Ask John: Will the Dragon Quest Anime Ever Reach American DVD?

Question:
Based on the slowly growing success of Dragon Warrior/Quest games in the U.S., is there any chance that the old 80’s anime series might one day be licensed for distribution here? I realize that licensing older anime properties in the U.S. is not common practice, so is this basically hopeless?

Answer:
I can’t say that I believe an American DVD release of any of the Dragon Quest anime is imminent, but the possibility may not be actually very remote. The passable success of the Dragon Quest video games in America may have some small impact on the chances of Dragon Quest anime being released in America, but I don’t think that the Dragon Quest game franchise alone is quite successful enough in America to entice Dragon Quest anime to follow. It’s actually the success of nostalgia and TV series on American DVD that may serve as a catalyst for Dragon Quest anime reaching American DVD.

13 episodes of the 43 episode long 1989 Japanese Dragon Quest television series aired on American network TV in 1990 under the title “Dragon Warrior.” This English dubbed series has never been fully released on American home video. Anime series that once aired on American television, including Ronin Warriors, Teknoman, and Voltron, have been re-released on American DVD. Furthermore, nostalgic American animated adventure series including He-Man, She-Ra, and Thundercats have sold well on American DVD. Especially considering the formidable cost of licensing distribution rights to contemporary anime, distributing older anime series that have American nostalgia value may be an attractive and lucrative endeavor for American home video distributors.

The Dragon Warrior animated series was never a big hit during its American television broadcast, and the number of potential consumers that remember the show from its American TV broadcast is likely to be small. But the series does benefit from its connection to the Dragon Quest games, and may benefit from its character designs by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. I think that the odds of the 1991 Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken television series or the 1996 Dragon Quest: Roto no Monshou movie reaching America may be rather slim, but I won’t be very surprised if the original Dragon Quest anime, which has been partially released in America before, receives a new, archival rerelease.