Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Chatsunami.
Speaker: Despite its iconic status within the anime pantheon, Dragon Ball has a surprisingly diverse range of shows attached to it. What began as a fantastical action comedy series in Dragon Ball to its more serious sci -fi action counterpart Dragon Ball Z. One cannot exactly say that the creators always tried to do the same thing. The peak of this culminated in 1996.
Speaker: where a sequel to Z known in as Dragon Ball GT was released to the world, with efforts to fuse the serious stakes of Z with the levity of Dragon Ball. Unfortunately, while the title for the most infamous Dragon Ball property would eventually go to the live action film Evolution, GT became a somewhat joke within the community.
Speaker: Despite some cool elements such as Super Saiyan 4 and a chance to see old characters reunited, most of the criticisms came from seeing Goku revert back to a child and stay in that form for most of the show. I don't know if any of you have had this reaction before, but there's nothing worse than going to watch one of your favourite shows only to realise that this is the plot they are going to be following for the whole time. So when it was announced that Dragon Ball Daima would be releasing a show which took the cast after the events of Z and turned Goku into a child again, yeah alarm bells were ringing. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to think of it myself when it was announced at the end of 2023.
Speaker: All I really knew about it was that the cast had been chibified and Goku would be going back to an over -the -top adventure to save his friends akin to the old Dragon Ball days. But Daima would go to the back of my mind until one fateful announcement in March of 2024 with the passing of series creator Akira Toriyama.
Speaker: It sounds weird to say considering that I obviously didn't know him personally, but the passing of such an influential creator of a show that taught me the values of friendship and never giving up was heartbreaking. I know I'm not alone in thinking that even today, I still see people writing the phrase RIP Toriyama under Dragon Ball posts online, so to learn that Daima was his final project makes it all the more poignant when looking at this new series.
Speaker: As of writing this episode, only episodes 1 -5 have been released, so this is what I'll be basing my first impressions of. of That being said, does this new series tread too much on old ground, or does it succeed in creating something new and exciting in this time of Wonderland? With any further ado, grab your supplies and let's head through the mouth of a Cruntoed celestial fish, erm, I mean Warped Lord, in Find Out. Dragon Ball Daima takes place shortly after the events of the Majin Buu saga, after the defeat of the infamous Kid Buu. While celebrating the birthday of Trunks, the Z fighters are unaware of a nefarious plot unfurling in the depths of the demon realm.
Speaker: After learning that Majin Buu has finally been defeated, successor to the demon realm King Goma steals the Dragon Balls of Earth to turn anyone who fought Buu into a child. After the wish is made, the race is on for Goku and friends to stop Goma from causing any more harm by travelling to the demon realm. Now right off the bat, the plot's ridiculous.
Speaker: over the top, and downright silly. And you know what? It's everything Dragon Ball unashamedly already is, and it chooses not to shy away from those moments. I feel like this encapsulates Daima perfectly, in particular with the wonderfully animated recap of the Majin Buu saga of Zee, from the iconic sacrifice of Vegeta to turning former King Dima Nobura into a big cookie. You can see the silly and the serious do a little fusion dance right there and then, It just makes the series that much more endearing. And speaking of the animation, the whole series looks absolutely brilliant. As someone who slogged their way through the majority of Super, I can safely say that this Kamehameha has us out the water. While there are a load of reasons behind this, animation deadlines being the serial offender here, Daima makes everything feel so vibrant and wonderful to look at. I also cannot emphasise how good the action is here. Dare I say, I was actually shocked when I was able to see the martial arts part of the fight, rather than a few bursts of energy here and there. A few standouts include most of Goku's fights in the demon realm, from fighting King Oma's guards, to straight up engaging in a mid dinner bar brawl.
Speaker: It's refreshing to see how Goku is using his skills as a martial artist by utilising his environment against his opponents, all the while learning how to adapt to his new body. It may not feel like a lot, but it is so refreshing and mixed with the vibrant colour palette, it makes everything stand out so well. Going back to the plot, the majority so far has been spent in the dreaded demon realm. which, while not the most visually interesting at times, builds up the load of the universe in and a way that I never thought would grab my attention. I've explained that those with pointiers are from the demon realm, which of course includes Kais and the Mekians,
Speaker: Something which I don't think has been so overtly addressed, bar the obvious Demon King Piccolo of the OG series. It's really cool to see this world once again flesh out, and after all these years, get to see how everything falls into place. As for the characters themselves, most of the original gang act the same as ever, with Goku acting appropriately childish and full of curiosity. He's also joined by newcomers Glorio and Pansy, two demons with different agendas to fulfill on their own journey. While I don't think they're necessarily fully fleshed out yet, seeing as we've only spent a few episodes with them respectively, it's always amusing watching them in disbelief from both Goku's fighting abilities as well as his naivety. As for the main villain, King Goma, he feels a lot like a Dragon Ball villain, at least akin to Pilaf with a degree in the dark arts.
Speaker: It will be interesting to see how his plans unfold through the course of the story. One more key highlight I want to touch on is the theme song Jaka Jan, which I was surprised to learn was performed by the German record producer Z in Japanese vocal duo C &K. I would go as far as to put it up there with some of the greatest OPs of the series. While it might not be at the top, it's certainly a contender. Also fair warning, it will get into your head if you listen to it enough times.
Speaker: That being said, this show is not without its criticisms. While I personally like it, one odd choice is that the story takes place between the events of Z and Super. A surprise, sure, but it was nice to go back to a world old where Goku's hair wasn't blue for 90 % on the show. Another weird paradox was its simultaneously adding to in reducing the mysticism of certain characters. One such example was the Supreme Kai Shin, who we learn not only has siblings in the demon realm, but he himself belongs to a race known as the Glind. While I appreciate at the lower building, it also takes away from what made them so special in the first place, with godly entities responsible for potentially universe -endic stakes, being just another guy with pointy ears. Overall though, despite its basic, albeit odd premise, Dragonball Daima delivers in my opinion. It's definitely not for every Dragon Ball fan and that is absolutely alright. While this was indeed Tony and the Swan Song series, it doesn't mean that one cannot point out that it doesn't click with them. In addition, the last time we saw the Z fighters was when they were fighting for their literal existence in the Tournament of Power, so to scale the stakes drastically can have a severe tone of whiplash.
Speaker: While it's no wonder people initially compared the series to GT, I think this does it a disservice after watching it. It's a light -hearted adventure that harkens back to the old days of Goku and the grand adventure equipped with his trusty power pole. To defeat any foes he may encounter, where the backstory is heavily rooted in Z, it knows when to take itself seriously. and when to create moments of levity throughout. So if you're looking to fill that Dragon Ball void in your life, then I could not recommend the series more. With gorgeous animation and action set pieces, I think it's more than entertaining enough to hold its own. On the other hand, if you're not a fan of the comedic elements of the series, or the odd retcon here or there, then that's also fine. At the end of the day, this is a franchise that has brought in millions of fans from all over the world together.
Speaker: and we should be able to enjoy it the way we want. But what did you think? Was this show indeed a dime a wonderland of content? Or did the shift to Kid Goku bring back too many bad memories? Whatever the case, reach out and let us know. But if you would like more content from ourselves then you can check it out on our website Chatsunami dot .com as well as all good podcast apps.
Speaker: I would also like to thank her panda learning patrons Robotic Battle Toaster, Sonya and Ghosty. Thank you so much for the continued support, and if you would like exclusive content and behind the scenes access then you can check out our Patreon page patreon dot .com forward slash chat tsunami. But until next time, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated.
