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鳥山明○作劇場 [Toriyama Akira Marusaku Gekijou] #8
Sandland Vol. 1
Vamos em busca da Fonte Fantasma!! Num mundo desértico onde tanto humanos quanto demônios sofrem com a falta d'água, O Príncipe dos Demônios, Beelzebub e Shiba, um ex-militar, formam uma aliança poderosa e partem em uma aventura em busca de água!! O que espera por eles na vastidão do deserto escaldante?!
216 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 2000
69 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Akira Toriyama
1,916 books1,725 followersAkira Toriyama (鳥山明) was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama came to be regarded as one of the most important authors in the history of manga with his works highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews
April 15, 2017
For Dragon Ball alone, Akira Toriyama is one of my favourite comics creators ever but, having recently read the first volume of Dr Slump and now Sand Land, he unfortunately doesn’t seem to have made any great books outside of Dragon Ball!
Sand Land is derivative of any post-apocalyptic story, though, with the emphasis on tanks and vehicles racing across the desert, it really feels like Mad Max manga for kiddles. Water is a commodity in this dry world and a group of characters set out to find a free water source for the people - the evil King and his forces set out to stop them.
It’s a pretty boring quest for the most part. Nothing terribly interesting happens, the world is unremarkable and the characters are dull. Also I was distracted by how limited Toriyama’s art is - so many of the characters look like Dragon Ball characters! Shiba is like Hercule, Prince Beelzebub is like Son Goku, and Satan IS Dabura! The tank design was cool and Toriyama is still king of the fight scenes - the only part of the book that really grabbed me was when Prince Beelzebub/Goku took on the insect monster towards the end.
Sand Land is a readable comic but not a very compelling one - even as an Akira Toriyama fan I wouldn’t recommend it.
Sand Land is derivative of any post-apocalyptic story, though, with the emphasis on tanks and vehicles racing across the desert, it really feels like Mad Max manga for kiddles. Water is a commodity in this dry world and a group of characters set out to find a free water source for the people - the evil King and his forces set out to stop them.
It’s a pretty boring quest for the most part. Nothing terribly interesting happens, the world is unremarkable and the characters are dull. Also I was distracted by how limited Toriyama’s art is - so many of the characters look like Dragon Ball characters! Shiba is like Hercule, Prince Beelzebub is like Son Goku, and Satan IS Dabura! The tank design was cool and Toriyama is still king of the fight scenes - the only part of the book that really grabbed me was when Prince Beelzebub/Goku took on the insect monster towards the end.
Sand Land is a readable comic but not a very compelling one - even as an Akira Toriyama fan I wouldn’t recommend it.
July 7, 2018
Summertime is a good season to catch up on a lot of my light reading. As such, I have been pulling a lot of graphic novels and manga off of the top of my “to read” pile. I started with a fun little manga titled Sand Land, written and illustrated by the legendary creator of Dragon Ball, the mighty Akira Toriyama. Toriyama did a number of short manga series in between his other projects. Sand Land started out as a personal project for laughs, but Toriyama had so much difficulty drawing the tank that is central to the story that he felt compelled to complete the project as a full-fledged manga series. Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in the year 2000, it was released as a single-edition manga in the U.S. in late 2003.
Sand Land reads like a typical post-apocalyptic story. Survivors of a terrible environmental disaster must compete for scarce resources while trying to navigate the military occupation ordered by their manipulated monarch. In this case the scarce resource is water, as the government has hoarded all available water supplies and sells them to the embattled populace of Sand Land at massively expensive prices.
Into this fray comes Sheriff Rao, a small-town law officer with a huge axe to grind against the government. The Sheriff intends to seek out rumors of a secret government water source so that Sand Land can be restored to some semblance of life. Rao harbors a big secret, but before he can spring that news he must first enlist aid for his cause. That aid comes in the form of Sand Land’s demon residents, the much-feared Beelzebub and his sidekick, Thief. They manage to form an uneasy alliance that goes off the tracks almost immediately when their supplies and transportation are ruined. Salvation comes in the form of a stolen government tank, a machine that stays central to the plot from this point on.
Rao and his demonic companions are chased and harassed by General Are, a tough but reasonable field tank commander who harbors his OWN set of secrets. They must also deal with a group of semi-competent desert dwellers known as The Swimmers. Action and laughs ensue as the the plot unfolds quickly. You can knock this thing out in about a half-hour, but I took the time to dwell on Toriyama’s wonderful line art and the sheer creativity of the tank and aircraft designs.
As with most manga, there is a traditional Japanese focus on honor and respect as main plot drivers. The desire for justice and the need to correct past injustices play key roles in the story, and I really enjoyed how Toriyama incorporated these ideals into his tale. Even the mighty race of demons has an honor code, and there is a real effort to make sympathetic characters out of just about everybody save for the main villain, the truly evil General Zeu. Zeu has a real Baron Harkonnen thing going, both physically and spiritually. That fact amused me greatly, and I can only assume that Toriyama developed this character like that on purpose as a tribute to Frank Herbert’s obvious influence on this particular fictional universe.
Sand Land is a fun and funny slice of summertime (or anytime) goodness, perfect for the beach or the couch. It’s a great one-shot from one of the true giants of Japanese manga. Grab it if you can.
Sand Land reads like a typical post-apocalyptic story. Survivors of a terrible environmental disaster must compete for scarce resources while trying to navigate the military occupation ordered by their manipulated monarch. In this case the scarce resource is water, as the government has hoarded all available water supplies and sells them to the embattled populace of Sand Land at massively expensive prices.
Into this fray comes Sheriff Rao, a small-town law officer with a huge axe to grind against the government. The Sheriff intends to seek out rumors of a secret government water source so that Sand Land can be restored to some semblance of life. Rao harbors a big secret, but before he can spring that news he must first enlist aid for his cause. That aid comes in the form of Sand Land’s demon residents, the much-feared Beelzebub and his sidekick, Thief. They manage to form an uneasy alliance that goes off the tracks almost immediately when their supplies and transportation are ruined. Salvation comes in the form of a stolen government tank, a machine that stays central to the plot from this point on.
Rao and his demonic companions are chased and harassed by General Are, a tough but reasonable field tank commander who harbors his OWN set of secrets. They must also deal with a group of semi-competent desert dwellers known as The Swimmers. Action and laughs ensue as the the plot unfolds quickly. You can knock this thing out in about a half-hour, but I took the time to dwell on Toriyama’s wonderful line art and the sheer creativity of the tank and aircraft designs.
As with most manga, there is a traditional Japanese focus on honor and respect as main plot drivers. The desire for justice and the need to correct past injustices play key roles in the story, and I really enjoyed how Toriyama incorporated these ideals into his tale. Even the mighty race of demons has an honor code, and there is a real effort to make sympathetic characters out of just about everybody save for the main villain, the truly evil General Zeu. Zeu has a real Baron Harkonnen thing going, both physically and spiritually. That fact amused me greatly, and I can only assume that Toriyama developed this character like that on purpose as a tribute to Frank Herbert’s obvious influence on this particular fictional universe.
Sand Land is a fun and funny slice of summertime (or anytime) goodness, perfect for the beach or the couch. It’s a great one-shot from one of the true giants of Japanese manga. Grab it if you can.
May 19, 2020
Originally, I read the chapters of this oneshot manga when they were printed in US copies of the Shonen Jump magazine. For a long time, I didn't think I'd actually read all of the chapters, but after buying and reading through the manga itself, I'm both surprised and happy to say that I did in fact, get the entire story before. And make no mistake, there's arguably a lot of positive bias here on my part behind that 5-star rating. The story was so positive and stuck with me so long, it's definitely colored my opinion, in spite of the choppy writing and non-existent worldbuilding.
To that end, I should say that despite how fast-paced this oneshot is and the fact that this is clearly an interesting world that Toriyama didn't really explore, it's still a very fun setting and the overall themes and messages behind the story itself really help to make it memorable. I'm not sure who all outside of Toriyama's existing fanbase might enjoy this story or click with his particular style of story-telling, but please take my word for it when I say that this is good, in its own silly, haphazard sort of way. Half-baked for sure, but in the way a gooey cookie is still delicious.
To that end, I should say that despite how fast-paced this oneshot is and the fact that this is clearly an interesting world that Toriyama didn't really explore, it's still a very fun setting and the overall themes and messages behind the story itself really help to make it memorable. I'm not sure who all outside of Toriyama's existing fanbase might enjoy this story or click with his particular style of story-telling, but please take my word for it when I say that this is good, in its own silly, haphazard sort of way. Half-baked for sure, but in the way a gooey cookie is still delicious.
February 25, 2022
A decent campy adventure story set in a dystopian future where water is a severely limited resource and humanity is on the brink of destroying itself if they don't stop fighting over the last of it. A ragtag band of friendly demons and a former human soldier are entrusted to take down a greedy king hoarding one of the biggest water supplies left in the world. They face armies, dragons, bandits and other baddies along the way.
A fun little one off story from the creator of Dragon Ball. It's like Mad Max for little kids with touches of the Dragon Quest video games which Toriyama has worked on himself. The story and characters don't have much depth, but I can see how a lot of the core plot, themes, character designs and world building were implemented and greatly improved upon in Dragon Ball.
A fun little one off story from the creator of Dragon Ball. It's like Mad Max for little kids with touches of the Dragon Quest video games which Toriyama has worked on himself. The story and characters don't have much depth, but I can see how a lot of the core plot, themes, character designs and world building were implemented and greatly improved upon in Dragon Ball.
May 14, 2014
This review originally appeared on my blog, Shared Universe Reviews.
Akira Toriyama is one of my favourite manga creators and he’s also one of the first mangaka whose work ever caught my eye. As a child who grew up in the nineties, Dragon Ball Z has been on television for as long as I can remember. To this day I’m still a big fan of Dragon Ball. In recent years I’ve also been collecting Toriyama’s first ongoing series, the hilarious Dr. Slump. I love his body of work for various reasons from his excellent character designs, his excellent grasp of anatomy to his choreography of hand to hand combat and the combination of dumb and intelligent humour. Rereading Sand Land several years after I first read it in the pages of Shonen Jump was a real treat. At the time I had somewhat dismissed Sand Land as that “other comic” Toriyama wrote and drew but it’s clear to me now that it’s a modern classic manga in a single volume.
Sand Land is one of Toriyama’s works from the later part of his career. After completing Dragon Ball in the mid-nineties, Toriyama wisely chose to never create such a long series. Sand Land was supposed to be a short work about a man and a tank and the whole thing is only one volume long. Even then you get the feeling it went on longer than Toriyama was expecting. It was published in Japan in 2000 and it was first published in English in issues #1-11 of Shonen Jump. The story is rather simple, in a post-apocalyptic desert land, an old Sheriff and a couple of demons go on a journey to find the mysterious Phantom Lake. Along the way they meet various strange characters and a couple of monsters all the while uncovering the dark secrets of the King’s Army and the war that took place 30 years earlier.
There isn’t an enormous amount of depth but the story is entertaining and it moves at a breakneck pace. Yet, it’s not a quick read it just that so many things happen every chapter. There are demons stealing water from cargo trucks, monster chases through the desert, driving lessons, fights with crooks, tank battles, plenty of hand to hand combat, a couple military conspiracy and that’s only about half of the content of the manga! So there’s not a lot of depth because the focus is to write and draw a fun manga and hope the reader has fun too. That’s exactly what Toriyama achieves.
It’s not all fun in the sun and desert hijinks though. There are some environmental and social-economic concerns in there too for readers who need a bit food for thought with their entertainment. General Zeu’s use of the King vas a puppet leader to create a monopoly on the water of Sand Land is a pretty dark and surprisingly contemporary socio-economic issue. At first I was a bit disappointed that the villainous General Zeu didn’t appear to have any further motivation for his actions than wanting to amass power and money. That’s it for his motivation, actually. It works, though. That’s the driving factor for some of most of the corrupt military and political leaders of modern times. Greed is the driving factor that contributes directly to the suffering of hundreds of millions every year. Sheriff Roa, Thief and Prince Beelzebub are putting their foot down and choosing to end the needless suffering of the people of Sand Land.
Clean water should not be a luxury. It’s a foundational pillar of life and should be shared amongst all living creatures, be they man, animal or demon. It’s interesting that Toriyama makes Zeu a cyborg. He’s equal parts man and machine. By pursuing his greedy aim his body has decayed to the point where he needed to attach cybernetics to maintain his health. His need for water is presumably less important to him individually than it is for the average human. It’s grim that he’s the sole possessor of the Land’s water supply. His continued persecution of the people has nothing to do with his need for water but for his illusionary need for increased wealth.
The art here is some of Toriyama’s best. In his short introduction to this volume he states that he thinks his drawings of the tank are less than satisfactory which is completely inaccurate. It’s very well drawn from its first appearance to its last. He draws the exterior as well as the interior with great attention to detail. He draws several other motorized vehicles, some real and some imaginary. His character work, as always, is great. His villains look like villains and his heroes are tough but fair. Beelzebub and the Sheriff look great. I would really like to see more of their adventures.
Sand Land wasn’t a quick read but it was a light read. The book feels dense even though there isn’t an overabundance of story but there are a lot of plot points, nearly each chapter feels like a story unto itself. It all keeps the story rolling along but it also makes you feel as though it was money well spent. It was to see a storytelling master at work. Sand Land could be dismiss as just another fun adventure manga with demons, tanks and an old secretive Sherriff but to dismiss it as such is to entirely miss the point. The entire point is to have fun but there is a more depth to the work for those who wish to pay attention to it. Sand Land allows for a more engaged reading experience. Viz Media gave the collected volume an “A for All Ages” rating and that’s spot on because Sand Land works well on so many different levels. Truly a manga for the whole family.
Akira Toriyama is one of my favourite manga creators and he’s also one of the first mangaka whose work ever caught my eye. As a child who grew up in the nineties, Dragon Ball Z has been on television for as long as I can remember. To this day I’m still a big fan of Dragon Ball. In recent years I’ve also been collecting Toriyama’s first ongoing series, the hilarious Dr. Slump. I love his body of work for various reasons from his excellent character designs, his excellent grasp of anatomy to his choreography of hand to hand combat and the combination of dumb and intelligent humour. Rereading Sand Land several years after I first read it in the pages of Shonen Jump was a real treat. At the time I had somewhat dismissed Sand Land as that “other comic” Toriyama wrote and drew but it’s clear to me now that it’s a modern classic manga in a single volume.
Sand Land is one of Toriyama’s works from the later part of his career. After completing Dragon Ball in the mid-nineties, Toriyama wisely chose to never create such a long series. Sand Land was supposed to be a short work about a man and a tank and the whole thing is only one volume long. Even then you get the feeling it went on longer than Toriyama was expecting. It was published in Japan in 2000 and it was first published in English in issues #1-11 of Shonen Jump. The story is rather simple, in a post-apocalyptic desert land, an old Sheriff and a couple of demons go on a journey to find the mysterious Phantom Lake. Along the way they meet various strange characters and a couple of monsters all the while uncovering the dark secrets of the King’s Army and the war that took place 30 years earlier.
There isn’t an enormous amount of depth but the story is entertaining and it moves at a breakneck pace. Yet, it’s not a quick read it just that so many things happen every chapter. There are demons stealing water from cargo trucks, monster chases through the desert, driving lessons, fights with crooks, tank battles, plenty of hand to hand combat, a couple military conspiracy and that’s only about half of the content of the manga! So there’s not a lot of depth because the focus is to write and draw a fun manga and hope the reader has fun too. That’s exactly what Toriyama achieves.
It’s not all fun in the sun and desert hijinks though. There are some environmental and social-economic concerns in there too for readers who need a bit food for thought with their entertainment. General Zeu’s use of the King vas a puppet leader to create a monopoly on the water of Sand Land is a pretty dark and surprisingly contemporary socio-economic issue. At first I was a bit disappointed that the villainous General Zeu didn’t appear to have any further motivation for his actions than wanting to amass power and money. That’s it for his motivation, actually. It works, though. That’s the driving factor for some of most of the corrupt military and political leaders of modern times. Greed is the driving factor that contributes directly to the suffering of hundreds of millions every year. Sheriff Roa, Thief and Prince Beelzebub are putting their foot down and choosing to end the needless suffering of the people of Sand Land.
Clean water should not be a luxury. It’s a foundational pillar of life and should be shared amongst all living creatures, be they man, animal or demon. It’s interesting that Toriyama makes Zeu a cyborg. He’s equal parts man and machine. By pursuing his greedy aim his body has decayed to the point where he needed to attach cybernetics to maintain his health. His need for water is presumably less important to him individually than it is for the average human. It’s grim that he’s the sole possessor of the Land’s water supply. His continued persecution of the people has nothing to do with his need for water but for his illusionary need for increased wealth.
The art here is some of Toriyama’s best. In his short introduction to this volume he states that he thinks his drawings of the tank are less than satisfactory which is completely inaccurate. It’s very well drawn from its first appearance to its last. He draws the exterior as well as the interior with great attention to detail. He draws several other motorized vehicles, some real and some imaginary. His character work, as always, is great. His villains look like villains and his heroes are tough but fair. Beelzebub and the Sheriff look great. I would really like to see more of their adventures.
Sand Land wasn’t a quick read but it was a light read. The book feels dense even though there isn’t an overabundance of story but there are a lot of plot points, nearly each chapter feels like a story unto itself. It all keeps the story rolling along but it also makes you feel as though it was money well spent. It was to see a storytelling master at work. Sand Land could be dismiss as just another fun adventure manga with demons, tanks and an old secretive Sherriff but to dismiss it as such is to entirely miss the point. The entire point is to have fun but there is a more depth to the work for those who wish to pay attention to it. Sand Land allows for a more engaged reading experience. Viz Media gave the collected volume an “A for All Ages” rating and that’s spot on because Sand Land works well on so many different levels. Truly a manga for the whole family.
September 29, 2021
Es una pena que esta historia haya sido eclipsada por todo el torbellino post-Dragon Ball, porque es de una calidad impresionante, y he venido a darme cuenta 20 años después.
Gráficamente es impecable, y lo mejor de todo es que se aleja técnicamente del sello Toriyama. Aquí hay tramas, sombras, texturas, volúmenes, una línea que casi está bocetada sobre el primer lápiz (algo nunca visto antes en un dibujante tan pulcro). Recursos que demuestran el tiempo y el cariño que se le puede meter cuando no hay presión. Se nota que hay mucha diversión, y no un bocetado rápido y un ayudante entintando.
Y el argumento es de los más adultos y “oscuros” que se le pueden pedir a alguien que siempre ha dicho que su único objetivo es entretener. Eso también se nota en composiciones de página y viñeta más arriesgadas, escenas más pensadas (la batalla entre tanques jugando al escondite es casi cinematográfica) y un villano que está diseñado tan a la perfección que no dirías que es de Toriyama. Vamos, he sacado petróleo de 220 páginas.
Podría ponerle pegas a la rotulación, al guillotinado y a la ausencia de extras o de un prefacio, pero le tengo demasiado cariño a esta edición. De 10.
Gráficamente es impecable, y lo mejor de todo es que se aleja técnicamente del sello Toriyama. Aquí hay tramas, sombras, texturas, volúmenes, una línea que casi está bocetada sobre el primer lápiz (algo nunca visto antes en un dibujante tan pulcro). Recursos que demuestran el tiempo y el cariño que se le puede meter cuando no hay presión. Se nota que hay mucha diversión, y no un bocetado rápido y un ayudante entintando.
Y el argumento es de los más adultos y “oscuros” que se le pueden pedir a alguien que siempre ha dicho que su único objetivo es entretener. Eso también se nota en composiciones de página y viñeta más arriesgadas, escenas más pensadas (la batalla entre tanques jugando al escondite es casi cinematográfica) y un villano que está diseñado tan a la perfección que no dirías que es de Toriyama. Vamos, he sacado petróleo de 220 páginas.
Podría ponerle pegas a la rotulación, al guillotinado y a la ausencia de extras o de un prefacio, pero le tengo demasiado cariño a esta edición. De 10.
January 18, 2021
A small classic from Toriyama!
I've always loved Toriyama's style when he's not constrained by schedules and 'limits' of bigger projects like his DB serie.
Like most of his books, this is an one-shot, with humor, tanks, wacky characters and ridiculously strong protagonist. I feel it's in these smaller projects that the author's skill truly shine.
Worth a read for who loves the genre!
I've always loved Toriyama's style when he's not constrained by schedules and 'limits' of bigger projects like his DB serie.
Like most of his books, this is an one-shot, with humor, tanks, wacky characters and ridiculously strong protagonist. I feel it's in these smaller projects that the author's skill truly shine.
Worth a read for who loves the genre!
October 26, 2025
Genialt at finde den kasseret på biblioteket til 5 kr.
March 1, 2024
3.5 rounded up! this was really cute, if a bit predictable. the swimmers were so goofy yet strangely endearing. love when happy silly art styles are paired with commentary on the inherent evil of global capitalism and the military used to uphold it
July 29, 2021
Fury Road but 0 female characters.
April 1, 2025
Great one-volume manga series from Akira Toriyama! You can see shades of "Dragon Ball" in the art and story. I wish he had been able to write this as a full series with multiple volumes. The length didn't allow for a ton of character development and story depth. It's still a solid story with likable characters and fun visuals.
July 17, 2015
Fun Read
My grandson loves Dragonball Z by the same author, so I decided to give this standalone book a try. I enjoyed the humor as well as the artwork and storytelling. Now I wish there was a sequel.
My grandson loves Dragonball Z by the same author, so I decided to give this standalone book a try. I enjoyed the humor as well as the artwork and storytelling. Now I wish there was a sequel.
June 13, 2021
It was good but not as memorable as other work by Toriyama.
July 18, 2023
A surprisingly thoughtful, but straightforward story about political corruption, unlikely heroes in a transformed world.
I wish I could give this 3.5 stars, cause I think that’s about where it sits. It’s by no means bad, certainly enjoyable, but still lacks in a few areas to be able to call it great.
It’s bite-sized length is refreshing in a sea of manga that are hundreds of chapters long, but it also makes some of the opportunities for world-building and character development feel a bit lackluster. You spend just enough time with everything to want more only to net really get it. That said, there is still far more development in a story this length than I was expecting!
My final thoughts are with regard to a plethora of other reviews I saw that compare this Toriyama’s other works, namely the Dragon Ball series. This is, to me, a kind of silly and unfair comparison. Dragon Ball is Toriyama’s magnum opus while this felt like a creative exploration into a different form of story for the acclaimed creator. Don’t go into this expecting anything as grand or similar to Dragon Ball, other than the art style, and try to appreciate it for it’s own merits.
You’ll find a few things to love here, and since it’s short, it’s a very small time commitment :)
I wish I could give this 3.5 stars, cause I think that’s about where it sits. It’s by no means bad, certainly enjoyable, but still lacks in a few areas to be able to call it great.
It’s bite-sized length is refreshing in a sea of manga that are hundreds of chapters long, but it also makes some of the opportunities for world-building and character development feel a bit lackluster. You spend just enough time with everything to want more only to net really get it. That said, there is still far more development in a story this length than I was expecting!
My final thoughts are with regard to a plethora of other reviews I saw that compare this Toriyama’s other works, namely the Dragon Ball series. This is, to me, a kind of silly and unfair comparison. Dragon Ball is Toriyama’s magnum opus while this felt like a creative exploration into a different form of story for the acclaimed creator. Don’t go into this expecting anything as grand or similar to Dragon Ball, other than the art style, and try to appreciate it for it’s own merits.
You’ll find a few things to love here, and since it’s short, it’s a very small time commitment :)
June 2, 2024
This is a simple but charming story - Mad Max by way of Dragon Ball. Following a small cast of misfits who try to restore water to the post-apocalyptic Sand Land through their adventures and tank battles.
Toriyama's characters are as inventive and appealing as ever. And his fun mechanical designs get to shine here. I always liked the weird inventions from the Capsule Corp in Dragon Ball - so the tanks are a good avenue to show off his cool mechanical designs. The tank battles are fun and seeing the main three heroes work together is a delight.
The humor is pretty classic Shonen manga - very silly and lighthearted. And the plot has a few "twists" that are predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. The pace is fast and frantic, the characters are silly and fun, and the story is lighthearted and heartwarming. A perfect summer afternoon read.
Toriyama's characters are as inventive and appealing as ever. And his fun mechanical designs get to shine here. I always liked the weird inventions from the Capsule Corp in Dragon Ball - so the tanks are a good avenue to show off his cool mechanical designs. The tank battles are fun and seeing the main three heroes work together is a delight.
The humor is pretty classic Shonen manga - very silly and lighthearted. And the plot has a few "twists" that are predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. The pace is fast and frantic, the characters are silly and fun, and the story is lighthearted and heartwarming. A perfect summer afternoon read.
April 6, 2025
One of my favorite aspects of Toriyama is his artwork, specifically his vehicles. Therefore a story about a ragtag group crossing a dessert in a tank was super enjoyable. While the story was nothing overly innovative, I found this adventure appealed to me in a way that few other manga have. It made me want to crawl inside this world and give the tank a test drive myself… maybe I’m just a fan of Tanks and pretty drawings. Who knows.
Read
April 18, 2024Eine süße Geschichte, die super gezeichnet ist und durch Toriyamas Zeichenstil besonders beeindruckend ist in Actionszenen, aber auch in Designs von Maschinen wie Panzern.
Schade ist nur, dass die Geschichte Recht kurz geraten ist, weil Toriyama keinen Stress von den Publishern haben wollte und somit innerhalb von 14 Kapiteln mit dieser Welt abgeschlossen hat, die so viel mehr Potenzial gehabt hätte.
Schade ist nur, dass die Geschichte Recht kurz geraten ist, weil Toriyama keinen Stress von den Publishern haben wollte und somit innerhalb von 14 Kapiteln mit dieser Welt abgeschlossen hat, die so viel mehr Potenzial gehabt hätte.
March 14, 2024
Posiblemente uno de mis mangas favoritos en mucho tiempo. Autoconclusivo, con un diseño muy chulo y una historia muy emocionante y con muchas sorpresas. Estoy deseando jugar al videojuego y ver la peli.
March 31, 2024
This was a really fun, quick story by Akira Toriyama. His humour and storytelling style is present as ever here, and of course his art style is as joyous to behold as ever. A heartwarming story with some great world-building, given the length of the story, it was a lot of fun to read.
June 1, 2025
No se porque no conocía esta obra de arte antes.
Si hay que sacarle una pega es que el dibujo es igual que Dragón ball, pero no es una pega, es algo bueno a mí parecer.
Y la historia es la polla, cortita y al grano: ecología, prejuicios, y lucha de clases.
Si hay que sacarle una pega es que el dibujo es igual que Dragón ball, pero no es una pega, es algo bueno a mí parecer.
Y la historia es la polla, cortita y al grano: ecología, prejuicios, y lucha de clases.
March 11, 2024
This was a short and fun story.
It was funny, charming and an all-around good time.
I highly recommend it.
It was funny, charming and an all-around good time.
I highly recommend it.
May 28, 2024
Merci à la sortie du jeu pour m'avoir fait découvrir cette petite aventure écrite et dessiner par le grand Akira Toriyama ! Simple et efficace ! 💜
July 30, 2024
Otra gran historia de Toriyama, realmente me gustó mucho, quizá daba para un mundo mucho más grande pero lo que hubo me dejó satisfecho.
April 11, 2025
fav single volume manga.
November 10, 2025
Catorce capítulos con la historia completa más un montón de extras.
Lástima que la segunda parte de la historia sea exclusiva del animé. Tiene también un videojuego que no jugué.
Lástima que la segunda parte de la historia sea exclusiva del animé. Tiene también un videojuego que no jugué.
January 26, 2022
Surprisingly excellent self-contained story. All of his great qualities, tossed onto a road trip, with nice little reveals throughout
As always, excellent visuals, but if anything I feel like this world is wonderfully while sparingly fleshed out.
As always, excellent visuals, but if anything I feel like this world is wonderfully while sparingly fleshed out.
February 20, 2024
Akira Toriyama is an author with an immense legacy… but Sand Land stands on its own merits! Beautiful art, tight pacing, imaginative story!
This is a reread for me, motivated solely because I love Insect Man, but Sand Land’s message is more prescient than ever with the genocide occurring in Gaza. Its characters live in a decaying land, haunted by atrocities of a past war. The grasping military complex plays to its monarch’s greed, sowing seeds of xenophobia among its people (justifying the genocide of the picchi people, fear the mysterious demon folk). And it turns out the water shortage was completely manufactured by them!
Sand Land has had a bit of a revival, with new games and animations coming out recently, so give it a read when you get a chance. It’s amazing!
This is a reread for me, motivated solely because I love Insect Man, but Sand Land’s message is more prescient than ever with the genocide occurring in Gaza. Its characters live in a decaying land, haunted by atrocities of a past war. The grasping military complex plays to its monarch’s greed, sowing seeds of xenophobia among its people (justifying the genocide of the picchi people, fear the mysterious demon folk). And it turns out the water shortage was completely manufactured by them!
Sand Land has had a bit of a revival, with new games and animations coming out recently, so give it a read when you get a chance. It’s amazing!
November 21, 2014
Akira Toriyama's SandLand opens with a standard RPG party. There's the son of a demon king, a carjacking centaur, and a ferret with a sickle strapped to a his back.
Also, Akira Toriyama's standard RPG party is way cooler than ours.
SandLand is the story of Beelzebub, son the demon king (and possibly Satan himself), set loose as a water hunter in a world that's gone dry. Humans and demons alike are searching so much as a bottle of water. When the human Sheriff Rao begs the demon king for help in finding the last oasis, well, a Role Playing Game plot arises. We have a virtuous quest for our scoundrel demons to go on, and dark secrets to learn about what the humans have been up to in the war for survival.
A lot of this book feels like RPG ideas and art that Toriyama drew up and couldn't get Enix to turn into a game. That's fine, in part because there's such novelty to a self-contained, one-volume Toriayama fantasy, and his aesthetic is so distinct. Nobody draws vehicles like him, and in our obnoxiously Euro-Fantasy heavy publishing environment, a runt tank trying to aim at a dancing Japanese ghost is refreshing. Even when Toriyama breaks into his old tropes (the demon king's son just had to power up at some point), it's endearing for its shlock.
Whether contrasting it to the camp of The Weird fiction, or to Quest Fantasy, SandLand feels unique. Part of that is in its innocence and foreign character designs, but I don't know any current manga that behaves this way either. It's a funny thing to be so distinct.
Also, Akira Toriyama's standard RPG party is way cooler than ours.
SandLand is the story of Beelzebub, son the demon king (and possibly Satan himself), set loose as a water hunter in a world that's gone dry. Humans and demons alike are searching so much as a bottle of water. When the human Sheriff Rao begs the demon king for help in finding the last oasis, well, a Role Playing Game plot arises. We have a virtuous quest for our scoundrel demons to go on, and dark secrets to learn about what the humans have been up to in the war for survival.
A lot of this book feels like RPG ideas and art that Toriyama drew up and couldn't get Enix to turn into a game. That's fine, in part because there's such novelty to a self-contained, one-volume Toriayama fantasy, and his aesthetic is so distinct. Nobody draws vehicles like him, and in our obnoxiously Euro-Fantasy heavy publishing environment, a runt tank trying to aim at a dancing Japanese ghost is refreshing. Even when Toriyama breaks into his old tropes (the demon king's son just had to power up at some point), it's endearing for its shlock.
Whether contrasting it to the camp of The Weird fiction, or to Quest Fantasy, SandLand feels unique. Part of that is in its innocence and foreign character designs, but I don't know any current manga that behaves this way either. It's a funny thing to be so distinct.
June 4, 2014
This is a oneshot, a stand-alone title and is fairly standard shounen content. I don't have a lot to say about it. I love the author's Dragonball series with a passion but this title barely kept my interest. Being only one book, it doesn't follow the usual manga pattern of lots of battle in one volume, some character development in another, etc and has to do it all in just short one volume. So not much battling until near the end. It's not bad though and *is* written for children, not grown-up women, like ... ahem ... me. I'd certainly recommend it for the younger set and to be included in an elementary library. It's suitable for ages 8-12, rated A for All Ages, and is clean; mind there are phrases such as "sexy" and "dirty old man".
June 27, 2017
If you want to know what this manga artist is all about, but are intimidated by his bigger more famous works like Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, this is a perfect 1 volume introduction to the charm of Akira Toriyama.
I love his fun memorable character designs, but especially his vehicle designs which often go unappreciated (especially once everyone in Dragon Ball learned how to fly and stopped needing any). It's a simple plot about an old man trying to bring water back to in his oppressed desert country and a little demon who wants to help. They find a tank, fight an army, it's great stuff. This feels like something from the Red Ribbon Army saga in DB. Very cute, very fun, very Toriyama.
I love his fun memorable character designs, but especially his vehicle designs which often go unappreciated (especially once everyone in Dragon Ball learned how to fly and stopped needing any). It's a simple plot about an old man trying to bring water back to in his oppressed desert country and a little demon who wants to help. They find a tank, fight an army, it's great stuff. This feels like something from the Red Ribbon Army saga in DB. Very cute, very fun, very Toriyama.
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