Dai's Great Adventure

New episode is out: we finally meet my second favorite character :3

However, I'm a bit disappointed, especially cuz they removed Crocodine's awesome introduction. In the manga, after Crocodine ordered to kill Hadlar, Dai and Pop run into the six-legged lion, who is strong enough to make the two struggle. However, the fight is interrupted by Crocodine's roar, who make the lion run away in fear, and then Pop and Dai encounter him. That scene truly cemented Crocodine as the king of the beasts, too bad it was cut...

For what it’s worth I thought Crocodine was cool here.

Ugh, Popp. I’m glad Maam is going to join their party, she’s way better. And she reminds me of Lucca, so yeah. Screw you Popp.

Edited by fillerdude on Nov 8th 2020 at 4:55:38 AM

Oh yeah, Crocodine was still very cool (he's not my second favorite for nothing)

I'm pretty sure your opinion on Pop will change alot

I know. I’m sure Popp will follow a proper character arc and become a better person. But man hi type tends to be grating in the early parts of the story.

I understand that. To me, who knows Pop's entire character arc, seeing early Pop makes me appreciate his entire development even more. Sommobuta (an Italian manga critic) claims that Pop is one the best written characters in shonen history, a sentiment that I came to agree after reading the series (though I read way less manga than Sommobuta did), and I'm pretty sure Pop would easily win Best Boy in Crunchyroll awards of 2021 and 2022

Episode 8: The most surprising thing in this episode is Dai actually realized Popp has a thing for Maam.

Maam is definitely gonna be a great party member! Kinda like Lucca from Chrono Trigger, but with a lot more spunk and kung fu.

Edited by fillerdude on Nov 14th 2020 at 4:35:01 AM

She was created before Lucca, funny enough, but I guess Yuuji Horii liked her so much he decided to try a crack at the character type too.

Yeah, now the party has the healer! And we also see another one of the commanders (I remember that when I read it I was very curious to see all six of them, just the names of the armies was enough to interest me)

It's pretty clear that some episodes (like this and the previous one) has less effort to save budget for more important scenes, and it makes sense since this is not a 12/24 episode anime, but the writing is more than enough to compensate for that.

I find strange that Crunchyroll, who has the right for what can easily be the new Hunterxhunter (2011), is not doing anything to sponsorize it, do they have any idea about what they have in their hands?

Edited by fishysaur on Nov 15th 2020 at 2:37:04 AM

You do have to understand this show is hitting a very different market from HxH, not to mention that HxH has the benefit of being more familiar to the western audience due to its previous anime and its place in Shonen Jump.

Commander I want to see the most is the leader of the undead. He is probably gonna be bad-freaking-ass.

O, I'm aware that many people are unfamiliar with the manga (and Dragon Quest in general), but it was a very popular one. It ran during Shonen Jump's golden age and competed for third place (Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk juggled the first 2) against Stardust Crusader, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rookies, so, while it's not one of the best battle shonen ever made, it's not exactly a pushover either. Jojo was in a similar situation before the anime aired, Crunchyroll just has to sponsorize Dai like they do with the other series

Edited by fishysaur on Nov 15th 2020 at 5:24:49 AM

Here's the thing, Dai no Daibouken didn't have a western release in the United states that was a cult hit like all those other ones. And Dragon Quest as a whole has been over shadowed by Final Fantasy here for Decades, too.

I know, I said, for this reason they should sponsorize it more. Especially because, since it's already ended, those who read it know it's not gonna suffer a decline in the story, while an adaptation of a still running series can face this problem

I'm just disappointed, this series truly deserves more love. I guess Crunchyroll probably has no idea what they have in their hands

Unfortunately quality is not always directly proportional to appeal and marketability, but I hope it works out.

Crunchyroll doesn't really market anything Toei has much aside from One Piece, but I don't mind.

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE the enthusiasm fishysaur has for this series, but I understand the other side. Its simply not a mainstream hit outside of Japan. The biggest splash this series made in the USA was being mentioned in an article about Haim Saban. If it helps you feel better, my friend, It was HUGE here in Latin America. It actually competed with the original Dragon Ball and the latter won because the mix of comedy and action gave it an edge.

And if it helps you feel EVEN better, I have seen Toei promote this on Facebook a lot.

Eh, I'm aware that it's pretty much unknown in the USA, but I just said that it's not a reason to not sponsorize it (actually, I think it's the opposite). Eh, guess I'm sorry for those who miss it

I noticed in Latin america is huge. In Italy not much actually (it's popular betwen those born in the 80's-early 90's, who read the manga. In fact there are a few Italian manga critics who are making reviews of the series and, apparently, voice actor Maurizio Merluzzo announced he would like to direct an eventual dub of this adaptation, and said it before the first episode even aired).

Also, yes, I really love this series. Just read it less than a year ago and completely fell in love with it. If I read it when I was 12 it would've probably been my favorite comic. I love it because it's a fantasy (my favorite genre) and has everything I love about it: good vs evil, dragons, a diverse team of heroes, fun baddies and great fights.

As I said, I don't consider it one of the pinnacles of shonen like Devilman, Hokuto no Ken or Slam Dunk, but I'd say is a very good series and the ultimate proof that Tropes Are Tools.

P.s. From now on I won't complain about Crunchyroll's lack of acnowledgemnt

Btw, for those who never read the manga, how does the pacing feels? The anime is doing a pretty fast adaptation and so far it covers 3-4 chapters per episode (currently it has covered up to chapter 22)

Edited by fishysaur on Nov 16th 2020 at 11:43:59 AM

New episode is out and I loved it! While it was sad they cut the "Crocodine scares a lion with a roar" scene, him leading that huge army really showed that he's the commander of the beasts!

I remember to be really surprised to see the fake hero team back and that they've become good guys (well, at least they have good intentions). It goes well with the series' theme of forgiveness and repentance (you will see how every villain, with a couple of exceptions, has a chance to become better/good quality or at least a sympathic and understandable) motivation

And I can't wait for the next episode, because it will have the moment where, to me, the series fully grew its beard! Dai, cazzo! ^note Yeah, "dai" is also an Italian word. It's usually said with a motivational meaning, kinda like the equivalent of "c'mon"

Thank you Maam for punching Popp in the face.

Damn, Dai’s Frizz is hella strong now.

So the villains from the first episode are good-ish now.

Episode 9: Popp redeems himself. Attaboy.

Of all people it’s the mage from the phony Hero’s party that kicks Popp’s butt into gear. Even his design screamed snooty C-list antagonist, so what a pleasant surprise.

Crocodine using a wind barrier against Kafrizz was super cool! Anguish Blast vs Avan Strash was even better. RIP Crocodine, you were a great antagonist.

Amazing episode! It didn't dissapoint! It's officially began! The rise of the greates mage in manga history! Go forth, Popp!!

Also, the fight as a whole showed the best parts of Dai's: a good deal of strategy, emotional investment in a fight and amazing character development! And it's only going to get better!

Btw, one thing that I really liked about Popp's intial development is that it doesn't come from a simple "my friends are in dangers and I must help them" or that someone simply says "you are the only one who can help them", instead, the bad wizard presents himself as what Popp could become if he doesn't change.

Edited by fishysaur on Nov 28th 2020 at 2:49:22 AM

Dai's Great Adventure is one of my iconic childhood manga, so it's really nostalgic (and kind of baffling, in a good way) to see such a high-quality anime version now, more than 20 yers later.

I still remember picking up the first volume when the publisher used it as a substitute for Dragon Ball, which had ended the month before. I think I was still in elementary school.

Even not accounting for the nostalgia factor, this is a pretty solid, if not very deep, shonen adventure story. It helps that I already know that it's going to stay solid until the end, slowly but constantly improving along the way. It was really nice to see Popp's comeback animated in such a good way. Hope the anime stays strong and continues until the end, there are many great moments that deserve this treatment!

What moment are you looking for to see animated? Personally, ever since it began, the one I'm the most excited to see is the battle against Baran, especially his transformation

Edited by fishysaur on Nov 30th 2020 at 2:15:36 AM

The only issue with the animation is some of the CG and its only brief a lot of the time that its not too distracting.

@Fishysaur: the whole Baran arc is definitely the first big moment, but there are quite a lot more in the future.

My favorite moment is towards the very end, when Popp stands up to the Demon God, provokes him into using his ultimate attack because he figured out a plan to stop it, and executes the plan, giving Dai the chance to strike.

That said, there are a lot of pretty cool fights and character moments. A good thing about this story is that it's solid: I don't remember any really slow or boring part.