Akira Toriyama is way more than a titan in terms of success as a mangaka. The father of Dragon Ball series needs no introduction. An inspiration to other great mangakas like Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda, he created works like Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball that have earned great amounts of success. But one work of his that needs more recognition is Sand Land. A manga that he had worked on 23 years back and really brief, Sand Land is going to get its own movie. A really brief manga, it getting its own animation can be a big news for many fans of Akira Toriyama and his works. Here is all you need to know about Sand Land.
Set to be released this year, Sand Land is so small a work in length that it literally has just one volume. Yes! It was written in 2000 and got summed up in just one volume. Originally published by Shueisha, it was one of the small projects that Akira Toriyama chose to work on the late 1990s onwards. Cowa! and Kajika are the other two works that Toriyama sensei chose to create during the time periode. Even though it went on to have 14 chapters, Weekly Shonen Jump chose to run 8 chapters of Sand Land from May to August of 2000. For English, Viz Media took the work on itself.
The plot is based on the scarcity of water on Earth. Based on the theme of combating greed with the focus on scarcity of a necessary resource, Akira Toriyama did slip in a serious theme for many to think about. It talks about how a king sells water at rates that increase. As the people of Sand Land find it difficult to pay for water at rising prices, robbery and similar crimes become rampant. To prevent it, a former general approaches the demon prince of Sand Land. Directly confronting the king and frustrated with his exploitation, the former general and his allies take to providing the source of water to the people of Sand Land.
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Even though Akira Toriyama has been known to admit that he prefers lighter and more enjoyable themes in his works of art, he still kept some serious themes to discuss in the Sand Land manga. Having created the work without the help of any assistants, Toriyama was surprised at how he himself shaped the to-be movie tale. The mangaka of Dragon Ball fame expressed a lot of appreciation for the fans who are eager to see the brief work released 23 years ago.
Having already been indicated by the entertainment world giant Bandai Namco Entertainment back in late 2022, the Sand Land movie will be directed by Toshihisa Yokoshima and written by Hayashi Mori. Toshihisa Yokoshima has previously worked on Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Dinosaur. Along with Kazuaki Imai, he succeeded in carrying on the Doraemon fame in movies. Hayashi Mori, the screenwriter, has worked on creating works like Urusei Yatsura and Drifting Home. The only indication towards the movie’s release is that it will be released in Japan on August 18, 2023. Beyond the Japan release point, there is no clear signal that can be pointed at.
It has been learnt that Sunrise, Anima and Kamikaze Douga will be at the production of the movie. The voice actors of the show have also been named. Having worked as the lead in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Mutsumi Tamura will voice the demon prince. Along with Tamura sensei, Kazuhiro Yamaji will also go for a role in the movie. Kazuhiro Yamaji has voiced Kenny Ackerman in Attack on Titan. And it does not get over here. Cho, who has voiced Brook in One Piece Film: Red, has also offered his voice to the movie. Cho has also voiced Kazuo Yamashita in Kengan Ashura as well!
With such a star-studded cast of voice actors, the fans’ expectations can be quite high. With Akira Toriyama favouring Sand Land by saying that the production quality is actually great, it should be expected that his fans will be looking out for the movie’s release as soon as it is scheduled.
