This particularly was on display during the final battle arc. Dai no daibouken introduces minor characters in episode 3 that end up being relevant 90 eps later.

In so many popular series we see characters with awesome potential who are loveable that end up being wasted due to incompetent writing. Their changes of heart are carefully crafted, built up to and by the end of their respective arcs you can’t help but love them.īuilding upon the topic of useful characters, one of the my fave aspects of the series was how there were no wasted characters. Antagonists turned friends like Hyunckel, Crocodine, Hadlar and Hym are all so incredibly well written and complex that you could easily put any of their character arcs among the greatest in anime history. In fact, you could really argue that the growth of Dai’s friends like Popp, Maam, and Leona is actually more interesting than his own. Too often in shonen the MC becomes so powerful and the power scaling so obtuse that it’s impossible for anyone else to actually shine. Unlike in many battle shonen, Dai’s companions are absolutely integral parts of the story, not just for comic relief or the occasional banter, but for actually defeating enemies.

isolated island with no friends to battling the strongest of foes with the fate of the world on the line, while cliche, still manages to feel fresh and innovative because of how well done it is. It gave me the feeling that I was back in my childhood watching Saturday morning anime on 4kids. The series exudes a type of optimism and sense of adventure that isn’t seen in many modern day anime. From the very first episode I knew that I was in for something special. Simply put, Dai no daibouken is shonen done right and the quintessential example of storytelling within the demographic.Īs someone who has only played a few hours of the most recent DQ game, my main draw to the series was the fact Toriyama Akira inspired the character designs.

Dragon quest 11 school uniform