Dragon Ball’s “flashiness” is what made the author go “simple and peaceful” for Sand Land’s story

Bandai Namco Entertainment announced that Sand Land: The Series will premiere worldwide on March 20 via Disney+. The anime’s debut will be followed by the release of the SAND LAND action RPG on April 24, also part of the Sand Land Project. On March 4, Akira Toriyama commented on the project, mentioning how his “simple” original story was altered for the purpose of creating a dramatic action series. 

The Sand Land Project, led by Bandai Namco Entertainment, adapts Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama’s short manga series Sand Land (2000). The first adaptation was a theatrical movie that premiered in July 2023. The anime series, scheduled to start airing on March 20, will revisit the movie’s events and introduce a new story arc written by Toriyama. The upcoming Sand Land RPG will allow users to explore the desert world crafted by Toriyama in the role of the series’ protagonist Beelzebub (Related Article). 

As reported by Oricon News, Akira Toriyama recently shared his thoughts on the Sand Land Project, mentioning his initial surprise upon learning that the manga would be adapted into both a video game and an anime. Toriyama explains how, in reaction to his hit serialization Dragon Ball (which he describes as “flashy”), he had developed a preference for depicting small worlds with unserious heroes and “simple and peaceful stories where nothing happens” in his short series and one-shots.  

The original story of Sand Land also fits this description, and the mangaka comments that in its original state, it would be difficult to adapt into an action series. He reveals that this is why the animation studio took liberties in adding “flashy twists” and a sense of gravitas to the production. 

Toriyama also talks about the upcoming Tenshi No Yusha arc, which he created for the Sand Land anime series. The setting, characters and episodes were crafted by the mangaka, with the anime studio adding dramatic and moving twists. The author comments that such developments would have been impossible for him, a “person who loves the plain and simple.”

Sand Land: The Series will premiere worldwide on March 20 via Disney+. 
The SAND LAND action RPG is scheduled to release on April 24 for the PC (Steam), PS4/PS4 and Xbox Series X|S.