The Screen Scribe

I’m a few weeks behind it’s premiere, but the newest Dragon Ball adventure has finally begun. Set before Dragon Ball Super, Daima begins almost immediately after the Buu saga. The Z-Fighters are celebrating their hard-won victory over Kid Buu and the restoration of Earth, but unknown to them, in a world far away from Earth, the new Demon King is plotting a scheme to remove our heroes from his path to absolute power.

Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball’s acclaimed and beloved creator, is well known for taking elements of his famous franchise and reusing them in a fresh and dynamic new way. Dragon Ball Daima is no exception. Dragon Ball fans will recall the divisive Dragon Ball GT sequel to Z, a series many now consider non-canon, that saw Goku fall victim to a wish that transformed him from an adult back to a child. While the series itself was unpopular with most of the fanbase, this was seen as an interesting step, especially for fans of the original Dragon Ball series. Dragon Ball Daima takes this concept a step further and sees the entire team of Z Fighters and their loved ones transformed into children, albeit retaining their adult personas.

Longtime Dragon Ball fans are also introduced to a world long cried out for in the mainline series, the Demon Realm. Here we see two new, unnamed characters watch the Majin Buu saga unfold, which provides an interesting recap and a chance to see key, iconic scenes recreated with modern animation, to absolutely stunning effect, specifically Goku and Majin Vegeta’s brutal clash. This makes the Daima series easily accessible to newcomers and older fans alike who may need a refresher on the end of the classic Z series. Vegeta’s scenes from the Buu saga in particular are beautifully recreated, to the joy of Vegeta fans, myself included.

The animation is superb, sharp and clean and fluid with vibrant, popping colour schemes. I sincerely hope that any future Dragon Ball animations retain this level of quality, given Super’s well documented issues with animation that plagued much of its run, only seeing an elevated turn of quality towards the back end of the Tournament of Power arc. Though it should be noted that Dragon Ball Super: Broly was an outstanding achievement of animation for an anime film (and well worth watching if you haven’t had the chance).

As far as Daima’s first episode is concerned, it is quite exposition heavy, doing much to set up the coming series with a large chunk of its half hour runtime focusing on the new demonic antagonists King Gomah and Degesu. As I mentioned earlier, the set up of Daima feels very reminiscent of Dragon Ball GT, but closer in tone to Super. Being the final project Akira Toriyama himself worked on before his passing earlier this year, it is very likely that we may see some connections emerge that will link to elements of Super, but that remains to be seen as I continue to catch up.

Overall, a promising new entry into the Dragon Ball universe that effectively introduces fresh new elements to an old franchise, establishes a new threat for our heroes, and fills the dragon-sized hole left by the ending of Super that saw fans yearning for more of their favourite Z-Fighters. New episodes of Dragon Ball Daima air every Friday on Netflix and Crunchyroll, be sure to check it out.

7 / 10 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.