The Dragon Quest series is arguably the most prolific and inspirational game franchise in all of Japan. For decades, the long-running series of hit RPGs has spawned numerous spinoffs, adaptations, and side-stories. One such spinoff was a hot-blooded action manga called Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai that ran from October 1989 until December 1996. It’s a stylish and incredibly unique take on the Dragon Quest series, and for over 20 years the spin-off series has remained dormant beyond minor cameos in projects like Jump Force. Today, however, Dai is back in a huge way. Square Enix and Toei held a live-streamed event titled “Latest Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai Info: Dai Send-Off Special” in which they revealed three new games based on the classic manga, as well as a television anime adaptation of the story.
The anime adaptation of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is being handled by Toei Animation. The prolific anime company plans for the series to be a blend of CG and 2D animation. The trailer above gives us our first look at the series, which seems to perfectly capture the sharp art style of the original manga. The full series is set to debut on TV Tokyo in Japan this October, and it will feature the following voice actors:
- Atsumi Tanezaki as Dai
- Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Pop
- Mikako Komatsu as Maam
- Saori Hayami as Leona
- Takahiro Sakurai as Avan
- Yuuki Kaji as Hyunckel
Here’s a description of the original Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken) manga by Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada, according to MyAnimeList:
After the defeat of the demon lord Hadlar all of the monsters were unleashed from his evil will and moved to the island of Delmurin to live in peace. Dai is the only human living on the island. Having been raised by the kindly monster Brass, Dai’s dream is to grow up to be a hero. He gets to become one when Hadlar is resurrected and the previous hero, Avan, comes to train Dai to help in the battle. But Hadlar, announcing that he now works for an even more powerful demon lord, comes to kill Avan. To save his students Avan uses a Self-Sacrifice spell to attack, but is unable to defeat Hadlar. When it seems that Dai and Avan’s other student Pop are doomed a mark appears on Dai’s forehead and he suddenly gains super powers and is able to fend off Hadlar. The two students then go off on a journey to avenge Avan and bring peace back to the world.
In October, fans won’t just be treated to a new Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai anime. Three brand new games based on the franchise are also set to launch soon after the anime debuts.
The first game is Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken Tamashii no Kizuna (Bonds of Spirit), a mobile RPG developed by DeNA set to launch on iOS and Android in 2021. In this game, up to three players can team up to take on co-operative missions together.
The next game is Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken Xross Blade, an arcade game that sees you collecting physical cards to use during in-game battles. This game is set to launch in Japan during or after fall 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EHPUHvftdA
Finally, there’s Infinity Strash Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, the most ambitious and impressive game of the pack. This is a real-time action game developed by Square Enix, and it’s set to come to home consoles in 2021. While the first two games likely won’t see a global release, it’s all but certain that this console game will be released in English soon after it launches in Japan.
Source: Anime News Network
