Yuji Horii is about to get a very meta and very sweet tribute in the form of an RPG-style educational manga that turns the Dragon Quest creator’s real life into a literal character progression arc. Published by Shogakukan and launching in Japan on February 24, the 160-page book follows Horii from his childhood on Awaji Island all the way to running Armor Project and shaping console JRPGs as we know them.
The manga frames Horii as a protagonist who “encounters companions who become his greatest strengths,” hits major choice points at life’s crossroads, and faces hardships in true quest fashion, reflecting his long-stated belief that “life is a role-playing game.” It focuses mainly on his work creating Dragon Quest, but also nods to other milestones like his adventure games and his scenario work on Chrono Trigger, and it’s being pitched as something both kids and adults can read. Artist Iori Makoto is handling the illustrations, and Horii himself supervised the project and appears in an interview at the end.
There’s one minor issue for anyone hoping to shelve this next to their Dragon Quest artbooks: so far, the manga has only been announced for Japan, with no translated edition confirmed. It joins a broader Shogakukan line of biographical manga that has previously covered figures like Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri, books that fans still mine for behind-the-scenes details years later. Given Horii is still steering Dragon Quest, including the long-gestating Dragon Quest XII, this may end up being the definitive text for one of the medium’s most influential writers.
Source: Automaton Media via Nintendo Life
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