate our past,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. “But more importantly, we were constantly thinking of how we can keep Arab News relevant for the next five decades.”
The solution, he added, came down to two words: “Artificial intelligence.”
For the Arab News newsroom, AI was not a replacement for journalism but as a tool to extend it.
“It was like having three eyes at once: one on the past, one on the present, and one on the future,” said Noor Nugali, the newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief.
One of the first initiatives was the 50th anniversary commemorative edition, designed as a compact historical record of the region told through Arab News’ own reporting.
“It was meant to be like a mini history book, telling the history of the region using Arab News’ archive with a story from each year,” said Siraj Wahab, acting executive editor of the newspaper.
The issue, he added, traced events ranging from the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 to the swearing-in of Donald Trump, while also paying homage to former editors-in-chief who shaped the newspaper’s direction over five decades.
The anniversary edition, however, was only one part of a broader strategy to signal Arab News’ focus on the future.
To that end, the paper partnered with Google to launch the region’s first AI-produced podcast using NotebookLM, an experimental tool that synthesizes reporting and archival material into audio storytelling.
The project marked a regional first in newsroom-led AI audio production.
The podcast was unveiled during a special 50th anniversary ceremony in mid-November, held on the sidelines of the Arab Media Forum, hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation. The event in the UAE’s commercial hub drew regional media leaders and officials.
Remarks at the event highlighted the project as an example of innovation in legacy media, positioning Arab News as a case study in digital reinvention rather than preservation alone.
“This is a great initiative, and I’m happy that it came from Arab News as a leading media platform, and I hope to see more such initiatives in the Arab world especially,” said Mona Al-Marri, director-general of the Government of Dubai Media Office, on the sidelines of the event.
“AI is the future, and no one should deny this. It will take over so many sectors. We have to be ready for it and be part of it and be ahead of anyone else in this interesting field.”
Behind the scenes, another long-form project was taking shape: a documentary chronicling Arab News’ origins and its transformation into a global, digital-first newsroom.
“While all this was happening, we were also working in-house on a documentary telling the origin story of Arab News and how it transformed under the current editor into a more global, more digital operation,” said Nugali.
The result was “Rewriting Arab News,” a documentary examining the paper’s digital transformation and its navigation of Saudi Arabia’s reforms between 2016 and 2018. The film charted editorial shifts, newsroom restructuring and the challenges of reporting during a period of rapid national change.
The documentary was screened at the Frontline Club in London, the European Union Embassy, Westminster University, and the World Media Congress in Bahrain. It later became available on the streaming platform Shahid and onboard Saudi Arabian Airlines.
It was also nominated for an Association for International Broadcasting award.
In early July, a special screening of the documentary took place at the EU Embassy in Riyadh. During the event, EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Christophe Farnaud described the film as an “embodiment” of the “incredible changes” that the Kingdom is undergoing.
“I particularly appreciate … the historical dimension, when (Arab News) was created in 1975 — that was also a project corresponding to the new role of the Kingdom,” Farnaud said. “Now the Kingdom has entered a new phase, a spectacular phase of transformation.”
Part of the documentary is narrated by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, who in the film delves into the paper’s origins.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter.
Hosted by the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the evening featured a keynote address by Prince Turki, who spoke about Arab News’ founding under his father, the late King Faisal, and its original mission to present the Kingdom to the English-speaking world.
Arab News was established in Jeddah in 1975 by brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz under the slogan to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.
The two founders were honored with a special trophy presented by Prince Turki, Assistant Media Minister Abdullah Maghlouth, Editor-in-Chief Abbas, and family member and renowned columnist Talat Hafiz on behalf of the founders.
During the gala, Abbas announced Arab News’ most ambitious expansion yet: the launch of the publication in 50 languages, unveiled later at the World Media Congress in Madrid in cooperation with Camb.AI.
The Madrid launch in October underscored Arab News’ aim to reposition itself not simply as a regional paper, but as a global platform for Saudi and Middle Eastern perspectives.
The event was attended by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Saudi ambassador to Spain; Arab and Spanish diplomats; and senior editors and executives.
As the anniversary year concluded, Arab News released the full video of the Golden Jubilee Gala to the public for the first time, making the event accessible beyond the room in which it was held.
For a newspaper founded in an era of typewriters and wire copy, the message of its 50th year was clear: longevity alone is not enough. Relevance, the newsroom concluded, now depends on how well journalism adapts without losing sight of its past.
