The manga artist Akira Toriyama recently passed away, which is why the last drawings before his death are especially appreciated. The official Dragon Ball account is now sharing the last image from Toriyama, promoting his anime.
What kind of image is this? The last official illustration is an image for the upcoming series Sand Land. Sand Land was originally a manga by Akira Toriyama, which is now being turned into its own anime series (via 3D Juegos).
The official Twitter account of Dragon Ball is sharing its last artwork with the public:
The image features Beelzebub, Rao, and Sheef in a vehicle, with a small red dragon perched on the front. In the foreground, two new characters created specifically for the series can be seen. Their names are Anne (on the right of the image) and Muniel (on the left of the image).
Don’t be surprised: Akira Toriyama died on March 1, and the image was only published on March 4. The manga artist must have completed the image before his death, before it was presented to the public.
There is a movie for Sand Land, and you can watch the trailer here:
Why is the image so special? In recent years, Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball manga, drew less and less. He had been struggling with health issues, which is why Toyotarou took over his manga for Dragon Ball Super.
Toriyama only provided the rough plot points. Toyotarou filled in the gaps with his own stories and corresponding images.
But from time to time, the manga artist returned to the drawing board, which we can still verify even after his death. Of course, it’s possible that Toriyama created more drawings after this one. However, this illustration is at least the last one that was published.
Water is in high demand in Sand Land
What is Sand Land? In Sand Land, we follow the adventures of Beelzebub, the son of the devil. He is supposed to focus on his training, but instead, he sets out to search for a mysterious water source. The resource water is in high demand in Sand Land.
The anime series consists of 13 episodes. The first seven episodes will be available on Disney+ on March 20, 2024, with the rest following weekly.
Episodes 1-6 tell the “The Demon Prince” arc. Here, the story from the movie for Sand Land is retold, but in full length, with new scenes.
With Episode 7, the “Angel’s Hero” arc begins. The image that Toriyama drew last comes from this arc. Here, Beelzebub and his crew arrive in “Forestland,” where they meet Anne and Muniel. The arc was personally designed by Toriyama.
Besides Sand Land, Toriyama last worked on Dragon Ball Daima. The anime is set to start in the fall of 2024: Dragon Ball: New series of the cult anime starts in 2024 and makes Son-Goku and Vegeta shrink again
