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Dragon Ball Daimais only a few episodes in, but it’s already winning over fans for its portrayal of Goku and theDragon Ballworld. That’s a stark difference from how most fans feel aboutDragon Ball GT, to the point that the latter series had fans seriously worried aboutDaima.
Dragon Ball GTwas the first attempt to continueDragon Ballafter the original manga ended, and featured original storylines that were crafted by the anime’s writers, rather than series creator Akira Toriyama himself. One ofGT’s most controversial decisions was the de-aging of Goku at the start of the story, as it didn’t feel very narratively justified and came about due to an accidental wish on the Black Star Dragon Balls by Emperor Pilaf. This left Goku in his child form once again, setting out into the universe with his granddaughter Pan to retrieve these dragon balls to prevent the Earth from exploding.
Daima’s Kid Goku Works Far Better than GT’s Ever Did
Daima Has a Few Factors Working in Its Favor Which GT Didn’t Benefit From
InGT,Goku claims to be happy to have been reverted to a child and is completely unconcerned with the consequences of this wish–at least until it’s brought up thatthe Black Star Dragon Ballsdestroy the planet where the wish was made. Goku adapts to being a child again preposterously quickly, and gets up to antics like he would if he were actually 12 years old, not a 12-year-old with the mind of an adult. There doesn’t seem to be much narrative reason for Goku to have been de-aged; it just sort of happens accidentally, making Pilaf look especially stupid.
Daima, however, has a number of reasons for the situation that Goku and the others find themselves in. Firstly, the enemies witnessed Goku defeating Majin Buu, and took action against him for a reason, interpreting his power as a threat. They considered more violent wishes, but ultimately realized that the nature of Earth’s dragon balls wouldn’t allow them to directly harm Goku, and so only then land on the idea of de-aging “everyone” who fought against Buu.
Secondly,Daimadoesn’t just affect Goku; nearly every named character, from the Supreme Kai to Chi Chi, has been affected by this wish, making the problem much more significant than if it was just Goku. Goku’s mission is initiated by the fact that someone used a wish against them, and aims to correct that wish by defeating the wisher. The wish is (rightfully) interpreted as an attack against them, and it’s shown that Goku and friends are having a hard time adapting to their new smaller forms. There are actual negative consequences to Goku personally for this wish, rather than the convoluted “Earth blowing up” problemGTcontrived.
Daima’s Celebratory Anniversary Element Makes A Callback Make Sense
Daima Was Created to Celebrate Dragon Ball’s 40th Anniversary
From a metatextual perspective, there’s also the fact thatDragon Ball Daimawas created to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary, happening this year (2024). IfDaimais intended to be a celebration of all thingsDragon Ball, then it makes more sense to call back to the franchise’s origins with Kid Goku–that’s how it all began, after all. Putting Goku back to where he started will help to highlight just how far he’s come over the last 40 years ofDragon Ball, and fans will get to watch him grow all over again in this series. An anniversary is just a more appropriate time to bring things full circle.
A wish to reduce Goku and his friends to the size of children is also a fairly clever wish, and helps to establish the new villain, King Gomah, is a proactive, underhanded, and dangerous enemy. While many of Goku’s adversaries have welcomed any fight against them, Gomah has gone out of his way to render Goku and his friends into non-threats, or at least he believes so. The Supreme Kai has indicated Gomah is powerful on his own, but his tricky, underhanded nature means that fighting him directly won’t be a simple task the way it has been with enemies in the past.
Gomah has established himself already as a very different sort of foe, one who’s going to require a unique kind of strategy in order to be defeated.A mission to go to the Demon Realmand defeat Gomah already givesDaima’s story more of a through-line thanGTinitially has, and his companions being more mature than Pan and Trunks ensures that Goku will stay on task.Daimais also set to see characters like Piccolo, Vegeta, and Bulma join Goku later in his adventure, ensuring that the series keeps popular characters more relevant than they were in earlyGT.
Daima is No Repeat of Dragon Ball GT
Daima is Setting Itself Apart from the Mistakes of GT
While fan concerns about similarities betweenDaima’s premise andGThad some valid reasons to worry, the actual series premiere proves thatDaimaknows how to use a child version of Goku right. Goku being a kid is directly relevant to the plot ofDaimain a way that it really wasn’t forGT, and he’s being treated somewhat differently as protagonist as a result of this. Making Goku a child again also helps to emphasize some of what madeDragon Ballgreat to begin with: that sense of adventure that comes with Goku’s early quest for the dragon balls is back with a vengeance inDaima.
Due to Goku’s size being more tied into the plot, and the meta element of the franchise’s 40-year anniversary calling back toDragon Ball’s very origins,Daimahas managed to justify its de-aging of Goku far more thanGTever did.Daima’s kid Goku brings back everything fans loved about Goku when he was little at the start of the series, without compromising on the things that people came to love about theDragon Ball Zera.Dragon Ball Daimaseems to know exactly how to use Goku to maximum effect, and that should ensure a far better series thanGTever was.
Dragon Ball DAIMA
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Dragon Ball Daima sees Goku and his allies inexplicably shrunk into miniature forms, prompting a journey to the Demon Realm. This animated adventure, part of the Dragon Ball franchise, explores their mission to solve the mystery and restore their original statures. Released in October 2024.
