Sand Land
Cover of the tankōbon volume, featuring Beelzebub, Rao, and Thief
Genre
Manga
Written byAkira Toriyama
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 9, 2000 – August 8, 2000
Volumes1
Anime film
Directed by
Written byHayashi Mori
Music byYugo Kanno
Studio
ReleasedAugust 18, 2023 (2023-08-18)
Runtime106 minutes
Original net animation
Sand Land: The Series
Directed by
  • Toshihisa Yokoshima
  • Hiroshi Kōjina
Written byHayashi Mori
Music byYugo Kanno
Studio
  • Sunrise
  • Kamikaze Douga
  • Anima
Licensed byDisney Platform Distribution
Released Q2 2024 – scheduled
Game
DeveloperILCA
PublisherBandai Namco Entertainment
GenreAction role-playing
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform
Released
  • JP: April 25, 2024
  • WW: April 26, 2024

Sand Land (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from May to August 2000, and was collected into one tankōbon volume in November 2000. Sand Land was serialized in North America by Viz Media in their English Shonen Jump magazine in 2003. It was later released in one graphic novel in December 2003. A CGI anime film adaptation co-produced by Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima was released in August 2023, and an original net animation (ONA) series will be streamed worldwide on Disney+ and Hulu in Q2 2024. An action role-playing video game developed by ILCA and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment is set to be released in April 2024.

Plot

After enduring years of natural disaster and war, the world is left without its main supply of water; the river that provided water to the country dried up long ago. With the greedy king of the land's personal water supply becoming increasingly more expensive for the citizens of Sand Land to buy, the people begin robbing one another for water and money. Sheriff Rao, tired of the king's greed, approaches the demons of Sand Land for help in searching for a new water supply. Demon prince Beelzebub and his friend Thief agree to join Rao.

Soon after their quest begins, their car breaks down and they are forced to steal a tank from the king's army. This attracts the anger of the king and he mobilizes his forces to stop them. Sheriff Rao, a former legendary general of the king's army, is able to quickly deal with all of the current army's attempts to hinder their progress. Once they reach the supposed water supply at the end of the now dried up river bed, they find a lake that now acts as the king's private reserves. With the water sealed away behind a dam to give the king a monopoly over water, Rao, the demons, and those sympathetic to their cause tear it down. With the water returned to the world as a result, the king's oppressive rule is brought to an end.

Characters

Beelzebub (ベルゼブブ, Beruzebubu)
Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura[3] (Japanese); Risa Mei[4] (English)
Beelzebub, named after the biblical demon of the same name, is the son of Lucifer and the prince of demons. Generally referred to only as "Prince" by his fellow demons, Beelzebub tries to live in relative harmony with the humans. Although he regularly steals water from them, he only takes as much as he and the demons need to survive. Simply joining Sheriff Rao out of boredom, Beelzebub lends his enhanced sight and demonic strength to fight against the tyrannous king.
Rao (ラオ)
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji[3] (Japanese); John Lipow[4] (English)
An elderly man, Rao seeks to free the people of Sand Land from the king's pocket. Formerly known as General Shiba (シバ将軍, Shiba Shōgun), he is believed to have died 30 years ago along with his forces while destroying a mysterious weapon on the king's orders. As he travels with Beelzebub and Thief, Rao learns that the weapon was not actually a weapon at all, but instead a machine to artificially create water. Rao sets to right his wrong by bringing down the king and helping those whose family died due to his actions.
Thief (シーフ, Shīfu)
Voiced by: Chō[3] (Japanese); Owen Thomas[4] (English)
Thief is recruited by Beelzebub for his expertise at stealing and his great wisdom. He often fights with Beelzebub for turns to drive the tank.
General Are (アレ将軍, Are Shōgun)
Voiced by: Satoshi Tsuruoka[3] (Japanese); Andrew Lander[4] (English)
Rao's replacement in the king's army, Are's father died during the raid against the mysterious weapon. Initially, he actively pursues Rao in order to avenge his father. However, once he learns the truth about the mysterious weapon he joins Rao in bringing down the king.
General Zeu (ゼウ大将軍, Zeu Daishōgun)
Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita[3] (Japanese); Shawn Smith[4] (English)
The true antagonist of Sand Land, Zeu is the aging commander of the King's forces. Due to his failing body, Zeu is confined to a floating robotic lift. He ordered the attack on the Picchi people, the creators of the water-producing machine, to both rid himself of Shiba's disobedient tank brigade and the threat to the king's monopoly. He uses the king as a figurehead to rule Sand Land. Ultimately, Are shoots and kills him with a tank cannon blast.
King (国王, Kokuō)
Voiced by: Chafurin[5]
As the current ruler of Sand Land the king makes enormous profit by selling bottled water at high prices. He tries to eliminate Rao to make sure nobody finds out about his personal water supply or the water-creating machine he had destroyed. After water is returned to Sand Land, he is forced by Rao to give his wealth to the people.
Lucifer (サタン, Satan, lit. "Satan")
Voiced by: Akio Otsuka[5] (Japanese); Keith Silverstein[4] (English)
King of the demons and Beelzebub's father.
Papa (パパ)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita[5]
The muscular leader of the Swimmers (スイマーズ, Suimāzu), the self-proclaimed "greatest criminals in Sand Land", and father of the other members.
Pike (パイク, Paiku)
Voiced by: Kōji Yusa[5]
A skinny member of the Swimmers who wears a necktie with no shirt. He has superhuman eyesight.
Shark (シャーク, Shāku)
Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino[5]
A skinny member of the Swimmers who wears a blazer with no shirt. He can run at superhuman speed.
Guppy (グッピー, Guppī)
Voiced by: Masafumi Kobatake[5]
An extremely large and fat member of the Swimmers. He carries a large hand cannon.

Production

Toriyama intended for Sand Land to be a short story about a man and a tank that he wrote for his own enjoyment. However, he had difficulty drawing the tank and, as Toriyama insisted on drawing everything himself, soon regretted it. Although he became frustrated, he had already devised the plot and thus was forced to go through with it.[6]

Publication

Written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, Sand Land was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from May 9 to August 8, 2000.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Its 14 chapters were collected into one tankōbon volume that was released on November 2, 2000.[11] A kanzenban edition was published on August 4, 2023.[12] That same day, a "full color" version of the manga began serialization in Shueisha's monthly Saikyō Jump magazine.[13]

Viz Media licensed Sand Land for English release in North America. It was serialized in their manga anthology magazine Shonen Jump for eleven issues, from its debut January 2003 issue to November 2003. The collected graphic novel was released in paperback on December 24, 2003,[14] and digitally as an ebook on June 4, 2013.[15]

Chapters

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
01 November 2, 2000[11]4-08-873039-9December 24, 20031-59116-181-9
  • Chapter 01 : "Let's Go!" (出発, Shuppatsu)
  • Chapter 02 : "The Gang of Thieves" (盗賊団, Dōzokudan)
  • Chapter 03 : "The Tank" (戦車, Sensha)
  • Chapter 04 : "The Flying Tank" (飛行タンク, Hikō no Tanku)
  • Chapter 05 : "Night Truths" (闇の真相, Yami no Shinzō)
  • Chapter 06 : "Rao's Lucky Charm" (ラオのお守り, Rao no Omamori)
  • Chapter 07 : "Tank Battle" (戦車戦, Sensha Sen)
  • Chapter 08 : "General vs. General" (シバ将軍とアレ将軍, Shiba Shōgun to Are Shōgun)
  • Chapter 09 : "The Thing in the Sandstorm" (砂嵐のみつけたもの, Sunarashi no Mitsuketa Mono)
  • Chapter 10 : "The Phantom Lake" (幻の泉, Maboroshi no Izumi)
  • Chapter 11 : "The Secret of the Reservoir" (水源の秘密, Suigen no Himitsu)
  • Chapter 12 : "The Demon Beelzebub" (悪魔のベルゼブブ, Akuma no Beruzebubu)
  • Chapter 13 : "The End of the Path" (決戦の行方, Kessen no Yukue)
  • Chapter 14 : "The River" (川, Kawa)

Media

Anime

On December 8, 2022, Bandai Namco opened a website for "Sand Land Project" and uploaded a teaser video featuring Toriyama's art from the manga. The website featured a countdown that ended on December 17.[16] On that date, it was announced that it would receive a CGI anime adaptation co-produced by Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima.[17] The film is directed by Toshihisa Yokoshima, with Hiroshi Kōjina serving as directing advisor, Hayashi Mori writing the screenplay, Yoshikazu Iwanami directing the sound, and Yugo Kanno composing the music.[3] Imase performs the film's theme song "Utopia" (ユートピア).[18] The Sand Land film had its world premiere at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2023, in San Diego, California.[19] It was released in Japanese theaters on August 18, 2023, by Toho, with a North American release following in 2024.[19]

An original net animation (ONA) series was announced on November 14, 2023. The cast and staff members from the film are reprising their roles. The series will be streamed worldwide on Disney+ in Q2 2024. It will include new scenes that were not featured in the film, famous scenes from the original manga, and a new story written by Toriyama that continues after the film.[20]

Video game

An action role-playing video game based on the series was announced during Summer Game Fest on June 8, 2023.[21] It will be developed by ILCA and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, and will use Unreal Engine 5. The game is set to be released in Japan for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on April 25, 2024, and the following day worldwide.[22][23][24]

Reception

Greg McElhatton called Sand Land "the ultimate disposable comic, executed perfectly".[25] His review for Read About Comics summarized, refers to it as a fun light story that, while not necessarily deep or memorable, does well to explore the fictional world and the unique characters that inhabit it. Despite Toriyama's complaints about designing the tank, McElhatton praised the art, declaring it more consistent than his previous work Dragon Ball.[25] John Jakala of Anime News Network also called the artwork, and story, superior to Dragon Ball.[26] Jakala said the characters are a big part of the series' charm, claiming Toriyama did a "masterful job" establishing the look and personality of each character in the first chapter.[26]

At the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival, the anime adaptation of Sand Land won a Special Jury Mention in the Excellence in Animation category.[19] Evan Mullicane of Screen Rant strongly praised the film, writing that it "proves that the original Sand Land manga is Toriyama's true opus." He found the "seamless" blend of 3D and 2D animation creates a distinctive look that captures Toriyama's artwork "beautifully", and noted that the film's best moments are all based on developing the three central characters.[27] Writing for Anime News Network, Kalai Chik called the film a "feel good popcorn movie" and gave it a B+ rating. They cited the script as its strongest feature; "For a story that touches on the impacts of war, global warming, and corporate greed, it never overcomplicates the message, nor does it talk down to the audience." Although they praised the music, Chik noted it also exposes the "underutilized animation".[28] Giving the film three out of five stars, Matt Schley of The Japan Times called it a straightforward romp that is "fun first and foremost", but leaves the audience with deeper themes to contemplate. He praised the banter between the three main characters as entertaining, with Tamura's Beelzebub being "especially endearing", and the supporting characters for highlighting Toriyama's skill for visual gags. Although Schley wrote that the story and CG animation in Sand Land are not likely to disappoint audiences, he noted that there is "nothing particularly revolutionary" about it and suggested it could have been slightly shorter in length.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ It started in the magazine's 23nd issue of 2000 (cover date May 22),[7] released on May 9 of that same year.[8]
  2. ↑ It finished in the magazine's combined 36th–37th issue (cover date August 21),[9] released on August 8 of that same year.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Sand Land". Shonen Jump. Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Official Website for Sand Land". Viz Media. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Loo, Egan (April 3, 2023). "SAND LAND Anime Film Unveils New Trailer, Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mateo, Alex (October 12, 2023). "Sand Land Game's Trailer Reveals English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 5, 2023). "Sand Land Anime Film Reveals 6 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  6. ↑ Toriyama, Akira (2003). Sand Land. Viz Media. pp. 1. ISBN 1-59116-181-9.
  7. ↑ 週刊少年ジャンプ 2000/05/22 表示号数23. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ 週刊少年ジャンプ 2000年23号 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  9. ↑ 週刊少年ジャンプ 2000/08/21・8/28合併 表示号数36・37. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Contents". Weekly Shōnen Jump (in Japanese). No. 35. Shueisha. 2000. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023. 次号、36-37合併号味8月8日発売!!
  11. 1 2 "SAND LAND" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
  12. ↑ SAND LAND 完全版 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  13. ↑ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (July 6, 2023). "Sand Land Full Color Manga Launches on August 4". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Sand Land". Viz Media. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Sand Land by Akira Toriyama". Barnes & Noble. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ Cayanan, Joanna (December 8, 2022). "Bandai Namco, Dragon Ball's Akira Toriyama Tease SAND LAND Project". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  17. ↑ Loo, Egan (December 8, 2022). "Akira Toriyama's SAND LAND Manga Gets Screen Adaptation in 2023". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  18. ↑ Loo, Egan (June 22, 2023). "Sand Land Anime Film's Trailer Previews imase's Theme Song". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 Cayanan, Joanna (July 31, 2023). "The First Slam Dunk, Sand Land Anime Films Win at Fantasia Int'l Film Festival". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  20. ↑ Cayanan, Joanna (November 13, 2023). "Sand Land Manga Gets Anime Series on Disney+, Hulu in Spring 2024 (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  21. ↑ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 8, 2023). "Akira Toriyama's Sand Land Manga Gets Action RPG". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  22. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 8, 2023). "SAND LAND game announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  23. ↑ Colbert, Isaiah (June 8, 2023). "Dragon Ball Z Creator's Other Classic Manga Finally Gets A Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  24. ↑ Pineda, Rafael (January 12, 2024). "Sand Land Game's Trailer Reveals April 26 Release Date". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  25. 1 2 McElhatton, Greg (April 5, 2004). "Sand Land". Read About Comics. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  26. 1 2 Jakala, John (January 2, 2003). "Shonen Jump Volume 1". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  27. ↑ Mullicane, Evan (July 22, 2023). "Sand Land Review - Move Over Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama's New Movie is His Opus". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  28. ↑ Chik, Kalai (July 30, 2023). "Sand Land - Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  29. ↑ Schley, Matt (August 17, 2023). "'Sand Land': Summer fun with a bad-boy prince". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
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