 |
| Image by Gematsu |
The first episode in the series comes from a player whose character name in the game is Yukina, who wrote in with a submission titled “The Name of Feelings” or "The Feeling of a Name”. Her story is about how a family honored the memory of their oldest daughter, Yukina, through their in-game characters.
The anime short aired today (August 7, 2017) during the Dragon Quest Summer Festival celebration.The episode alternates between real, in-game footage and animated original scenes. The roughly seven minute presentation shows that Dragon Quest 10 has to much more to offer than one might expect and it can not be broken down into merely fighting monsters, crafting gear, or taking on epic level quests. It is also an emotional experience unlike any other.
In the animation, a young girl watches her parents enjoy the in-game fireworks celebration for what appears to be Dragon Quest X's fourth anniversary celebrated on August 2, 2016. She subtly points out to her father that it looks like everyone has gathered to celebrate Yukina’s birthday. Yukina is the name of her mother’s character, but in a flashback viewers learn that she was named after their eldest daughter, Yukina, who had passed away. The flashback scene is from four years before, when the mother is creating her character on the old (and now discontinued) Wii version of the game.
A one year time skip occurs and we see the girl's father at a cafe, chatting in Dragon Quest X via his laptop, where he proposes to his online friends as his Weddie character (named Yuuri), the idea his daughter mentioned only a year prior, the notion of celebrating Yukina's birthday in-game. On August 2, 2017 (as depicted by the calendars), the family is gathered once again to watch the fireworks celebration for the game’s (now) fifth anniversary. It is then that everyone watching the fireworks display begins to wish Yukina a happy 15th birthday, bringing tears to the surprised mother’s eyes. Had she been alive, Yukina would have turned 15 years old that day. It's a subtle gesture, but a tear-jerkingly heartfelt one nonetheless.
The entire series has been created in an effort to celebrate Dragon Quest 10’s recent fifth anniversary. After the airing of the video, many of the hosts, developers and even some of the guests on stage were holding back tears.
MMOs allow players to connect with distant family members or friends, and regardless of distance, these games foster brotherly bonds, rivalries, and camaraderie through play. These can lead to life-changing events like marriage or tributes to those that we have come to know and have lost.
As previously indicated, two more of these shorts are in development. The second will be titled “Beyond Time and Space, Meet me in Astoltia” (Astoltia is the name of Dragon Quest X‘s world) and will come in the fall later this year. A third episode will soon follow sometime afterwards.
The video will be featured below.
Works Cited
Frank, A. (2017, August 07). A Dragon Quest 10 anime is the most tearjerking thing you'll watch today. Retrieved August 07, 2017, from https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/7/16109212/dragon-quest-10-anime-short
Nelva, G. (2017, August 07). This Dragon Quest X Anime Short Will Hit You Straight in the Feels [UPDATED]. Retrieved August 07, 2017, from http://www.dualshockers.com/dragon-quest-x-anime-short-straight-feels/
Romano, S. (2017, August 07). Dragon Quest X anime short Episode 1: 'The Feeling of a Name'. Retrieved August 07, 2017, from https://gematsu.com/2017/08/dragon-quest-x-anime-short-episode-1-feeling-name
