Dragon Ball’s Akira Toriyama Design Partner Reveals ‘The Birth’ of Japan’s Favorite RPG Series

by

After four decades, I’ve seen Hori embrace Toriyama’s preferred method – comics – to share both the story of how Dragon Quest came to be, and his own personal journey.

The next book in Shogakukan’s New Educational Manga Series will tell the life story of Hori, from his childhood to now. The book will spend several chapters detailing how he got into the gaming industry and the people he met while creating Dragon Quest. Akira Toriyama, the main artist for Dragon Quest, collaborated with Hori, creating the game’s characters and monsters.

The manga is set to be released in Japan on February 24, 2026. The author, Hori, has been sharing updates about it on his official X account, previously known as Twitter.

Dragon Quest’s Yuji Hori Tells His Life Story in New Autobiographical Manga

Shogakukan’s new manga, overseen by Hori and illustrated by Makoto Iori, is designed to teach readers interested in pursuing careers in different fields. Similar to previous installments in the series, it serves as an educational guide. The book includes five main chapters, plus additional content.

Hori began working in the video game industry in 1983, and one of his early successes was The Portopia Serial Murder Case, a game where players investigated a mystery by exploring a world, finding clues, and solving puzzles. He followed this with the release of the original Dragon Quest in Japan on May 27, 1986. Building on ideas from his previous work, Dragon Quest immersed players in a fantastical world threatened by a powerful Dragonlord. This villain had stolen magical spheres that protected the land, putting the entire continent in danger.

In this game, you play as the hero tasked with finding the Dragonlord. You’ll journey through different towns, gather clues, build a team, and battle monsters using a turn-based combat system. The series continued with Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line and Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation. As of January 2026, the main Dragon Quest series includes 11 games, with an additional 30 official spin-off titles.

Yuji Hori is continuing the legacy of his longtime partner by working on the next Dragon Quest game. Last year, he confirmed that Square Enix had begun development on the highly anticipated twelfth installment. In recent years, Square Enix has also released updated versions and remakes of classic Dragon Quest titles, including fully modernized 2D-HD remakes of Dragon Quest I, II, and III. Plus, Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined became available worldwide on all platforms on February 5, 2026.

As of January 2026, Shogakukan hasn’t announced any plans to release the New Educational Manga Series outside of Japan.

Read More

2026-02-09 05:07