It’s been six years since the Dragon Ball: Super anime last aired and despite no regular TV broadcast the franchise has been sitting fairly comfortably. With films, video games, and a still ongoing manga being released consistently fans have been begging for a new TV anime. In comes Dragon Ball: Daima, a new series taking a bit of inspiration from Dragon Ball GT which will be more focused on the initial adventure aspects of Part One from the source material and a bit lighter on action. This series and a reported third Dragon Ball: Super film will be the final projects to have creator Akira Toriyama attached creatively following his passing in March 2024.

Dragon Ball: Daima is a 2024 shounen anime series, it was produced by Toei Animation and licensed by Crunchyroll and Netflix. The series currently airs on Crunchyroll following the initial Japan release with a global release on Netflix a week following.

Editor’s Note: Some light spoilers for current Dragon Ball story content and canon as well as the contents of Daima may be present in this review.

Dragon Ball: Daima is the latest anime project in the Dragon Ball franchise following 2022’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Taking place before Super and EoZ and after the Majin Buu arc the new series follows Goku and Supreme Kai being forced to enter the Demon Realm after being turned into children. Daima will take the series back to its roots as it focuses more on adventure and a tad less on action and combat scenes, though they will be present. 

THE GOOD: The first several minutes of the episode mostly recap the Majin Buu arc to establish the timeline for Daima. Following this we learn that the Demon Realm has been in dismay since the death of Demon King Debura and that Supreme Kai Shin’s brother and sister Degesu and Dr. Arinsu, respectively have been serving the newly crowned Demon King Gomah. Witnessing the power that Goku, Vegeta, and the others have and the defeat of Majin Buu Gomah has devised a plan to use the Earth Dragon Balls to weaken them with the aid of an elder surviving Namekian who restores them before the year wait. Gomah subdues Dende & Mr. Popo at Kami’s Lookout where he and Degesu wish for Goku and co. to become children thinking it’ll cause a rift in their power as they make their next move.

At Capsule Corp. Bulma throws Trunks a birthday party and the Z Fighters and his family are there celebrating. Goku convinces Vegeta to train with him as the party slows down. Suddenly the sky turns dark and everyone debates whether or not Shenron has been summoned, suddenly they begin to change in appearance physically. Everyone freaks out screaming at the result of Gomah’s wish.

Dragon Ball: Daima wants to be a bit different than what would be considered the more traditional Dragon Ball. Considering that Toriyama had a near complete hand in the direction it makes sense. He appears to be emulating what made part one of the series so special which had a heavy focus on adventure vs action and battle content until much later in the final arcs. Demon World has always seldom been mentioned in the main story with a much greater focus from the tie-in media like Dragon Ball Heroes & Xenoverse namely so it feels good seeing a rarely explored piece of Dragon Ball mythos get a series dedicated to it. I’m assuming this may lead to the Time Patrol; a unit in Dragon Ball dedicated to stopping Demon World from causing chaos including affecting time & space eventually being established canon in the main story as well. A few strings from the Goku Black arc may have also confirmed this theory.

Despite a lack of action, Daima is beautifully animated, which is what you’d want a modern Dragon Ball anime to look like. The focus on expanding the world-building for potential future storylines is a solid appetizer for the next action-filled series most fans are waiting for. For the possibilities alone, I’m willing to stick around and give the show a chance, if only for the Dragon Ball team to get more comfortable doing experiments.

THE BAD: Daima is a very slow-paced show compared to the more recent Dragon Ball anime TV & film adaptations. It focuses more on story and world-building with an adventurous bent reminiscent of the original Dragon Ball series. If that’s not something you’re particularly looking for then Daima may be a skip as you wait for the next action-filled main series.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Dragon Ball: Daima starts decently enough providing fans a good indication of its vibe. It’s not Super 2 or whatever the next main anime entry in the series is expected to be so don’t come in looking for that, but if you want something a little different with Dragon Ball then give Daima a chance at least for a bit. Otaku Dome gives Dragon Ball: Daima episode one a 75 out of 100.