Akira Toriyama is one of the most well-known manga artists around the world. People might be most familiar with him through theDragon Ballseries orDr.Slump, his first very successful series. But Akira Toriyama has created a lot of different manga in his career, one of them being a manga calledSand Land. Originally published in 2000,Sand Landis a short series, only 14 chapters long, and waspublished weekly inShonen Jumpfrom May to August.
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Sand Landhas reemerged in the spotlight due to the announcement of a movie and, more recently, the announcement of an action role-playing game that was announced duringSummer Game Fest. A release date for the game hasn’t been announced yet, but for those who aren’t familiar with the manga or need a refresher, here are a few things to know.
6What’s It About?
Set in a world that had been plagued with years of war and natural disasters, the world is a mostly desert and barren place. In such a place, the most essential commodity around is water. Unfortunately for the people of Sand Land, their main source of water had dried up years ago, and the only source of water for them belongs to the greedy king of Sand Land, that wants to charge an arm and leg for his private reserves of water.
This causes chaos and lawlessness as the people attempt to steal from one another for money and for water. Not being able to deal with the greediness of the King any longer, Sheriff Rao goes out to seek the help of demons and winds up being assisted by the Prince of the Underworld, Beelzebub, and another demon that Beelzebub recruits called Thief to find a supposed water source known as the ‘Phantom Lake.’
Sand Landis a comedy or gag manga, so it’s much more lighthearted than other series from Toriyama. In fact, it started out as a simple and short manga that Toriyama made for his own enjoyment. And though demons like Beelzebub are involved along with literal Satan, they are far from being the worst characters. They wouldn’t even really be classified as evil, more mischievous than anything else.
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The Prince of Demons, Beelzebub, is known to be the most kind-hearted of all the demons. The most harm demons do is steal from the trucks that deliver water, and they only steal a little, just enough to sustain them. Beelzebub even tells Rao that no demon has ever killed a human and that when anything goes bad, humans are quick to put the blame on demons. The real evil in this series is the greed and corruption of the King and Commander Zeu.
4Tanks, Tanks, And More Tanks
Toriyama has complained about how difficult it had been for him to draw the tanks, and though he was frustrated by it, he had developed the story too far to take them out. Despite the difficulty, tanks become a main feature ofSand Landaround chapter 3 when Rao, Beelzebub, and Thief steal one to continue on their journey to the Phantom Lake.
There’s a lot of driving in the tank andtank combatwhich also appears to be something that’s included in the game. Toriyama’s interest in different vehicles shines through inSand Landwith all the details he includes in his drawings of the tanks used in the series.
3It Takes Some Inspiration From Toriyama’s Other Series'
Sand Landis far from being one of Toriyama’s first works. He had established himself as a talented and popular manga artist well beforeSand Landwas created in 2000. One of the series that Toriyama created in between two of his most popular series,Dr.SlumpandDragon BallwasPink.Pinkis about a young girl who is a bandit that steals water from an organization called the Silver Company.Sand Landseems to take at least a little inspiration from hisPinkseries, as both worlds suffer from a long-term drought and have main characters who steal water from a corrupt organization.
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Even though Beelzebub’s father Satan, or Lucifer as he’s called in the Western publications ofSand Land, is only shown on one page, fans of theDragon Ballseries might think that he looks a lot like Dabura fromDragon Ball. A few minor differences show that the two characters are not the same, but it’s very likely that Beelzebub’s father takes some inspiration fromDragon Ball’s ownKing of Demons.
2Similarities Between Sand Land And Some Of Toriyama’s Other Manga
Sand Landshares even more details with several of Toriyama’s series', especiallyDr. SlumpandDragon Ball. All three series feature a main character who can be considered a child, and that child is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, character in the series. The child is also either a little naive about how the world works or they’re a little mischievous, but they are always ultimately a good person that tries to help people.
Usually, they are accompanied by an older character who plays as a narrative foil for them. Senbei Norimaki, otherwise known as Dr. Slump, is that for Arale, Rao is that for Beelzebub, and though Bulma is only a teenager when Dragon Ball starts, she plays as a foil to Goku.
1It’s Getting An Animated Film
Before the announcement of theSand LandRPG, it was announced in 2022 thatSand Landwould be getting adapted into an animated film. There are a few things known about the film that is set to release sometime in August in Japan.
TheJapanese voice actor casthas been released, the studios that are producing have been released (Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima), and there is a trailer of it that shows it’s done in a similar animation style toDragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Whether it will get an international release or not is still unknown.
