Sand Land: Facts and Trivia About Akira Toriyama’s Manga
After the news of a Sand Land action RPG game, here are some interesting facts and trivia about the manga by Akira Toriyama.
One of the most famous manga artists in the world is Akira Toriyama. People may know him best from the Dragon Ball series or from Dr. Slump, which was his first very popular series. But over the course of his work, Akira Toriyama has made a lot of different manga. One of them is called Sand Land. Sand Land was first released in 2000. It is a short series with only 14 chapters, and it was published in Shonen Jump every week from May to August.
Sand Land is back in the news because a movie and, more recently, an action role-playing game are being made about it. Both were announced at Summer Game Fest. The game hasn’t been given a release date yet, but here are a few things you should know about the book if you haven’t read it or want to brush up.
What’s It About?
The story takes place in a world that has been torn apart by war and natural disasters for many years. The world is mostly desert and empty. In such a place, water is the most important thing to have. Unfortunately for the people of Sand Land, their main source of water dried up years ago. Now, the greedy king of Sand Land owns the only water they have access to, and he wants to charge a lot of money for it.
People try to steal from each other for money and water, which leads to chaos and lack of order. Sheriff Rao can’t deal with the King’s greediness any longer, so he goes to find help from demons. Beelzebub, the Prince of the Underworld, and Thief, another demon that Beelzebub hires, help Sheriff Rao find a supposed water source called the “Phantom Lake.”
Demons Aren’t The Bad Guys
Sand Land is a joke or gag manga, so it is a lot less serious than Toriyama’s other works. In fact, Toriyama first made it as a simple, short comic for his own pleasure. Even though devils like Beelzebub and the real Satan are in the story, they are not the worst people. Even if they were bad, they would be more mischievous than anything else.
Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, is known for having the kindest heart of all the demons. Demons do the most damage when they steal from the trucks that bring water, but they only take enough to keep them alive. Beelzebub tells Rao that no demon has ever killed a person and that people are quick to blame demons when something bad happens. The real bad guys in this story are the King and Commander Zeu, who are both greedy and bad.
Tanks, Tanks, And More Tanks
Toriyama has talked about how hard it was for him to draw the tanks. He was upset about it, but the story was too far along for him to take them out. Even though they are hard to get, tanks become a big part of Sand Land around the third chapte. When Rao, Beelzebub, and Thief steal one to get to the Phantom Lake.
There is a lot of driving in the tank, and it looks like there is also tank fighting in Snake Game. In Sand Land, Toriyama’s love of different vehicles comes through in the details he puts into his drawings of the tanks that are used in the show.
It Takes Some Inspiration From Toriyama’s Other Series’
Sand Land is not one of Toriyama’s first works by any means. Before Sand Land came out in 2000, he was already known as a skilled and famous manga artist. Pink was one of Toriyama’s series that he made between two of his most popular ones, Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. In Pink, a young girl is a thief who takes water from a company called the Silver Company. Sand Land seems to be at least a little bit inspired by his Pink series. Since both have worlds with long-lasting droughts and main characters who steal water from a bad group.
Even though Satan, or Lucifer as he is called in Western versions of Sand Land, is only shown on one page, fans of the Dragon Ball series might think he looks a lot like Dabura. A few small differences show that the two characters are not the same. But it’s very possible that Beelzebub’s father was inspired by Dragon Ball’s King of Demons.
Similarities Between Sand Land And Some Of Toriyama’s Other Manga
Sand Land has even more in common with Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, and a few of Toriyama’s other series. In all three series, the main character is a child, and that child is one of the strongest. If not the strongest, figure in the series. The child is also either naive about how the world works or naughty. But in the end, they are always good people who try to help others.
Most of the time, they are with an older figure who acts as a counterpoint to them in the story. Senbei Norimaki, also known as Dr. Slump, is that for Arale. Rao is that for Beelzebub, and even though Bulma is only a teenager when Dragon Ball starts, she plays that role for Goku.
It’s Getting An Animated Film
In 2022, it was announced that Sand Land would be turned into an animated movie. This was before the RPG was revealed. A few things are known about the movie that will come out in Japan in August.
The names of the Japanese voice actors and the companies that are making it (Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima) have been made public. There is also a trailer that shows the animation style is similar to Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It’s still not clear if it will be shown in other countries or not.
