Sand Land Anime Film Streams 1st 15 Minutes with Message from Akira Toriyama

TOHO began streaming the first 15 minutes of the anime film of Akira Toriyama‘s SAND LAND manga on Friday. The video also features a message by Toriyama, alongside an illustration of his favorite character from the series, Swimmer’s Papa. Tomokazu Sugita, the voice of Swimmer’s Papa, narrates the message:

Toriyama’s message reads:

“Thanks so much to all you amazing fans out there who have already gone out to see the Sand Land movie!

Moviegoer counts are still not as high as they could be, but we’ve already received some very positive reviews.
Some lovely people have even shared that they were surprised to find themselves deeply moved by the movie.
In particular, the rave reviews about the mecha appearing in SAND LAND are entirely thanks to the hard work of the animation staff.

And to anyone out there who hasn’t seen the movie, are debating going to watch it, or are reluctant to head out to a movie theater:
Don’t overthink things! I really hope that everyone has the chance to see this film.”

TOHO opened the film in theaters in Japan on August 18. The film has IMAX, 4DX, and MX4D screenings in Japan that started on the same day as regular screenings. 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 stars:

• 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 Movie’s YouTube channel, Dragon Ball series’ website, Comic Natalie