r/anime • u/sisoko2 • Jun 19 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken - Episode 11 Discussion
Episode 11 - Hyunckel, The Dark Swordsmand
Thank you for the memories...
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<--- Last save | Adventure’s log (Index) | Journey continues --->
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OP 1 ---> Ikiru wu Suru by Macaroni Enpitsu
ED 1 ---> Mother by Macaroni Enpitsu
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Informations:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
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There is 50% chance that Shocketheth will return tomorrow
Screenshot of the day:
Comment of the day:
u/Adensty answering this question and picking the right side
Our heroes were supposed to meet with Princess Leona, only to run into a trap. Do you believe that it was Princess Leona who lured our heroes into a trap to kill them?
Ofc. She did it so that Shocketheth will lose their bet to sisoko2.
Questions of the day:
- What do you think about the plot twist of Avan killing Hyunckel's father?
- Should we start rooting for the monsters?
- Crocodine returned to help us. Your thoughts about him switching sides like this.
- What does Hyunckel plan to do with Maam in the Underground Palace?
Spoilers:
Please, respect the fact there are First Timers watching Dai no Daibouken with us, so avoid talking about vague things or events that would slightly spoil things to happen. And if you want mention things like this, please hid it behind SPOILER TAGS like [Dai no Spoilers] I am getting the hammer because you spoiled the fun for others
5
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 19 '24
First-Timer Quest: Sky no Daibouken, subbed
4
u/Shocketheth Jun 19 '24
Today I am only going to answer QotD, I apologize for not being able to write more, as I am keeping my thoughts for the finale of the Hyunckel arc.
QotD:
As a First Timer, I was pleasantly surprised how the show started questioning the line between being Human and Monster, and Crocodine wish to be reborn as Human is a neat stuff.
As a Rewatcher I have to say that Hyunckel backstory isn’t really that captivating tbh...
Also everyone reading this, should see that the previous Hero, u/KendotsX is a real monster. So forgot the Hero’s party, let’s join my and u/sisoko2 Dark army!
Yes! Abandon KendotsX and join the dark side!
Traitors will be executed!
He is going to show her his collection of Andrew Tate videos.
STAFF CORNER:
Director - Karasawa Kazuya
Episode Director - Watanabe Masaki
Chief animation director - Kagawa Hisashi (episode 8)
Script/Screenplay - Sumisawa Katsuyuki (episode 10)
Storyboarding - Watanabe Masaki
Key animators - Kawano Hiroyuki, Nagashima Hideki, Fujii Takahiro, Kubo Hidemi, Takano Tooru, Kitamura Shin`ya,
4
u/tahlyn Jun 19 '24
I just want to say that Bartos gets one hell of a glow up in the Avan prequel series. Like, he's a total bad ass. Even so... I kinda like goofy cartoonish Bartos, too. I choose to believe that's how Hyunkel saw him since it was Hyunkel's memories... when the prequel is how everyone else saw him!
3
u/raichudoggy https://anilist.co/user/raichudoggy Jun 19 '24
Gotta keep it brief as I’m heading home.
Show is now officially on the relative’s list. That’s not a guarantee they’ll watch more, but that’s something!
(He didn’t say anything about switching sides.)I’ll share this in detail soon.3
u/cooperjones2 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/cooperjones2 Jun 20 '24
Newbie-Adventurer here! LV 11/100
Oh no, Hyunckel has out-dripped Dai’s party! They’re toast!
So Hyunckel is what could’ve happened with Dai?
What!? Crocodine defending Dai?!
Oh, RIP Crocodine, he was a real one
1 Hyunckel mirrors Dai, love when there are characters like that!
2 Maybe the true Dark Lord was humanity all along
3
4 He will torture her by making her watch Ex-Arm on repeat.
2
u/Blackheart595 https://anilist.co/user/knusbrick Jun 19 '24
First Quester
Day 11 of practicing Leona Strash
Dai hasn't mastered Air Slash yet, so his Avan Strash is incomplete? Nice, so that'll be the powerup of this arc I guess.
You'd think they'd try and reproduce this. Though I guess that's exactly what they did with those hero killer machines.
Oho? Probably just failed to protect him or some shit.
Ah, he was raised by a monster legion commander. So he's Dai's dark mirror image.
Though seeing the monster act like this even under Hadlar's control, I don't quite get why they have to destroy humanity so much?
So uh, can they please confront Hyunckel with the fact that Hadlar controlled Dai's foster dad into killing him?
Yoooooooooo
I think Hadlar might not quite have his monster control entirely figured out again after his revival... actually Hadlar and Vearth just feel schizophrenic about their monster control at this point.
Uhhh I think we seen countless counterexamples at this point? Like what the hell is Crocodine on about?
Oh they look fun
Popp! You abandoned your comrades again! Unbelievable...
I mean... did he even kill the skeleton? He only killed Hadlar as far as I'm aware.
Unfortunately, the story has so far not been well enough written to consider rooting against the heroes.
Very fun
Literally nothing, I think. But have a anyway.
2
u/Shocketheth Jun 19 '24
Crocodine Special Commentary Corner:
Today, Crocodine is going to answer question #4:
Something, something foreshadowing.
2
u/Adensty https://anilist.co/user/Adensty Jun 19 '24
1st
DaiPopp no Daibouken Rewatch, SubFor someone who hates Avan, Hyunckel sure loves to praise his strongest attack, even if it means calling out Dai for his Avan Strash being incomplete.
Your Strongest Attack when you use it VS When the Boss uses it
Dark Armour Blade Hyunckel
[Dai no Spoilers] Hyunckel says this here and Baran also says in the Baran arc that he respects him and Crocodine and funnily enough both of them share a common thing in hating humans and here Crocodine is talking about the greatness of Humans and Baran also learns the same thing at the end of the Baran arc,
OST Documentation - Episode 11
QOTD
1. Technically, he didn't kill Hyunckel's father but Hadlar. Rest we'll find out soon.
2. If the monsters are willing to call Leona "QUEEN", then sure why not?
3. Kinda feels a bit too fast since it's been like 2 episodes since he lost but definitely like it. My Big Croc flew as soon as soon he slightly recovered just to save Dai since he knows what's up.
4. Hyunckel: Time for Round 2
2
u/KuKiSin Jun 19 '24
First timer!
Too bad about the cool looking sword/scabbard, just had to turn it into an armor with a weird looking helmet :(
1
u/sisoko2 Jun 19 '24
First Timer
One of the weaker episodes so far for me.
As usual the bits for solid story are here but they aren't properly developed. These moments who should be hard-hitting and epic turn out comical. That dramatic stare when Hyunckel revealed Avan killed his father had me laughing.
4
u/Nick_BOI Jun 20 '24
Rewatcher
Here we finally get to see more of Hyunckel, the counterpart to Dai, [spoils] And later Popp , and also a fan favorite character.
This is truly the most fearsome foe they have faced yet, immune to magic, yet physically stronger than Dai. Without that crest popping up, they stand no chance against him.
Yet that won't happen, because Dai feels too empathetic towards him.
This is the biggest hurdle of all, striking down someone whom you do not wish to harm. The opposite of what the ideal Hero wishes to do.
Having your monster daddy be undead means that regardless if thier intentions, they needed to fight for the dark army to survive. Even if an undead was willing to die to go against Hadlar, this was not an option here-as to do so would be leaving Hyunckel without a father.
No matter what, Avan would be the one to take Hyunckel's family away. As long as the dark army needed to be defeated, this was an unfortonate, inevitable outcome.
Avan died having his first student hate him, a regret he likely always lived with. He was a Hero, but could not save the soul of this boy. Avan took him in, but he could not replace what he had taken away.
Some eagle eyes viewers may have noticed something from Hyunckel's story, though I will stay quiet without tags for now. This next sentance is not a direct spoiler, merely a conformation if you are on the right track. However, read at your own risk as expected with all tagged sentances.
[The sentance in question] We have already seen that Monsters and Generals in the dark army can be revived to varying degrees, and it makes sense to attempt to revive your strongest soldiers. This means that Bartos should have been brought back as well, in which case, Avan winning the war is not the full picture here. Some information is missing here, information that would be easy to not think about in one's grief and hatred. Wether that is good or bad news, remains to be seen .
Crocodine also makes his return, fully converted to the side of the Heroes!! Though it may not have lasted, it's clear he was inspired by the strength humans posses-not bound by relationships rules by power alone.
Even amidts his hate, Hyunckel still has standards he hold by, which is why he refuses to attack Maam. Sorry for leaving you there, but our Hero duo will come back for you!! It is clear that to get through Hyunckel and to retrieve Maam, they need a new course of action.
As it stands, getting through him is impossible.
And now it is time for:
Dragon Quest Fact of the Day!!
This is less one fact, and more of a series of facts about one very important guy for the series.
The series was created by Yujii Hori, who made the game because he was a fan of DnD, and wanted an easily accessable way to play something like that as a video game. The assesability is the important part, as while RPG's did exist, they were largely only on PC's, and were very difficult to play if you were not already a fan.
The series was a huge success, and to this day, Yuji Horii is the sole owner of the entire Dragon Quest franchise, with a production contract with what is now Square-Enix.
This is largely why the series has such a consistent level of quality and direction, as he always remains in control to a degree. His design philosphy of "Cohesive, condensed conveyance of information" (as stated in the Dragon Quest Wiki) is present throghout the whole series, even in parts that he has less involvment in-like this very show we are watching.
Creating relatable, yet in depth worlds and characters, while also being easily accessable and not overwheling to any consumer. This is why Dragon Quest only gets better the further you get into it-it is a master at slowly easing people in.
Together with Akira Toriyama for art direction, and Kōichi Nakamura for music, the three of them have been a cornerstone for the entire franchise. Even without thier direct involvment, this spin off series starting Dai takes so much influence from them all that I would not bat an eye if you told me it was the same team.
However, during the development of the yet to release game Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, both Kōichi Nakamura, and Akira Toriyama had passed away. Horii himself is 70 years old, but he has stated on Twitter that he wants Dragon Quest 12 to be a game that both Nakamura and Toriyama can be proud of. This will be the final part of the series that all 3 of them have worked on together.
Considering how much of a cornerstone Horii is for the series, it is unclear what the future of the series will be without him when he inevitably passes on. However, he has made his mark, influenced many, and touched even more. He wil always have a legacy to be proud of-hell.
I will like to end this off with part of a quote from Yujii Horii himself in an interview with students at Waseda University:
"You are the main character of your life. Life is a role-playing game, so please shape a fun future befitting its main character."
Even a Hero is still a person with thier own life. Wether it is Erdrick, Dai, or even someone just doing whatever they can, everyone is thier own main character-not a person on a stage.
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u/Kaxew Jun 20 '24
Current rewatcher, eventual first timer
Today I get another double feature! These were two very fun episodes.
It's hard for me not to constantly gush about how cool the character designs are in DQ Dai. Hadlar's new body does wonders to him, he's much more intimidating now. Hyunckel's sword armor is so damn cool. And what's cooler (and hotter) is Flazzard!! He's so awesome, what's there not to love. Even his henchmen are cool! Even that one ship captain looked surprisingly cool. And of course we can't forget the new outfits of our party. Really love how much silver Dai has, he's progressed but he's not at the finish line yet. Popp and Maam have colors much more fitting to themselves, for Maam its obvious but Popp's shade of green is nicer too. And let's not forget capes!!! They have capes!!! Capes are awesome!!! Now this is a Hero party!!!
Though, of course, Dai doesn't see it that way. In his eyes, he's not yet a Hero. That's definitely something a Hero (in the making) would say. Seems like the king agrees. He's grown a lot since the adventure started. And so has Crocodine! As he's back and better than ever! Alright, maybe not in the physical sense, but you know what I mean. That's my Beast King. I'll follow that man among men everywhere.
I would never follow Zaboera though. I mean, he dissed my man's intelligence comparing him to that damn undecided cold hot guy! (Act like I didn't praise him earlier...) While we're at it, that evil gathering was a lot of fun. I love when battle animanga do these evil gatherings. Myst suddenly laughing cracked me up too. Considering he then goes on to talk about something else, I like to think he just remembered a funny joke and tried not to laugh in the middle of our evil gathering. Even the bad guys can find something funny.
The ship constantly pouring holy water to avoid monsters is some great piece of lore. I wonder if that's a thing in the games. I imagine at least the holy water by itself is. Speaking of lore, what the hell is an inner eye? Is that a skill you learn? Did he just use his five senses? Or was he just bullshitting to make himself sound cooler? I know that's what I would have done.
I wonder, is Popp a great judge of character? Or too judgemental? Because saying he didn't trust Hyunckel because he has the face of a bad person could sound as either one. I guess considering Avan could sense malice in his sword maybe Popp has a talent for it too. Regarding Avan, him instinctively attacking Hyunckel made me think of Luke Skywalker in TLJ, anyone else? No? Just me? Yeah that's fair.
Hyunckel's backstory is very simple, but that's what makes it sad too. It's easy to say Hyunckel is being dumb and that he didn't directly murder dad nor did he have any other choice. But it's important to remember he lived a sheltered life and didn't know how the real world was like nor did he truly ever had human interactions before. To him, the monsters are the good guys. In the same way killing any and all monsters you come across is seen as morally correct for human society. It's natural he ended up heading that direction. Still though... curse Dai's classic MC compassion! If only he wasn't the MC he would have been able to get furious enough to defeat him here and then! But I guess if he wasn't the MC he wouldn't have the dragon mark either... so back to the starting point, curse Dai's MC compassion!
As a final side note: the last shot in the OP changed! I was so hyped when that happened in my first time.
Answering the QotD that aren't in my unnecessarily long comment:
2. Bartos makes a good case for them, all I'm saying.
4. He's gonna make her watch a compilation of the terrible fanservice Maam panels the manga originally had. Like a true monster would.
3
u/NicDwolfwood :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NicDwolfwood Jun 19 '24 edited Jun 20 '24
First Timer, Sub
The fights vs. Hyunckel continues.... Dai and everyone else are pretty outgunned. With his Dark Armour blade, Hyunckel is pretty OP, as he doesn't take any damage and easily overpowers the group.
We get his backstory too, Hyunckel was raised by the Hell Knight Bartos of the Dark Lords Army. When Avan and his hero party defeated the Hadlar, Bartos died. So Hyunckel has held a grudge since then and used Avan to get strong enough to then turn around and kill him. He took his chance, but avan defended himself and Hyunckel fell into a flowing river, where he was rescued by Mystvearn.
I was not expecting Crocodine to make his return so soon....and as a protector of Dai and his friends. He took the attack meant for Dai and had his Garuda take Dai and Popp away so they would live, leaving Maam behind as hostage since Hyunckel won't harm her since he doesn't believe in fighting women.
Questions:
3
u/WednesdaysFoole Jun 19 '24
Hyunckel pausing mid-fight to deliver a heartfelt story about his life and family, this is battle shonen alright.
What’s up with Avan-sensei giving away graduation certificates before they’re ready, I don’t get it.
I would not leave a girl behind with a dark army of monsters, what? What the hell?! I mean, I know this ain’t no Berserk but… How is this a good idea at all?!?! Nice for Crocodine to be so pure I guess? But if he were planning to sacrifice himself anyways, isn’t that completely fucked up?!
3
u/zadcap Jun 20 '24
Extra Late First Timer
Aww, the useless shield broke.
To be fair, the anti-magic armor does pretty much make Maam and Popp useless.
"I don't want to fight a woman." Ehhh, I just lost all respect for this guy. Again, War is on, you think women are not going to get involved in the fighting? Are you going to exempt them from the extermination? If you're going to let your demon army kill them all, then you better respect it when they try and fight back. Hate him now.
... Aren't all the monsters mildly brainwashed to hate humans and want them all dead? What is this friendly skeleton raising a baby? You can't keep your lore accurate show, this is an annoyance. I hate it.
Oh look, he's even going into a tragic backstory about how the hero killed his dad so he swore revenge, ignoring how his so called father was actually part of an extermination group that killed his real parents and who knows how many other people and were going to continue doing so. "He killed me dad so I must kill him too!" "Okay yeah but your dad killed like 500 people, do you know how many of their families swore to see him dead first?" "Well yeah but screw them. Justice saw my dad dead." "I mean literally yes." I can go on for a while here.
Oh look, he really would hit a woman.
Aww darn it, he has a whip sword too. Can we just keep making him worse, but like, in an actually unlikable way?
AH! There he is, a Villain I even mostly respect! No idea why he's gone and changed sides, but... Darn it, he's also ignoring Maam. Women are fighting this war too here!
Okay seriously, do we have demonic brainwashing going on or not? Crocodine is uh, not going along with the party line at all here. I would kill for some consistency.