Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel

*For the first game of the series or **Dragon Quest I**, see Dragon Quest.*
*For the whole **Dragon Quest** series and franchise, see Dragon Quest series.*

*This page is under construction*

Bản mẫu:Infobox anime
***Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel*** (ドラゴンクエスト 勇者アベル伝説, Dragon Quest Yusha Abel Densetsu), originally released as ***Dragon Quest*** (ドラゴンクエスト) and as ***Dragon Warrior*** in the United States, is a Japanese animated TV series loosely based on the first four video games of the *Dragon Quest* series, especially leaning heavily on elements of *Dragon Quest III*. The show tells the story of Abel and his efforts to rescue his beloved Tiala from Baramos.

The TV series was first broadcast on Fuji TV every Saturday at 19:30 from 2 December 1989 to 22 September 1990 for part one and every Friday at 16:00 from 11 January 1991 to 5 April 1991 for part two, achieving a total of 43 episodes plus one extra summary episode. It was later re-broadcast since 1996 on other networks, such as TV Osaka, Channel NECO and TV Shizuoka. However, the re-broadcast differs from the original in number of episodes: episode 32 was edited with episode 33 to become a single episode, decreasing the total of episodes from 43 to 42. The DVD release restored both episodes to normal and also added the *Legend of the Hero Abel* epithet.

## Setting

In the Ariahan village, on her 15th birthday, Tiala receives a red jewel from the elder Yogi. The jewel is the key to awaken the Great Dragon, whose blood grants eternal life. Due to this, the demon Baramos kidnaps Tiala. His childhood friend, Abel tries unsuccessfully to save her. He is given a blue jewel, the counterpart of the jewel that Tiala received, that can seal the Great Dragon and embarks on a mission to rescue Tiala.

## Characters

### Protagonists

* Abel
* Tiala
* Daisy
* Moco
* Yanack
* Dodonga

### Antagonists

* Baramos
* Hargon
* General Rudolph

## Episodes

Only 13 episodes got an English broadcast, although they never got a home release.

## Theme songs

**Opening** for episodes 33-43:

* "Mirai o Mezashite" ("未来をめざして")
	+ Vocals: Toru Furuya
	+ Lyrics: Shiregu Amano
	+ Composition: Toshiaki Matsumoto
	+ Arrangement: Akira Mitake

**Ending** for episodes 1-26:

* "Yume o Shinjite" ("夢を信じて")
	+ Vocals: Hideaki Tokunaga
	+ Lyrics: Hitoshi Shinohara
	+ Composition: Hideaki Tokunaga
	+ Arrangement: Ichizo Seo

**Ending** for episodes 27-32:

* "Niji no Miyako" ("虹の都")
	+ Vocals: Kabuki Rocks
	+ Lyrics: Ichiban Arimura
	+ Composition: Hidemaro Aoki
	+ Arrangement: Kabuki Rocks, Nobuhiko Sato

**Ending** for episodes 33-43:

* "Niji no Brand-New Day" ("虹のBRAND-NEW DAY")
	+ Vocals: Masako Katsuki
	+ Lyrics: Shiregu Amano
	+ Composition: Toshiaki Matsumoto
	+ Arrangement: Akira Mitake

**Insert song** for episode 7:

* "Tiffany's Whisper"
	+ Vocals: Masako Katsuki
	+ Lyrics: Ren Takayanagi
	+ Composition: Mickie Yoshino
	+ Arrangement: Mickie Yoshino

**Insert song** for episode 12, 14, 24:

* "Long Way Home"
	+ Vocals: Masako Katsuki
	+ Lyrics: Ren Takayanagi
	+ Composition: Mickie Yoshino
	+ Arrangement: Mickie Yoshino

## Cast

* Toru Furuya as Abel
* Masako Katsuki as Tiala
* Toshiharu Sakurai as Moco
* Yuko Mita as Daisy
* Keaton Yamada as Yanack
* Daisuke Gori as Dodonga
* Takeshi Watabe as Baramos
* Hidekatsu Shibata as Moore
* Katsuji Mori as Jikido
* Miyoko Aoba as Chichi
* Junko Shimakata as Coco
* Hirohiko Kakegawa as Ortega (young)
* Kenji Utsumi as Ortega
* Hiroshi Otake as Zanack (part 1)
* Naoki Tatsuta as Zanack (part 2)
* Chie Sato as Abel (child)
* Hirotaka Suzuoki as Baharata
* Isamu Tanonaka as Yogi
* Nobutoshi Hayashi as Prince Frank
* Ryo Horikawa as Adonis
* Takeshi Aono as General Ludoff
* Tomoko Naka as Sara

## Main staff

* Original work: Bird Studio, Chunsoft, Enix, Armor Project
* Original plan: Yuji Horii
* Chief direction: Rintaro
* Direction: Katsuhisa Yamada (part 1), Takeyuki Kanda (part 2)
* Series organization: Takashi Yamada
* Script: Takashi Yamada (1-3, ES, 7, 11, 15-16, 19, 24, 28, 32, 37, 40, 42-43), Sukehiro Tomita (4, ES, 8, 12-13, 17, 22, 26, 30, 35-36, 39), Nobuaki Kishima (5, 9, 18, 20-21, 25, 29, 33-34, 38, 41), Mayori Sekijima (6, 10, 14, 23, 27, 31)
* Characters draft: Akira Toriyama
* Animation character design / chief animation direction: Hiroshi Kanazawa
* Art direction: Katsuyoshi Kanemura
* Photographic direction: Seiichi Morishita
* Sound direction: Mima Masafumi
* Music: Kazz Toyama, Mickie Yoshino, Koichi Sugiyama
* Producer: Hiromichi Mogaki, Tetsuo Daitoku (part 1), Masao Kodaira (part 1), Tatsuji Yamazaki (part 2)
* Animation production: Studio Comet
* Production: Fuji TV, NAS

## Original broadcast

Despite being divided in two parts, the series is a single season. The series was temporary discontinued after the broadcast of the first 32 episodes, to be resumed a few months later for the remaining 11, which lead to calling them part 1 and part 2. In its original time slot, the series competed with TV Asahi's *Obocchama-kun* and TBS' *Quiz Derby*.

In the original episode 32, an old woman is telling a story to two children, a boy that looks like Abel and a girl that looks like Tiala. While not explicitly stated, it is implied that the old woman is Tiala and that all the other protagonists, except Abel, died. Around half a year later, the broadcast was resumed on a different time slot and it immediately showed that the other protagonists had not died, and that Moco, who should have died, just fainted. The original version of episode 32 as well as the original episode 33 have not been available since the original broadcast.

There was also a summary episode broadcast on 13 January 1990 exclusively on the original Fuji TV run in which the first four episodes were recapped after a holiday break between this and the previous episode.

## USA broadcast

Saban Entertainment distributed the first 13 episode of series in syndication in the United States under the title *Dragon Warrior*. This was prior to the anime boom of the 1990s, which, combined with poor time slots, meant that the series wasn't successful, remaining in syndication only and never fully dubbed. While the dub was uneven, the series was left mostly unedited, including the original score.

## Home video

The series was released on VHS and DVD. The DVD restored episodes 32 and 33 to their original state, restoring the series to its original 43 episodes and added the epithet *Legend of the Hero Abel* to differentiate it from other *Dragon Quest* media released since the original broadcast, such as *Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai* and *Emblem of Roto*.

The series has been available via video on demand since 2018 on several digital distribution services like Niconico (through its d Anime Store), Prime Video and Fuji TV on Demand (FOD). This digital version, however, has the edited episode 32, so it only has 42 episodes.

## Gallery

APDA-15.jpgED1 singleAPCM-5001.jpgOST CD coverAPDA-29.jpgED2 singleAPDA-38.jpgOP & ED3 singleENFC-0002.jpgOST reprint CD coverDragon Quest Legend of the Hero Abel VOD banner 2.jpgVOD bannerDragon Quest Legend of the Hero Abel VOD banner 3.jpgVOD banner
## Videos

Dragon Quest Abel - Japanese OpeningOpening with theme songドラゴンクエスト 勇者アベル伝説 第1期ED（LvUP音付き）Ending 1Dragon Warrior 01 Level 1 Ariahan VillageEpisode 1 dubbedDragon Warrior - Abel Yuusha - Lost Episode ENG SUBThe edited episode 32/33 that has been used in all broadcasts, home video & VOD besides the original Fuji TV broadcast and the DVD releaseドラゴンクエスト アベル伝説 大勇者アベルに栄光あれ!! Dragon Quest AbelThe original ending of the series from the original broadcast episode 32 (included as a bonus in the DVD release)
## Related

* *Yume o Shinjite* (single)
* *Dragon Quest: Suite Dragon Legend*
* *Niji no Miyako* (single)
* *Dragon Quest: Mirai o Mezashite / Niji no Brand-New Day*
* *Dragon Quest: Suite Dragon Legend* (2007)

## Notes

1. ↑ Summary episode of the previous four

## References

1. ↑ Anime Profile: Dragon Warrior. Absolute Anime. Retrived 2020-02-25.
2. ↑ Ferreira, Samantha (2013-09-24). Seven long forgotten American anime airings. Anime Herald. Retrieved 2020-02-25.

## External links

* Archived official website of the DVD release (Japanese)
* Series at FOD (Japanese)
* Series at Prime Video (Japanese)
* Series at U-Next (Japanese)
* Article at Wikipedia
* Page at TV Tropes
* Series info at Anime News Network
* Series info at MyAnimeList
* Series info at AnimeClick.it (Italian)
* Series info at Nautiljon (French)

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