More of imase‘s ‘Utopia’ theme song previewed before film’s Friday opening
TOHO began streaming a new “Akira Toriyama World” promotional video for the anime film of Akira Toriyama‘s SAND LAND manga on Monday. The video, which is almost three minutes long, outlines the story and character relationships in the film, and offers a longer preview of the film’s theme song “Utopia” by up-and-coming artist imase.
© バード・スタジオ／集英社 (c)SAND LAND製作委員会
TOHO will open the film in theaters in Japan on Friday. the film will have IMAX, 4DX, and MX4D screenings in Japan that will start on the same day as regular screenings on Friday. The film had its world premiere screening at this year’s Comic-Con International San Diego on July 22. The film will open in North America in 2024.
The film won the special jury mention for the best animated feature film category at the 27th annual Fantasia International Film Festival in July.
The film will star:
- Mutsumi Tamura as Beelzebub
- Kazuhiro Yamaji as Rao
- Chō as Thief
- Satoshi Tsuruoka as General Are
- Nobuo Tobita as General Zau
- Akio Ōtsuka as Satan
- Chafurin as the King
- Tomokazu Sugita as Swimmer’s Papa
- Koji Yusa as Pike
- Hiroyuki Yoshino as Shark
- Masafumi Kobatake as Guppy
Viz publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:
In the far future, war has destroyed the entire Earth, leaving only a barren wasteland where the supply of water is controlled by the greedy king. In search of a long-lost lake, Sheriff Rao asked the king of the demons for help…and got the king’s son, Beelzebub, and his assistant, Thief. Together the unlikely trio sets off across the desert, facing dragons, bandits and the deadliest foe of all… the King’s army itself! It’s travel adventure and tank action in this new story from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z!
Toshihisa Yokoshima (“Tales of Crestoria: The Wake of Sin,” “Amanatsu,” “Cocolors,” Dragon Quest games’ sequences) directed the film at Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima with Hiroshi Koujina (Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis, The Vampire Dies in No Time, Grenadier) serving as the direction adviser. Hayashi Mori (Cells at Work! Code Black, Drifting Home) wrote the screenplay. Yoshikazu Iwanami directed the sound, and Yūgo Kanno (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Psycho-Pass, Ajin) composed the music.
The Sand Land manga is a short series that Toriyama serialized in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from May to August 2000. Shueisha published one compiled book volume of the manga in November 2000.
The manga is also inspiring an action role-playing game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
Sources: TOHO‘s YouTube channel, Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web
