From The Newsletter: Dragon Ball Daima
My thoughts on Dragon Ball Daima
This was originally written for my newsletter
D: Yoshitaka Yashima & Aya Matsu / W: Yūko Kakihara / Story by: Akira Toriyama
I’ve been a big fan of Dragon Ball since I watching Dragon Ball Z on Toonami after school, so it’s needless to say that I will be with this franchise for years to come. But I think this was the most disappointed I’ve been in a Dragon Ball show. The incredible animation just couldn’t make up for how poorly the story was told.
Now that’s not to say that I didn’t like it. There’s actually quite a bit that I did like in it. The fights are excellent and I really enjoyed how each character was written. The english voice cast was very well cast, especially Supreme Kai, and I liked exploring the Demon World. There’s one episode where Goku fights Tamagami 3 that I thought was excellent and probably the best episode of the season. The show also features two incredible uses of the Kamehameha that rank as some of the best in the entire franchise. I’m also not the kind of person to care about the introduction of Super Saiyan 4 in a prequel to Dragon Ball Super, especially because it’s my favorite form in the franchise and it’s nice to see it made canon again.
But the pacing of the show is really where it gets me. Whenever it feels like there’s some momentum going, the show crashes a plane to stall it. That’s fine in a show that goes for 50-100 episodes, but Dragon Ball Daima was built for 20. There is no more after that. A show like that needs to have a sense of forward momentum, but it doesn’t it just meanders so much. We even stop exploring the Demon World after a while as the show completely drops elements it sets up in the beginning. It has to contrive a way for the whole gang to stay seperated multiple times. It just begame very frustrating.
I don’t mind exposition. Especially since so many Dragon Ball characters have their origins in the Demon World. But it doesn’t even seem to be important after a while. Shin, the Supreme Kai, meets his long lost siblings like it doesn’t even matter to him. The same is true the other way. It’s like the show sets up the idea that we should care that Shin has a brother and sister in the Demon World and then forgets to pay it off in any meaningful way. I was equally as disappointed in how Piccolo reacted to being on the world where his people were from. I get that he was born on Earth and has no connection to the place, but I guess I just felt there should be some weight attached to the moment. Neva is grea though. Loved him, no notes.
Gomah isn’t a very interesting villain either. He poses no threat to our heroes and we’re told that he’s a tyrant without seeing him be a tyrant. Or specifically we see his effect on people and then we stop seeing it before the half way point of the series. He’s kind of a wet blanket and the only interesting thing about him was when he got his power up. At least he offered a good fight. The last few episodes were very exciting, but I kind of felt that Gomah as almost as boring of a character as Cell Max from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Another postive I have is the theme song. I’m genuinly upset that we will never hear this theme again. It’s one of the best that Dragon Ball has ever produced. It’s one of those “never skip” intros. Just an absolute banger.
I liked the beginning and I liked the ending. The characterizations are solid, I hate Hybis, and I liked Majin Kuu and Duu more then I thought I would. I just wish it was paced better, and kept the sense of adventure throughout the entire series. It’s not a bad show and certainly not a bad entry in this franchise, but it is a disappointing end to the end of Akira Toryama’s Dragon Ball and it’s likely my least favorite. I just felt the middle dragged way more then a 20 episode series should and brought the series down as a whole because of it. The animation is incredible though.
