Dragon Ball Daima: Episode 4 - Official Discussion Thread

[AliTheZombie13]

A new Goku-Vegeta fusion foreshadowed?

Not Gogeta or Vegito but something new?

It shows three people there, so maybe Goku + Vegeta + Piccolo?

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

I'm absolutely loving the classical JRPG feel!

It really feels like they wanted to bring back the old feeling of the original Dragon Ball storyline early on and combined it with Dragon Quest and other similar JRPGs in how things are progressing.

Like, the Medibugs in the shop was obvious JRPG items and I love it.

[The Iron Fjord]

Daima keeps getting better and better. They're really taking their time with it, letting the view marinade in the Demon Realm and how everything works in both an environmental and societal way. Environmental with the heavy air hampering flight and moving, and societal to see how the citizens of the Third Demon Realm operate. I liked the elderly couple and their little mom and pop shop in the middle of nowhere selling life-changing medicinal bugs like little souvenirs or something, and how it contrasts by showing Gomah's tax policy (kill the poor) really makes this world feel thought out and planned.
Panzy's introduction was good, and the ensuing fight was gorgeously animated and choreographed. I like the one part where Goku throws a box at a couple of the demon soldier guys, and it knocks one out, and the other just down. Goku using his surroundings in a fight is something I haven't seen since DB so that was a nice touch. Glorio continues to be aloof, and feel like he has his own agenda going on in the background, especially when he showed his true power against that fire-breathing monster (fighting like he's a DBZ character while Goku is nerfed to be at his DB level). I like him and I like to keep guessing what's his deal every week.
The only minor thing I have to complain about is that Kaioshin doesn't really bring much to this party as he is (not that that's a new thing). He says he's a good fighter, and he has his Kai magic, but he has not done much to help the party, only usually trying and failing to rein in Goku, and exposit with Glorio (the latter being much more knowledgeable) I hope he can do something to help later on, now that the party is expanding with Panzy, and later Vegeta, Piccolo, Bulma, and that Penguin-looking guy who I assume might help Goku and Vegeta train their bodies in the Demon Realm.

[nato25]

Good:
- Another good episode, really enjoyed it.
- Glorio is awesome... How long until he gets Goku Time'd?
- The soundtrack continues to impress me, especially during the action sequences.
- Daima so far seems to be doing a good job taking concepts and storylines from GT and unifying them. Instead of the "Villain of the Week" being somebody random like Pilaf, Don Kia, Muchi-Mochi, Dolltaki, Dr. Myuu, whatever, Gomah seems to be the one behind everything. That gives him more credit rather than, say, Baby showing up at Episode 22 and saying he created Dr. Myuu and was behind Giru and Lood all this time or something.

Bad:
- It took me this episode to finally admit that, yes, this show has a "Pointless Exposition" problem. We're seeing the exact same things that were explained to us previous episode, but done faster and better. "Oh, I can't fly, the air is heavy." - "Don't fall into the Sea of Darkness or you'll be done for!" Those are things that are explained organically here, but for some reason, took almost half an episode last time. And then the show does its thing, again, having to remind us that yes, Dende is kidnapped, there are Dragon Balls in the Demon Realm, there is a Warp thing... Yes, Daima, we know that. You don't need to waste 5 minutes of your runtime to remind us.

Misc:
- "Why don't we just go back to Earth?" - I still have received zero explanation as to why Goku doesn't just teleport and do that.
- "You might be even stronger than Shin!" - Now, that's not a very high bar, is it?
- "Medi Bugs... They're like Senzu Beans... And these ones, they're like the Potara!" - Then... why not just use the Senzu Beans and the Potara?
- Oh look, it's Pan- I mean, Panzy... Even with her being completely ineffective in battle... I really hope they do her better justice than they did to Pan in GT. Please, let there be no creepy lolicon vibes with her.
- Oh, they're getting chased by the police and Goku has become a fugitive, where have I seen this- Alright, let's drop the pretenses, this is 100% a remake of the Imegga storyline, isn't it? Oh hey look, looks like their Lood is already being set up and everything!

Lol I never made that pan realization but that's really funny.

[Hellspawn28]

Glorio being stronger than Shin does show that he can one shot Freeza (pre-DBS), but is still below SSj2 tier characters like Cell.

[Lord Beerus]

I'm really conflicted with Daima so far. On one hand, it has just enough charm through the dynamic of Goku, Kaioshin and Glorio to keep me and the breadcrumbs of lore sprinkled throughout the episode retain my intrigue, but the overall narrative has felt so... hollow. I know what the endgame is (so far) but the show has felt a bit too light on drama for its own good. I'm not expecting universe/galactic threat to be introduced immediately, but the show could at least do with a little more urgency or at least a wild-card character to help spice up the scenery and keep me on my toes. I really hope Panzy is that character to inject the show with the much-needed charismatic thrill.

[AliTheZombie13]

If the show keeps following GT's footprints, then there shouldn't be a major threat up until Episode 16 at least.

[StaticMania]

They probably won't do this, but...that machine that takes years off a person's life. The characters could probably use that to age themselves up, assuming the characters won't simply use the Dragon Balls for that.

Either that or a comedic beat.

[Mr Baggins]

Legit was expecting someone to look at Goku and say "hey man you've reached your max capacity for medibug equip slots, gotta level up to increase them" lmao.

This is an actual JRPG adventure with Dragon Ball characters and I love that they're letting everything marinate instead of approaching the plot at full speed. It really just feels like we're along for the ride as an audience, and that works superbly for this kind of story. It's great – and because it's so great, the runtime actually does fly by and is over before you know it.

Also, that action sequence with Goku vs. the demon cops? Chef's kiss.

I'm not conflicted at all with Daima so far. This is what GT would've been like if GT was actually good.

[Yuji]

Still not a fan of Goku's characterization. Forgetting Glorio's name is a Luffy gag, not a Goku one.

The action sequences make up for it but I agree exposition was unbearable this episode.

[AliTheZombie13]

What are you talking about? Goku used to forget Umigame and Uranai Baba's names all the time in the original.

[JulieYBM]

Gurorio is a bit of a tongue-twister, so it makes sense for Gokuu to fumble with it. Also, ADHD sucks lol

There's more than one aspect to Gokuu going on here, too. Gokuu is clearly engaging with the plot, since he's asking questions about why they can't do something and then stopping the pigs from killing innocent people.

[FortuneSSJ]

This episode went by so fast.
As whole is better than episode 3, since episode 3 part 1 drags it down, despite part 2 being Daima at his best.

As someone who's not being impressed with Nakatsuru's Goku, there's a couple of shots in this episode I really like.
Cool fighting choreography again. Pansy is here.

The music is growing on me but still need to see more serious moments. For now it's now it's not close to Sumitomo highs, but nowhere near bad as his lows either.

[LoganForkHands73]

I just wanna say I love, love, love how this show has handled Goku's characterisation. His excitement about everything in the Demon Realm is so infectious, it's definitely a nice change of pace for him to be interested in things beyond fighting.

There's definitely a JRPG feel, especially with these stat-boosting edible bugs. Prospect of a new Fusion is quite cool.

I agree with the sentiment that the show could maybe cut down on lore dumps and exposition, but I consider that a minor blemish. I take it as a sign that Toriyama was very invested in developing this setting down to the smallest details. When you consider the younger target audience, this approach makes sense. Kids (and nerds) love gratuitous detail.

Overall, the series hasn't missed so far. Visuals, charm, jokes, character interactions, sense of adventure, all of it is spot on.

[fadeddreams5]

The one question that immediately popped up in my head from this episode was, "if nobody has ever made a wish on these dragon balls, does that mean even Dabura failed to defeat these guardians?"

If that's the case, and this is consistent to DB/DBZ's story, then that makes these guys well over regular Perfect Cell level. Since this takes place shortly after the Buu arc, and Goku likely cannot go SSJ2 or SSJ3--plus he's weaker in base and SSJ--he's getting his ass kicked very soon.

Of course, the cynical part of me expects them to ignore power scaling, resulting in Goku winning with only a weaker SSJ1, but that's okay. The more I watch this show, the more I feel like I'm watching a standalone shonen unrelated to DB, and I'm actually enjoying it more this way.

[Koitsukai]

Glorio is so serious, Shin is shit-scared of everything and my boy is having the time of this fucking life. Goku mispronouncing names is one joke that never gets old.
Action-wise it's picking up the pace, and I can't wait until next friday. I thought this new girl was going to be Glorio's sister, lol.
Could Glorio have Goku getting the DBs for him as a secret agenda? he probably isn't a bad guy, but he sure seems fishy, at least to Shin.

With fusion ahead, I wonder if we'll get a different one. Maybe a nod from Toriyama to his protege Toyble, a dude with saiyan and kaioshin DNA? It would sure feel like a breath of fresh air to NOT see him fuse with Geets for the daimazillionth time.

The Dai Makai's DBs being the original ones makes total sense, of course, and down the line we might get the info the Granola arc never cared to provide as to how come there are sets with less orbs but more powerful. Or at least something to connect the dots ourselves.
I do wonder how does this connect to the Suppa set.

Man, DBZ Kakarot would've been really cool if Daima came out before the game.

[Zephyr]

The one question that immediately popped up in my head from this episode was, "if nobody has ever made a wish on these dragon balls, does that mean even Dabura failed to defeat these guardians?"

If that's the case, and this is consistent to DB/DBZ's story, then that makes these guys well over regular Perfect Cell level. Since this takes place shortly after the Buu arc, and Goku likely cannot go SSJ2 or SSJ3--plus he's weaker in base and SSJ--he's getting his ass kicked very soon.

Of course, the cynical part of me expects them to ignore power scaling, resulting in Goku winning with only a weaker SSJ1, but that's okay. The more I watch this show, the more I feel like I'm watching a standalone shonen unrelated to DB, and I'm actually enjoying it more this way.

Bobbidi can also draw out the dormant potential of the people he charms, so Dabra's strength in the Boo arc isn't necessarily indicative of his strength while he was still in the Demon Realm. So I'm not sure we can extrapolate much about the strength of the ball guys from that.

[fadeddreams5]

The one question that immediately popped up in my head from this episode was, "if nobody has ever made a wish on these dragon balls, does that mean even Dabura failed to defeat these guardians?"

If that's the case, and this is consistent to DB/DBZ's story, then that makes these guys well over regular Perfect Cell level. Since this takes place shortly after the Buu arc, and Goku likely cannot go SSJ2 or SSJ3--plus he's weaker in base and SSJ--he's getting his ass kicked very soon.

Of course, the cynical part of me expects them to ignore power scaling, resulting in Goku winning with only a weaker SSJ1, but that's okay. The more I watch this show, the more I feel like I'm watching a standalone shonen unrelated to DB, and I'm actually enjoying it more this way.

Bobbidi can also draw out the dormant potential of the people he charms, so Dabra's strength in the Boo arc isn't necessarily indicative of his strength while he was still in the Demon Realm. So I'm not sure we can extrapolate much about the strength of the ball guys from that.

That is true, but I don't think the majin boost was that significant, considering Vegeta could go SSJ2 without it, and he still stalemated SSJ2 Goku after it.

That's why I used regular Perfect Cell as a benchmark instead of Super Perfect Cell though. I assume Dabura was at least that level (below SSJ2).

[Issei189]

Clever of Goku to buy these Medibugs. They will be very helpful in battle. We're also probably getting a new Goku and Vegeta with that fusion bug.

[Yuji]

What are you talking about? Goku used to forget Umigame and Uranai Baba's names all the time in the original.

Yeah, as a child, and of background characters he'd barely interact with. It's not exclusively the name thing, other gags have been adding up: the fart joke last episode, the exaggerated enthusiasm about everything, the lact of tact regarding the goldfish incident, so on. I know he's a literal child now, but we've had no indications the wish has altered their mental age. Even if it has, it's a lame writing choice to revert Goku back to his child personality for me personally. GT did the same thing, at least until things got more serious later. Just not a fan. I'd rather see a continuation of the more mature, still aloof but more emotionally subtle, adult Goku. This is why I don't particularly mind Super's depiction of Goku (at least Toriyama's and Toyotaro's version, not Toei's extra flanderized one) because I can see a route for his character where you develop Goku's toxic elements present in the Cell and Boo arc by shining a light on them; whereas nothing about Boo arc Goku screams "he'll become a literal child mentally again" to me, so it comes across less as a genuine, interesting decision to take the character and more either as a marketing choice that existed before Toriyama took over the project, or Toriyama resorting to what he feels is safe and familiar to him.

More power to folks if they prefer a return to part 1 Goku. It's just not a version of the character I find compelling.

On the other hand, I did appreciate Goku being a hero, those kind of friendly neighbourhood Goku moments have been rare.