Sand Land: The Series

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!

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.

It was probably a very great choice from Akira Toryama to create a new manga and anime which operates with a much smaller plot and set of characters than Dragon Ball. Sand Land's overall look and vibe is very similar to the creators' previous works but it is more down to Earth and simple. It is also more shorter. The project just feel like he wanted to go back to his roots after the ever increasing epicness of DBZ and DBS. It is what happened but maybe the anime is just too straightforward, it feels rushed and just lacks the action and the truly magical journey. While it definitely profits some from the simplistic lore and world building it just become tedious and dragged out in the end. The characters are not that likeable and memorable, they are way too black and white and 2 dimensional. While the anime is not worth watching for anything new or exciting, the game offers a really good experience in the same story and world.

The anime feels so refreshing, has a great sense of dynamic storytelling and reminiscing feeling of original Dragon Ball. The pacing and blend of the cgi and original 2D anime format is executed so well with Akira designs and art style. The character development, adventure and world building theme is so heavily in tuned in this lore. It's a 10/10. I hope they keep the anime as long form ongoing series. It's too good to stop after 1-2 seasons. This is another legacy in the making. Thank you, sensei Akira Toriyama. Rest in peace and may your legacy continue to reach many more generations to come.