English Dub Season Review: Sand Land

When Akira Toriyama’s passing was made known earlier this year, the world felt the major loss of one of manga’s most influential creators. The mind that brought us the likes of Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, and countless iconic designs from numerous video games was simply no longer here. But whether he knew or not that his health would catch up with him, Toriyama proved to be rather prolific in the final years of his life, including getting very involved in an upcoming Dragon Ball anime, but also working with Studio Sunrise to finally properly adapt one of his lesser known works: Sand Land. Based on one of the several short manga he made during his Post-Dragon Ball years, Sand Land follows the adventures of the Fiend Prince Beelzebub, his bearded attendant Thief, and a humble sheriff named Rao as they gather together to find an unknown water source in the vast wastelands of Sand Land that hasn’t been privatized by the monarchy. Initially adapted into a feature film (that I guess the states is just never going to get), the film was cut up into six episodes for a TV anime, along with seven additional episodes that MAY adapt the story of Sand Land video game which was released around the same time. So, does this adaptation do its late great creator justice?

The Sand Land anime, as mentioned, is split up into two story arcs, with one adapting the manga and the other being an original story. And despite them sharing the setting and many of the characters, the two arcs are considerably different in significant ways. The manga arc, which brings the characters together in the first place, is much more clearly storyboarded out, has smoother animation due to it being made for movie theaters, and was of course written solely by Toriyama himself, being a rather small scale and personal story focuses more on themes than action, though said action is beefed up a bit more from how it was originally in the manga. Meanwhile, the anime arc expands the cast and develops the world a bit more, introducing a second region called Forest Land and putting greater emphasis on the demon and angel races, as well as ending in a bombastic showdown that culminates in a giant ancient war fortress crashing from the sky. Some may prefer the first arc to the second because it has that pure Toriyama sauce, others may like the second more. Personally I enjoy both for different reasons, but one could argue that many of the good things about the anime arc are there because the first arc established them so well.

As someone who read the original Sand Land manga on its first US release back in 2003, it’s good to see this series not only get introduced to a wider audience through anime, but also adapted with so much love and passion, but it is quite bittersweet that it came just after its creator’s passing. Still, even if you were never that big a fan of Akira Toriyama’s work, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you…watch and read Dragon Ball from the beginning. But once you’re done with that…go watch Dr. Slump. But once you’re done with THAT…go read and watch Sand Land. It’s a short but fun ride that shows that even after his most impactful work, Toriyama still had plenty of good stories to tell. And if the outpouring of tributes since he died are any indication, hopefully it will be an inspiration for you and others to start making stories of your own. So, until Dragon Ball Daima starts, you’ve got your reading and watch list, so get started.