Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel

Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel ("Dragon Warrior" in the English dub) was a short-lived Japanese anime that was animated by Studio Comet and aired in Japan from December 2, 1989-April 3, 1991. While the series was still airing in Japan, Saban Entertainment picked up the series in North America and dubbed the first 13 episodes as "Dragon Warrior", with the dub being recorded at BLT Productions in Vancouver, Canada. This series is based on the "Dragon Quest" series of video games and is the first anime adaption of the franchise.

Summary
This series tells the story of a young man named Abel who goes on a journey with his friends Mokomoko, Daisy, and Yanack to rescue his friend Tiala from the evil Baramos.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This anime is the first animated adaption of the "Dragon Quest" series of video games, and it was done pretty well
 * 2) The English dub of this anime has very little edits compared to other syndicated anime dubs at that time, as they allowed mentions of death, alcohol, some of the innuendos, and most of the violence intact.
 * 3) Likable characters such as Abel, Tiala, the slimes (Koko (pink) and Chi-Chi (light blue)), Daisy, Yanuck, and Baramos, alongside others.
 * 4) Beautiful animation and character designs that bear a resembelence to the designs of Dragon Ball (anime) and Dragon Ball Z.
 * 5) Fantastic voice acting from both the Japanese and English versions, especially from Toru Furuya and Duff MacDonald, who both did a great job voicing Abel in both versions.
 * 6) The music and songs in both versions are facinating.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While the Japanese version has all episodes, the English dub suffered the "13-episode curse", where a show/anime dub only lasts 13 episodes before they got axed. This isn't the only syndicated Vancouver dub to suffer from this, as the 1995 Funimation/"BLT Productions" dub of the original Dragon Ball anime suffered the same fate.
 * 2) Due to the English dub being axed after 13 episodes, the show ended in a cliffhanger when aired in North America.

Reception
This anime had a warm reception by many "Dragon Quest" fans and viewers who grew up watching the show. The show nowadays fell into obscurity and is an underrated gem.