The Screen Scribe

The further we get into Dragon Ball Daima’s run the more it reminds me of the original Dragon Ball. It’s simply just a lot of fun to watch. It’s never boring and is a visual treat as the animation is consistently pushing the level of its quality with each passing episode. This episode in particular, titled “Thieves”, delivers some of the most creative and visually appealing animation we’ve seen thus far from Daima, and to my own personal delight, one of these scenes features a truly memorable neon nightclub brawl involving Vegeta.

After last weeks explosive episode that was full of narrative shocks and a superb fight, I had a feeling episode 9 would slow things down and let everyone catch their breath. I wasn’t wrong, and while some may complain and label this episode as filler, it most certainly isn’t. While Goku and friends finally reunite with their allies (itself a treat to see all these characters old and new interacting) and some decent combat from fan favourites, the truly fascinating aspect of this episode comes from our villains.

Majin Buu’s shadow has hung heavy over Daima’s proceedings from the very first episode and after last week’s shocking revelations about the creation of Majin Buu, it was a delight to not be left waiting around to see the witch Marba enact her latest Majin monsters birth, Majin Kuu. There are some surprising callbacks to the Saiyan Saga from Dragon Ball Z, reflected in the ingredients for Kuu’s creation and in his final design and I’m very interested to see what Vegeta’s reaction to this will be. And it seems we won’t have to wait around for long to see this new Majin in action, as Dr. Arinsu dispatches her monster to challenge Tamagami #1 to test Kuu’s power.

Overall, while a simpler and much slower instalment in the journey through the Demon Realm, Daima delivers another weekly dose of fun and visual satisfaction. I am slightly concerned that we are nearing the halfway point of this series and there are so many plates still spinning in this narrative that need to be resolved, but in my book Daima has earned some faith with its brilliant run thus far.

3 / 5 from the Screen Scribe.

Dragon Ball Daima airs every Friday on Netflix and Crunchyroll.