Sand Land was first serialized in North America by Viz Media in their English Shonen Jump magazine in 2003, then later released in one graphic novel in December 2003.

Sheriff Rao, tired of the king's greed, approaches the demons of Sand Land for help in searching for a new water supply.

Once they reach the supposed water supply at the end of the now dried up river bed, they find a lake that now acts as the king's private reserves.

[21][22] On December 8, 2022, Bandai Namco opened a website for "Sand Land Project" and uploaded a teaser video featuring Toriyama's art from the manga.

[23] On that date, it was announced that the series would receive a CGI anime film adaptation co-produced by Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima.

[36] His review for Read About Comics summarized, refers to it as a fun light story that, while not necessarily deep or memorable, does well to explore the fictional world and the unique characters that inhabit it.

Despite Toriyama's complaints about designing the tank, McElhatton praised the art, declaring it more consistent than his previous work Dragon Ball.

[38][39] Evan Mullicane of Screen Rant strongly praised the film, writing that it "proves that the original Sand Land manga is Toriyama's true opus."

He found the "seamless" blend of 3D and 2D animation creates a distinctive look that captures Toriyama's artwork "beautifully", and noted that the film's best moments are all based on developing the three central characters.

[40] Writing for Anime News Network, Kalai Chik called the film a "feel good popcorn movie" and gave it a B+ rating.

They cited the script as its strongest feature; "For a story that touches on the impacts of war, global warming, and corporate greed, it never overcomplicates the message, nor does it talk down to the audience."

[41] Giving the film three out of five stars, Matt Schley of The Japan Times called it a straightforward romp that is "fun first and foremost", but leaves the audience with deeper themes to contemplate.

Although Schley wrote that the story and CG animation in Sand Land are not likely to disappoint audiences, he noted that there is "nothing particularly revolutionary" about it and suggested it could have been slightly shorter in length.