Dragon Ball Super may be the most popular sequel to Dragon Ball Zbut it is hardly the best. Although a fun series at its best, Dragon Ball Super is in many ways an extension of DBZs worst habits: out-of-control power-scaling, constantly introducing transformations, and story arcs that often focus more on non-stop action than adventure or meaningful character development. Dragon Ball Super is not Akira Toriyama at his best; but Dragon Ball DAIMA sure it is.
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The last one anime Akira Toriyama was working on before his death in 2024, Dragon Ball DAIMA is the best Dragon Ball franchise has been this year. Dragon Ball DAIMA do more in 20 episodes than Dragon Ball Super accomplished in 131 and two films. Even at its worst, Dragon Ball DAIMAs fantastic direction, animation and storytelling recall a period in Dragon Ball story where the series was fresh, exciting and full of wonder in the best possible way.
Akira Toriyama himself wrote Dragon Ball DAIMA
Although he is credited for the manga's story in English, Akira Toriyama did not actually write Dragon Ball Super self. Toriyama wrote Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F, Dragon Ball Super: Brolyand Dragon Ball Super: Super Herohowever, for Universe 6 Tournament, Goku Black Saga, and Universe Survival Saga, Toriyama only provided Toyotarou and Toei with outlines of what the sagas would look like. Not only that, Toyotarou wrote the Moro and Granolah tales himself, albeit with supervision from Toriyama. Dragon Ball DAIMA is a completely different matter.
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According to Dragon Ball DAIMAProduction staff Akira Toriyama not only wrote the story for each episode himself, he also wrote the entire series' dialogue. Although this claim is questionable, especially given Toriyama's death on March 1, 2024, Dragon Ball DAIMA was in production for a long time and the anime features his signature humor, quirky lore drops and creative battles that defined the original Dragon Ball manga and first half of Dragon Ball Z. You can tell Dragon Ball Super was only described by Toriyama, while Dragon Ball DAIMA really has that Toriyama touch that hasn't been seen outside of his DBS films.
Dragon Ball DAIMA is a perfect balance between early Dragon Ball and DBZ
Dragon Ball Supers DNA is highly encoded during the second half of Dragon Ball Zfor better or for worse. Dragon Ball DAIMA instead mixes the best elements of the original Dragon Ball with high quality story, character writing and action from Dragon Ball Zs Saiyan and Frieza Sagas. Also Dragon Ball DAIMAs fan service feels deserved and hits harder than Dragon Ball Super's, from Vegeta unlocking Super Saiyan 3 off-screen to Akira Toriyama making Super Saiyan 4 Goku canon in the final battle. DAIMA is also genuinely funny, uses character-based humor much like Dr. Slump and OG Dragon Ball to make the audience fall in love with the show's jokes and characters.
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Dragon Ball DAIMA also uses its pacing to slowly become more action-focused, reflecting the manga's evolution from early on Dragon Ball to DBZ. The first half of the show is adventure-heavy, like the Hunt for the Dragon Ball and the Red Ribbon Army arcs, which slowly develop the world of the Demon Realm and the main cast, while the second half is full of incredibly choreographed fights that feel earned after all the build-up in the first 10 to 14 episodes. It's the perfect balance of adventure, action and comedy that only Akira Toriyama can.
Dragon Ball DAIMA Animation & Art Direction is 10/10
Dragon Ball Super had serious animation and direction problems in its early story arcs, largely because animators weren't given the time they needed to do each episode justice. The anime's remake starting with Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is not just building up to the series' adaptation of the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, but likely a way to do right by DBS so that new fans don't have to suffer through poor animation until the Tournament of Power. Dragon Ball DAIMA don't have this problem at all.
Dragon Ball DAIMA was beautifully animated and directed from episode 1, with genuine film quality animation that only improves in the anime's final episodes. Battles are extremely fluid, characters are wonderfully expressive, and Demon Realm's world design is vibrant, as if it jumped out of the pages of Akira Toriyama's concept art. Even the worst episodes of Dragon Ball DAIMA are wonderful to watch and stand up to the best of the best in Dragon Ball Super.
Dragon Ball DAIMA is a visual feast for the eyes, and does justice to Akira Toriyama's characters and story in a way Dragon Ball Super never could outside the movies.
- Release date
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2024 – 2025
- Network
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Fuji TV, Kansai TV, Tokai TV Broadcasting, Fukui TV, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Iwate Menkoi Television, Sendai Television, SAGA TV, TNC, OHK, Ishikawa TV, Kochi Sun Sun Broadcasting, TV Shizuoka, UMK TV Miyazaki, Television ShinSThim, TV, NBS ShinSThim, TV Ehime Broadcasting, KTS, NIB, KKT, Fukushima TV, TOS, AKT, Toyama Television, Okinawa Television Broadcasting
- Directors
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Kazuya Karasawa, Ryuta Kawahara
- Author
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Akira Toriyama
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Masako Nozawa
Son Goku (mini) (voice)
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Koki Uchiyama
Glorio (voice)
