“The Journey” is a rather unique title in the field of anime. Co-produced by TOEI Animation and Saudi Arabian Manga Productions, the movie had a production team of more than 330 individuals from Saudi talent and professionals in the field from Japan, where Saudi talents were trained and worked side by side with experts to enhance their skill set further. Kobun Shizuno of “Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle” fame directed a story that is distinctly Arabic, as it is inspired by a local folklore that tells the story of Aws, a potter in Makkah who takes up arms to protect his city against ruthless invaders who threaten to destroy the Kaaba. The film was initially planned to premiere in Southeast Asia in 2021 but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The particular story is a retelling of an event in Arabian history generally known as “The Year of the Elephant”, when Abraha, a Christian Abyssinian King, threatened to enslave their people and destroy the Kaaba, a sacred sanctuary, while bringing elephants to the fight, an event so surprising, that ended up giving the whole “arc” its name. It is just before the first battle that the story of the movie begins, as we meet Aws, a seemingly simple potter who has joined the volunteer army in order to protect his family and the people that have adopted him in the area. As the movie progresses, however, extended flashbacks shed much more light to his and a number of the rest of the protagonists' past, all the way to the second part, which is almost exclusively focused on the battle.
The approach Kobun Shizuno implements here is as unusual as the movie's main premises, and actually extends to the artform. In that fashion, the story begins posing a number of questions regarding the main characters and the motives, as much as Abraha's attack, but gradually reveals the background through extended flashbacks, mostly appearing in the first part. Furthemore, these trips to the past have an intense religious element that seems to encompass all Abrahamic religions, thus giving the story a more universal approach, even inside the particular prism. The propagandistic elements are also here, however, although considering the epic nature of the movie, that is to be expected, as the same happens to similar productions from US, Korea, China etc.
Regarding the artform, these flashbacks unfold in a different fashion than the main story, since the movement is minimal, with the focus instead being on the drawing and the coloring, with the result being occasionally visually impressive. At the same time, their extensive duration and their frequency does become a bit tiresome after a point, particularly since they delay the actual battle, which is definitely the main component of the movie. Their artfulness somewhat compensates, but not fully.
Where the title truly picks up, is as soon as the battle begins, with the combination of one-on-ones, the attack of the elephants, and the clash of the two armies being equally epic, while highlighting the excellent animation here. The slight bloodiness that is included in the battles adds even more to the entertainment they offer, while the parallel with the despicable tactics Abraha implements, as much as his ruthless mentality, work nicely, adding some depth to the action. Tatsuro Iwamoto's character design is convincing for the most part, particularly for the main characters and the central villains, but occasionally looks somewhat blunt and repetitive, definitely on a level below what Japanese anime movies have gotten us used to, particularly in the secondary characters. On the other hand, Kaoru Wada's epic score fits the general aesthetics to perfection, adding much to the entertainment this part offers.
Despite some issues here and there, mostly resulting from a focus on religion that occasionally looks propagandistic, the quality of action here is enough to satisfy most fans of epic/shonen anime, while the movie definitely deserves a watch for the uniqueness of the production.
