KUALA LUMPUR: Successful local animated film Mechamato Movie, which collected over RM36 million during its release in 2022, is set to be screened in more than 30 cinemas across Japan starting on Jan 19.
This will make the movie, produced by Monsta, the first Malaysian animated feature to be shown on the big screen in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The collaboration between Monsta and AEON Entertainment Japan also sees the movie featuring a cast of famous Japanese voice actors, such as Ayumu Murase as Amato, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as MechaBot, and Kenjiro Tsuda as General Grakakus.
"We found the marketing style in Japan to be very different. Their voice actors have their fan base and appeal.
"Monsta took the advice of and received help from a strategic partner in Japan to utilise the talents of famous 'seiyuu' (voice actors) for the Mechamato Movie.
"We hope this effort will attract the interest of the Japanese populace to watch this Malaysian film and share their experiences," said Monsta chief executive Nizam Abd Razak in a statement today.
"We received many exciting reactions from the audience at the Japan premiere of the Mechamato Movie.
"They did not expect Malaysia to be able to produce an animation of international standards with a storyline that could keep their children glued to their seats for 116 minutes.
"We are working to bring this Japanese dubbed version to Malaysia because we are confident that Mechamato fans will not want to miss the opportunity to watch this version as well," he said after the Mechamato Movie premiere, which took place at AEON Chofu in Tokyo yesterday.
Previously, the first two seasons of the Mechamato series became the first title from Malaysia to be successfully shown on Japanese national television through the Tokyo MX channel.
Aside from that, the Mechamato Movie theme song, titled Temaniku and sung by local artiste Yonnyboii, was also remade in Japanese by singer Ruka from Japan and retitled as Tomodachi.