It’s time to grab your cantinas and pack your best sun protection, as Bandai Namco Entertainment has released not only a new trailer for its upcoming theatrical anime adaptation of Akira Toriyma’s classic manga Sand Land, but also revealed its Japanese premiere date.
RELATED: Akira Toriyama’s Classic ‘Sand Land’ Manga Announces Cinematic Anime Adaptation For 2023
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world suffering from extreme droughts, Sand Land follows a trio consisting of the Prince of Demons Beelzebub, his demon attendant Thief, and a small town sheriff named Rao as they set out into the treacherous wastelands in search of the mysterious Phantom Lake.
This lake supposedly holds enough water that, should it be found, the world would no longer have to rely on the spotty charity of their greedy King to obtain the precious resource.
Released on April 2nd, Sand Land‘s latest trailer kicks off with Beelzebub (CV: Mutsumi Tamura – Ermes Costello in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean) proudly bragging (translated via @Herms98) to both his companion Rao (CV: Kazuhiro Yamaji – Henry Henderson in Spy x Family) and the audience about how his life as “the baddest of the bad demon prince” consists of nothing more than sleeping in late and not brushing his teeth.
Following Rao’s stunned reaction to Beelzebub’s proclamation, the trailer transitions to present a quick montage featuring a number of events yet to come, including the demon prince’s assistant Thief (CV: Cho – Brook in One Piece) donning a Santa Claus outfit so he can serve as a distraction (Why the Santa Claus costume? Thief claims “In this get up, even if I get caught I can talk my way out of it.”):
As well as Beelzebub and Rao confronting a gang of desert bandits:
As the trailer comes to a close, a bright pink title card declares that the film will officially makes its way into Japanese theaters on August 18th.
Produced by Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and ANIMA, the film is set to be the first part of in a “wide variety of content” being created as part of Bandai Namco’s previously announced SAND LAND Project.
Reacting to the new footage in an interview with the film’s official website, Toriyama praised, “The video I saw had many parts that were still incomplete. However, I could still sense the very high quality of the images.”
“I never thought Sand Land would be made into a movie, and the quality is so high,” he concluded. “At this point, it is like a dream.”
NEXT: ‘Spy x Family’ Season 2 and ‘Spy x Family: CODE White’ Film Receive Official Release Dates