Dragon Quest - Dai no Daibouken

 A great JRPG Shonen manga based from a popular RPG Game series which i didn't managed to read until now. When i was a kid i did watch part of Dai no Daibouken 90s anime. While i forgot most of the stuff, i still remember Flazzard and the catchy opening song. Dai no Daibouken had a typical JRPG start where the protagonist went on a Journey to fight the BBEG after his life of peace is destroyed. But what makes Dai no Daibouken seated on the peak of Genre is that it is one of the few manga that can offer a complete experience of JRPG.

 While there plenty of good high fantasy manga like Lodoss series, Dai no Daibouken is the best one that encapsulates the JRPG Genre. The manga had really good cast of Protagonist and Antagonists which puts your typical Isekai manga to shame. The main hero, Dai himself is very strong to boot but his greatest strength lies in his purity of heart. Despite being a kid, the purity of his heart sways some Antagonists who are not genuinely bad over his side and makes his allies willing to sacrifice their life in order to protect him, seriously Dai really reminds me of the essential quality of a good JRPG Hero. The antagonists in Dai no Daibouken are really worth mentioning as well, Most of the Villain casts have been introduced from the beginning but their sheer quality makes them sufficient for the manga to survive over 300 Chapters. Simply to say Hyunckel is my personal favorite, Hadlar is one of the best midboss out there and Hym got really good character development. Lastly the manga is overall solid read but if i have to point out some of personal gripes, it would be Popp having too much importance and the love triangle between him, Marm and Hyunckel is poorly resolved.

 It is understatement that Dai no Daibouken had really significant influence in JRPG even outside Dragon Quest itself. Capcom JRPG Breath of Fire is definitely inspired from this series and part of Cecil character from FFIV is probably based on Hyunckel even Jigoku Sensei Nube's Oni are inspired by Hadlar Hyperdemon form. All in all Dragon Quest Dai no Daibouken is a quintessential read for JRPG fans as it offers a complete package of the genre. At some point true RPG fans will encounter this series on their journey. If i have some free time, i will give the 2020 Reboot Dai no Daibouken anime a watch since Toei gave the reboot some generous funding for it to last over 70 episodes.