May 27th - Dragon Quest Day

Today is Dragon Quest Day. Dragon Quest is seen as fairly niche in the states, but it's huge in its native Japan. And while I've only played one spin off game so far (Rocket Slime), I plan to play more games in the series in the future. Maybe if I ever stream myself playing video games someday. Anyway, I'm going to tell you about something that illustrates how popular Dragon Quest is in Japan. While not a law like some rumors claim, Square Enix will only publish Dragon Quest games on Saturday. This is because they got a complaint from the Japanese police that so many kids skipped school for Dragon Quest III’s release on a Wednesday. So truancy complaints have affected when the games have been published to this day. [EDITOR’S NOTE: You forgot to say WHY today is Dragon Quest Day! I understand, it’s easy to get lost in thought when gazing into the perfection that is a DQ Slime. So I’m stepping in with the details. The first installment in the series was released today in 1986. While that’s all you need to know on why it’s today, the topic of why it’s specifically Dragon Quest Day instead of The Day They Released Dragon Quest is a bit more interesting. There’s an organization in Japan known as the Japan Anniversary Association, and while it’s not a government entity, it’s well-regarded enough to have the same kind of authority on what people celebrate. Getting a date recognized as an anniversary isn’t free, though: it’s around 100,000 Yen to submit a request, which is then brought to a committee to decide if the subject has the sort of cultural relevance to be added to the calendar. Here’s to you, DQ!]