In honor of the 30th anniversary of the legendary RPG series Dragon Quest, a limited edition bottle of sake is released. But for Sir Sato, a hangover draws near!

Celebrations of the 30th birthday of Dragon Quest (once known as Dragon Warrior in the west) took place on 27 May in a variety of ways. Hundreds of fans took to Twitter with messages of cheer under the hashtag #DQ30th — hopefully they didn’t interfere with any Dairy Queen celebrations that might have occurred at the same time.

Also, a range of weird and wonderful things came out. One such commemorative item was a special bottle of nihonshu rice wine specially bottled for this occasion. It’s name is “Junmai Daiginjo: And thus into legend…“, based on the Japanese title of Dragon Quest III, and it is a very highly quality sake made with 100% Yamada Nishiki rice.

■ And thus into legend…

The king of RocketNews24 issued a decree that a bottle of this legendary sake be brought back to his kingdom at once. On this quest, he sent forth Sir Sato of Gildedlocks.

Single bottles of this elixir could be purchased online for 45 Gold (5,148 yen / US$47) but an evil spell was cast on Sir Sato’s computer after looking at one too many dodgy websites preventing him from making any purchases.

So he journeyed to the kingdom of Roppongi in Tokyo and its Sake Shop Fukumitsuya. Fortune smiled upon Sir Sato for here he found a special edition Kimasu Set which included a limited edition wooden sake cup as well as the nihonshu for 52 Gold (6,048 yen / $55).

■ Great! You found some booze!

The king of RocketNews24 was pleased with Sir Sato and said, “Now we can keep this limited edition sake and sell it online years later for a tidy profit. Thanks to you, this kingdom will stay strong and prosperous for years to come!”

He then patted Sir Sato on the back and departed to get an unusually colored cheeseburger.

Alone, Sir Sato stared at the sake. He began to wonder if it might have been poisoned and determined that the only way to know – the only way to save the kingdom – was to taste of it himself.

It was for the good of the land!

Sir Sato would also admit a certain excitement in tasting of the Dragon Quest sake. He wondered “What should Dragon Quest taste like anyway? Adventure?”

Upon taking the first sip he was pleased with the very bold taste. It was a firmly dry nihonshu with an edge that cut like the sword of Loto (Erdrick in the west). But from deep inside his sword wound grew a comforting warmth. Sir Sato began to hear a familiar song play in the back of his mind.

■ Into the swamp cave

Sir Sato sat back in his chair and savored the sharp flavor of the sake and inhaled the soothing aroma of the cypress kimasu. It was a luxurious experience but the mounting alcohol was beginning to strike critical blows.  He tried chanting the spell of HEAL but was all out of MP.

“Lemme look at that box,” snapped Sir Sato as he examined the vivid blue case with silver foil lettering and a golden emblem of Loto.

“S’cool…” slurred Sir Sato as he turned the box around and took another swig from his kimasu. “Aw, RAD! A freaking sword,” he exclaimed.

The excitement of it all brought Sir Sato right back to fifth grade, when the first Dragon Quest game was released. Back then he never would have guessed a limited edition sake would be sold in its honor and that he would one day be drinking it – all of it by this point.

Feeling a little hazy, Sir Sato clumsily peered at the top of the box which had a little slime imprinted on it.

“These guys…THESE guys everrrr…every time I tried to get back to the inn…poisoned, low on HP THESE F***ERS kept drawing near!!!”

Sir Sato’s rage was momentarily distracted by the now empty kimasu he was holding for it had some neat markings on it like a Dragon Quest 30th Anniversary logo.

On the other side was the katakana nickname of Dragon Quest, Dorakué.

And on the other two sides were little slimes. “A**HOLES,” Sir Sato cried followed by, “My command is to FIGHT!”

That was the last thing he remembered before blacking out.

■ Epilogue

Sir Sato had awoken in a crowded Shinjuku dungeon with little recollection of the previous evening. It must have been a harrowing adventure that had taken its toll on his HP though, for he felt groggy, weak, and rather parched.

Still, he felt it would be best to stay in the world map for a while and gather EXP since the king would be righteously pissed off for the time being.

If you too would like to take the Dragon Quest sake adventure, there may be some bottles left either online or at Sake Shop Fukumitsuya. At the time of purchase, the shopkeeper told Sir Sato that 300 bottles were held in the Tokyo shop and about 100 in the Kanazawa shop.

However, you ought to call ahead to make sure they still have some in stock. You also would be better off drinking it responsibly, unlike our hapless knight. Otherwise you risk waking up looking and feeling like this.

Source: Sake Shop Fukumitsuya
Original article by Mr. Sato
Photos: RocketNews24
Video: YouTube/GBelAir
[ Read in Japanese ]