General Overview
I need to really talk about how big Akira Toriyama and his crew wanted to make Sand Land again before his death a few months ago. If you know Sandland, it is a very short, only one volume manga about an oldman and a couple demons in a tank. That original manga came out in the year 2000. So let me tell you how crazy it is as a more than casual baseball watcher that there started to be lots of advertisements for Sand Land in Angel Stadium in Anaheim. I saw that when my Mariners were playing them last year. Yes, I watch baseball and enjoy it.
So it feels like no expense was spared for one of Akira Toriyama's last projects he was alive for. The other one obviously being Dragon Ball Daima that I am pretty happy to see soon. There will be a video game or maybe there is one now that I write this way in advance and then post them whenever I feel like it. You can also watch Sand Land on hulu right now. You know, if you have Hulu because I know that not everyone does. (Or you can pirate it or whatever, I will try not to judge.) This is a good CG show and it's important that you know that.
Episodes 1-7: Accurate to the Manga
Sand Land is not a simple series, but it is very honest and truthful about what it's doing. In the far future after the amount of wars on Earth, everything has changed. In the current time period in the country called Sand Land, one king rules over everyone and controls the water. Control the point where he exploits to the point that citizens are barely surviving. What happens when one sheriff of a town requests some demons to come along with him to find a water source to help the people?
It's a good time. It really is such a high level amount of cool things in the name of people being more than they think they are. I did say demons, but they are only people who rob a water delivery truck to survive without hurting the people making the deliveries. One of them being Beelzebub and the other the oldman named Thief. They try to act like they are bad, but they are childishly evil compared to the corrupt king and his assistant who are keeping all of the water in the land to themselves. There is a major thing of revealing truths that is prevalent throughout the first half. The reveal of the sheriff being the Legendary General Shiva is where it all starts.
The first half is as good as you expect it to be. The character designs, machine designs, and just general world designs are pure Toriyama goodness. Also goes along with the really amazing tank battles and pretty basic, but solid shonen action scenes that Toriyama just knows how to handle. Same with the characterization of the cast because there is a playfulness to Toriyama's characters that other people just don't get. Even at the most basic kind of story that it is and ends the way you think it does, it's still full of so much pure fun and charm that it's just a great watch.
Episodes 8-13: New Material
The Country of Sand Land is saved now. Well, as far as the world knows. But the end of the conflict in Sand Land led to the appearance of Forest Land on Sand Land's southern border. First is the meeting of Beelzebub and the very sinister angel Muriel in a random town in Sand Land. That first encounter happens between the two and it creates a tension that lasts through the whole arc. Same with the appearance of the mechanical genius girl named Anne who joins with Shiva, Beelzebub, and Thief. They instantly have good chemistry as they head to Forest Land. A land, that you could guess, is a forest.
This is the part where our main characters are being stressed tested by facing their opposites. Also, Forest land is currently being controlled by an Angel who has gone mad with power and an older cyborg Commander that leads Forest Land's forces. So clearly that's Beelzebub vs the angel and Shiva vs the cyborg. There is also a lot more lore that puts the demons on their knees a bit more and Anne's backstory before Forest land got worse. There isn't a main vocal point besides family and taking down the evil one. All ok with me because it's fun.
If I had a flaw for this, the battles feel so much more video gamey. Last arc's combat was very manga accurate and extremely exciting. In this one, there is a lot more focus on shooting weak points. Same with settings that are cool on their own, but show some video mechanics with moving objects or exploitive things that could be used in possible boss fights in the video game edition. For this arc itself, it works. Absolutely helps to differentiate the two arcs and make the stakes more dire. Never felt much tension in the first hand because it's about meeting the cast.
General Thoughts
I would never consider Sand Land to be the pinnacle of intellectual entertainment. It does tell a story with a lot of character beats and it has themes regarding the take down of desert capitalism and a war between nations too. But the show itself really isn't that complicated with its characters that are loveable but simple. The comedy itself is pretty great too because it's Toriyama at his peak. Mainly in the fist part, but the second part was still pretty solid too. So yeah, very good recommendation for people who are interested in watching something from Toriyama that is pretty short instead of Dr. Slump and the Dragon Ball franchise.
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