Dragon Ball Daima: Episode 2 - Official Discussion Thread

[Noah]

I really liked this episode! Obviously, I expected it to be better than the first one, which was just to give us a taste of the plot, and the second one was already moving the story along.

- So, another rule about the Earth DBs that we didn’t know? The one where the 3 wishes are only for close friends and just one for strangers? I won’t lie, I thought it was funny anyway.

- I was gonna mention how villains can be so stupid, like they could just kill Mr. Popo to cover their tracks, but I get it—it’s a kids' show, so that would be pretty unlikely.

- Master Roshi's been getting younger but still looks bald, which kinda makes him a second Krillin. I know Toriyama ignores designs from Toei, but he could’ve made an exception here. Piccolo just got smaller, and a better design could’ve worked. And kid Vegeta? I’m tired of saying it’s dumb that he’s bald when his first appearance at that age didn’t have him with a receding hairline. That’s something Toriyama could've thought about.

- Maybe it’s a small retcon, but I always thought the Nyoibo never left the Karin Tower. I can’t deny it’s hilarious that Master Roshi decided to use it as a laundry line anyway.

- I liked that the wish that made them shrink/turn into kids took a different route than GT, where Goku didn’t take long to adjust and didn’t even think about his Nyoibo or Kintoun—just a plot-driven nerf to not use certain techniques.

- Not sure if it’s something with Crunchyroll, but it felt like this episode was supposed to have a NEP but it just teased us instead.

[PeteyVX]

Loved it! I enjoyed the pacing in this episode compared to the first (but it makes sense why: gotta take time to recap for first-timers / been-a-long-timers). I'm already singing along with "Jaan! Jaka jaan!" and I can dig the music over all. I like how episode 2 answered a lot of the questions we had about episode 1 already, and my goodness I'm super excited to learn about multiple worlds in the Demon Realm!

My favorite thing over all, though, is just this overwhelming feeling of optimism I get from the characters. It really feels like we're about to go on an adventure, and it's been far too long since I've felt that way. The last jolt of excitement I got for new exploration was in the Super manga (right after the Tournament of Power). So yeah, I feel like I got turned 6 years old like all the other characters and I'm wanting to jump right in there and save Dende!

Other initial thoughts:
- I thought it was interesting that they gave Goten and Trunks the ability to communicate with eachother while still having the tendency to act like a baby and just roll around and play. I wonder if they will continue that by making the characters who were made into children having sensibilities of a six year old brain utilizing their true lifetime's worth of knowledge in their decision-making. Like Dende could have been trying to communicate but he also just seemed like a really happy baby while he was being kidnapped. I like it over all because if character's do things that seem out of character for them, then at least there's a story "rule" for why.

- I didn't think I wanted this story cause I thought I already knew all I needed to know about a character being young in this fictional space, but I'm finding myself pleasantly surprised at how it feels different from what I expected when the age effect is placed on so many other characters at the same time.

- I like that Neva isn't (or is at least acting like he isn't) so OP that he could just summon dragon ball stones and convert them on command.

- This is the youngest Goku we've ever had (physically). Goku is even younger here than he was in the beginning of Dragon Ball and GT.

- The stills from the episode ending are so awesome. Like I said before, I am super stoked to get this adventure started and go explore all these new worlds! Let's go! Two thumbs up.

There are more things I thought were worth mentioning, but I didn't want to interrupt the intial watch with note taking. I'll be watching it again later with the wife, so I'm sure I'll have more things I thought were interesting later.

[tinlunlau]

Just finished watching Episode 2 on Viu TV and surprised to see they have added English subtitles this time. I don't know if it's just me but the opening and closing themes sound very similar to each other.

[Grimlock]

- This is the youngest Goku we've ever had (physically). Goku is even younger here than he was in the beginning of Dragon Ball and GT.

What do you mean? We do see a two-year-old Goku (Dragon Ball Minus and Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman) and a newborn Goku (Raditz' memories and Granolah saga).

[PeteyVX]

- This is the youngest Goku we've ever had (physically). Goku is even younger here than he was in the beginning of Dragon Ball and GT.

What do you mean? We do see a two-year-old Goku (Dragon Ball Minus and Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman) and a newborn Goku (Raditz' memories and Granolah saga).

Fair enough. I forgot about the Jaco volume. I suppose I could say in animation, but then you could say he was a little baby in flashbacks about Grandpa Gohan, but I think you know what I'm getting at. I'm saying in any notable capacity where he's actually doing something.

[JulieYBM]

Gokuu is three in Dragon Ball Super: Broli. Still, he's hardly a character there.

I thought that it was a good idea to hold off on having Blooma, Vegeta and Piccolo join so soon. This way Gokuu's relationship with Glorio can be established sooner and with less characters needing to be involved in their first few scenes together.

[ZombieVito]

The shenron thing caused a few problems though doesn't it? Particularly for RoF.

Well, Pilaf and Co. are not first timers.

I forgot they were there! I could only remember Frieza sorbet and tagoma making the wish. I mean it's still them doing it and then there's the whole thing where the movie is inconsistent with it's retelling, I guess having pilaf there will do.

There really isn't an inconsistency in the DBS anime. Pilaf summons Shenron so he gives 3 wishes.

[Issei189]

I find it interesting that Piccolo has knowledge on this old Namekian. I'm looking forward to Piccolo's interaction with him. Now Supreme Kai here is making a big deal about Gomah like how he gassed up Pui Pui, Yakon and Dabura back in the day, so I feel like he won't be too much of a threat until he gets that 3rd eye thing.

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

Pretty fun stuff!

It's interesting how little everyone knows about the Demon Realm overall, reflecting our own IRL lack of knowledge on it.

We're gonna be learning about this alongside the characters.

Also, I just love how Mini Popo shows that he has horns! With the knowledge that he is likely a Demon descendant, it's a great way to show his demonic heritage beyond just his ears. In fact, it seems like all Demons have such horns, with the Namekians' "horns" being their antenna instead.

[Grimlock]

I'm saying in any notable capacity where he's actually doing something.

Ah okay, in that sense, yes. This is the youngest Goku we are seeing. They specified he was turned into a six-year-old kid in the last episode, right? I guess everyone turned six years old, so for almost we are seeing their "youngest versions", in a way, since this is just a "chibification of the adult forms".

[ZombieVito]

-- "I know about this Neva guy from long ago." But I thought you didn't have any memories of your pre-Earth life? How do you know that?

Maybe it's Nail's memories/knowledge?

[AliTheZombie13]

-- "I know about this Neva guy from long ago." But I thought you didn't have any memories of your pre-Earth life? How do you know that?

Maybe it's Nail's memories/knowledge?

Piccolo didn't even know about Shin, how would he know about the long distant universe Shin possibly came from?
And even then, Dende seemed to act surprised when Deguse told him last episode he was from the Demon Realm, too.

[DBFanGuy]

Pretty fun stuff!

It's interesting how little everyone knows about the Demon Realm overall, reflecting our own IRL lack of knowledge on it.

We're gonna be learning about this alongside the characters.

Also, I just love how Mini Popo shows that he has horns! With the knowledge that he is likely a Demon descendant, it's a great way to show his demonic heritage beyond just his ears. In fact, it seems like all Demons have such horns, with the Namekians' "horns" being their antenna instead.

I don’t know I’m starting to wonder if the Namekins aren’t natives of the realm and maybe traveled there for some reason. Maybe Neva wanted to take it over years ago and the others left?

[M16U3L2015]

I don't know if it's just me but the opening and closing themes sound very similar to each other.

They are composed by the same musician, so that's why they sound similar.

[Jord]

A lot of talking..again.
Dis they forget that action is a huge part of Dragon Ball as well, even of the original DB?

It's really beginning to feel like GT, only without the action or great music.

I found it weird how some of the characters had the same VA while others didn't. The new VA did a good job but it creates an inconsistency that was annoying. Piccolo barely sounded different.

[No9tro]

-- "I know about this Neva guy from long ago." But I thought you didn't have any memories of your pre-Earth life? How do you know that?

Maybe it's Nail's memories/knowledge?

Piccolo didn't even know about Shin, how would he know about the long distant universe Shin possibly came from?
And even then, Dende seemed to act surprised when Deguse told him last episode he was from the Demon Realm, too.

As an important Namekian they probably taught their people about Neva.
Shin's name probably just didn't get around much. He had been Kaioshin for a relatively short amount of time.

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

A lot of talking..again.
Dis they forget that action is a huge part of Dragon Ball as well, even of the original DB?

Not all episodes involved fighting.

[Luso Saiyan]

And Karin continues to be white instead of blue.

He's not blue. It has been settled back in Super Hero.

[AliTheZombie13]

A lot of talking..again.
Dis they forget that action is a huge part of Dragon Ball as well, even of the original DB?

It's really beginning to feel like GT, only without the action or great music.

Early DB, especially the Pilaf arc, never had any big action sequences.
Every fight scene was practically an overextended gag.

"Action is a huge part of DB" You mean Later DB and Dragon Ball Z.

[CodeOfMe]

I wasn't planning to do point-by-point notes for this episode but I did it anyway for some reason.

- So the three wishes is just a bonus for regulars? On one hand, I kind of like the idea; on the other hand, doesn't this contradict Resurrection F or at least Super's version of it? Eh, I don't really care.

- Jaka Jaan is a pretty good song. The opening's animation was also good, though it did feel more 'anime-esque' than most Dragon Ball openings typically do, not that that's a negative.

- Is this the first time we've gotten to see Mr. Popo as a child?

- Kosuke Yamashita hasn't really shown off a lot in the few tracks they've played so far. I really enjoyed his work on other shows like Donbrothers, so I hope he gets the chance to shine here soon.

- I think I might've preferred if the characters actually had their bodies reverted to their first-grader aged selves rather than just being shrunk. It would've been fun to see Kuririn and Roshi with hair again.

- These new voice actors are really quite good.

- Why is Mr. Popo saying "Namek"? He should still have his memories and recall calling them Namekians, even if the Demon Realm characters call them Nameks. (In an unrelated note, his voice actor doesn't appear to be doing the whole broken Japanese thing (or maybe he is and I just have bad hearing) and I very much appreciate that.)

- If Piccolo knew the Namekians were from the Demon Realm this whole time, why did he still call them 'Namekians' in Super and not 'Nameks' like he does here? Is this series actually just ignoring Super?

- Are they really just repeating the beginning of the Namek Arc with the Nameless Namekian's spaceship?

- Nozawa still playing mini Goku feels really strange.

- Oh hey, Piccolo has a nosebleed, guess all that worrying over Vegeta's erased blood was for nothing.

- The gang talking about the possibility of Dende being murdered while lighthearted music plays is very funny to me.

- "Not everyone with pointy ears is from the Demon Realm." Some people spent a lot of time looking for every pointy-eared character in the series just for the show to nonchalantly say this, that's hilarious. (Well, technically some of them could be demons, so I guess it's not all for naught.)

- The subtitles for this episode read a lot better than last time. I don't think Toei changed the translators or editors, so I suppose it's just up to luck which episodes get the best treatment.

- So 'Nyoi-bo' is left as-is, but 'Kinto'un' is rendered as 'Flying Nimbus'. What even is consistency.

- Is Vegeta going to be in a 'Goku heading to Namek' situation, where he shows up halfway through the arc to assist?

- The ED is only a minute long? I know Toei does that for One Piece too, but I didn't think they'd do it here.

- This song's pretty nice.

Honestly, this was a pretty great episode. It helps that it didn't have ten minutes of recap, even if this still was a setup episode in a sense. It had a lot of nice character interaction and that's a lot of the reason I even come to Dragon Ball in the first place. Some of the Super "contradictions" were a bit strange. It feels like this could've been a nice bridge series between Z & Super, but it seems this is its own new thing instead. I'm not sure if that's good or bad yet.