Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama is one of the most esteemed manga artists as he pioneered the shounen genre with his signature work. Soon, another work of Toriyama will be given the anime treatment as the Sand Land manga is getting an anime film adaptation.
Recently, it was announced that an anime film that’s based on Toriyama’s Sand Land will be released in Japan this August.
It will be made by the anime studio Sunrise, the studio behind the Gundam franchise.
Akira Toriyama: Not Just Dragon Ball
When you mention Toriyama to any anime fan, chances are that they’ll think of Dragon Ball. This makes sense given that it is Toriyama’s most popular work that’s still a massive franchise to this day.
However, it’s unfair to say that Toriyama is only known for Dragon Ball. After all, even before starting Goku’s story, Toriyama was already popular in Japan for his comedy manga Dr. Slump.
In fact, Dr. Slump became popular enough that it got an anime series adaptation.
Plus, Dragon Ball fans should be familiar with Dr. Slump’s Arale Norimaki as the little robot appeared a couple of times in the anime.
Along with these two major works, Toriyama also has a laundry list of one-shots for Shonen Jump. These are collected in volumes called Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater.
Of course, Toriyama has also dabbled in video games as his iconic art style can be clearly seen in the Dragon Quest series where he serves as the main character designer.
While not as well-known as his other works, Sand Land is a short manga series that was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2000.
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Sand Land Anime Announcement, Release Date
Sunrise announced the new Sand Land anime film back in December. Now though, new character visuals for the upcoming 3D anime film were shared via the movie’s official website and Twitter account.
Specifically, these character visuals feature the series’ main stars – Beelzebub, Thief, and Rao.
Any fan of Toriyama is sure to recognize his signature art style in these visuals.
The Sand Land anime movie will be released in Japan on August 18, 2023.
For now, there’s no word yet on an international release, though it will likely get one given how popular Toriyama’s work is in the West.
In the meantime, you can read all 14 chapters of Sand Land on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump service.
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