Earlier this year, Netflix debuted the worldwide English release of 2019’s Dragon Quest: Your Story, a CGI animated film adaptation of the 1992 Super Nintendo game Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. While the game received moderate critical reception, despite criticism levelled towards its ending and failing to replicate the art style of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, the film was among the top 25 highest-grossing films of 2019 in Japan. Last December, Dragon Quest 5 novelist Saori Kumi announced that she would be suing Square Enix for the portrayal of the Dragon Quest 5 Hero character, Luca (or Ryuka), in the film. Now she is suing both Square Enix and Toho Co., Ltd.
Dragon Quest 5, like most entries in the series, features a silent, unnamed protagonist simply called “Hero.” This is the blanket name for all Dragon Quest protagonists, and is even the character’s name in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In some of the franchise’s spin-off material however, Hero characters are more commonly given names such as Dragon Quest 5‘s Luca, which was originally used in the Japan-only novelization of the game published shortly after its release. This novelization was written by Saori Kumi, who conceptualized the name Ryuka (which was changed to Luca for the film’s English release.)
Kumi originally filed a lawsuit against the film’s production committee in December 2019, seeking an apology from the staff and credit for her work on the film. Now, Kumi has filed another lawsuit against Square Enix and Toho directly requesting 2 million yen in damages and a public apology from both companies. This comes after months of Japanese Dragon Quest fans supporting her cause through crowdfunding platforms.
While it can be argued whether Saori Kumi really created Dragon Quest 5‘s protagonist, as he has a set design and appearance in the original 1992 game which undoubtedly legally belongs to Square Enix, the lack of any credit for Kumi is frankly quite disappointing, as it is evident that the film uses the name Ryuka to capture the attention of fans who may have experienced the game’s novelization.
While the film seems to have had a better reception in the west, this is yet another blow at Dragon Quest: Your Story‘s reputation in Japan, as the film was not received positively upon its release. As Dragon Quest is more culturally ingrained in Japan, many fans weren’t able to look past the changes made to the game’s story, lack of Akira Toriyama’s iconic character designs, and change in voice actors from some of the other Dragon Quest 5 spin-offs to live-action actors who had no prior attachment to the characters.
Dragon Quest: Your Story is available to stream on Netflix.
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