Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020) Episode 1 Discussion

What did you think of this episode?

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Oct 2, 2020 6:00 PM

Stark700

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Nov 2011

129011

THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Not bad for the opening song, kinda catchy imo.

I actually like the animation style so far, very classic for Dragon Quest. Some of the main characters are introduced and the world looks very vibrant for its creativity. Felt like I was part of a video game following Dai and his adventures.

The monsters (oh yes, even that iconic blue slime) is there too.

Oct 2, 2020 6:20 PM

SparkleDuck

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Mar 2012

618

Stark700 said:
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
----------------------------------------
Not bad for the opening song, kinda catchy imo.

I actually like the animation style so far, very classic for Dragon Quest. Some of the main characters are introduced and the world looks very vibrant for its creativity. Felt like I was part of a video game following Dai and his adventures.

The monsters (oh yes, even that iconic blue slime) is there too.

where can I watch this? Anichart said it aired almost an hour ago but it's still not on crunchyroll or anywhere I can find despite it being 'simulcast'

Oct 2, 2020 7:14 PM

Punkero

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Feb 2014

7813

And now we wait, untill it's made available... somewhere.

Oct 2, 2020 8:02 PM

inu2005

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Oct 2020

It’s on Crunchyroll for me (Canada)

Oct 2, 2020 8:19 PM

Sokah

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Jul 2014

799

Not even suitable for children, you need to be high to watch this.

Oct 2, 2020 8:25 PM

Dukino

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Oct 2016

2544

That was a great premiere. Absolutely got my blood pumping with these pompous fake heroes coming to the island and tricking Dai along with the sweet monsters. They weren't hurting anyone! Fake heroes just consumed by greed wanting Gomechan. Dai figuring it out too late but going to save them still very brave. Those magic cylinders have a really cool ability with gush and gulp. Easy transport for bigger monsters just like Dai used them. Of course things quickly turned back in favor of the fake heroes but then the gold cylinders came in clutch! A Dragon and a King Slime, some awesome monsters stowed away in those things. Had the fake heroes shaking in their boots. Glad that Dai could defeat them and the King himself was able to see through the ruse. Loved the camera work and the action when Dai was fighting the fake heroes on the ship. It all looked really good and smooth, way better than I expected it to. I hope that Toei can keep this up for as long as the anime goes. Princess Leona seemed like the typical kind of princess but I suppose she's got some sass. Excited to meet all the other characters we see in the opening song, ending song and visual.

Oct 2, 2020 8:27 PM

Dorkave

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Sep 2016

163

That artstyle is SO FUCKING GOOD. SO GOOD. GOD.

Oct 2, 2020 8:28 PM

Dorkave

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Sep 2016

163

Sokah said:
Not even suitable for children, you need to be high to watch this.

That's a little harsh, no?

Oct 2, 2020 8:52 PM

KatoWorks

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Jan 2020

840

Seems like its gonna be a long running shonen series, it might seem a bit childish but it's kinda entertaining so I'll see through the end maybe.

Oct 2, 2020 8:56 PM

#10

tsubasalover

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Nov 2007

31741

lol @ fake hero group.

ED: "mother" by Macaroni Empichi (マカロニえんぴつ)

I ♥ Two Syaorans from Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and TRC!!!

Oct 2, 2020 9:07 PM

#11

DragonKnight92

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Sep 2018

416

KatoWorks said:
Seems like its gonna be a long running shonen series, it might seem a bit childish but it's kinda entertaining so I'll see through the end maybe.

349 chaps - 37 vols. Yep, it's longggggggg, need 100 eps at very least to adapt full manga

Oct 2, 2020 9:42 PM

#12

DragonKnight92

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Sep 2018

416

And I don't think it's childish. There are tons of nude scenes in manga lmao

Oct 2, 2020 9:43 PM

#13

deg

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Jan 2009

100971

old school character design in modern animation is so cool huh just like with Gundam Unicorn was

lets see if they can keep this kind of animation quality in 100 episodes like Hunter X Hunter 2011 did which is so rare to do imo

Oct 2, 2020 9:45 PM

#14

Solstice003

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Feb 2020

really liked it, it was fun and constantly entertaining

Oct 2, 2020 10:03 PM

#15

_MushiRock11_

孔真・コウマコト

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Jun 2017

7868

Seems childish in all honesty but entertaining nonetheless. I'm surprised by the relatively high animation standard from the Studio too, definitely didn't think we'd be getting this.

Op, visually more so albeit, was nice. Lol, the fake heroes though.

I'm sure the Princess and the Future Hero will form an interesting duo.

Definitely picking this up. Expecting it to be fairly a long ride too, 35 volumes or so will probably need around 100 episodes I guess.

#Anime4Life be my Life Motto! #PrayForKyoAni

Boku no Anime List Boku no Manga List Boku no Profile Page

Oct 2, 2020 10:09 PM

#16

Pethaas

Offline

Nov 2015

115

animation was top tier on this episode, surprised me.

being it a shonen series PG-13, it was really entertaining. I'll just watch it for fun i guess, until now is a solid 7/10, maybe it will get better.

Oct 2, 2020 10:14 PM

#17

Dunk_A_Ccino

Offline

Aug 2017

This episode had me smiling, as a fan of theDai manga and the main game series I'm so happy with how it was adapted. It feels like a classic 90s anime, which is exactly what they were going for. Can't wait to see Avan soon.

Oct 2, 2020 10:19 PM

#18

Kimurah

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Dec 2016

1348

As someone that watched the 90s adaptation as a kid, this is a great nostalgia trip with very, very polished animation.

There are certain things that changed in this new adaptation, such as the battle between Dai & the false heroes, wich happened on top of a ship, where the old adaptation happened in the King's castle in a sort of raid mode. I loved this new version because it used quite smartly the whole boat as a changing scenario (tilting it and making the golem destroy part of the deck). The old adaptation was a bit more plain with the monsters creating havoc in an undestructible scenario. Also the old adaptation had a raunchy scene with the priestess Zulbon being captured by the slimes and a kind of anteater monster, wich had some fetish inuendos (although the outcome was still inocuous) it was for the better that this new adaptation didn't have place for outdated gags.

Princess leona was introduced on episode 2 in the old adapation, so I hope this isn't some sign that the series will be rushed. I'm still on the fence on Hayamin voicing such a strong willed character, even though I know she's quite versatile in all kinds of roles.

KimurahOct 2, 2020 10:32 PM

Oct 2, 2020 10:27 PM

#19

MegamiRem

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Oct 2017

27046

Wow the production of this anime is surprisingly really good, wasn't expecting this high quality at all tbh.

Thou lol this anime is definitely for kids but I still had fun watching it and oof Dai was burnt at the end by the princess.

Oct 2, 2020 10:31 PM

#20

BellmereAkechi

Offline

Jan 2015

Wow. I had the biggest smile on my face when the episode ended. I love dragon quest and i'm not familiar with the source material, so this is probably going to be my most looked forward to anime for awhile. I felt like a kid on Saturday morning again and loved every second of that.

Oct 2, 2020 11:02 PM

#21

animejas

Offline

Jul 2017

6750

Never played Dragon Quest nor encountered the previous adaptations whatsoever but it was... there. Has a hint of charm to it even though I never grew up with this, Dai was ight and even liked the little moment with Leona in the end. Couple of the abilities seemed dope too. The concept here seems definitely more interesting than the Digimon one, which I also started the last year reboot as the introduction to that franchise.

The production underwhelmed me ngl. The lack of frames throughout made the action and general movement feel really slow and unpolished (and the CG for the monsters in the background was bleh). It genuinely felt like a glorified Powerpoint presentation when seeing this anime. The art looks decent but that animation and movement really needs to improve for the future.

That OP song was really good too. It puts a smile on my face and I love the genre for it, it all works out. ED was chill too.

Overall, not sold on it but not completely against it either. I wasn't impressed but there are aspects I liked about it and for a kids' show, didn't leave me too bored despite the various issues that pop up to mind.

Oct 2, 2020 11:05 PM

#22

Chigo_Sensei

Offline

Mar 2013

218

This anime is nostalgic to me, watched as a kid and rewatched with subs in 2018, didn't even dream it'll get a remake, had some doubts about the quality but this episode was good and promising, I like how they stayed loyal to the artstyle, a small pet peeve about the monster CG but during battle it wasn't bad, hope it adapts the whole manga without quality dropping

For people saying it's childish, well it's a classic RPG journey anime so don't expect mind breaking plot twists but it's a fun ride if you know what you're singing for

Kimurah said:
As someone that watched the 90s adaptation as a kid, this is a great nostalgia trip with very, very polished animation.

There are certain things that changed in this new adaptation, such as the battle between Dai & the false heroes, wich happened on top of a ship, where the old adaptation happened in the King's castle in a sort of raid mode. I loved this new version because it used quite smartly the whole boat as a changing scenario (tilting it and making the golem destroy part of the deck). The old adaptation was a bit more plain with the monsters creating havoc in an undestructible scenario. Also the old adaptation had a raunchy scene with the priestess Zulbon being captured by the slimes and a kind of anteater monster, wich had some fetish inuendos (although the outcome was still inocuous) it was for the better that this new adaptation didn't have place for outdated gags.

Princess leona was introduced on episode 2 in the old adapation, so I hope this isn't some sign that the series will be rushed. I'm still on the fence on Hayamin voicing such a strong willed character, even though I know she's quite versatile in all kinds of roles.

Thanks for confirming the differences I was vaguely remembering but I'm glad it's not too different overall, just what you'd expect in a new adaptation

I too was wondering if Hayame Saori's the right VA, I like her acting, just not sure if she's appropriate for Leona

Oct 2, 2020 11:19 PM

#23

DragonKnight92

Offline

Sep 2018

416

It's not childish at all lol. Plot twists?? It has, even many. Nudity, bloody? lots of, Char development? Pop and Hadlar have best char dev in all shounen manga lmao. Childish? It is much more adult, much more bloody than Dragon Ball, Fairy Tail,... lol

DragonKnight92Oct 2, 2020 11:26 PM

Oct 2, 2020 11:36 PM

#24

Marinate1016

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Feb 2019

9376

Dude holy shit the animation, art, visuals and character designs are gorgeous. Toei snapped on this one. I think this and Majo no Tabitabi will be the slept on shows of the season.

Oct 2, 2020 11:52 PM

#25

k1rb

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May 2020

222

I dont know anything about dragon quest but liked the episode
probably not watching it till the end since it seems going to be a large one

Oct 3, 2020 12:10 AM

#26

thepath

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May 2012

6867

KatoWorks said:
Seems like its gonna be a long running shonen series, it might seem a bit childish but it's kinda entertaining so I'll see through the end maybe.

It will get more serious later.

Pethaas said:
animation was top tier on this episode, surprised me.

being it a shonen series PG-13, it was really entertaining. I'll just watch it for fun i guess, until now is a solid 7/10, maybe it will get better.

I have read the whole manga, and yes it will keep getting better and better. Early episodes are the weakest part of this anime, and later arcs will better for sure.

Oct 3, 2020 12:18 AM

#27

DragonKnight92

Offline

Sep 2018

416

kirb45623 said:
I dont know anything about dragon quest but liked the episode
probably not watching it till the end since it seems going to be a large one

Then you'll totally regret. First arc is the worst, like building story arc. From Baran arc onwards, it's beyond excellent. Sadly the 1991 anime only adapted the first arc - the worst and the beginning of Baran arc (=1/4 manga's story: 88 chaps while it has 349 chaps). This 2020 version will adapt whole manga

Oct 3, 2020 12:20 AM

#28

Suitedup

Offline

Dec 2012

407

First he "catches" his monster grandpa and then the fake hero, haha. Well we all knew he was going to be the hero anyway. Anyway, looks to be animated pretty well and the characters by Toriyama are timeless after all.

Oct 3, 2020 12:35 AM

#29

extralie

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Sep 2016

206

I'm kinda sad that they're not using DQ musics, but outside of this was a great first episode. This probably will be my anime of the season.

Oct 3, 2020 1:14 AM

#30

Xenocrisi

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Jan 2015

15106

Great first episode.
Never watched the original so I guess I’m in for a ride

Oct 3, 2020 1:24 AM

#31

AshHxH98

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Sep 2020

Silverstorm92 said:
And I don't think it's childish. There are tons of nude scenes in manga lmao

Wasn’t there lewd stuff cut out from the manga that wasn’t in this first episode? I’m worried this might get the Toriko treatment and be censored for the sake of the children, I hope that’s not the case because the art looks phenomenal.

Oct 3, 2020 1:29 AM

#32

FMmatron

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Nov 2016

31873

While watching I remembered that I actually read the first one or two chapters of the manga a few years ago, I didn't read beyond, but I will definitely stick with this remake. Saturday mornings with that old-school feeling revived.

Vibes are indeed charming, fitting for such a classic adventure and they suggest an exciting and fun journey, even tho the visuals are a bit too clean for my taste. The pacing on the other hand was how I like it. I didn't check if anything was skipped or changed, but it felt pretty much on point for an introduction episode. So good start and really looking forward to the rest since it's rare enough to get this kind of series and as a long-runner to boot.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron

Oct 3, 2020 1:30 AM

#33

spectrojan

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Jun 2020

1872

mmmmm lovely op and ed, great production quality, and had fun with this first episode. Looking forward to more of this, ou I'm a sucker for long running shounen shit

This anime shit is addictive

Oct 3, 2020 1:47 AM

#34

AshHxH98

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Sep 2020

Well, the highlight for this episode was definitely the animation and artwork. It looked phenomenal and the 3D CG blends relatively well with the 2D, even though sometimes the 3D models looked a little out of place. The 2D animation is bright and vibrant and has a classic late 80s/early 90s anime style with a modern upgrade, blending old with new seamlessly for a truly unique style which really caught my attention because it really does end up looking great.

The characters and the plot though, feel kinda meh, even though I know it’s the first episode of what is a long running series, so I assume it does get better, but this first episode didn’t have that much going on In terms of plot. Like it’s has quite generic fantasy tropes like the “great hero” and the “dark lord”, and “save the world” and a Shonen protagonist I feel like I’ve seen for the 1000th time now, it doesn’t seem like it’s even trying to be that creative or anything but generic. The actual plot is pretty basic as well, it’s pretty much, Dai lives on island with friendly mosnters, bad guys come in and take his best monster friend, Dai fights the bad guys and saves his friends with some new powers, gets noticed by the king and a few months later is visited by the princess. That’s it. Not the strongest first episode of a series I’ve seen in terms of story, even including long running series that have 100s of episodes. I guess the problem is is that I’m not feeling this urge to find out what will happen next, even though I want to continue watching this series.

This presents an even bigger problem when compared to another long running Shonen series which is being adapted this season, Jujutsu Kaisen, which has a much more interesting and hype first episode in terms of plot than this, so it’s got its competition cut out for it.
Heck, even when you compare it to another fantasy adventure Shonen like Black Clover, which was known to have weak first episodes, I still thought those had a more interesting plot, characters and events than this.

I guess the problems I have could also be because it’s being made for young kids in mind this time, which can severely neuter the content and quality of the series to make it more kid friendly and less complicated and interesting for a more mature audience.

I’m still looking forward to see where this goes, I hope I’m completely wrong about the plot when I see more episodes, I think I read somewhere that this could have at least 100 episodes, which gives some idea as to how long this series will go on for so that there is a lot of room and time to show what this series is really capable of.
Hopefully, the brilliant animation quality will not only not go down, but will improve along with the story.

AshHxH98Oct 3, 2020 1:52 AM

Oct 3, 2020 1:48 AM

#35

z00nex

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Sep 2019

2971

Wow it was unexpectedly good. I was waiting for something very childish and poorly done but the production was really well done. I liked the art style and animation was good as well. I hope Toei can keep up with the good production.

Oct 3, 2020 2:22 AM

#36

Ryoichert

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Mar 2018

Amazing when I see it I felt it's New Anime not old and I really loved this Episode can't wait to see more episodes of My Childhood anime

Oct 3, 2020 3:15 AM

#37

AhmedJafar1

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Sep 2015

371

The nostalgia is real! I never played Dragon Quest but I grew up watching this and read the manga a couple of years ago. Looked so childish to me now even more than I remember, But the first few mini arks were lame anyway. The story has a few dark moments along the way. I hope they will adapt the whole thing this time. Sound and voice acting were on point. not sure about the art style though. Think it will grow on me with time.

Oct 3, 2020 3:19 AM

#38

Pre_Yum

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Jun 2019

6579

Didn't saw the original Dragon Quest but I'm giving this a shot.
Enjoyed the first episode. Also liked the OP. And, the animation is quite good as well.
Looking forward to this show.

Oct 3, 2020 4:01 AM

#39

o0hikari0o

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Feb 2008

This was a decent introduction episode. The animation is great and the choice of seiyuu is nice as well ( except for Leona, doesn’t match at all with her personality imo...)
I can’t wait to see next episodes !

Oct 3, 2020 4:04 AM

#40

AzureFlame64

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Aug 2009

164

My childhood anime is back and they delivered, that fight on the ship was alot of fun.

Oct 3, 2020 4:21 AM

#41

Old-geezer

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Jan 2014

Honest to god after looking at poster and reading Dragon I thought it's just another Dragon Ball promotional series :D After watching first couple of minutes it might as well be one. Didn't watch the original but it seems that this anime was pretty heavily influenced by DB.

Sadly it didn't speak to me in any way. Guess I'm just too old for this shit, not enough stamina to endure +50 EPs.

Oct 3, 2020 4:30 AM

#42

davidralph

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Aug 2017

101

This was a really enjoyable episode! The 3D animation wasn't the best, but I like the opening and ending themes.

Oct 3, 2020 4:34 AM

#43

DuelGrasses

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Feb 2020

Suitedup said:
the characters by Toriyama are timeless after all.

Toriyama designed the game characters, this is based on the manga which was drawn by an artist called Koji Inada.

Oct 3, 2020 5:03 AM

#44

bArood

Offline

Jan 2016

Seems a lot of Arabs are here. hehehe.

one of the most popular dubbed anime in the Mideast.

for me this is another classic butchered by toei, cgi was so trash in the first episode.

Tiger mask, dragon ball super, sailor moon and now this...

Oct 3, 2020 5:07 AM

#45

YukiYuan

Offline

Nov 2015

i'm so mad to the translator to translate io by bang, iora by boom, ionazun by kaboom and all other spell by ridiculous name like in the game :'( but i'm so hype to see a reboot of one of my favorite childhood's anime <3

Oct 3, 2020 5:29 AM

#46

methedemon

Offline

Oct 2007

nice first episode
for those who never watched the original or read the manga, the series isn't really childish at all and gets rather serious, with lots of emotional moment and dark ones as well. There are a lot of turns and twists in the story with many interesting villains.

Oct 3, 2020 6:03 AM

#47

GrimriperV

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Jun 2017

166

This was a great first episode, i don't unterstand why it has only a score of 7.21 ???

Oct 3, 2020 6:46 AM

#48

z00nex

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Sep 2019

2971

GrimriperV said:
This was a great first episode, i don't unterstand why it has only a score of 7.21 ???

MAL score doesn’t mean anything until 2-3 weeks after last episode of the show.

Oct 3, 2020 6:55 AM

#49

Penguinman37

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Mar 2020

5404

I came into this show with low expectations because there's already two alternative versions. Yes It was not great but I still enjoyed it. I'm curious to see where this show will go since I dis not see the alternative versions of this show.

Oct 3, 2020 7:05 AM

#50

GrimriperV

Offline

Jun 2017

166

z00nex said:

GrimriperV said:
This was a great first episode, i don't unterstand why it has only a score of 7.21 ???

MAL score doesn’t mean anything until 2-3 weeks after last episode of the show.

Well the score of the new season of Haikyu is 8.74 actually and it means a lot...

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Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020) Episode 1 Discussion

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