Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

A manga based on the video game franchise Dragon Quest. The story follows a human boy raised by monsters named Dai who dreams of becoming a hero and defeating the Demon King.

This series is the pinnacle of my childhood nostalgia for shonen battle manga. I grew up reading this series and loving every cheesy, sappy, cliche, shonen moment. I still stand by the fact that Pop is the greatest side character ever created. Rereading this many years later as an adult did not change my excitement for the challenges and perils the characters fought against until the exciting final battle. My only complaint is that the creepy prevy master character comes off really poorly in modern times.

A masterpiece of shonen battle manga. I’m super excited for the upcoming anime reboot this year.

~dakazu