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Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land will be Bandai Namco’s next big multimedia project

Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land will be Bandai Namco’s next big multimedia project

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The adaptation of the classic manga will start with an animated movie.

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Bandai Namco is looking to adapt another major work from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. The company has announced a push to develop Sand Land, a manga written by Toriyama in 2000, into what it describes as “a full IP.”

That will start with an animated film adaptation. No other specific projects were announced, but given the company’s history — both with Dragon Ball and the massive success of titles like Elden Ring — it’s safe to say that video games are likely to be part of the project as well.

You can get a sense of the world of Sand Land in the brief teaser above. Here’s the official description:

In a desert world where both demons and humans suffer from an extreme water shortage, Beelzebub, the prince of demons, and Rao, a small-town sheriff, form a tag-team and set off on an adventure in search of the Phantom Lake somewhere in the desert.

Toriyama’s distinctive style was popularized by Dragon Ball, but he’s also a notable presence in the world of video games, contributing character designs to games like Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon, and the Dragon Quest series. And with the enduring success of Dragon Ball, which most recently included a crossover event with Fortnite, it makes sense that Bandai is looking to delve even further into his works for more multimedia projects, especially since that is the way the entertainment industry is heading.