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RIYADH: A new report reveals how anime has become a cultural cornerstone for Saudi youth and a powerful new platform for brands.

The research was carried out by global advertising and digital media agency Dentsu MENAT. At the Athar Festival for creativity in Riyadh this week the company’s CEO, Tarek Daouk, spoke to Arab News, the event’s media partner, about anime culture in the Kingdom and the ways in which it can redefine modern agency models.

About 31 percent of fans of anime watch content daily, and more than 21 percent spend more than SR2,000 ($530) a year on merchandise, the report revealed.

“We looked at anime fans in ����ֱ�� and we found that around 70 percent of anime fans will react positively to brands that are connected to anime,” Daouk said,

“When you go deep into a fandom and you try to understand the passion point, then the potential for the brand to build connections is very high.”

Anime, a style of animation that originated in Japan, has been a significant part of Saudi youth culture since the 1980s, when early series began airing across the region, including “Grendizer,” “Detective Conan,” and “Captain Majid” (also known as “Captain Tsubasa”), which were localized and dubbed into Arabic by Damascus-based Al-Zahra Center/VENUS. When the TV channel Spacetoon began broadcasting in 2000 and its popularity soared, it helped define television programming for a generation.

The report found that 62.3 percent of people who engage with anime regularly in ����ֱ�� are under the age of 35, and so it is becoming a language of connection in youth culture.

According to the report: “Among 18-24-year-olds, quality narratives and artistic creativity are the top reasons for their deep connection to the medium. Anime reflects modern life, personal growth, and emotional depth in ways that feel both global and relatable.”

This passion for anime has inspired many Saudis to carve out their own spaces that blend the style of the art form with Saudi aesthetics, including graphic designer Njood Al-Kharboush, who creates stickers, pins and decks of cards she sells on her online store, Haku.

Daouk said: “Cultures have different layers. One layer is where we live, our stories, our family stories, our societies’ stories. That’s one layer of culture.

“The other layer is what we like; we like football, anime, dance, poetry, music, fashion. And in this layer of culture, we share it across geographies.

“So a Saudi fan of anime will share a lot of stories with a Japanese fan of anime. The first layer of where they live (and) the language might be different but their passion points are similar.”

For local and global brands, this represents an opportunity to integrate anime culture into other streams and leverage intellectual properties that resonate with Saudi fans, who are 1.6 times more likely than the global average to improve their opinion of a brand when an anime IP is incorporated into products or promotions.

One example of this is development of a Dragon Ball Z theme park as part of the Qiddiya entertainment and tourism project in Riyadh. Themed around the legendary series, it is expected to be one of the largest anime-themed destinations in the world.

There are other ways in which anime is increasingly becoming part of people’s lives. The report found that more than half of anime fans in ����ֱ�� play anime-based video games and more than 43 percent play video games based on manga (Japanese comics), highlighting the potential of this sector as the Kingdom continues to invest in esports.

“Now with gaming, where gaming is becoming a space for connection between people, not just to game, and where you can incorporate content like anime in gaming, these connections are much easier now,” Daouk said.

The great popularity of anime in the country means there are many opportunities to capitalize on it, he added.

“The biggest opportunity is to go along with the 2030 Vision and turning Saudi from a consuming community — like, we consume anime, we watch anime — into giving the talent in Saudi the opportunity to produce. And when you produce, you add your cultural twist to the content.”