Akira Toriyama Message Shared Ahead of Sand Land Game Launch

Ahead of the launch of Sand Land, the game based on the manga and anime of the same name, Bandai Namco shared a posthumous comment from creator Akira Toriyama about it. The message discussed his thoughts on the gameplay and also brought up a new location that didn’t show up in the original one-volume manga.

The announcement noted that Akira Toriyama shared this statement about the Sand Land game back in January 2024. The mangaka, who was known for Dragon Ball, Doctor Slump, and Dragon Quest series character designs, died back in March 2024. This comment offered his thoughts on the game based on footage he’d seen. He closed out the message by mentioning he could “only play casual games.”

Here is the full statement taken from the official social media account from the game: 

As a reminder, Sand Land is an action game starring Prince Beelzebub and his allies dealing with survival and baddies in a post-apocalyptic world. One of the trailers leading up to launch featured gameplay and story scenes set to Darude’s “Sandstorm.” It also hints at some of the tanks and other vehicles people will ride through the desert. 

Sand Land will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 25, 2024. Viz Media handled the localization of the manga. The anime Sand Land: The Series is streaming on Disney+.