The Screen Scribe

While the premiere episode focused almost exclusively on introducing the new antagonists from the Demon Realm and establishing the new threat they posed, “Glorio” pivots back to our heroes and their reactions from their transformation into children. Much of the episode focuses on how the Z-Fighters adjust to their new mini forms, with a particular focus on Goku. It will come as no surprise to fans that Vegeta and Piccolo are understandably angry over this development, while Goku as always seems unfazed. Chi-Chi and Bulma relish being young again while Krillin…well Krillin is still small.

It raises and interesting parallel with the franchise itself. Dragon Ball has reinvented itself several times over its decades long existence, and as I stated in the review for the premiere episode, it does an excellent job of introducing fresh new ideas and revitalising old ones. For instance, Goku reclaims his famous power pole from the original Dragon Ball series to aid in adjusting his body to his mini form and his screwed sense of distance. This is cleverly established by highlighting Goku training for two days to reorient himself to his mini body and helps to establish character dynamics and power scaling, which for a series like Dragon Ball is immensely important.

It is important to remember also, that while it was Goku who defeated Kid Buu before Daima, it is in fact Gohan who is the most powerful Z-Fighter at this current time in the series. His Ultimate form is far more powerful than Goku’s Super Saiyan 3. Which riases the interesting question, why is Gohan conspicuously absent from the opening two episodes? Has Gohan been turned into a child also? Does he retain his adult form? If so, this could be vitally important as the story progresses, especially if Goku and Vegeta in particular suffer from a drop in power level.

While episode two is the complete opposite of the premiere in terms of pacing and plot (which is sparse to say the least) it fully embraces the comedic tone of the original Dragon Ball series and is rife with imagery of kid Goku training, eating and otherwise acting the charming fool like only Goku can. Poor Kibito is relegated to delivery boy jobs, often to humorous effect as the episode plays out. It’s also curious that not once is Goku’s ability to use Instant Transmission mentioned. Has he lost it due to his child-like form? If not, it’s a very obvious omission.

The episode retains the top-notch quality of animation, complete with more, brief flashbacks of the climactic battle between Goku and Kid Buu rendered in beautiful modern artwork. However, the episode often feels like an extension of the premiere, more like the second half of a two-part brace of episodes, and I would likely think they would have been more enjoyable to watch back-to-back. “Glorio” continues Daima’s strong start and keeps the viewer invested in the predicament our heroes find themselves in, and now that the preliminaries are out of the way, hopefully the main round is up next.

Dragon Ball Daima is out every Friday on Netflix and Crunchyroll, be sure to check it out.

7 / 10 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.