A new trailer of the film adaptation of Akira Toriyama’sSAND LANDmanga was released on Monday, revealing the main cast and staff members of the upcoming movie. First announced in December 2022, theSAND LANDmovie is set for release on August 18.
The upcoming film will be the combinedproduction efforts of Sunrise (Cowboy Bebop), Kamikaze Douga (Pop Team Epic) and Anima (.hack//The Movie), and a few character design visuals have already been released. The new trailer teases, “This summer, the greatest and most evil demon will awaken.”
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The story of SAND LAND is set in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland; all that remains after years of war and natural disaster, with the country of Sand Land being without its main water supply. The king of Sand Land owns a personal water supply which he charges citizens an arm and a leg to gain access to.
The desperation drives citizens to crime, so Sheriff Rao decides to ask the demons of Sand Land for help in securing a new water supply, a fabled location known as “Phantom Lake”. The two who join Rao are the Demon Prince Beelzebub and his friend, Thief. The unlikely trio will have to face incredible dangers during their journey, dangers that may even thwart the efforts of the Demon Prince himself.
Originally published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between May and August 2000, theSAND LANDmanga was compiled into a single volume in November of the same year. Definitely the lesser-known of the legendary pantheon of Toriyama works, which includehis debut manga Dr. Slump; the Dragon Ball franchise which requires no introduction; the author’s work in designing characters of theBlue Dragon;Chrono TriggerandDragon Questgames, the upcomingSAND LANDmovie is an interesting new Toriyama world which we can expect to be just as vivid and wacky as the aforementioned titles.
The main cast members announced in the trailer include Mutsumi Tamura (Kobayashi,Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) as Beelzebub; Chō (Brook,One Piece) as Thief; Kazuhiro Yamaji (Kenny Ackermann,Attack on Titan) as Sheriff Rao; Nobuo Tobita (Dante,BNA: Brand New Animal) as General Zeu and Satoshi Tsuruoka (Varney,Castlevania) as General Are. The staff involved in the production ofSAND LANDinclude the relative newcomer director Toshihisa Yokoshima, with direction advice from veteran animator, character designer and director Hiroshi Koujina; screenplay by Hayashi Mori; music by Yūgo Kanno, while sound direction is the jurisdiction of Yoshikazu Iwanami.SAND LANDwill be produced by studios Sunrise; Kamikaze Douga and Anima, with TOHO as the distributor.More information about the upcoming filmis sure to be released in the coming months.
