It has been announced that the anime "SAND LAND: THE SERIES", based on the manga "SAND LAND" by the late Akira Toriyama, known for "Dragon Ball" and other works, will be broadcast on NHK General TV every Saturday at 11:45 pm starting June 28th. The film version of the anime "SAND LAND" was released in August 2023, and the series anime "SAND LAND: THE SERIES" began streaming on Disney Plus in March 2024. A new key visual has been released to commemorate the broadcast of the series anime on NHK.
The "Demon Prince" arc (episodes 1-6) of the anime series has been reconstructed with new scenes added for the movie. The "Angel Hero" arc (episodes 7-13) is a new chapter that Toriyama came up with over 20 years ago, and is a continuation of the story from the anime movie.
"SAND LAND" is set in a waterless desert world where monsters and humans coexist, and follows the adventures of the demon prince Beelzebub as he searches for a mysterious spring with a monster thief and a human sheriff named Rao. After the serialization of "Dragon Ball" ended, it was serialized in a short, concentrated run in the combined 23rd to 36th/37th issues of "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) in 2000. It is also the only work that Toriyama drew from beginning to end by himself without an assistant.
The anime was produced by Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and ANIMA. It was directed by Yokoshima Toshihisa, who has worked on Amanatsu and COCOLORS, and Kamishina Hiroshi, who has directed Neuro: Supernatural Detective and HUNTER x HUNTER, served as direction advisor. Kanno Yugo, who has worked on the NHK Taiga drama Gunshi Kanbei and the Detective Conan movie series, was in charge of the music. Tamura Mutsumi plays the main character Beelzebub, while Yamaji Kazuhiro plays Rao, Cho plays Shifu, Tsuruoka Satoshi plays General Ale of the King's army, and Tobita Nobuo plays the nefarious Great General Zeus.
◇Staff and cast (titles omitted)
Original work: Akira Toriyama▽Cast: Mutsumi Tamura, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Cho, Satoshi Tsuruoka, Mikako Komatsu, Ayumu Murase ▽Director: Toshihisa Yokoshima▽Direction Advisor: Hiroshi Kojina▽Screenplay: Hayashi Mori▽Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami▽Music: Yugo Kanno▽Animation production: Sunrise x ANIMA x Kamikaze Douga
