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The Sand Land anime has ended this week, and there is a good reason why many Dragon Ball fans should give this series a chance. Legendary author Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1. The world has been mourning the mangaka and celebrating his legacy, with Sand Land being an interesting part of his career.
Toriyama is mostly known for Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, plus his character designs for video game franchises such as Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. However, the Sand Land anime represents a very peculiar moment in his career. This was the period of Toriyama's career when he was no longer working in his most popular series. This new manga, which was a long volume, highlights the author's love for the medium as a whole.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for several series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.
Explaining why Dragon Ball fans should watch the Sand Land anime
The passing of Akira Toriyama on March 1 has led many people to celebrate his legacy and the different works he has done throughout the years. It is fair to say that Dragon Ball got the most attention because it is by far the author's most popular work, but the Sand Land anime might be one of the best moments to honor the mangaka's enduring legacy.
For those fans of the original Dragon Ball, the one starring kid Goku, the Sand Land anime will be a breath of fresh air. Toriyama crafted this manga back in 2000, a few years after finishing his most popular work, so this story is much more of a passion project since the author no longer had any need for commercial success at the time.
The story takes place on a planet where humans and demons live, and Sheriff Rao has to search for a water supply when they are lacking in that land. This is how he forms a group of misfits to help in this situation, although that ends up with them getting into trouble since they have to go up against the king who is ruling that territory and has a monopoly on the water supplies. The reception of the anime has been very positive, with people praising Sunrise's adaptation of Toriyama's manga and the story's upbeat and fun feel.
The legacy of Toriyama
The Sand Land anime has shed some light on one of Toriyama's more obscure works, which is a very fitting situation considering that people are celebrating the mangaka's career. While Dragon Ball is his most celebrated and successful work, influencing authors worldwide, there is a lot more to like and know about this author.
Dr. Slump might not be as popular in the West as in Japan. Still, it became Toriyama's first major hit and made him a very wealthy man prior to the release of Dragon Ball in the mid-80s. It also turned Arale, the protagonist, into a manga icon. The Sand Land anime, on the other hand, was an adaptation of one of the works he did in the 2000s when he was no longer doing serialized manga, which is a good example of how he no longer had anything to prove as a mangaka.
Final thoughts
If Dragon Ball fans want to see more of Toriyama's classic humor and storytelling from the early days of the original series, then they should give the Sand Land anime a chance. It is a somewhat obscure work in the legendary mangaka's career, but the recent adaptation by Sunrise deserves more recognition.
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