Dragon Ball series creator Akira Toriyama now has a new movie making its way through theaters across Japan taking on his Sand Land manga series, and Toriyama has opened up about the somewhat admittedly lacking response to the movie’s release in the box office in a special new message to fans. Sand Land made its debut in theaters in Japan earlier this Summer, and notably hasn’t fully taken over the box office. But as fans and reviewers who have seen the film overseas have noted, it’s a worthy adaptation of the original manga. But the promotional train is rolling on as it continues its run overseas.ย
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As Sand Land continues its run through theaters in Japan and prepares for its release in North America and other territories in the near future, part of the promotional train for the movie is the release of the first 15 minutes of the new movie online. It’s to help fans make the choice as to whether or not they want to see it in action, and this comes with a special new message from Akira Toriyama where the creator notes that while the movie hasn’t drawn many to theaters, Toriyama’s happy with the positive reviews.ย
Akira Toriyama Reacts to Sand Land Movie’s Release
“My sincerest thanks to all you godly people who have already watched the movie Sand Land!,” Toriyama’s special message to fans begins. “Apparently it hasn’t drawn too many people to the theaters yet, but fortunately the reviews seem to be pretty good. Some wonderful people have said it was unexpectedly moving! The mecha in the film have gotten particularly high praise, which is totally thanks to the anime staff. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and are wavering on whether to go, or even if you don’t feel like seeing it at all, everyone please just come check this movie out!”
Directed by Toshihisa Yokoshima forย Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima, with a script from Hayashi Mori and music composed by Yugo Kanno, Sand Land is now making its way through theaters in Japan with a planned release in international territories in the future, but a concrete date has not been announced as of this writing.ย
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