Dragon Ball Daima will be 20 episodes long

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

I think this should have its own thread since some people are wondering where the 20 epsiodes number is coming from.

According to Daniel Castañeda, Toei Animation licensing director in Latin America, Dragon Ball Daima will be 20 episodes long. Curiously this was all the way back in October last year.

Article sources (in spanish):
* https://www.anmtvla.com/2023/10/dragon- ... e.html?m=1
* https://www.produ.com/noticias/daniel-c ... tubre-2024

[JulieYBM]

It should be 13 at the most, considering how little there is going on. If the series does run as long as 20 episodes—or upwards ofnthe more standard 26 episodes—then I certainly hope the writing kicks up a few notches.

[AliTheZombie13]

You know, back when Yashahime was first released, it was only going to be 26 episodes, then it ended in a cliffhanger and nobody was sure if it was going to get a second season... Then it got a second season. Daima could or could not be the same thing.

[Saiya6Cit]

Oh well, bad news for me. I wanted for the show to continue and have another saga with Goten, Trunks, Gohan and Videl and Mr. Buu and maybe more Majin Buus.

Oh well...

Maybe Daima will take a break and come back later.

[Grimlock]

I don't know how credible that is, but I'm hoping it's true. Twenty episodes are enough, not too short, not too long, adequate. That's what she said!

The last thing this series needs is another long-ass saga that lasts too long and takes the definition of "overstaying its welcome" to the next level. Twenty episodes long can also be seen as taking cues from Avatar, which is always the smartest idea any franchise could take.

If true, only halfway to go now. Curious to see what's next, which will probably be the first thing without Toriyama.

[AliTheZombie13]

The last thing this series needs is another long-ass saga that lasts too long and takes the definition of "overstaying its welcome" to the next level.

What? You didn't enjoy the "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition" arc? Heresy!

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

If it's 20 episodes of this quality I'll be satisfied. I remember the Tournament of Power overstaying its welcome, but 60 weeks? I forgot how long it took to get to the point.
Doing the math: ToP was 54 episodes long. The actual tournament began at episode 97, and took the remainder of the show to finish. So that leaves us with 34 episodes of straight fighting in the void, and 20 episodes of edging before the tournament began. That's probably why I only remember the cool moments instead of enjoying the arc overall. It feels like an MCU movie where you can get the same amount of value out of watching clips on YouTube as you would the full picture.

[Chuquita]

With how things are shaping up 10 episodes in, I'll be satisfied with 20.

I feel like I've adequately lowered my expectations regarding what Daima is offering vs what I wanted from it. (Meaning I feel confident and have accepted we're continuing chibi mode until the final episode and those shots of adult Goku in the opening are likely a red herring).

[Grimlock]

What? You didn't enjoy the "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition" arc? Heresy!

Well, if I stop and realize all my preferences and opinions, I guess I am A Walking Heretic™!

Which reminds me, you don't want to read what I wrote about "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition arc" in details. May Dende forgive me for my sins in this life, and Enma-Daioh in the afterlife.

If it's 20 episodes of this quality I'll be satisfied. I remember the Tournament of Power overstaying its welcome, but 60 weeks? I forgot how long it took to get to the point.
Doing the math: ToP was 54 episodes long. The actual tournament began at episode 97, and took the remainder of the show to finish. So that leaves us with 34 episodes of straight fighting in the void, and 20 episodes of edging before the tournament began. That's probably why I only remember the cool moments instead of enjoying the arc overall.

I think the best part of this is that I actually said the exact same thing here, I did the math and everything. There's something to be said when that conclusion is reached by two different people, in two different times.

[AliTheZombie13]

Well, if I stop and realize all my preferences and opinions, I guess I am A Walking Heretic™!

Which reminds me, you don't want to read what I wrote about "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition arc" in details. May Dende forgive me for my sins in this life, and Enma-Daioh in the afterlife.

Tournaments aren't inherently bad. Yu Yu Hakusho managed to balance it out pretty well in its Dark Tournament arc with good comedy, emotional stakes, memorable characters, well-developed character arcs and strategy to beat their opponents.

The ToP's main problem is that it didn't have any of these, and lasted 4x longer. The peak of absurdity for me was the moment the show tried to fool me into believing they would need teamwork and strategy to win... Only for the "teamwork" to be boiled down to Goku and Vegeta for the most part, and the "strategy" to be boiled down to throwing bigger balls of light at the enemy.

[tonysoprano300]

Its empty thematically, it sets up interesting idea's and just throws them away. You look at something like the 22nd world martial arts tournament and it just feels like there's so much more going on there on a character and narrative level that makes it compelling to watch.

[Neon Z]

Well, if I stop and realize all my preferences and opinions, I guess I am A Walking Heretic™!

Which reminds me, you don't want to read what I wrote about "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition arc" in details. May Dende forgive me for my sins in this life, and Enma-Daioh in the afterlife.

Tournaments aren't inherently bad. Yu Yu Hakusho managed to balance it out pretty well in its Dark Tournament arc with good comedy, emotional stakes, memorable characters, well-developed character arcs and strategy to beat their opponents.

The ToP's main problem is that it didn't have any of these, and lasted 4x longer. The peak of absurdity for me was the moment the show tried to fool me into believing they would need teamwork and strategy to win... Only for the "teamwork" to be boiled down to Goku and Vegeta for the most part, and the "strategy" to be boiled down to throwing bigger balls of light at the enemy.

Tournaments in most shounen give you tons of backstory in most opponents, but that was never Toriyama's style (flashbacks breaking up battles) and he obviously didn't have developed backstories for all the ToP characters so the Toei writers didn't want to make up stuff and get contradicted later.

[JulieYBM]

Well, if I stop and realize all my preferences and opinions, I guess I am A Walking Heretic™!

Which reminds me, you don't want to read what I wrote about "5 Minutes of Namek Super Extended Edition arc" in details. May Dende forgive me for my sins in this life, and Enma-Daioh in the afterlife.

Tournaments aren't inherently bad. Yu Yu Hakusho managed to balance it out pretty well in its Dark Tournament arc with good comedy, emotional stakes, memorable characters, well-developed character arcs and strategy to beat their opponents.

The ToP's main problem is that it didn't have any of these, and lasted 4x longer. The peak of absurdity for me was the moment the show tried to fool me into believing they would need teamwork and strategy to win... Only for the "teamwork" to be boiled down to Goku and Vegeta for the most part, and the "strategy" to be boiled down to throwing bigger balls of light at the enemy.

Tournaments in most shounen give you tons of backstory in most opponents, but that was never Toriyama's style (flashbacks breaking up battles) and he obviously didn't have developed backstories for all the ToP characters so the Toei writers didn't want to make up stuff and get contradicted later.

That's a bad decision and precisely what Toei Animation should not do. They should allow their series directors and their freelance writers to make firm decisions and stick with them, it will create a better product in present, rather than a weaker one. The best parts of the Tournament of Power were the ones where the characters got focus and development. With most of those characters unlikely to ever reappear the staff should have made firm character arcs for them to help create better episodes.

[Grimlock]

Tournaments aren't inherently bad. Yu Yu Hakusho managed to balance it out pretty well in its Dark Tournament arc with good comedy, emotional stakes, memorable characters, well-developed character arcs and strategy to beat their opponents.

The ToP's main problem is that it didn't have any of these, and lasted 4x longer. The peak of absurdity for me was the moment the show tried to fool me into believing they would need teamwork and strategy to win... Only for the "teamwork" to be boiled down to Goku and Vegeta for the most part, and the "strategy" to be boiled down to throwing bigger balls of light at the enemy.

Though I am admittedly against tournaments, I wouldn't mind them if they didn't take long. It doesn't help that Universe Survival saga comes right after another tournament, so if we bring Universe 6 saga into the mix, you can add more weeks to the overall duration of tournaments and it's just a complete and utter torture.

[tonysoprano300]

The tournament format was a big part of DB in the past, prior to the start of "dbz" the only arcs that didnt feature some kind of tournament based setting was Hunt for the DB's and King Piccolo.

The tournaments in DBS just kind of suck, the idea of it is fun though

[Basaku]

Hopefully it will be just 20/26 eps long

Daima's fine enough but for all the heavens, with Super + Daima we're already at 11 years mark and 150+ episodes (as long as Kai) stuck in the 10-year gap limbo and there's STILL probably another 100 eps of Super to come

We're not getting any new post-EOZ next-generaration content will mid 2030s at this rate lol, the franchise just refuses to move forward

[Hellspawn28]

I'm having too much fun with Daima to see it end so short. Seeing that Daima give me the joy of watching a new DB series in real time again like I did with Super. Chances are that this will be our last anime with Toriyama gone and no plans of Super ever returning.

[JulieYBM]

Dragon Ball Daima won't be the last Dragon Ball animated television series. Just be patient and wait a few years for the production committee to decide what they want to do next.

[Omori]

In the "All Night Nippon - Dragon Ball 40th Anniversary Special" radio show on January 1st Akio Iyoku was asked about when the final Daima episode will air, but he couldn't tell anything about that yet. But by mid-February we should probably know whether the rumored 20 episodes are true.

[fadeddreams5]

I feel 10 years from now, people will forget all about Daima.