Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Japanese: DRAGON QUEST –ダイの大冒険–, Hepburn: Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken, lit. "Dragon Quest: The Great Adventure of Dai") is a Japanese manga series written by Riku Sanjo and illustrated by Koji Inada, based on the popular video game franchise Dragon Quest. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1989 to December 1996, with its chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes.
A prequel manga series began in V Jump in September 2020 and a spin-off manga began in Saikyō Jump in October 2020. The manga was adapted into an anime series, produced by Toei Animation and broadcast on TBS from July 1991 to July 1992. It is the second anime adaptation based on the Dragon Quest franchise after Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel. The manga received a second 100-episode anime adaptation by Toei Animation, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2020 to October 2022.
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is one of the Weekly Shōnen Jump'sbest-selling manga series of all time, with more than 50million copies in circulation by 2022.
The story begins with a young boy named Dai remembering a story told to him by his adoptive grandfather, the monster magician Brass, about the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar by the hands of a hero known as Avan. After the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar, all of the monsters were released from his evil will and peace reigned supreme around the world once again for ten years. Some monsters and demons moved to the island of Dermline to live in peace. Dai, the young protagonist of the series, is an orphan and the only human living on the island. Having been raised by Brass and with his best friend, the monster Gome, Dai grows up dreaming of becoming a hero.
After Dai befriends Leona, the princess of the Kingdom of Papnica and saves her from peril, Avan comes to the island accompanied by his apprentice, the magician Popp, to become Dai's teacher by her request. However, his training is interrupted by the return of Hadlar, who was resurrected by the Great Demon King Vearn and became the commander of his vast army. Avan sacrifices himself to protect his disciples and Hadlar is temporarily driven away by Dai after he awakens a mysterious power within himself.
To honor Avan's final request, Dai, Popp and Gome leave the island and begin their quest to defeat Hadlar and his master to bring peace back to the world. During their travels, Dai's party gains three other members; the healer Maam, who later becomes also a martial artist, Hyunckel, one of Hadlar's former subordinates and Leona herself. Their enemies include Beast King Crocodine, an honourable but ruthless commander of Hadlar's army, the Mystic legion commander Zaboara and his son Zamza, A magical elemental of Ice and Fire known as Flazzard, the illusive Mystvearn, who himself is a greater servant of Vearn and is Hyunkel's teacher of black magic, Killvearn, a jester who is Vearn's personal assassin and Baran, a legendary warrior and Dai's father who sided with Vearn after the death of his wife and the disappearance of his son.
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is written by Riku Sanjo and illustrated by Koji Inada. A short story Derupa! Iruiru! (デルパ!イルイル!) was first published for two chapters in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in June 1989.[2][3] A short story, Dai Bakuhatsu!! (ダイ爆発!!!), was published for three chapters in August 1989.[4][5][6]Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai was serialized for seven years in Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 23, 1989, to December 9, 1996.[7][8] The manga was collected into 37 tankōbon volumes published between March 9, 1990, and June 4, 1997.[9][10] It was later released in 22 bunkobon volumes published from June 18, 2003, to March 18, 2004.[11][12] A 25-volume edition that includes the color pages from its original magazine run and newly drawn covers by Inada was published between October 2, 2020, and July 2, 2021.[13]
On July 9, 2021, Viz Media announced they licensed the series for English publication.[14] The first volume was released on March 1, 2022;[15] the fifth and latest volume was released on November 8 of that same year.[16]
A prequel manga series, titled Dai no Daibōken: Yuusha Avan to Gokuen no Maou, illustrated by Yūsaku Shibata, with Sanjo credited for original work, began serializing in Shueisha's V Jump on September 19, 2020.[17][18] The series is centered around Avan before he met Dai and his companions. It entered its "final battle" on August 4, 2023.[19]
A spin-off manga written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Amami, titled Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Xross Blade, was serialized in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump manga magazine from October 1, 2020,[17] to January 4, 2024, and collected in seven volumes.[20]
Produced by Toei Animation, the anime adaptation of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai aired for 46 episodes on TBS from October 17, 1991, to September 24, 1992. Despite no official Japanese DVD release, the show reran in 2007 on Toei's channel with a new master.[21] The series uses two pieces of theme music, both composed by Koichi Sugiyama and performed by Jirō Dan. "Hurry, Heroes!!" (勇者よ急げ!!, Yūsha yo Isoge!!) is used for the opening theme, while "My Road, My Journey" (この道わが旅, Kono Michi Waga Tabi), which was the original ending theme for Dragon Quest II, is used for the episodes' ending theme.[22] The series adapts the events of the first ten volumes of the manga, with initial plans to continue onward until scheduling and time slot changes at TBS lead to the series ending after 46 episodes. To accommodate the abrupt ending, Sanjo helped to provide an adjusted finale to the anime.[23]
On January 6, 2020, the whole series was released in Japan for distribution on several video on demand (VOD) services, the first time the series has become officially available after the VHS release of the 1990s. In March 2020 it was announced that the 1991 anime will be getting a Blu-ray Box for the first time, released on July 3, 2020. The set contained all 46 episodes, and the 3 Jump Festa short theatrical movies (including the first film never before released on home video), which have been scanned from their original 35 mm negatives with high resolution and recorded as high-quality full HD remastered images.[24][25]
It was announced during Jump Festa 2020 that there would be a new anime adaptation that would premiere in fall 2020. The anime was produced by Toei Animation and was a hybrid of 2D and CG animation.[29] The series ran for 100 episodes, premiering on TV Tokyo and other affiliates on October 3, 2020. The series halted broadcast since March 12, 2022, when episode 73 was originally scheduled to air, and the series' entire schedule was subsequently delayed until further notice shortly after Toei Animation revealed their internal servers had been hacked by an unauthorized third party.[30] The broadcast resumed on April 16, 2022, and finished on October 22 of the same year. The band Macaroni Empitsu performed the series' opening theme "Ikiru o Suru" and the series' first ending theme "mother".[31][32] XIIX performed the series' second ending theme "Akashi".[33]
Muse Communication licensed the second series in Asia-Pacific, and streamed the first 50 episodes on Netflix in 2022 and also later streamed on Muse Asia YouTube channel for a limited time in 2023.[34][35][36] Toei simulcasts the series with English subtitles in North America, Latin America, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East and Europe via Crunchyroll, as well as Hulu in the United States and Anime Digital Network in France. An English dub was produced by Toei and Ocean Media. It was initially the subject of a do-no-work notice issued by the American actor's union SAG-AFTRA.[37] The first 25 episodes began streaming in the United KingdomonBBC's iPlayer on September 26, 2022.[38] In North America, the first 50 dubbed episodes were made available on a variety of download to own platforms beginning November 8, 2022.[39] The entire series began streaming in the United States on Hulu on July 1, 2023.[40]
During Jump Festa '20, a video game based on the series has been announced.[41]
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Xross Blade, an arcade game with collectible trading cards, was released in Japanese arcades on October 22, 2020.[42]
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – A Hero's Bonds, a smartphone RPG for iOS/Android, was released worldwide on September 28, 2021,[43] and was closed on April 26, 2023.[44]
Dai appears as a playable character in the 2019 video game Jump Force, marking the first appearance of a Dragon Quest character in a Weekly Shōnen Jump crossover game.[46]
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is one of Weekly Shōnen Jump'sbest-selling manga series of all time,[47] with over 50million copies in circulation by 2022.[48]OnTV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai ranked 30th.[49]
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