Dragon Ball Daima: Episode 1 - Official Discussion Thread

[FiReFTW]

I loved episode 1, I'm very excited for the next episode

1. Animation is beautiful, absolutely stunning, best dragonball has looked, love it
2. Music is amazing also, love it
3. Love the pacing a lot (will get deeper into it after my points)
4. New characters are very interesting and intriguing and I want to know much more about them
5. The story itself is very interesting and intriguing also, a lot of things are being setup, lots of characters with potentially their own agendas

Now going to pacing a bit again, I'm actually baffled by some people here saying they hated the pacing and nothing happened, like really? We got a lot of new characters, got to knew them a bit, lots of setups and introductions to new things and items etc...
I guess some of you just like those action packed typical dragonball Z episodes full of fighting and action, but some of us people actually enjoy the slower paced episodes that explain a lot of things and are slow build up to bigger things, so il have to completely disagree here and I think it was amazing pacing.

Btw the adventure slow paced aspect gives me OG Dragonball vibes slightly.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

This could have been cut down to 15 minutes easily, and it would have been a lot better for it.

I actually asked myself what if the first 2 episodes premiered. The recap is what? 17 minutes long. A whole episode for that and then episode 2 to actually introduce Daima's story. Although I guess it probably wouldn't have been worth giving Funimation/Crunchyroll any validation for GT's A Grand Problem in the dub

[SupremeKai25]

I'm 99% certain that Shin and Kibito will fuse again to fight the big bad. Shin is one of the main characters of this show, after all. This will lead into Super where Kibitoshin defuses for the last time after Golden Freeza arc.

Not sure why people seem to think that Shin and Kibito can't just... fuse again.

Also, this series clearly takes place within the Super continuity, as the Earth is located in the Seventh Universe, which is a Super plot point.

[CodeOfMe]

Even if Kibito and Shin do fuse again, why wouldn't they just go back into Boo to unfuse? It seems strange that they'd use a valuable wish on the Dragon Balls for something they could do easily enough with Boo. That's the main problem I have with it. I'm guessing the writers will just say something like, "Oh, Boo was asleep at the time, so they couldn't unfuse through him," and leave it at that, even if it does feel like a cop-out.

[AliTheZombie13]

Now going to pacing a bit again, I'm actually baffled by some people here saying they hated the pacing and nothing happened, like really? We got a lot of new characters, got to knew them a bit, lots of setups and introductions to new things and items etc...
I guess some of you just like those action packed typical dragonball Z episodes full of fighting and action, but some of us people actually enjoy the slower paced episodes that explain a lot of things and are slow build up to bigger things, so il have to completely disagree here and I think it was amazing pacing.

Btw the adventure slow paced aspect gives me OG Dragonball vibes slightly.

I'm sorry, but this episode reeked of Super's bad pacing, where the entire first episode was just an amalgamation of unrelated events and lore dumps, only for it to end with a vague cliffhanger like, "But unbeknownst to the heroes and their peaceful times, something terrible is about to happen... NEXT EPISODE!!!" (It actually took 4 episodes for Beerus to do anything)

Lore dumps are boring. Recaps are boring. This episode has been just that, with just the very 10% end being the actual plot.

[JulieYBM]

I hope Gomah wins. Whatever form that takes, after spending all this time with him, I want Gomah to win and defeat Son Gokuu and friends.

[SupremeKai25]

I hope Gomah wins. Whatever form that takes, after spending all this time with him, I want Gomah to win and defeat Son Gokuu and friends.

Yes I don't know why there are complaints about the first half of the episode. Like it's not just a recap of the Buu saga, it also introduces the main villains and their objectives.

The pacing is good.

Although, not going to lie, that Doctor has "final villain" written all over her.

[Grimlock]

I hope the next episode continues with the characters interactions, that means more characters development and more lore dumps. Keep 'em coming, baby! Stuff I like to see.

And as expected, the only negative thing is the characters turning into kids. We really could have gone without that and we wouldn't miss anything. Oh well.

[Jord]

There is nothing wrong with new lore and characters but the way in which we get the info is handled clumsily. Show, don't tell. We literally start with the villains watching DBZ while stating new facts we need to know about their characters. That's laziness, sweetened by gorgeous animation.

How much more interesting would it have been when Kaioshin meets his brother later on and let Kaioshin's emotion tell the audience they're related? Let their interaction tell the story instead of just lazily telling the audience they're related.

[DestructoDisc]

I like the new villains, the animation is amazing, and some of the jokes were funny like Goku pretty much calling Vegeta a midget.

But the pacing kills this episode to me. Like at least 10 minutes was just the villains watching and commenting on the Buu saga. The main cast barely appeared. I actually would've really liked to see more of the cast bonding and celebrating Trunks's birthday. Gohan not being there because he finds studying more important is so lame, and where is Videl? Did Goten even have a single line of dialogue?

Overall it's a C tier premiere for me. I will be honest I actually think both GT and Super had better first episodes than this.

[VegettoEX]

Got Heath and me over here tag-teaming credit translations and other episode guide stuff. Watching the episode for the second time, and wanted to note a couple things I noticed the first time around that I don't think(?) have been mentioned yet:

Neva and the others are very specifically saying "Namekku-jin" (Namek People). This is opposed to what we traditionally get in the prior series as "Namekku-seijin" (People of the Planet Namek). I think this is what the subtitles are trying to get across by saying "Namek" instead of "Namekian" (at least that's what I'd do given the circumstances). This should pretty clearly put things into perspective when you consider their origin that's being referenced here, with them coming from seemingly the Demon Realm (or what was said in the Granolla arc as I think "another dimension"...?).

Another biggie is that we had Yumiko Kobayashi specifically announced as voicing "Kaioshin (Mini)"... and yet we get Shinichiro Ota playing Kaioshin here in the episode (as per the end credits). For those who don't know, Yuji Mitsuya was the original Kaioshin voice actor, and whenever he's not available (see: GT and Super), Ota is the stand-in for the character. For all intents and purposes, we have the "normal" VA here for Kaioshin... and yet we're apparently getting another one soon.

Something I pondered about during podcast 512 with Ajay is if we're possibly getting a soft voice reboot opportunity here with everyone except Goku/Nozawa. I really, truly don't have any insight into this whatsoever, so I'm just as curious as you to see where this goes with other characters. Obviously we had Horikawa, Tanaka, Hisakawa, etc. etc. etc. all playing their "regular" roles here from the Kai/Super era (with the obvious new stand-in with Suzuki as Yamcha)... so yeah man, I dunno.

I think that's it for now! I'll obviously have more thoughts as I do a second pass, and I dunno what future podcast plans may bring, but holy shit here we are!

[JulieYBM]

I thought it was pretty obvious that this first episode is not the 'complete' beginning of the series, so I don't much see the point to counting our chicken yet. Dragon Ball GT—perhaps as an apt conparison—didn't truly begin in its first episode, either. I have to wonder if DAIMA was designed this way because it was trying to imitate the modern streaming slow burn element or not? Either way, I do still think this is a good first episode—I also think making it longer to extend past this cliffhanger also would have worked.

If I had any one criticism, I think that learning Gomah's plan and then having it executed without issue was perhaps not a great idea. It's far too easy or linear or whatever word you want to use. Gomah explaining his plan should have been done as a flashback while Shen Long is executing that wish.

Also: I definitely think the recap is for lapsed viewers' benefit. I'm a fan and even I have not had the time to re-watch or re-read the Majin Buu arc since the 2000s. I never even watched the Kai version past a few episodes of the Saiyaman stuff. It makes sense to include this for anyone who isn't up to date.

That being said, I probably would have saved that sparring session's resources for another fight. Or heck, show us a flashback of the Tamagamis kicking ass in the past.

[UpFromTheSkies]

So is this like a retcon / reboot?

The animation looks fantastic, I'd love to see the entire manga reanimated in this style. I also like the new lore, it makes "demon king" Piccolo and his demon clan finally make sense, and now we know where Popo came from.

[fadeddreams5]

My takeaways:

• The flashbacks and their animation looked crisp, much like they did in Super Hero, and makes me want to watch a competent DBZ reboot more.

• Gomah is basically Pilaf 2.0, from his demeanor, to his silly appearance, to his "king" status, to his humorous idiotic logic, to making Goku a kid. Actually, on that note, this episode indirectly confirmed that Pilaf comes from the demon realm, as he has pointy ears

• On that note, I like that the Namekians' originate from the demon realm, as it ties in to King Piccolo being considered a demon. That ancient senile Namekian having unseen powers was also interesting. I wonder if he has spawned children.

• I liked that they retconned the kais unfusing using Buu's magic, hopefully making Vegito a "permanent" fusion again. This DBS contradiction makes me hope they finally confirm one day that GT, Daima, Super, and the DBZ movies are ALL canon, existing in alternate timelines/multiverse. I've been saying this since way before the multiverse thing became a fad.

All and all, it was cute. Can't make a solid judgement, as it was simply a lore dump episode. Tone seems similar to Battle of Gods or that Tarble OVA special, which is not a bad thing, though not my cup of tea either. I love this series the most when it's a tad more serious.

[JulieYBM]

So is this like a retcon / reboot?

The animation looks fantastic, I'd love to see the entire manga reanimated in this style. I also like the new lore, it makes "demon king" Piccolo and his demon clan finally make sense, and now we know where Popo came from.

No, it takes place right after the Buu battle

[Grimlock]

You know who else is from the Demon Realm if simply by having pointy ears makes them as such?

We should probably revise the entire Dragon Ball, looking for pointy ears characters. There are real life people with pointy ears. Should we get concerned!? =P

[AliTheZombie13]

I thought it was pretty obvious that this first episode is not the 'complete' beginning of the series, so I don't much see the point to counting our chicken yet. Dragon Ball GT—perhaps as an apt conparison—didn't truly begin in its first episode, either.

If anything, it's interesting seeing how both series handle it.

GT opens and goes straight to the point, barely explaining anything. What are these new Dragon Balls? How did Pilaf learn about them? How the hell do they fit with the rest of the series? Why did nobody acknowledge them before? Who cares! The Earth will blow up without them!

Meanwhile, Daima overexplains everything to the point little happens in the actual episode.

A better point of comparison would be the very first DB episode. We get introduced to Goku and Bulma, we quickly learn about their characters and personalities through their actions (Goku thinking the car is a monster, Bulma shooting him, blackmailing him with sex and whining about everything), we learn about the Dragon Balls and how they work, Pilaf and his gang are introduced as a rival faction (in the anime), they have an adventure against a man-eating pterodactyl, the Dragon Ball world is built organically, and they ride into the sunset promising more exciting adventures together.

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

You know who else is from the Demon Realm if simply by having pointy ears makes them as such?

We should probably revise the entire Dragon Ball, looking for pointy ears characters. There are real life people with pointy ears. Should we get concerned!? =P

Honestly, I actually really like the idea that many different Mortal races in the Universes were originally Demons who emigrated out of the Demon Realm.

It adds that extra little bit of variety to the worldbuilding that's not important but is nice to have in the background for fans to mull over.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

New forum, what'd I miss? I'm too broke to pay for Crunchyroll, sadly.

[JulieYBM]

I thought it was pretty obvious that this first episode is not the 'complete' beginning of the series, so I don't much see the point to counting our chicken yet. Dragon Ball GT—perhaps as an apt conparison—didn't truly begin in its first episode, either.

If anything, it's interesting seeing how both series handle it.

GT opens and goes straight to the point, barely explaining anything. What are these new Dragon Balls? How did Pilaf learn about them? How the hell do they fit with the rest of the series? Why did nobody acknowledge them before? Who cares! The Earth will blow up without them!

Meanwhile, Daima overexplains everything to the point little happens in the actual episode.

A better point of comparison would be the very first DB episode. We get introduced to Goku and Bulma, we quickly learn about their characters and personalities through their actions (Goku thinking the car is a monster, Bulma shooting him, blackmailing him with sex and whining about everything), we learn about the Dragon Balls and how they work, Pilaf and his gang are introduced as a rival faction (in the anime), they have an adventure against a man-eating pterodactyl, the Dragon Ball world is built organically, and they ride into the sunset promising more exciting adventures together.

I owe the episode a re-watch, but to be honest, I do not specifically remember why Gomah is so afraid of Gokuu and friends being a threat to his reign when from all signs it seems like they don't care.

Shin and Kibito said that they were on Earth for other business during the party scene. Are we to assume that they're planning some sort of assault against the Demon Realm?

There's a lot of info given in the episode, yet the maim conflict still seems to be a mystery to me.