Abu Dhabi is set to become a magnet for fans of Japanese animation on Friday (July 15), after snatching the world premiere of One Piece Film: Gold from Las Vegas to host it at Emirates Palace – eight days before its cinema release in Japan.
The movie, from the popular Toei animation studio, might not be a household name outside of the world of anime devotees, but it is the 13th film in the popular One Piece franchise, which set the world record for Most Printed Comic Series by a single author when 1997's Weekly Shonen Jump sold an impressive 320 million copies worldwide. The premiere will be attended by animators and actors from the movie.
So how did a blockbuster Japanese anime project come to have its premiere in Abu Dhabi?
The answer lies with the capital’s Manga-influenced animation house Ego Punch Entertainment, creators of the Middle East’s first anime production, the in-development Torkaizer.
“We visited Tokyo Games Show last year – we’re involved in games development as well – and were surprised to find a lot of companies visiting our booth wanting to talk about partnering with us,” says Ego Punch chief executive Ahmed Al Mutawa. “Initially when we talked to Toei we had no intention of working with them, we just really liked what they did, but things moved on.”
"We have a subsidiary company, Ego Space, that focuses on events and exhibitions," says Mohamed Al Jneibi, Ego Punch's chief creative officer. "That's who's doing the One Piece premiere, and we're also serving as consultants to the forthcoming Yas Island anime event that the Middle East Film and Comic Con guys are doing in October."
The collaboration is quite a coup for Ego Punch.
"Toei are one of the most famous animators in Japan," says executive producer Mansour Al Dhaher. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for One Piece fans.
“They were intending to do the premiere in Las Vegas. We said, ‘Why not think of the Middle East?’ They were unsure if the infrastructure was there, so we said, ‘Guys, why don’t you just get on a plane, come and visit this beautiful country and check it out?’
"They did and they loved the island, the Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace – the whole city. So they decided to give it a go. We've teamed up with Etihad, who had previous experience from working on the Star Wars premiere in December, and they were keen to do a similar event, especially as it's a quiet time of year. They wanted to create a buzz, and Abu Dhabi Tourism [and Culture Authority] have helped out by promoting it as part of the Summer Season package."
Star Wars was a major blockbuster coup for Abu Dhabi, while anime is more of a niche market – but the team are convinced the audience is here.
“Fans have been phoning up Emirates Palace and showing up at our building looking for tickets,” says Al Dhaheri. “The social-media buzz is strong and we’re confident people will show up. We expect a sell-out.”
Content delivery specialist Adam Farskoury agrees: “We think the anime community in the region is underserved. We think there’s huge potential for both production and events that could strike a chord with a lot of people here.
“We want to use this event to show Japanese producers and content owners that there is a big market in this region that could be to their advantage. I think regionally anime fans actually outnumber traditional comic-book fans, so we hope we’ll see more in future.”
• The premiere of One Piece Film: Gold is at Emirates Palace at 7pm on Friday, July 15. To purchase tickets, visit www.tixbox.com
cnewbould@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals (more at www.hertz.com/etihad). A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
