Some of the best anime are not inspired or adapted from manga, instead, they come from the vast fantasy world of video games. Dragon Quest is an anime that has left its mark among the present generation, and it hasn’t lost any of its unique charms.
Dragon Quest started as an RPG game during Nintendo’s golden age. Its popularity among the Japanese quickly grew into an anime phenomenon with very little exposure in the west.
With a typical story about heroes defeating a world-threatening villain, this franchise has been hailed as one of the founders of the shonen world.
Dragon Quest anime first aired in 1989, loosely adapting the Dragon Quest III game’s plot and releasing the most well-known 1991 anime series, Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai. To its credit, the creators have also released five movies since 1991.
This franchise hasn’t forgotten about its cult fanbase, as it recently announced a new anime series that would premiere in 2020 in the hopes of reaching a younger audience.
Let’s get busy with the world of Dragon Quest as I help you navigate through each installment of this franchise with simple release order and chronological order.
The Release Order
The anime series, movies, and the special will be shown according to release dates.
TV Series
- Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel (1989-91)
- Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai (1991-92)
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (2020-ongoing)
Movies
- Dragon Quest: Great Adventure of Dai (1991)
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Disciple of Aban (1992)
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Destroy!! The Reborn of 6 Commanders (1992)
- Dragon Quest – Emblem of Roto (1996)
- Dragon Quest: Your Story (2019)
Special
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai: The Trail of Adventure, The Path Forward (2021)
The Chronological Order
The list shows each installment according to the events happening in the original timeline.
- Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel
- Dragon Quest: Great Adventure of Dai (movie)
- Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai (watch till episode 19)
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Disciple of Aban (movie)
- Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai (watch from episode 20 to 36)
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Destroy!! The Reborn of 6 Commanders (movie)
- Dragon Quest – Emblem of Roto (movie)
- Dragon Quest: Your Story (movie)
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai: The Trail of Adventure, The Path Forward (special)
Conclusion
The given chronological order is the perfect order to watch the entire Dragon Quest anime franchise.
Looking at the titles, one might get confused over the 1991 Dragon Quest anime series and currently ongoing Dragon Quest anime. To clear the air of doubt, yes, the 2020 anime series is a remake of the classic 1991 anime.
It can be seen as the return of the classic with the twist of modern animation. The revamped and newer Dragon Quest anime is solely done to make the characters and the story reach out to the newer audience.
I would still urge you not to skip the 1991 adaptation and experience the charm and beauty of the 90s animation.
How Much Time Will It Take To Complete Dragon Quest?
You will take 59 hours and 54 minutes to complete everything of the Dragon Quest anime franchise that has been released so far. This is approximately three days of binge-watching.
The runtime combines all of the TV shows, movies, and that one special episode.
Let me give you the total runtimes in detail –
- Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel – 1032 minutes
- Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai – 1104 minutes
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (ongoing) – 1176 minutes
- Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai: The Trail of Adventure, The Path Forward – 24 minutes
- Dragon Quest: Great Adventure of Dai – 31 minutes
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Disciple of Aban – 40 minutes
- Dragon Quest Great Adventure of Dai! Destroy!! The Reborn of 6 Commanders – 40 minutes
- Dragon Quest – Emblem of Roto – 45 minutes
- Dragon Quest: Your Story – 102 minutes
Where To Watch Dragon Quest With Subtitles or Dubbed?
Crunchyroll and Hulu are already streaming the new 2020 anime, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, with subtitles.
So, for viewers that enjoy anime in its original form, i.e., with subtitles, Crunchyroll and Hulu is a click away.
Can You Download and Watch Dragon Quest Offline?
Crunchyroll and Hulu provide the download option to their viewers. All you need is to be a subscriber to their special packages that offer this option.
In Crunchyroll, you can download and watch it offline if you have a Mega Fan subscription ($9.99 per month) or an Ultimate Fan subscription ($14.99 per month).
To download from Hulu and watch it offline, you need to subscribe to Hulu (No Ads) ($ 11.99 pm) and Hulu (No Ads) and Live TV ($70.99 pm) plans.
About Dragon Quest: Dai no Daiboken (2020)
Dragon Quest is an anime and manga series based on the rpg video game of the same name.
The story features Dai, a boy living in the Dermline Islands and his quest of becoming a hero and realizing his powers and helping Princess Leona along the way.
The games were adapted into two major television series. Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai is the remake of the 1991 series which had 46 episodes in total.
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