I’ve been on a pretty big Dragon Ball kick for a bit now that I haven’t really talked about on the site yet. This is partly because I’ve just always loved Dragon Ball, but also because this year, especially the last bit of it, has been amazing for the series, with lots of wonderful things releasing like Sparking Zero and what we’re talking about today, Dragon Ball Daima.

Daima is an interesting series as far as the timeline goes because it’s slotted right in between other arcs. The last big anime was Super with that being the current timeline, but Daima is an anime original series that’s put pretty soon after the Buu arc and end of Z, but before Super takes place. With the whole deal being that Goku and friends are turned into children and have to go to the Demon Realm. One of these things sounds pretty familiar if you know GT.

A Child Again Again

Goku becoming a child that goes on an adventure in new lands with nerfed power scaling to try and capture the vibe of OG Dragon Ball again isn’t a new concept. It’s basically the exact thing that GT did. What separates Daima more is that instead of going to these random worlds to collect the Dragon Balls, we focus on the Demon Realm which expands upon some more of the lore of the series like mentions to Dabura and some other characters, In fact, this really does feel like a true sequel to the Buu Saga in a way GT didn’t quite, which I do really appreciate.

The other big difference is that everyone is children this time around and not just Goku. While we really haven’t seen too much of the other characters fight besides just Goku as of writing this. Also Vegeta getting bodied. It is fun to see all the typical fighters powered down a bit and get used to what it’s like fighting with a smaller body. That’s something in particular that I really enjoyed. Seeing how the fights play out at this lower power level and Goku taking advantage of the power pole again.

Something that feels inevitable is comparing Daima to GT a lot. I really like GT, but there is a similar vibe to what both series want to accomplish. It’s an attempt to get back to a simpler time. Back before the characters reached insane numbers, ya know? And I think to a degree, they both managed to do that well, but I do think Daima is more successful at it. As of now at least.

I think something that GT did that lost that magic was that it eventually just turned into Dragon Ball Z again by the end. And for as much as I like Z, even that lost some of what Dragon Ball is. Goku began nerfed, but he eventually reached new levels of power and became even stronger than ever before. As a sequel and still latest point in the timeline, they wanted to make things feel bigger and grander and in doing that, I think it eventually lost the vibe GT was supposed to have. However, I do love SSJ 4 canon or not, so whatever.

Daima is already starting at a bit of an unfair advantage here since it not only doesn’t have to force the power levels up, but it doesn’t make sense to at all. They really can’t since Super still takes place after. That Goku has to be stronger or else nothing really works. Or they just make Daima non-canon too, which for all I know it may not be, who knows? I actually don’t. I should be canon. Let’s be real, it probably depends on how much people like it in the end.

Less Than 9000, Please

It’s just really nice to have a powered down version of Dragon Ball again, where the goal isn’t standing against some crazy monster as a god, but more focused on the journey again. Goku doesn’t just teleport where he needs to go this time. We take time to actually travel and learn about the Demon Realm and characters both new and old.

It allows Dragon Ball to be focused more on humor again. It’s just lighter Dragon Ball. Everything that was nice about it, still with good battles, but death and destruction and massive universe killing people aren’t as prevalent. I like all forms the series takes, but this one is really nice and I’m enjoying it way more than I thought I would so far.

This was the last series that Toriyama was able to personally work on, which is the biggest reason I started watching it, beyond just being a fan. The things Toriyama has done not only for manga, anime, games, and shonen, but like practically everything with pop culture cannot be understated. He was and will continue to be one of the most important and inspiring artists and authors ever. So seeing Daima be as fun and light as it is feels like a very fitting send off, honestly. I think it’s been great so far.

Dragon Ball is one of the most important media series there is for me. Regardless of it’s that the anime or games I grew up with or these recent takes on everything. Besides Pokemon, it probably is the franchise that’s been with me the longest and most consistently. It’s why I even know what anime is, really, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Thank you very much for reading