A Big Thanks goes to Viz Media and Net Galley for the chance to review this title.
It’s the first Manga Review in a month, today’s review finds us going on a Nostalgic Journey in the Dragon Quest Mythos. Based on the best-selling video game franchise, Dragon Quest, The Adventure of Dai made its debut in Japan in 1989 and was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump and ran till 1996. The Chapters were collected into 37 Tankobon Volumes and led to getting adapted into an anime twice, in the early 90s, and most recently the second adaption from October 2020.
After the defeat of the demon lord Hadlar, all of the monsters were unleashed from his evil will and moved to the island of Dermline 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 his chance 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 superpowers and can fend off Hadlar. The two students then go off on a journey to avenge Avan and bring peace back to the world.
This first volume serves as the perfect jump-on point for new readers of either manga or the RPG Series. Another fascinating fact about this story, and the Dragon Quest Franchise is that Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama, served as a Character Designer for the Video Game Series.
Another series that I would also recommend to fans of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, would be Beet the Vandel Buster, it is a series that was written and illustrated by the same creative team that created this series. This book consists of 330 pages and covers the first five episodes of the new anime, the perfect way for the reader to get a good grasp of what kind of hero Dai is and what to expect in future volumes. The first volume is available now both in Book Stores and Digitally.
Final Grade:
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Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai Pop Up Parade Statue:
Is that Dai’s orichalcum sword forged by legendary swordsmith Lon Berk? No Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai collection is complete with this exceptional Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai Pop Up Parade Statue. Crafted of ABS and PVC, the Disciple of Avan measures about 5 1/2-inches tall on his clear base. Whatever you do, do not let Dai get away – order now!
Get yourself a Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai Popp Pop Up Parade Statue too, while you’re at it. They look fantastic when displayed together!
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