SAND LAND Anime Film Unveils New Trailer, Cast, Staff

The official website for the anime film of Akira Toriyama's SAND LAND manga debuted a new trailer and announced the main cast and main staff on Monday.

In the trailer, a voice intones, "This summer, the most powerful, most villainous demon will wake up." The trailer then cuts to Beelzebub himself, proudly talking about staying up late, oversleeping, and not brushing his teeth.

The cast includes:

Mutsumi Tamura as Beelzebub

©バード・スタジオ／集英社 ©SAND LAND製作委員会

Kazuhiro Yamaji as Rao

©バード・スタジオ／集英社 ©SAND LAND製作委員会

Chō as Thief

©バード・スタジオ／集英社 ©SAND LAND製作委員会

Satoshi Tsuruoka as General Are

©バード・スタジオ／集英社 ©SAND LAND製作委員会

Nobuo Tobita as General Zau

©バード・スタジオ／集英社 ©SAND LAND製作委員会

Toshihisa Yokoshima ("Tales of Crestoria: The Wake of Sin," "Amanatsu," "Cocolors," Dragon Quest games' sequences) is directing the film at Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima with Hiroshi Koujina (Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis, The Vampire Dies in No Time, Grenadier) serving as the direction advisor. Hayashi Mori (Cells at Work! Code Black, Drifting Home) is writing the screenplay. Yoshikazu Iwanami is directing the sound, and Yūgo Kanno (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Psycho-Pass, Ajin) is composing the music.

TOHO will open the film in theaters in Japan on August 18.

The Sand Land manga is a short series that Toriyama serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from May to August 2000. Shueisha published one compiled book volume of the manga in November 2000.

Viz 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!

Toriyama began his first serialized manga, Dr. Slump, in 1980, and it inspired two television anime and multiple films. Toriyama followed it up with Dragon Ball, which ran from 1984 to 1995, and is still inspiring manga and anime sequels and spinoffs today. He is also well-known as the character designer for the Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon games.

Sources: SAND LAND film's website, Comic Natalie