Sand Land Review

thesixthaxis.com:

The bountiful creations of the late Akira Toriyama are household names, but you won’t find any of his most well-known characters in Sand Land. His lesser-known graphic novel has remained a footnote when compared to Dragon Ball Z’s prodigious success, but it’s clear that someone out there thinks that now is Sand Land’s time, with the arrival of a movie, an animated series, and a video game adaptation, all in the last six months. This multi-format assault showcases that the genius of Akira Toriyama extended far beyond the Dragon Balls, and while it might have taken a long time coming, it was well worth the wait.

The titular Sand Land is a kingdom beset by a great drought, leaving a barren, desolate sandpit where humans and demons alike struggle to survive. While the humans here eke out an existence amongst the sand, the long-lived demons struggle just as much without water to sustain them. They come in all shapes and sizes – from ghosts to slime monsters and the occasional centaur – and humanity is as terrified of them as you’d expect. Lucifer is at the head of this mischievous menagerie, but his son and heir, Beelzebub, is the star of Sand Land.

Sheriff Rao convinces Beelzebub – Belz to his friends – to join him on a quest for the Legendary Spring, hoping to bring water to all the residents of Sand Land. Beelzebub opts to bring the wise and curmudgeonly Thief along with them, and this trio form the heart of your adventure, their journey and their shared experiences forming an unlikely bond between them.

This is all helped by the excellent voice acting from both the Japanese cast and their English dub cohort, and the central protagonists from the anime reprise their roles here too. Risa Mei manages to make Beelzebub a genuinely likeable central character, while Joanthon Lipow lends Rao a true sense of gravitas and emotional depth. The star of the show though remains Owen Thomas’ Thief, whose constant complaints could have become annoying if handled differently. I found