Amin Abbas
DUBAI: Assem Sukkar is a Syrian actor and singer who is known by many anime fans in the Middle East region for singing the Arabic versions of popular anime songs such as Dragon Ball, Sangokushi, Ginga Sengoku Gun Yuuden Rai, and more.
Sukkar told Arab News Japan that he started singing when he was younger as part of his school’s music band. “Back in the day, every school in Syria had a musical band for children’s music festivals and there were student composers who wanted to learn more about music,” he shared.
He started making music for TV and radio stations with veteran Syrian artist and actor Adnan Aschamat until his friend, Louis Abou Asali, introduced him to the famous Syrian dubbing studio that dubbed many Japanese anime series, Venus Centre.
Sukkar mentioned that the first song he sang for an Arabic-dubbed version of an anime was for the 1990s anime Sangokushi, known as Suqoor Al Arth in Arabic.
“Surprisingly, the song became such a huge hit that many boys and girls were signing it on the streets and restaurants back in the day, and me, Asali, and composer Tarek Al Arabi became a team and friends for a long time,” he recalled.
“After that, Syrian singer Rasha Rizk joined the group and the team was completed. We started making songs for many Japanese anime and western cartoons that surprisingly got a huge following and appreciation from many people outside of Syria and we were so happy about it in a way that we didn’t expect it at all. We are truly grateful and humbled to have received much love and appreciation from many people over generations,” he added.
About the challenges that he faced working on the songs, Sukkar said: “At the beginning, we used old equipment and instruments to make music and sound effects. Shortly after that, Venus Centre made a huge step in upgrading the music studio and brought the best equipment in the world to make many songs and our teamwork made these songs so special that many people are listening to them to this day.”
The Arabic song of Ginga Sengoku Gun Yuuden Rai, known as Hazeem Al Raed in Arabic, has become a huge hit since it’s debut in the early 2000’s.
“I consider this song a revolution, as many people around the MENA region consider it a national theme because of the music and lyrics,” the singer told Arab News Japan. “We were shocked by the huge impact that the song made around the world and we were happy with the work and effort that we put into this song to make this impact and be followed by many fans over the years.”
“This song was a breakpoint for me, as follow-up projects had to be of the same quality in terms of lyrics and music to get the same impact as this song and I’m truly happy to give my best in these projects,” he added.
Additionally, Sukkar also performed the Arabic song of the popular anime Dragon Ball, which became big in the Arab world. “This song was a phenomenon when it was released for the first time in a way that many people, especially children, were singing it all the time,” he said. “The work and effort that we made for the song was so powerful that we were sweating working on it. We are happy about it.”
The Syrian singer is grateful for being part of many Arab people’s childhoods through his work. “It means a lot to me to receive calls and messages from different people around the region who have become teachers, doctors, engineers, etc., mentioning the impact of my work on their lives,” Sukkar told Arab News Japan.
“We are truly grateful for those days when we worked our best to make these songs so popular around the world,” he added.
About his recommendations for those who want to be a singer for animation projects, Sukkar said: “If you have a good voice, keep training your voice and learn to listen to the music to get the essential idea to make the right song and lyrics and most importantly, be honest with yourself to make the best of it.”