Akira Toriyama Comment (04 March 2024)

The SAND LAND project started out as a game, and then also got an animated series afterwards. I remember that when I first saw the character designs, I thought it was for a game, but then, as things moved forward, I started realizing it was an animated series after all, and as it moved forward still, I was surprised to realize it was actually both.

As kind of a counter-reaction to my flashy, serialized series Dragon Ball, for my short stories and one-shots, I stuck to what I like and drew nothing but plain, peaceful tales set in small-scale worlds with low-key main protagonists.

At its core, SAND LAND is also like that, but the staff working on the animated series probably thought that it was kind of hard to make that kind of story fit into what is essentially an action series, so they added in a lot of flashy set pieces to the production to add some more depth to it.

When I saw the outline they’d written for the continuation of the original story, the “Angel Hero” arc, it was also drenched in drama and fast-paced developments right from the start.

I then contributed the character designs for some new characters, like the angel Muniel and Ann, the background information for Muniel, as well as some story ideas. And with that, the continuation was completed.

Since the stories I like to draw are more on the plain side, you will likely be able to enjoy these fresh, dramatic story developments that I probably wouldn’t be able to come up with, as well as the new world-building and impactful action scenes.

Beelzebub, Rao, and Thief will embark on a new adventure and encounter these new characters. I hope you’ll all enjoy this exciting and thrilling story revolving around the terrifying power source, “Aquanium,” and would love it if you could all slowly feel a sense of peace welling up within you.