Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Originated in 1989
TL;DR: “The Adventure of Dai” is a fantastic series, but I seem to be focusing on the wrong aspects. Read this blog only if you don’t mind being spoiled.
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is a manga series that original in 1989. Ended in 1996, it was serialized in the Jump magazine for a total of 7 years. This series garnered renewed interest recently due to it being animated for a second time starting in 2020 by Toei Animation with excellent viewer reception.
But the reason that I started this blog just to write about The Adventure of Dai is not because of its recent news, but because it is simply a fantastic series. Despite being a dedicated shoujo reader around the same age as the Dai manga itself, I found myself rereading the series over and over again, each time with a subtly different appreciation.
However, my rereads often end up giving me a weird reaction: discomfort. Not quite anxiety, but slight discomfort; as in, multiple trips to the bathroom discomfort. Perhaps it’s the feeling that there’s no true enclosure.
As a grown adult, whenever I put the series down, I find myself repeatedly asking about the relationships of the main characters. Who does the female lead like anyway? Why did the guy in the armor push her away? Did the efforts of the magic boy ever come to fruition?
Before I knew it, I’ve spent countless hours scouring the Internet trying to find discussions on these topics as an effort to answer my questions.
Since the manga itself doesn’t actually have the answers that I was looking for, each reread will likely bring me the previously mentioned discomfort. So I let time do its work. After my recent reread of the series, however, my mind spinned faster than it ever did before (perhaps because I peeked at some of the well-done anime episodes?).
So I told myself, I will start writing my thoughts in the form of a blog. Maybe that will help put my mind at ease.
Thanks for reading this far. If I wasn’t clear before, let me repeat: “Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai” truly is a great series. You should by all means read the manga. In this blog, I will try to explore the relationships between the lovely characters.. (but will probably evolve into ramblings).
This blog will absolutely spoil the series, so proceed with caution (or don’t proceed at all) if you don’t want to be spoiled.
Lastly, I am a big fan of the lady fighter and the armor guy, so proceed with caution if you are sensitive to particular pairings.