GT or Daima

[MCDaveG]

Daima, and is not even close. I also like it more than the Super anime, which is quite a feat considering how short it has been airing, and that I hate the "midquel of a midquel" nature of it on principle, and it's also pretty much fanservice.

I would refrain from making a full judgement until it's actually over tho. For all I know, the remaining episodes could be a complete disaster. However, I was never a big fan of most of GT, and rewatching it lately to keep up with MistareFusion's videos has only made me think even worse of it. Many things that I liked because I only remembered the themes and overall impressions of it are actually such a mess in execution and on individual episode basis, and I only ignored them because I forgot about them. It would be very hard for Daima to drop the ball so much considering it's not supposed to be that long to begin with.

It’s funny that I have the exact same experience. I remembered vaguely of GT shortcomings, I did like it as a kid a lot but was bummed by the short length with “abrupt ending”, underutilizing other cast than Goku and not resolving some of the plots, mainly Goku being kid, while I loved lot of the designs and SSJ4.
When I rewatched it recently, I have noticed that the writing is completely off, soulless in comparison to Toriyama based material with lot of nonsense. The first 20 episodes were pain to sit through and the only episode, that was actually superb from all standpoints, was 57, Goku fighting the ice Shenron and intro of Syn Shenron.
I’d say that the show had quite good production and interesting ideas, with cool designs and that’s it.
I can now skip GT whenever I will return for rewatch

[goku the krump dancer]

Far too early to compare and they’re both written for entirely different purposes so you almost can’t compare and contrast the two at all outside of surface level aesthetics.GT was written with the finality of the franchise in mind, where’as Daimai is obviously gonna lead to something else.

[kemuri07]

Far too early to compare and they’re both written for entirely different purposes so you almost can’t compare and contrast the two at all outside of surface level aesthetics.GT was written with the finality of the franchise in mind, where’as Daimai is obviously gonna lead to something else.

Is it though? I don't get the impression that his going to lead to the next big saga for Dragon Ball. That this is what I've always thought it was going to be, a nice anime for Dragon Ball's anniversary.

I can definitely say that Daima so far is better than GT. The thing I will give GT is that it has one of the greatest Anime OPs of all time. Dan Dan is everything that GT the anime fails to be, yet I have a soft spot in my heart for that anime because it's just such a great opener.

[TheMikado]

Daima is a better product but that’s because GT was greenlit to continue a finished cash cow.

Both are made in love by the staff and it shows. Daima has too much modern childish Toriyama influence where he’s nostalgic for old school Dragonball.

GTs characterization is great especially grandpa Goku interacting with Pan. Pan is a snot, but in context she’s the granddaughter of Mr Satan and Goku. And close family friends to capsule corp. She’s a worse og Videl before she got humbled which is surprising because of her parents but not necessarily that out of character because she would be spoiled by her own power, wealth, and affiliations.

GT Vegeta is my favorite version of Vegeta and SSJ4 is my favorite form but I reluctantly concede Daima is a better product but GT scratches the lore itch better for me. I honestly just wish they had remade GT instead but that’s basically what this is.

[AliTheZombie13]

Now that we're halfway through Daima, I'll just say it: I vastly prefer GT.
I'm sorry if that makes me a Fake Dragon Ball Fan™, but I really don't care about the Toriyama Charm™.

It's been 12 episodes and I feel like Daima has done nothing meaningful with its characters or its premise.
Panzy, Bulma, Piccolo and (Random Fat Demon That I Never Remember The Name Of) are kinda "just there."
Shin is there to vomit exposition at the viewer and to be suspicious of Glorio while not doing anything about it.
Glorio and Neva are just there to make faces that mean "I might or might not betray you at the very end of the show (FORESHADOWING!!!!)"
And it all gets very repetitive and predictable very quickly.

I was more excited when Panzy was introduced as this fighter of the oppressed much like Pan was, but that characterization was immediately thrown out the window after her debut. Now she's just relegated to occasionally doing something minor and being in awe at Goku.
The entire Shin vs. Glorio suspicion subplot has also been dropped entirely and went nowhere.
I'm also not very interested in the fight scenes or the transformations, especially when they mean nothing to characters who have no arcs whatsoever.
So... what else exactly is there for me to like about Daima? All the Trivia lore dumps that I never had any interest in? The millionth "bad guy wants to conquer the world, go beat the shit out of him" barebones story?

Power to those who prefer the Toriyama Charm Dragon Ball™, but I really failed to connect with Daima.
And I really don't feel proud saying any of this. This was the very last thing Toriyama worked on before he died, it was something he was passionate about. I really don't enjoy saying all of this shit about an artist who is passionate about the product he's making.

[goku the krump dancer]

Far too early to compare and they’re both written for entirely different purposes so you almost can’t compare and contrast the two at all outside of surface level aesthetics.GT was written with the finality of the franchise in mind, where’as Daimai is obviously gonna lead to something else.

Is it though? I don't get the impression that his going to lead to the next big saga for Dragon Ball. That this is what I've always thought it was going to be, a nice anime for Dragon Ball's anniversary.

I can definitely say that Daima so far is better than GT. The thing I will give GT is that it has one of the greatest Anime OPs of all time. Dan Dan is everything that GT the anime fails to be, yet I have a soft spot in my heart for that anime because it's just such a great opener.

Maybe “obvious” is too strong a word but I do have a heavy feeling, I mean it takes place before Beerus but after Boo and given all the information we’ve gotten so far, I think it’s safe to say there may be something more after this, what it is, I can’t say of course but this doesn’t feel as self contained as the Jump Special or Episode of Bardock.

[Basaku]

If I have to pick then Daima's better but all in all it's simply another attempt to make OG pre-Piccolo DB happen again and it's just never going to happen. It didn't happen in the 80s/90s*, won't happen now all the more. Toriyama himself understood it. As the original autor he of course was free to do whatever he felt like, but doesn't really change the fact that chibi DB will never replace Z/Super, the audience just isn't into it. You can't just attempt to reverse a franchise in its progression and expect the same massive results. There're really no rocket science here.

*before anyone starts - yes the OG is where the franchise started and yes OG was big in Latin America worldwide it was Z that made the franchise the phenomenon it was, with the adult cast and action-focused plot progression, big stakes, yada yada. And even Latin America didn't look back once Goku grew up.

[GatoF]

I like Daima a lot more

[Jord]

In GT things actually happen and have impact, while Daima bores us with lore. Not to mention, GT could do things no series could do anymore, which is characters aging or even dying. This is of course due to the fact that GT was supposed to be the finale, but it did bring an unpredictability to the series that is missing now. Daima has to play in a safe little space where nothing of note/impact can happen, which of course isn't the fault of the producers, but does have the effect that it takes away tension.

Plus, GT had that amazing soundtrack. Actually my favorite BGM of all the series.

While I still enjoy GT, the status quo of Daima is hoping that something exciting actually happens on the show. That is a bad sign.
While people often compare Daima to early Dragon ball, I have to say even that doesn't hold up.
By episode 13 of the OG DB, the crew escaped from Pilaf's castle with Oozaru Goku having appeared. Think of all that happens in those early episodes, with Goku meeting a ton of interesting new characters, actually growing as a character and going to a ton of different places. Daima doesn't hold a candle to that.

[Yuji]

It pains me to admit it, but I think Daima is even more boring than GT's first arc. Maybe not as offensively bad, but there's almost no charm to it.

[AliTheZombie13]

While people often compare Daima to early Dragon ball, I have to say even that doesn't hold up.

Early Dragon Ball:
Extreme amounts of black humor, a girl shooting a kid in the head because she ran over him, offering herself as sex for a magical orb, an overpowered wild child with no concept of sex or gender who knows people by patting them on the bits, a perverted 9-year old communist pig who got expelled from transformation kindergarten for stealing his teacher's panties, a desert thief who's terrified of women and sex who just wants to get married, and a hermit who just wants boobs... Oh, and everybody wants to rape each other and shoot each other dead.

Daima:
Well... There's this overpowered kid who wants to rescue his friend and get his adult body back... but not really... And there's his cheerleaders. Everybody loves each other, the end... BUT THERE'S POOP JOKES!!!!

[TechExpert2021]

In GT things actually happen and have impact, while Daima bores us with lore. Not to mention, GT could do things no series could do anymore, which is characters aging or even dying. This is of course due to the fact that GT was supposed to be the finale, but it did bring an unpredictability to the series that is missing now. Daima has to play in a safe little space where nothing of note/impact can happen, which of course isn't the fault of the producers, but does have the effect that it takes away tension.

I always have this feeling that Toei Animation and their production staff are trying to make new Dragon Ball anime shows "international-friendly"; they've been doing that since DB Super. That is the reason we don't get to see lots of blood, severe injuries, extremely violent fight scenes (look at the Videl vs Spopovitch fight in DBZ for instance), high stakes, things that actually happen for clear reasons, impact, and tension. They just love to play things so safe with Dragon Ball anime shows nowadays. Just let the foreign licensors, production companies, streaming services, and TV networks edit/censor the Dragon Ball anime shows (including the modern ones) to suit their demographic or leave them uncut.

[Basaku]

While I enjoyed the grittier visual take of DBZ, the truth is that Japan itself toned down violence/gore and sex jokes itself too since the 80s/90s, so the international markets were hardly the main cause here if at all

Also, no amount of bonus sex jokes or blood will make up for crap writing. DBZ would still be as engaging as it was without any of that, the storytelling, the character arcs, the tension etc would all remain. Even OG DB would still retain its fresh adventure wonder world feeling and magic without all the perv jokes.

The problem with Daima (and Super) is thet they got little to none of either.

[Jord]

I agree. There is no "hook" to Daima.
We know Goku and co. will get back to normal since it's a midquel. What is there to look forward to? They just take a casual stroll through demon world and have an easy going battle here and then. The new characters are just standard tropes and most of the classic characters, especially the B--team don't have a lot to do.

Perhaps the hook is that Goku is small now? We've seen that in GT, and there it was more effective since he was the only one.

[Cipher]

Two fairly flawed series, but I think I have to give it to GT for feeling less predictable and just having a stronger sense of direction.

I also think its design direction is really distinct and gorgeous, even though Daima is the slicker production.

As far as feeling of a piece with the larger series or Toriyama's works:

GT captures the wilingness to move forward, even if the scripting and plot points do not feel particularly Toriyama. Still, it at least jives well enough with the original anime adaptation.

Daima captures Toriyama's whimsy and humor in its designs, lore, and gags, but not the pacing or characterization he imbues the original manga and indeed all of his one-volume adventure series done in a similar style. It's fitting that this was his final contribution in many ways, but the final production is not, at the end of the day, him sitting down and scripting the whole thing. It's still a Toei-filtered production with many of the same flaws that tend to hit Toei Dragon Ball--albeit not as dire as the Super anime. I think in general Super Hero and Chapter 103 of the Super manga feel like slightly more fitting and personal farewells from him.

At the end of the day, I'm much more likely to rewatch GT, which I think is ultimately the metric, isn't it?

[Fizzer]

I haven't watched GT in a long time, but I feel that

-GT had more charm in its soundtrack and look; obviously there Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku motif is hard for any series to beat.
-GT had my favourite ending of any Dragon Ball series so far
-The Shadow Dragons at least in concept will be hard to top for a "final arc" in DB
-Extending the timeline is far more interesting than filling in a gap

-Daima has a significantly more interesting setting and is much better animated
-Characters like Arinsu, Gomah, and the majins feel more interesting that anyone introduced in GT.
-Daima is somewhat more consistent with Gomah.

In the end I think I'm going with GT... And it's partly because what Daima did with Gohan is inexcusable.

[ZeroNeonix]

I can't stand GT, so it's kind of a low bar for me. All Daima had to do was not irritate me so much that I completely lost interest by episode 2.

[fadeddreams5]

I feel like I cannot give an honest answer because I never watched GT subbed. I've watched the dub and sub versions of every series, but never GT subbed. And let me tell you, the Funimation dub of GT is one of the worst things ever made. The one redeeming quality of GT, from what I've heard, is the music, and they replaced it with some garbage hip-hop beat that plays every...single...scene. The art direction was already a huge step down from DBZ, imo, and the series has no memorable battles, but then they also decided to do that to the soundtrack. This resulted in one of the most boring experiences. That's my simple take on GT: it is incredibly boring. Neither Super or Daima are. They have their own problems, but they entertain.

Once I watch the subbed version, maybe I will tolerate it more. I will say the concepts of GT are far superior than everything I've seen in Daima, but the art and animation of Daima make me appreciate it more. GT with animation like that, and fights like the ones against the Tamagamis, would be a good series.

[dbgtFO]

I feel like I cannot give an honest answer because I never watched GT subbed. I've watched the dub and sub versions of every series, but never GT subbed. And let me tell you, the Funimation dub of GT is one of the worst things ever made. The one redeeming quality of GT, from what I've heard, is the music, and they replaced it with some garbage hip-hop beat that plays every...single...scene. The art direction was already a huge step down from DBZ, imo, and the series has no memorable battles, but then they also decided to do that to the soundtrack. This resulted in one of the most boring experiences. That's my simple take on GT: it is incredibly boring. Neither Super or Daima are. They have their own problems, but they entertain.

Once I watch the subbed version, maybe I will tolerate it more. I will say the concepts of GT are far superior than everything I've seen in Daima, but the art and animation of Daima make me appreciate it more. GT with animation like that, and fights like the ones against the Tamagamis, would be a good series.

I saw the entirety of GT subbed last year and let me just tell you, music wise you aren't missing out on anything groundbreaking.
The music is more calm, melancholic and just boring. I can't recall a single piece of music, that sounded good in an action scene. But that tracks with the action scenes not being that engaging either lmao.
Really weird creative decisions all around, which is why Super, flawed as it is, knocks it out of the park in almost all areas.

[t0ffe3m4n]

GT. By a distance.