Sand Land: The Series

Good fun. The second arc of the show is more entertaining than the first as it features a lot more crazy action while the first is mainly about uncovering the water conspiracy. The animation, quirky characters like the Swimmers and character designs makes it seem like a spin-off of Dragon Ball. Dabura makes an appearance but I believe demon king Dabura from Majin Buu saga and King Lucifer are not the same character. In this world where "demons" live among humans, it is funny how the main antagonist of the second arc is an "angel" while the cartoony "demons" are the victims and are still looked down as fiends even though they mean no harm including Lucifer who is busy with board games lol.

Beezlebub proudly proclaiming his "evildoing" with laughably harmless habits coming across as the most innocent being ever shaking-hands-emoji the Flash being smug about not washing his hands after peeing because it's evil in DCAU.

RIP Akira Toriyama.

In anticipation for Dragon Ball Daima, I decided to take a look back at the Sand Land animated series I watched last Spring. Which was a pretty rough month for me if I'm being completely honest. I'm a huge Dragon Ball fan and after I heard that Akira Toriyama passed away, this show was just the therapy I needed. I really engaging quest through desert involving demons, mystery, and dynamic action sequences was just what the doctor ordered. It's so simple and yet it has a surprising amount of depth to it. And think it just goes to show how good Toriyama is at character writing.

This adventure centers around Sheriff Rao, who has formed an alliance with the demons in order to find the secret oasis of the desert to save both of there homes from the water crisis. Teaming up with the reckless Fiend Prince Beelzebub and his timid caretaker Thief. And later on in the new Forest Land section of the story, Ann from the resistance army. And personally, while I really enjoyed this show, it did feel a bit unbalanced. I thought the Sand Land portion was great and the new Forest Land portion was just good. Not because I didn't like the characters introduced in Forest Land, but rather because they didn't have a ton to do in the climax.

I usually compared Ann to Bulma seeing that they both enjoy tinkering with machines and enjoy riding fast moving vehicles. Though the biggest difference is that Bulma was designed to be a supporting character covering Goku's weaknesses using her intelligence and inventing skills to remove obstacles. While Ann could've worked as a main character seeing that she was on a mission to save her family and lived a hard life, though she doesn't do a ton of fighting in the story, that could've benefited from a few more episodes to expand her character. She's not bad, I just wish I got to learn more about her character.

With that being said, the story itself is still really good. Albeit a bit similar to OG Dragon Ball, the structure was completely intentional, seeing that Toriyama wanted to return to a storytelling format that would be impossible to include in modern Dragon Ball. Make no mistake, Dragon Ball Z is an amazing series, but it goes for an action focused style of storytelling rather than an energetic adventure like the original series. New worlds were being built, but were explored in a much more tense and dangerous fashion. Dragon Ball hunting was still entertaining, but it could now be pulled off in a day now that the characters possessed the ability to fly at great speeds.

And that's where Sand Land comes in. Allowing Toriyama to return to his old favorite storytelling style, where a group of misfits go on an adventure to find a legendary treasure. And having read all of the Dragon Ball manga, it feels incredibly satisfying to return to this format. I brings back so much nostalgia. The characters and setting may be completely different, but the experience feels so fresh and rejuvenating. It's a a great example of taking a somewhat familiar story and adding a handful of unique elements to make it feel like a spring breeze.

Over the years I've seen plenty of stories where supposed villains become the good guys and I can usually predict what's going to happen. But at the same time, I still really like that style of storytelling and Toriyama still does a fantastic job humanizing evil looking characters. I won't go into spoilers, but there is a really tragic twist surrounding Rao's character that leads to a ton of great reactions, that made me fall in love of the narrative. Setting the stage for the perfect climax, in the Sand Land portion of the story. Like I said earlier, Forest Land needed to flesh out its new characters a bit longer. That won't stop me from recording this incredible mini series. Definitely go check it out when you have the chance.

Released three weeks after Toriyama-san's demise, Sand Land marks another one of the remarkable artist's great works.

A simple plot of a Sheriff and a Demon prince teaming up in the desert wastelands in the search for water, Sand Land felt a nostalgic return to watch Toriyama's Art Style once again. Adapted from the manga of the same name after over 20 years, Sand Land keeps the charm of Toriyama's storytelling ways and gags.

Compared to his magnus opus, Dragon Ball, Sand Land keeps to a pretty realistic approach against the previous power-driven action, with witty tactics often proceeding the story instead of the common beat-em-up. This aspect itself shows development in Toriyama as a writer of manga, which needn't require fist-fights and whooping actions all the time to relay the intensity.

The Animation was great, especially the emphasis provided towards the subtle movements and nuances of the character movements. The whole of the character animations were pretty much done in 1s (full 24 drawings in a 24 fps Animation format), which gave incredibly smooth movements. 3D elements of the BG mixed with 2D elements were a pleasing new rendition, compared to Toriyama's earlier anime adaptations.

Nostalgic references from the Dragon Ball anime series are evident and are often pleasing.

Overall, it has been a pleasant watch with the first 7 episodes of the Season. Awaiting eagerly to complete the rest of it.

The Sand Land manga is very short. It is only a single volume. As a result... the manga only gave enough material for the first 6 episodes of this anime. The subsequent 7 are entirely new material to me. So it is nice to see the world expanded a bit.

People have complained about Sand Land being "too simple." Personally, the simplicity is why I like it. I am rather tired of shows throwing constant twists into their shows just for the sake of complicating things and stringing out plotlines that should have ended long ago.

The animation style is more cell shaded animation rather than the more old school anime style. This style is very common these days due to being cheaper. But to be fair to Sand Land... it genuinely suits this style and it is executed well.

I consider the first 6 episodes to be the better half of the series. The second half is reasonable and as I said... the world expansion is nice. But the angel being a psychopath is a very tired trope at this point.

Fortunately, due to the shortness of the manga... this series is not stretched beyond belief. It is short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome.

It is also the kind of anime that is perfectly suitable for kids, which is good. Yes... there are tanks and guns. But there isn't any gore or anything and it is mostly just good silly fun.

It is such a joy to watch this. If you ever watched the beginning of the original dragon ball, this is very similar to that, just much sharper and better production. A must watch for any Akira Toriyama fan. Even if you read the manga, there is a second half that is a new Toriyama story. The character designs will be recognizable for any Toriyama fans out there.

If you are a die hard DB fan, you might also spot that the main characters (beelzebub) dad look eerily similar to a certain dragon ball a character from the buu arc. Is it a homage? Or is it some parallel world to the db world? I'm not sure, however I am sure that this show rocks!