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Sand Land: The Series Anime Reveals March 20 Premiere, Cast for New Arc
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official website for SAND LAND: THE SERIES, the anime series adaptation of Akira Toriyama's SAND LAND manga, revealed two new cast members, the anime's additional content, and its March 20 streaming debut date on Monday.
The anime will debut its first seven episodes simultaneously on Disney+ Star's "STAR Anime Series" programming on March 20, and will stream on Hulu in the U.S. The first six episodes are labeled the "Akuma no Ōji" (Prince of Demons) arc, and will feature footage from the anime film recut to a series format, with some additional footage. Episodes 8-13 will debut one episode every Wednesday thereafter, and episodes 7-13 will be an all-new "Tenshi no Yūsha" (Angelic Heroes) arc, with the story set in a new place called "Forest Land." Toriyama conceptualized the new arc's story, and also drew the below illustration to celebrate the announcement.
The anime's two new cast members will appear in the "Tenshi no Yūsha" arc, and include:
The returning cast members are:
- Mutsumi Tamura as Beelzebub
- Kazuhiro Yamaji as Rao
- Chō as Thief
- Satoshi Tsuruoka as General Are
- Nobuo Tobita as General Zau
Toshihisa Yokoshima ("Tales of Crestoria: The Wake of Sin," "Amanatsu," "Cocolors," Dragon Quest games' sequences) is returning to direct the anime series, with Hiroshi Koujina (Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis, The Vampire Dies in No Time, Grenadier) serving again as the direction adviser. Hayashi Mori (Cells at Work! Code Black, Drifting Home) is writing the anime series' script, Yoshikazu Iwanami is again directing the sound, and Yūgo Kanno (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Psycho-Pass, Ajin) is also composing the music for the series.
The Sand Land manga is a short series that Toriyama serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from May to August 2000. Shueisha published one compiled book volume of the manga in November 2000.
Viz Media publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:
In the far future, war has destroyed the entire Earth, leaving only a barren wasteland where the supply of water is controlled by the greedy king. In search of a long-lost lake, Sheriff Rao asked the king of the demons for help...and got the king's son, Beelzebub, and his assistant, Thief. Together the unlikely trio sets off across the desert, facing dragons, bandits and the deadliest foe of all... the King's army itself! It's travel adventure and tank action in this new story from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z!
The manga's anime film adaptation opened in Japan in August 2023. The film had its world premiere screening at last year's Comic-Con International San Diego on July 22, and will open in North America in 2024.
The manga is also inspiring an action role-playing game that will launch for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on April 26 (April 25 in Japan).
Sources: Sand Land anime's website (link 2, link 3), Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
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