The folks at Happinet are taking us back about thirty years with plans to release the Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken series on Blu-ray. And not as an upscale but with a new HD telecine as it was shot on 35mm back in the day, as we learned recently. After getting the very striking comparison video recently that shows off the differences, the official site has now revealed the main cover for the set that’s just about a month away.
The series is going to be a six-disc set that also includes the three anime feature films that were produced. It’s set to arrive on July 3rd, 2020 priced at 42,000 yen.
Originally airing in 1991, the 46-episode series was directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa with scripts by Junki Takegami, Kazuhiko Godo, and Yukiyoshi Ohashi. Yasuchika Nagaoka worked on the character designs with Toei Animation handling the production. It’s based on the original manga by Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada.
The Japanese cast includes Toshiko Fujita as Dai, Aya Hisakawa as Princess Leona, Banjou Ginga as Crocodine, Hideyuki Hori as Hyunkel, Isamu Tanonaka as Gramps Brass, Keiichi Nanba as Pop, Kenji Utsumi as Demon Lord Baan, Miina Tominaga as Mam, Takeshi Aono as Hudler, and Yumi Touma as Gome-chan.
While it had half a dozen dubs around the world, no English-language adaptation was ever produced.
Plot Concept: After the defeat of the demon lord Hadlar all of the monsters were unleashed from his evil will and moved to the island of Delmurin 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 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 super powers and is able to fend off Hadlar. The two students then go off on a journey to avenge Avan and bring peace back to the world.
[Source: Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken]
