Writing this review was not easy for me. Here’s a not-so-fun story before the review truly begins; I was in the middle of watching the screeners for Sand Land when the news broke that Akira Toriyama passed away. Watching Sand Land felt different in light of his passing with a slew of different emotions all at once. if you’re a fan of the late Akira Toriyama, rejoice, my fellow fan, because Sand Land is definitely classic Akira Toriyama adapted faithfully and with passion, so kudos to the studios involved in bringing this to life (Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga and Anima).

Dragon Ball Meets Mad Mad

Just like Mad Max, Dune and other stories set in post-apocalyptic desert settings, Sand Land takes place in a world where water is scarce, and it’s the most important precious resource. The story begins when an old Sheriff of a town named Rao is forced to ask for the help of demons/fiends (including the protagonist, Prince Beelzebub) to find water and they set off on a journey together.

Overall, it may seem to be a conventional shonen adventure for the most part, but the best thing about Sand Land is how it explores prejudices (and overcoming them), misconceptions, propaganda, and the greed of humanity, amongst other themes and subject matter. For instance, the interactions between Beelzebub, his assistant, an old demon/fiend simply named Thief, and Sheriff Rao are often about exactly that. Rao goes on about how demons are ‘bad’ but that turns out to be a mere baseless misconception when Beelzebub reveals that demons don’t even kill people and that only people kill people. Another example is when the Sheriff praises the Royal Army for killing a bunch of demons/fiends because they were apparently building a ‘weapon’ (Sounds familiar? cough Iraq war cough). These events would force Rao to challenge his pre-set beliefs and prejudices. These are only a few of the powerful moments that make Sand Land more interesting than its premise teases it to be.

In addition, fans of the late Akira Toriyama can look forward to the same signature tropes and trademark humour of Akira Toriyama. There are elements you should be familiar with, including some dirty jokes (but these seem to be toned down), goofy people (one group is like Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball) and one of the villains even riding on a floating seat similar to Dragon Ball’s Frieza and the antagonist in Blu Dragon. Also, Akira Toriyama’s distinctive art style translates extremely well to 3D CG and this feels like a continuation of what we previously saw in 2022’s Dragon Ball Super Super Hero movie. That makes me a bit sad, now that he has passed away, we won’t get to see any new art from him translated into modern 3D CG animation in the future. Let’s hope there are some artists and studios out there keeping his unique art style and designs alive for future generations.

Last but not least, I received the first seven episodes of Sand Land Season 1. From those episodes, the pacing feels great, since there’s no filler. We get one proper fully realised story arc in the first six episodes, with the seventh episode teasing the beginning of a new arc and introducing a new main character. As I previously mentioned (and in the headline of this review), this feels like the traditional adventure vibe of the original Dragon Ball meets Mad Max. Just like any Akira Toriyama story and characters, it’s a fun ride all the way through and Sand Land is no exception.

Respectful Of The Late Akira Toriyama

Honestly, it’s a relief and perhaps even cathartic that the Sand Land anime is a respectful, faithful and passionate adaptation that fully embraces what a work of Akira Toriyama should be. I would like to believe, if the late Akira Toriyama was still alive today, that he would be proud of this and that he would want people to watch this. This might well be one of the final projects that Akira Toriyama was involved with before his passing (he also worked on the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima), and it’s a phenomenal note to end on.

FINAL SCORE: 80/100

We received an early screener of the first seven episodes of Sand Land Season 1 courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. Sand Land is slated to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia on 20 March 2024.