Dragon Quest: Your (Actual) Story

Imported from my Letterboxd.
_If you're interested to see my other takes, please consider checking out my Letterboxd profile!

Now, Dragon Quest: Your Story...
What an interesting experience. Catharsis, and confusion, and anxiety over how i actually think about this movie all in one. I saw this back in February, the morning it came out, eager to see what it was like.
I'm a fan of the franchise, and I'm well aware of the size and scale of Dragon Quest V. Condensing a 100 hour game that covers the protagonist's life into almost 2 hours is... An ambitious task, and it certainly hasn't pleased all fans, though this can be attributed to many, many reasons. I mean, it has a 4/10 on imdb in Japan... That's very rough.

I feel, despite this, that the plot works well enough despite such restrictions, though a lot of emotional value from the game is lost, and pacing is a really big issue here. Dragon Quest is known for getting you invested in its cast (in the games that don't make you hire party members, at least), and it's pretty hard to care for any particular character. We lose most of the childhood introductory segment from V, shown through a montage rendered in its NES form, and it's still treated as a major element that you need to know to understand how Luka relates to Bianca, and Nera. I wouldn't have mind if they framed the story differently to accomodate for these cuts, which is easy to do given how there are a few different perspectives in this movie (from the game itself).

And then there's the ending, which is so notoriously unnecessary and basically ruins the movie in its last 10 minutes. Perhaps this is a case of the journey being better than the destination? It depends on your opinion of it, and I would suggest knowing what happens before watching the movie. Personally, I am still able to appreciate the movie regardless. I love Dragon Quest, and seeing it this way is still cathartic for me, and it should be for other DQ fans. Hearing Sugiyama's score, regardless of my opinion of the man himself, on screen is so amazing. Even if some battle tracks shouldn't be in this movie as they're from different games, this game is clearly a celebration of the franchise overall so I don't mind it.

The movie is still so beautiful, in its environments, lighting, animation, and even the models despite not being faithful to Toriyama's designs. There's still so much enjoyment and fun for anyone, even more for fans of the franchise. I really want to watch this again.

But I would also recommend getting DQV itself, on the App Store, for a better experience overall. Please give Dragon Quest some love, It's an unforgettable series.