This review is for Dragonball fans that were disappointed in GT and Super and are wondering if Daima lives up to the hype. Perhaps you’ve heard that Akira Toriyama has closely worked on the series and since it’s his true vision, that means it lives up the franchise’s legacy.
NON-SPOILER section begins here
Story
A few problems I have with the premise of the story is that it: a) retreads ground and b) happens before End of Z. We’ve already seen Goku as a kid in GT so that’s not exciting or new. The story happening before the End of Z means that we know at the
...
end of the day no big changes will happen, and the consequences will be very minor. These do not necessarily make the story bad, but they do hamper its potential.
While there have been cool little lore drops and world building in the Demon Realm, the first section of the story meanders quite a bit. A lot of the time it’s just the ship breaking down and preventing the characters from travelling. In that time, there isn’t really any truly meaningful plot or character development, and many episodes just feel like padding. I can’t truly fault Dragonball’s plot as a vehicle to deliver more fights but with such a short screen time, it would have been better to fill it with scenes and events that have more substance or intrigue.
Having 90% of the enemies be fodder is very unexciting, especially when we know Goku and Co. are holding back. This is a big problem in this series. Sometimes the crew is put in situations where fighting isn’t the best idea and it’s better off to stay hidden but other times they deal with the same tier enemies like they are flies. Even worse, at some points the fodder foot soldiers give our characters trouble when we know they should have no issues dealing with them. It makes the series feel like it’s attempting to add fake tension to throw in cheap action scenes or fill out the run time. The show doesn’t really explain why things are this way so it relies on the audience to make their own head canons to reconcile everything.
Story Score: 3.5
Characters
For starters, I’m not a big fan of modern Goku. It seems like his intelligence is always downplayed for the sake of the joke, which was hardly ever the case in Z. He did many dumb things as a child but that was rooted in him being an isolated country bumpkin who only met one other person. It wasn’t because he had room temperature IQ.
Most of our returning cast in this story serves no real purpose. Bulma’s role of sassy mechanic is taken by Pansy. Pansy here is preferable because she doesn’t know Goku and can be surprised when he exceeds her expectation. She is also a demon so we can get a window into the Demon Realm through her. Vegeta’s only purpose is to show off one thing for fanservice. Piccolo’s only role in this show is to say his father was born in the Demon Realm. There was missed potential for him to learn about his heritage in more depth, explore his character in different ways and possibly learn some magic/skills. Shin is kind of boring and mostly just serves as our exposition for most of the story. Vegeta, Bulma and Piccolo could easily be removed from this story, and it wouldn’t change much. We could have used this time to develop the newer characters.
As for the new characters, Gomah is just a goofy goober, Degesu is a waste of a space, Team Arinsu wasn’t fleshed out enough, Glorio was very underdeveloped, and Neva is just a Deus ex Machina.
Characters Score: 3
Animation
The art style is clean with consistent art quality and great animation for the action scenes. You can tell it’s a high-quality production with great care put into it. The direction is nothing special but from a visual standpoint it’s a good watch.
Animation Score: 7.5
Music
The music does the job. It’s good but nothing too special.
Music Score: 6
SPOILER SECTION
Gomah as a villain is utterly unimpressive (but Degesu even moreso). The entire time he is portrayed as a goofy goober just like Pilaf. Characters have said not to underestimate him, but he’s never really given any reasons for the audience to believe that. In the end, he becomes a threat due to a MacGuffin. The Magical Evil Eye is said to give demons unimaginable power and with demons being able to use magic we could have had Gomah turn into a unique trickster magic-based threat. But the Eye only makes him bigger and buffer with unlimited stamina. It’s just a very boring and disappointing way to give a boost to him.
Now let’s address the elephant in the room. Or should I say monkey? The introduction of SSJ4 is gratuitous fanservice and in theory I have no problem with it being in the series. What I do have a problem with is how it is actually introduced. This transformation had no build up, no foreshadowing, no process of struggle. Our magic man Neva just walked up to Goku and gave it to him, acting as a Deus ex machina (just like with the barriers earlier). There is no story behind it, and it feels like the form was thrown in there just to please fans and not to actually serve the narrative.
I can see what they were trying to do with Glorio but it was incredibly half-baked. The entire time he was working as a double agent for Arinsu and the show was setting up for having him betray her. The issue is that we never really got to see him build a bond or understanding with Goku and we never got to see why he was loyal to Arinsu. This made the entire betrayal fall flat when it happened. They did hint that Arinsu brought up Glorio from the Third Demon World, but Glorio alluding to his ‘master saving him’ and how he ‘sees her as a mother’ in earlier episodes would have gone a long way to show why he respects her and is grateful to her. We also needed a scene or two of Goku and Glorio having a serious bonding moment where Glorio begins to respect Goku as a person. This could have been interesting to see especially because Goku is at a later stage in life than Glorio and could provide some sort of wisdom. But in the absence of that, Glorio just came of as a tsundere that didn’t really care for Arinsu too much. The ending with Kuu and Arinsu ruling the Demon Realm wasn’t too bad, but it would have felt a bit stronger if some more focus was put on them earlier.
SPOILER SECTION ENDS
TL;DR
Daima retains a lot of the issues of post-DBZ series. Goku is still dumb, the first section feels like padding, many of the characters are useless or wasted and there isn’t much logic or rationale applied to how strong the characters are. If you are looking for something of the same quality to carry on Dragonball’s legacy, then I recommend skipping this series. If you just want more Dragonball content, then I recommend turning off your brain and just enjoying the ride. It’s not meant to be a show you’re supposed to take 100% seriously. If you are new to the franchise and are wondering if you should start with Daima, I say no. You’re far better off starting at the beginning from Dragonball since Daima relies heavily on nostalgia for previous entries, and to be frank doesn’t come close to the storytelling which made this series legendary to begin with.
Feb 28, 2025
Dragon Ball Daima
(Anime)
add
This review is for Dragonball fans that were disappointed in GT and Super and are wondering if Daima lives up to the hype. Perhaps you’ve heard that Akira Toriyama has closely worked on the series and since it’s his true vision, that means it lives up the franchise’s legacy.
NON-SPOILER section begins here Story A few problems I have with the premise of the story is that it: a) retreads ground and b) happens before End of Z. We’ve already seen Goku as a kid in GT so that’s not exciting or new. The story happening before the End of Z means that we know at the ... |
