The Screen Scribe

While the previous entries in this newest instalment of Dragon Ball were good and entertaining, episode 4 is just downright pure, unadulterated fun. I loved everything it had to offer, which is a lot. Daima is off to a much stronger start than Super managed, both in terms of narrative, character development and most importantly, stellar animation. It’s well documented how disastrously poor the animation was for the early arcs of Dragon Ball Super, but Daima is thankfully not suffering from the same affliction. While the early episodes give the impression that Toriyama was attempting to recapture the fun, adventure type of magic that the original Dragon Ball had, this has evolved into its own animal in just four short episodes, while retaining the essential aspects of the Dragon Ball franchise.

Daima is doing an excellent job of utilizing its new location to subvert the expectations of fans of the long running franchise by being unpredictable and willing to experiment with its formula. The more episodes I watch, the more I see the influence of RPG’s on Dragon Ball Daima’s narrative and worldbuilding. And I absolutely love it. It’s a genius move that keeps the franchise fresh and relevant but retains the core elements that long time fans adore. For instance, every Dragon Ball fan knows what a Senzu Bean is, and what it does. It’s the same with the Potara Earrings. Dragon Ball Daima has taken these staples of the series and remade them to suit the Demon Realm, albeit in the form of crystalised demon bugs. This has a two-fold function: to elevate the worldbuilding of the Demon Realm itself, and to aid Goku by giving him temporary power up methods to compensate for his lowered power level and difficulty adjusting to the Demon Realm atmosphere. It’s a genius method of taking the old and making it fresh.

The focus of our quest seems to have shifted during this episode, as talk of the Demon Realm Dragon Balls pops up, and we get a payoff from the earlier mention of the Tamagami as Goku goes absolutely nuts when Glorio mentions how powerful they are. Goku, in typical Goku fashion, wants to fight them, and the group decide this is the better option to aimlessly wandering the Demon Realm looking for Dende. Episode 4 also ups the frequency of its fight sequences, giving first Glorio a chance to flex his muscles and demonstrate more of his capabilities, and also allowing Goku to cut loose in epic fashion as he takes on a squadron of Demon soldiers with his power pole that is a sweeping, beautifully choreographed and fluid piece of animation that makes my mouth water for a more substantial action piece. The RPG elements continue to pop up, as our ‘party’ pick up a new member during the aforementioned fight scene. Her name is Panzy, and she’s also a blue-skinned Demon that we will get to know in future episodes.

Each episode seems to improve upon the previous and if Daima continues in this fashion, I’m very excited to see where this new iteration of Dragon Ball can go.

4 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

Dragon Ball Daima airs every Friday on Netflix and Crunchyroll.