Dragon Ball Daima will be 20 episodes long

[AliTheZombie13]

Back on topic, though: The number of episodes in anime is completely irrelevant to how good/bad it is. Daima itself could have had 500 episodes if it damn wanted to, but it needs an engaging story to justify that number. It's struggling enough already to justify its 20 episode runtime, so no, "longer" doesn't mean "better."

[kemuri07]

But yes, DBGT began and ended shortly before Dragon Ball as a franchise became a global phenomenon, and so it was likely able to pivot to being the "Final arc of DBZ." I don't think they'll ever do that again because of merchandising, but also is likely the reason why they'll never cross EoZ.

Even if they would go past EoZ...what would be the point? In it's current state they won't take risks and retire characters or let them die. They would just look older/less marketable, get new forms and meet new characters. Which is exactly what Super did. EoZ isn't a cure for the stagnation of the franchise. The character arcs were done a long time ago. I would say that GT reflected the characters arc without forcing new arcs in. We see Vegeta as someone mostly adjusted to human life, Goku act like the experienced veteran. Perhaps you could argue that Goten got a bit of development with his dating life and Pan grew a bit as well.

Super regressed characters so they could grow again, which is pretty backwards from a story telling perspective. I can see why. These characters are "done" and the hoops the Super writers had to go to in order to try and fake stakes were ridiculous.

-We got a magic remote that kills one of the main bad guys, basically a summon. Said bad guy was a mix of previous villains.
-Freeza training for a few months to go from SSJ level to SSG level.
-A tournament which lasted a year from which we already knew how it would end, taking away all the tension from the premise.
-Weird nostalgia grabs like villains coming back, even recreating the Gohan SSJ scene as the climax to a new movie.

It was terrible writing and it's honestly no wonder the anime got cancelled so quickly. For all the crap GT gets for only having 64 episodes, coming right after DB and DBZ, Super barely got more than double the amount, and that's after a 20 year drought of Dragon Ball anime. That is pretty bad.

I think the premise of Daima, depowering the heroes, would be the way to go. GT used it pretty effectively with basically a weaker Goku and average fighters in Trunks and Pan. Daima however doesn't seem to have a grasp on how strong it's cast is. Not to mention, there is way too much exposition for a 20 hour series. There have been a ton of suggestions on this forum, from having it star Goten and Trunks to making it as a movie, that would do it so much more good. In its current state though...it's divisive to say the least. A waste of gorgeous animation.

Let me put it this way: If you want me to tell you how I really feel about Dragon Ball as a franchise. It's this: DB should have been left alone, and we are currently in the "Zombie Dragon Ball" mode where it lurches on solely because it makes people money. That's it. I've made it known of my distaste of the Super anime over the years, but it was really the Granollah arc from the manga adaptation that really pushed me to giving up on the idea that Dragon Ball can even do anything "interesting" any more. And that's because it seemed like the Granollah arc was going to do exactly that: have a new perspective, provide some source of conflict between Goku and Vegeta...and then the manga went "lol nah, what if we brought back Bardock, though." And then the manga chose to follow up that up with a year long adaptation of a movie that had released prior because...why?

Dragon Ball is a series without any direction, that refuses to move away from the status quo with characters whose arcs ended decades ago. And it's in that context, that I'm okay with Daima. Because I did not go into that show with the expectation that it was going to be the next big Dragon Ball series, or that it was going to be anything more than what I figured it to be: a fun anime to celebrate its anniversary. And I was pretty much right on the money. And because of that, I'm able to enjoy myself.

GT's problem isn't that it has 64 episodes. It's just not a very good show. And I'm not saying that because it lacks Toriyama's involvement or whatever, I'm saying that I did a rewatch hoping that maybe I was wrong and that it was some underrated, but flawed classic--and found it to be much, much worse than I remember it being. It's why I'm endlessly amused by Zombie flying that flag for that show, and then repeating verbatim everything I felt for GT but for Daima. I think GT is similar to a lot of post Z Dragon Ball shows: It has some decent ideas that are compelling, but it's strung together with a lot of bullshit. That's probably the case for Daima when all is said and done.

[Jord]

I think GT is similar to a lot of post Z Dragon Ball shows: It has some decent ideas that are compelling, but it's strung together with a lot of bullshit. That's probably the case for Daima when all is said and done.

I still like GT but you really nailed all post-Z shows with that one, and perhaps even the later parts of Z. Kudos!

[AliTheZombie13]

GT's problem isn't that it has 64 episodes. It's just not a very good show. And I'm not saying that because it lacks Toriyama's involvement or whatever, I'm saying that I did a rewatch hoping that maybe I was wrong and that it was some underrated, but flawed classic--and found it to be much, much worse than I remember it being. It's why I'm endlessly amused by Zombie flying that flag for that show, and then repeating verbatim everything I felt for GT but for Daima. I think GT is similar to a lot of post Z Dragon Ball shows: It has some decent ideas that are compelling, but it's strung together with a lot of bullshit. That's probably the case for Daima when all is said and done.

I obviously can't change how you feel about the show, it's your personal enjoyment you're talking about and I have to respect that.
But whereas GT is concerned in relation to Daima:

- I felt Pan's character arc of just wanting to help and be treated with respect by people who all consider her but a helpless child to be extremely relatable, especially as a neurodivergent adult. That shit spoke to me.

- I really admired GT's ability to make me love Goku and Vegeta, two characters I hated during Z for reasons I'm frankly tired of arguing with people here. I'm sorry, I can't change my feelings, I hate Toriyama Goku and Vegeta.

- I also really admired GT being willing to bring back to forefront the Dragon Balls when they were reduced to just "Oh, those things that resurrect everybody" during the Cell and Boo Sagas and push the story forward.

I'm not saying any of this to mean, "Oh, GT is actually a masterpiece." Like many people are tired of repeating, it's a very flawed, badly executed show with great ideas that don't always deliver a good payoff. But I would also struggle to say Z or even the original DB weren't exactly the same thing. I'm just saying, GT has good points about it that often get thrown under the bus because of blind rage.

Now, contrasting the good points of GT against Daima:

- Daima also has a little girl who wants to be a hero and who just wants to help, it also has Goku and Vegeta. But here's where Daima fails whereas GT (kind of) succeeds: Daima does NOTHING with Panzy. It does nothing with Goku and Vegeta either. GT at least allowed Goku, Vegeta and Pan to grow, while Daima is just happy letting them be "nothing" characters, just like the entire rest of the cast sans the villains.

- The Dragon Balls are also present in Daima, but they're treated like a "whatever" goal post for the villains and the heroes. Which, would be interesting, if we didn't already have stories that did this already and better. Pilaf, Red Ribbon, King Piccolo, the Saiyans, Freeza and Baby all executed the idea of the heroes and villains clashing on an epic quest going after the Dragon Balls in a vastly more interesting way than Daima did. GT at least closed off the Dragon Balls with a finale worthy of these items, Daima is happy enough just letting them be "Oh, that thing that resurrects everyone and lets the villain get stronger."

The point here isn't that the original or GT is a masterpiece, the point is that Daima is uncreative as hell.
PS: I agree with you, Dragon Ball should've stayed dead. None of the new stuff screams to me, "I'm glad this exists."

[Jord]

- I really admired GT's ability to make me love Goku and Vegeta, two characters I hated during Z for reasons I'm frankly tired of arguing with people here. I'm sorry, I can't change my feelings, I hate Toriyama Goku and Vegeta.

What make you like the GT versions of those characters specifically?

[AliTheZombie13]

- I really admired GT's ability to make me love Goku and Vegeta, two characters I hated during Z for reasons I'm frankly tired of arguing with people here. I'm sorry, I can't change my feelings, I hate Toriyama Goku and Vegeta.

What make you like the GT versions of those characters specifically?

Simply put, Goku and Vegeta during Z infuriated me endlessly with their "I'mma do something INCREDIBLY stupid and irresponsible, because something something Saiyan" shtick. I don't really care if it's in-character, intended, if it's Toriyama Charm™, Wuxia-related, I do not enjoy watching conflict based on character stupidity.

That GT made these characters look back and reflect that there are more important things in the world than fighting, and that they're not Saiyans but Earthlings, was a breath of fresh air.

[Jord]

- I really admired GT's ability to make me love Goku and Vegeta, two characters I hated during Z for reasons I'm frankly tired of arguing with people here. I'm sorry, I can't change my feelings, I hate Toriyama Goku and Vegeta.

What make you like the GT versions of those characters specifically?

Simply put, Goku and Vegeta during Z infuriated me endlessly with their "I'mma do something INCREDIBLY stupid and irresponsible, because something something Saiyan" shtick. I don't really care if it's in-character, intended, if it's Toriyama Charm™, Wuxia-related, I do not enjoy watching conflict based on character stupidity.

That GT made these characters look back and reflect that there are more important things in the world than fighting, and that they're not Saiyans but Earthlings, was a breath of fresh air.

I never thought about it that way but you're absolutely right. The most annoying moments to me, like Vegeta allowing Frieza and Cell to get stronger, are related to that kind of writing. Coincidences can be a trigger for a good story, repeated stupidity usually isn't.

One problem with current Dragon Ball, including Daima is that there are so many fail safes, like the fact that the characters are immensely powerful, plus multiple sets of Dragon Balls, is that it's hard to write a story where the characters don't take the obvious and fastest route. Daima would have ended in a single episode.

[M16U3L2015]

It was confirmed that Daima will end on February 28.

https://mantan-web.jp/article/20250208d ... 0000c.html

[AliTheZombie13]

It was confirmed that Daima will end on February 28.

https://mantan-web.jp/article/20250208d ... 0000c.html

[TechExpert2021]

It was confirmed that Daima will end on February 28.

https://mantan-web.jp/article/20250208d ... 0000c.html

Hulu was the first to confirm that date as the day Daima will end with the final episode being the 20th episode, albeit accidentally.