The beloved Dragon Quest video game series has gotten a brand new manga! Centered around fan-favorite character Avan, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken - Yuusha Avan to Gokuen no Maou is set to take readers on a fantastic journey through the franchise's one of a kind world.
Similar to how Pokémon is a multimedia behemoth of a franchise, Dragon Quest is more than just a turn-based JRPG, expanding into manga, anime, movies, and merch galore. While not as popular in the west as Pokémon, the franchise is equally as massive in other places around the world, including holidays to celebrate the series in Japan. With original character designs created by the very man who created Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, the series has a serious cult following in Northern America. That fandom has been rapidly growing, especially after the success of the Dragon Quest: Your Story movie, the anime, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (AKA Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken) as well as the game Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition.
Those familiar with Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai will be pleased to not only see Avan return but get to hear about his story. Within The Adventures of Dai, Avan is a teacher and mentor to the story's main protagonist, Dai, who is suspected to be the next Hero of the world. When the last evil that threatened the world mysteriously returns, it is soon revealed that Avan himself was actually the preceding great Hero, having taken down the Demon Lord Hadlar and saving the world previously. As is the nature of Dragon Quest, a new Hero always rises to face a new threat, which is exactly what The Adventures of Dai is all about, but the prior journey is never fully explored.
Set fifteen years before Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Avan's manga will take fans back, finally telling the story of his time as the Hero, which provides a riveting tale that can easily stand on its own. Being a top-tier warrior and grade-A badass while teaching Dai, it'll be really interesting to get to see how he became such a master. This also means that fans will get more back story on the Demon Lord Hadlar and his initial threat that is so heavily talked about in The Adventure of Dai, providing greater depth to the original (now sequel) manga. Fans of Zipman!! will be pleased to hear that its creator (and former assistant to the creator of One Piece), Yusaku Shibata, is doing art on the series, while writing is being done by Riku Sanjou
It is quite exciting that Dragon Quest has been such a success in the manga and anime department that this prequel has come about. In fact, the manga has already started and can be found releasing within V Jump Magazine. Its prologue only released just last October, and is still a currently ongoing series, so fans can easily get caught up and keep up with the action. Unfortunately, at least for now, no news of an English version of Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken - Yuusha Avan to Gokuen no Maou has been announced, so fans will have to translate, however, with how well-received its predecessor was received in America in anime form, it's quite possible a localization may occur down the line, maybe even leaving hope for this new manga to also eventually get an anime adaptation of its own.