is a 1989 Japanese animated

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television series based on the video game series of the same name

Dragon Quest

, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...

.

The complete series boxset was released on 10 September 2006. Only 13 Episodes were shown in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 dubbed in English by Saban Entertainment.

Plot

The story advances on in a normal Dragonquest video game fashion. Along the way, the Hero gains additional allies and has numerous encounters with many different creatures from the Dragonquest series. The end of each Japanese episode through to the 32nd episode shows one of the main characters going through a level up process. This adds to the Dragonquest video game feel.

The story is about a teenage boy named Abel and his best friend Tiala. On Tiala's 16th birthday she receives a red jewel. Unbeknownst to her, the red jewel has the power to awaken the great dragon, which legend has it can grant eternal life to one who drinks its blood. Baramos, a demon from the ancient and evil kingdom of Estark, desires to find the stone and gain immortality. After tracking the stone to Tiala's village, Baramos kidnaps her and sets off to find the location of the dragon. Abel, who was injured in a vain attempt to fight off Baramos is revived by his friend Moco and the village elder who gives him the blue stone, which he is told has the power to seal the dragon if it is woken. Baramos then returns again to the village in order to gain more information on the dragon's whereabouts. After doing so he leaves, but not before unleashing a giant anteater on the village. The elder uses a special crest to stun the beast and then Able and Moco finish it off. The elder imparts some advice to Abel before passing away and thus begins the adventure to save Tiala and defeat Baramos.

Abel and Moco travel to Ariahan Castle to get help from the king who helps them escape, via a teleport pool, from an ensuing monster invasion. During this time we are introduced to Daisy, who is at this time hunting monsters in Ariahan for the gems that they leave behind after being destroyed.

When Abel and Moco arrive at the other end of the teleport they gain Yanack to their party. They then do a quest together. Also during this time, a side story is going on explaining the exploits of Tiala onboard Gaim (a giant, living, flying airship used by Baramos) and how she befriends Dodonga.

As the story advances, the party is taken all over the world doing quests and seeking out Tiala whenever possible. They gain Daisy as another party member, and the four continue to quest to find a way to resurrect the Dragon of Legend so that it can defeat Baramos.

This makes up the story for the 13 episodes that were released in the US.

Characters

•Tiala (aka Tiara)- Sage of the Red Orb- Voiced by: Masako Katsuki, Shelly Lefler

•Abel- Hero of the Blue Orb- Voiced by: Tohru Furuya, Chie Satou, Duff McDonald

•Baramos-Master demon- Voiced by: Takeshi Watanabe, Gary Chalk

•Moore (aka Mooa)- wizard monster Lieutenant of Baramos- Voiced by: Hidekatsu Shibata, Jim Byrnes

•Jikido- warrior monster Lieutenant of Baramos- Voiced by: Katsuji Mori

•Daisy- warrior extraordinaire- Voiced by: Yuko Mita, Marcie Goldburg

•Prince Frank- Voiced by: Nobutoshi Hayashi

•Baharata- captain of a ship- Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki, Alvin Sanders

•Sophia- the old sage of the Red Orb- Voiced by: Reiko Mutō

•Moco- (aka Mokomoko) warrior and good friend of Abel- Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai, Sam Vincent

•Coco (aka Kaka)- pink slime of Tiala's- Voiced by: Junko Shimakata

•Chichi- blue slime of Tiala's, often travels with Abel- Voiced by: Miyoko Aoba

•Yanack- wizard extraordinaire- Voiced by: Keaton Yamada, Richard Newman

•Dodonga- monster protector of Tiala- Voiced by: Daisuke Gouri, Dale Wilson

•General Ludoff - ancient evil general- Voiced by: Takeshi Aono, Scott McNeil

•Ortega- father of Abel- Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi, Hirohiko Kakegawa

•Zanack- master wizard, mentor of Yanak- Voiced by: Hiroshi Ohtake, Naoki Tatsuta

•Adonis- the mysterious warrior- Voiced by: Ryo Horikawa, Michael Donovan

•Sara- Voiced by: Tomoko Naka

(Narrator voiced by Long John Baldry)

Production

Dragon Quest is directed by Rintaro

Rintaro

is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse , though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation industry—at age 17—as an in-between animator on the 1958 film Hakujaden...

 and Katsuhisa Yamada

Katsuhisa Yamada

is a Japanese animator. He is most noted for directing such memorable anime series as Genesis Climber Mospeada, Gatchaman, Mazinger Z, Devil Hunter Yohko and Record of Lodoss War.-External links:...

. The animation is loyal to Akira Toriyama's

Akira Toriyama

is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...

 artwork and the scripts are supervised by Takashi Yamada.

Broadcast

Season one of Dragon Quest aired on Fuji TV from 2 December 1989 to 22 September 1990, totaling 32 episodes. Eleven more episodes aired from 11 January 1991 to 5 April 1991.

Saban Entertainment licensed the series, under the title of Dragon Warrior, for syndication in North America. The series lasted 13 episodes.

The Japanese versions of the episodes have more references of a sexual manner, gambling and battles involving blood. More than likely, the rest of the Japanese episodes would not be acceptable on national US television networks at the time they were released unless they were edited appropriately.

The last eleven episodes (Season 2) take a different spin on the opening and ending credits. There is no longer any reference to levels and they have a Japanese pop song playing instead of the normal orchestral theme.

Episodes

episode#	Japanese Title	Japanese translation	Air Date
1	レベル1	Level 1:Ariahan Village	1989-12-02
2	レベル2	Level 2:Departure	1989-12-09
3	レベル3	Level 3:Leebe Village	1989-12-16
4	レベル4	Level 4:Girl Warrior Daisy	1989-12-23
5	レベル5	Level 5:Port Myla	1990-01-20
6	レベル6	Level 6:Light of Hope	1990-01-27
7	レベル7	Level 7:Escape from Dragon Channel	1990-02-03
8	レベル8	Level 8:Lunar Eclipse	1990-02-10
9	レベル9	Level 9:Attacking Guam	1990-02-17
10	レベル10	Level 10:Training and Preparation	1990-02-24
11	レベル11	Level 11:Hardship in Nether	1990-03-03
12	レベル12	Level 12:General Rudolph	1990-03-10
13	レベル13	Level 13:Naijimi Tower	1990-03-17
14	レベル14	Level 14:The Mystery of the Legendary Fearsome Dragon	1990-03-24
15	レベル15	Level 15:Revenge of the Arch-Demon	1990-04-14
16	レベル16	Level 16:The Appearance of Zoma, Emperor of Darkness	1990-04-21
17	レベル17	Level 17:Creature from the Castle Doran	1990-05-05
18	レベル18	Level 18:Journey to the Isle of Malefic Ghosts	1990-05-12
19	レベル19	Level 19:Return to Castle Doran	1990-05-19
20	レベル20	Level 20:The Hero's New Departure	1990-06-02
21	レベル21	Level 21:The Bazaar of Darkness	1990-06-09
22	レベル22	Level 22:The Strange Ruined City of Domdora	1990-06-16
23	レベル23	Level 23:Hurry Abel! Tiala is very close!	1990-06-30
24	レベル24	Level 24:Awaken Tiala! Priestess of the Red Orb!	1990-07-07
25	レベル25	Level 25:The Resurrection of the Legendary Dragon	1990-07-28
26	レベル26	Level 26:Take on the Dragon Abel!	1990-08-04
27	レベル27	Level 27:Fight for Abel's Life on Windy Mountain	1990-08-11
28	レベル28	Level 28:Resurrection of Abel	1990-08-18
29	レベル29	Level 29:Ortega, the Mysterious Evil Warrior	1990-08-25
30	レベル30	Level 30:Return to Ariahan	1990-09-08
31	レベル31	Level 31:Abel vs Ortega!	1990-09-15
32	レベル32	Level 32:Honor the Great Hero Abel!	1990-09-22
33	勇者たちの新たなる決意!!	A New Determination for the Heroes!	1991-01-11
34	敵か味方か!? 謎の美剣士アドニス	An Enemy or an Ally!? The Handsome Swordsman Adonis	1991-01-25
35	甦れ!! 不死鳥ラーミア	Revive! Phoenix Lamia	1991-02-01
36	出現!! 天空の浮遊島	It Appears!! The Floating Island in the Sky	1991-02-08
37	青き神殿 アベルよ聖剣を抜け!!	The Blue Shrine - Abel, Pull Out the Holy Sword!!	1991-02-15
38	突撃! エスターク城の決戦	Assault! Decisive Battle at Estark Castle	1991-02-22
39	伝説の竜はアリアハンに!?	The Legendary Dragon is in Ariahan!?	1991-03-01
40	竜神湖に秘められた謎!?	A Hidden Riddle at Dragon God Lake!?	1991-03-08
41	怒れる竜VSスーパーバラモス	Angered Dragon VS Super Baramos	1991-03-15
42	大勇者誕生!! 青と赤の珠の奇跡	The Birth of the Greatest Hero!! The Miracle of the Blue and Red Ball	1991-03-29
43	最終決戦!! アベルVSバラモス	The Final Decisive Battle!! Abel VS Baramos	1991-04-05

External links

• Dragonquest DVD official homepage