Dragon Ball DAIMA is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix
One year after the death of Dabura at the hands of Majin Buu, the Demon Realm has a new ruler - the pint-sized Gomah. Rewatching the events that led to Buu's defeat, Gomah, along with his aide Degesu and his sister Dr Arinsu, scheme to use Earth's Dragon Balls to turn Earth's strongest warriors into children - thus making them no threat to the Demon Realm. Gomah travels to Earth and successfully enacts his plan, also kidnapping the infant Dende in the process.
As Goku, Vegeta and friends learn what has happened to them, they are approached by Glorio - a demon who wishes to help them and stop Gomah's rule. Together with Glorio and the Third Demon World Princess Panzy, Goku and friends travel to the Demon Realm to collect their version of the Dragon Balls, return to normal, rescue Dende and defeat Gomah.
After Dragon Ball Super completely changed the playing field the franchise was operating on, it was hard to imagine how Dragon Ball DAIMA would be able to go back to a time before the emergence of god ki. Similarly, with the initial reveals for the series almost solely playing on the fact that Goku and friends were going to be transformed into children many assumed that the series was going to be Toriyama making his own take on the rather divisive Dragon Ball GT. But while DAIMA is far from a case of simply "trying to right GT's wrongs", it does at the very least share a distinct similarity with its early episodes - a return to the adventure format that defined the original Dragon Ball. Whereas the franchise would infamously become more preoccupied with stronger foes and powered up forms in later years, DAIMA primarily sees Goku and friends traversing the Demon Realm in search of the titular trinkets. In many ways it's essentially a Dragon Ball isekai, given both the transformation that happens to the main character and the story almost entirely takes place in another world. It's clear that it presented an opportunity to Toriyama to flex his fantasy storytelling as well, with the mechanics and hierarchy of the Demon Realm, as well as the items used for healing and such, feeling straight out of the RPGs he did so many character designs for. So while anyone looking for DAIMA to be similar to Super might find themselves slightly disappointed, the show is a reminder of that classic Dragon Ball format whilst also mixing in many of the popular elements that came later.
The other hallmark of the original Dragon Ball (and Toriyama's best known work in general) is a lighter tone, and when it comes to DAIMA this is something even the lyrics of the opening theme prepare viewers for. "Here comes a new story, thousands of jabs and silly jokes, they're waiting for you" is exactly right, as the sillier side of Dragon Ball takes centre stage in this adventure. As the later episodes prove this doesn't come completely at the expense of the action, but DAIMA is the kind of show that would rather (and does so repeatedly) resolve a battle with a silly joke or two than a triumph of strength. Look no further than how the Demon Realm Dragon Balls are obtained, where battling their Tamagami guardians proves to be only half of the test. While not all of the jokes necessarily land, it's a reminder that Dragon Ball is far from a serious affair. Even with everything going on in Super, some of its comedy-focused "filler" episodes are among the best ones. The fact that a lot of the story progression is also pre-meditated on gags makes it a lot less predictable, which only adds to the fun factor the series has. The series itself ended on a gag is reflective of the kind of tone DAIMA has, as well as fitting way for Toriyama's comic timing to be remembered.
It's not as if the show was ever going to be primarily focused on anyone else, but a return to the lighter side of Dragon Ball means everyone's favourite idiot is very much in the spotlight here. Visually his transformation back into a child echoes his look in the original series (and as a side-note, it was a really nice touch of the English dub to bring Stephanie Nadolny to voice his child form), but Goku's naive personality works really well for his adventures across the Demon Realm. It's very much a good-natured idiot being surrounded by a bunch of straight men, both from the returning Dragon Ball cast and the newly created characters for DAIMA. The principle cast of the series is arguably Goku, the Supreme Kai, Glorio and Panzy - with Vegeta, Bulma and Piccolo joining later on. The Supreme Kai is quite a nice addition to the central cast, particularly with all the lore surrounding the Glind featured in the show. Glorio is very much the straight man of the show, often bewildered by both Goku's strength and his naivety but also keeping his true allegiances shadowy for a lot of the series. By comparison Panzy is far more energetic - similarly surprised by Goku but with an energy far more matching of his. Even though Bulma herself joins the series later on, she serves a similar role in teaching Goku about the world around him.
Once the other Dragon Ball characters join the story it does begin to feel like an awfully crowded main cast for such a short show, and that's discounting the other brand new characters that also join the party. While it's certainly nice to have them there, there's no denying that they can feel a little superfluous at times. Piccolo particularly seems to have very little to do for the most part - his presence more to tie in the Namekians to the Demon Realm, harking all the way back to King Piccolo himself. Vegeta gets a little more to do, but even then it's largely relegated to fighting and arguing with Goku (though as usual, Bulma and Vegeta's relationship continues to be an excellent source of comedy for the series). And although Bulma's role does feel largely filled by Panzy after she succeeds in getting the other characters to the Demon Realm, there's something that just feels right about Goku being on a grand adventure with her once more. Sometimes, seeing these familiar faces is all you really need even if they don't have a great deal to offer to the plot.
Similarly the villains are all a lot of fun, but surface deep even by Dragon Ball standards. Almost all of DAIMA's first episode is spent introducing the audience to Gomah, the new king of the Demon Realm. It's immediately clear from his character design that Gomah doesn't really pose much of a threat to our heroes, and instead needs to take them off the playing field through trickery rather than defeating them outright. While the series does offer some much-needed insight into the Demon Realm, there isn't really anything in the way of backstory for Gomah - he's about as cartoon villain as they come, which is arguably fitting for both the tone of DAIMA and it's overall length. The introduction of the ancient demon artifact the Third Eye in order to make him even remotely a challenge to the heroes is more than a little deus ex machina, but with the absence of any other strong villains works to give the climax that necessary energy boost. Unfortunately there's much less to say about Degesu - Gomah's right-hand man (and brother to the Supreme Kai) who poses a little intrigue at first but ultimately doesn't really amount to anything at all. His sister Dr Arinsu is a far more enjoyable character, but even her scheming to get the Demon Realm throne for herself doesn't throw that much of a spanner in the works. Her newly-created henchmen, Majin Kuu and Majin Duu, don't present the same threat as their namesake and instead add to the growing roster of somewhat bumbling yet surprisingly loveable characters. Kuu in particular is a nice change of pace, a Majin/Saibaman hybrid that's not only surprisingly perceptive and intelligent, but also just wants to do his very best to please his master. While none of these characters feel like they'll go down among Dragon Ball's very best antagonists (even of the term is used very loosely for some of them), they are competent enough for the story and will certainly bring a smile or two to your face at some point during the show's run.
That isn't even counting the various side characters that help make the Demon Realm feel that little bit bigger, including the likes of Panzy's father King Kadan (and his soldiers), the Gendarmerie Army and even just all the one note characters like shopkeepers and monsters to keep up that fantasy setting. Again most of them are comedic first and foremost, with the Gendarmerie Army no match for Goku and friends even with their own equivalent of the Ginyu Force. Other are just plain weird, like Kadan's bumbling servant Hybis (who later joins the gang on their journey). Again it's unlikely that any of them are going to top anyone's list favourites, but in both design and personality they're varied enough for this to feel like the Dragon Ball cast has stepped into an alternate world. This is also true of how they view their abilities, with the Demon Realm initially viewing Goku's powering up as a form of magic. While it might not really amount to much in the grand scheme of things, its those little differences that help DAIMA feel different whilst so familiar at the same time.
Even with such a small episode count, DAIMA proves to have plenty to offer the larger Dragon Ball canon. Dabura's inclusion in the Majin Buu raised the concept of the Demon Realm, despite being something that the arc didn't necessarily have time to explore. DAIMA picking up that lingering plot thread and running with it makes it a great follow up to the Buu Saga, not only answering some of the questions fans had but also bringing a few surprises along with it. The prominence of the Supreme Kai in the story is intentional, with DAIMA not only offering some insight on his race but even going so far to reveal his proper name after all these years. Similarly Neva's inclusion builds upon what we had previously learned about the Namekians - tying them back to "demon king" Piccolo without disregarding the origins explored during Dragon Ball Z. That said, DAIMA isn't afraid of the odd retcon either - it's changing of how the Supreme Kai and Kibito separated following the Buu Saga compared Super sending some fans into a tizzy after one episode. While it's perhaps best not to think too hard about the changes or just how well DAIMA leads into Super, it's nice that it has some of these little lore drops to tie it back to the wider universe as well as feeling like it's own separate adventure.
But predictably one of the biggest talking points DAIMA will bring the Dragon Ball fandom for years to come are what it brought in terms of fan service to its fight scenes. Given how much they were plastered all over the internet minutes within the episodes first airing it's unlikely that you're reading this without being aware that DAIMA "canonised" (or at the very least made them canon within a Toriyama-led production) Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Super Saiyan 4 Goku, the former of which is a long wished for inclusion to Dragon Ball canon and the other a fan favourite form whose legitimacy has been a subject of debate for years. Much like the inclusions/change to the lore DAIMA brought with it, these reveals haven't come without debate - namely that if this series takes place in the same timeline as Super, why were they not included there. Beyond the obvious answer of "they simply didn't exist at the time", ultimately it really doesn't matter. Super didn't take long at all to change the scope of which Goku and Vegeta were fighting at, whilst malleable canonicity and things simply just being forgotten about are all part of the authentic Dragon Ball experience (as is the overwhelming amount of merchandise the forms are about to generate). Sometimes, it really is just all about the spectacle and that's very much the case here. SSJ3 Vegeta looks just as how you'd expect it to, but the slight alterations that have been made to the SSJ4 design work well to set it apart from the GT version and give it it's own unique flavour.
And on the subject of fight scenes, it's worth mentioning just how spectacular Dragon Ball DAIMA looks throughout its run. This isn't a case like Super where fans had to get through some ropey early episodes in order to get to the good stuff - DAIMA's short length and perhaps a little more planned launch allow it to look great from the get-go. Though the character design is a maybe a little bit rounder than previous entries, the characters all look great and good likenesses of how Toriyama drew them in his later years. Though the designs for the cast's younger forms are sometimes more "chibi" than they are "younger", again it all feels very in-keeping with the style DAIMA has opted for. In terms of animation the best is naturally kept for those crisp fight scenes, but even the moments of downtime have their visual charm with a colour palette that really sets it apart from the Human Realm. Not only is it a great looking show, but perhaps the most consistent a Dragon Ball series has ever looked.
While probably not quite what a lot of people expected, Dragon Ball DAIMA was a short but nevertheless enjoyable ride. It marked a long-needed return to the story's roots - bringing both the adventure and comedic elements to the forefront once more. But at the same time it didn't ignore what Dragon Ball later evolved into with Z and Super, with some fantastic action sequences as well as some long-awaited moments of fan service that are equally satisfying as they are head-scratching. Most of all though, Dragon Ball DAIMA is just plain fun - something that couldn't be more appropriate to Toriyama's final work. While its popularity assures that the Dragon Ball franchise will continue on in some shape or form, it's fair to say that it will never be quite the same again. Thank you for everything Toriyama-sensei.
No comments:
Post a Comment