MANTANWEB (11 February 2025)

“Dragon Ball Daima: The first animated series in the franchise in 6 years – why make Goku a child again?”

Dragon Ball Daima, the completely new series based on Akira Toriyama-san‘s popular Dragon Ball comic, started airing on the Fuji TV network of channels last October. It was made to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the franchise, and since it had not only been roughly six years since the last completely original series, Dragon Ball Super (which finished airing in March of 2018), but also original author Akira Toriyama-san had been brought back to take care of both the story and character designs for this new installment, it generated a lot of buzz. But what led to the creation of this new animated series? We ask Dragon Ball franchise executive producer Akio Iyoku, from Capsule Corporation Tokyo.

■ Akira Toriyama-san kept contributing more and more ideas

The original Dragon Ball comic ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1984 to 1995, while its animated adaptation started airing in 1986. The comic sold more than 260 million volumes worldwide. In recent years, we’ve had the Dragon Ball Super series with story drafts by Toriyama-san (airing from 2015 to 2018), and the animated feature films Dragon Ball Super: Broly (which premiered in 2018) and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (which premiered in 2022), all of which have been hits, proving that the series has been cherished all over the world for more than 40 years.

Daima now depicts Goku and friends being turned back into children due to a certain conspiracy and going on an adventure in the Demon Realm. It’s an original story with many new characters, and the fact that you cannot predict its plot twists in advance is one of its charms, meaning that there should also be a lot of old fans that can now recall the excitement of reading the new chapters every week in Weekly Shōnen Jump as children. But Dragon Ball is a series that, throughout its 40 years of existence, has also been able to gain new fans, so children that have been unfamiliar with it up to this point should also be able to feel that excitement.

But what led to the decision to make a new animated series?

Iyoku: About six years ago, back when we were producing Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, we started talking about making a new movie or a new animated series. Since the movie was already in the middle of production, in order not to bother Sensei too much, instead of making him in charge of the whole thing, we thought about taking care of things ourselves and then just showing it to him to see what he thought. As the production made progress, Sensei became really invested in the whole thing. So, contrary to our initial intentions, the more we consulted with Sensei, the more involved he became, so he ended up being in charge of almost everything.

As Toriyama-san kept asking questions like “What kind of place is the Demon World?” and “What about the new characters…?”, the world of Daima became something much more solidified.

Iyoku: It was my first time developing a series this way, and I think it was also fun for Sensei. We had more time to develop it than we usually do when we produce a movie, and we also took our time bouncing ideas back and forth regarding the story many, many times. To tell you the truth, we had actually already begun production on the animated series before the story had been completely finalized. That’s how much we went over it. Maybe that’s why it has that same sense of excitement from a weekly serialization.

■ An animated series that can be enjoyed by both parents and children

As a series that has been going on for 40 years, Dragon Ball has been loved by two — maybe even three — different generations. Part of that also has to do with the animated series, so the goal was to make something that could be enjoyed by both parents and children alike.

Iyoku: I strove to make something that could be enjoyed by both parents and children alike. My target audience was people that were now in their thirties or older and that now had children of their own. That demographic saw Dragon Ball GT as children, so our starting point was to make a new animated series much in the vein of GT.

Dragon Ball GT was an animated series with a completely original story that aired from 1996 to 1997 which had Goku, who had been turned into a child again, going off on a great adventure, all of which are points it shares with Daima. Adult Goku is pretty cool, but not only does child Goku have a different charm to him, he’s also cute while still remaining cool. The action scenes from Daima depicting this little Goku wielding the Nyoibō are one of the series’ highlights.

Iyoku: Being able to reach a wider audience is one of the main objectives of this series, so, and I know this is completely in hindsight, but there’s this perception that making Goku a child again makes it easier to get into it. We had absolutely no clue we’d be turning everyone into a child again, but of course, that is something Sensei came up with. “GT” stands for “Grand Touring,”¹ but we also tried to depict a similar sort of adventure with Daima. It has a different vibe, a different flow from Super, where the focus is on seeing just how much stronger Goku can get. Now that he’s a child again, he can use the Nyoibō, he can fight while jumping and hopping… it feels really fresh and it has a different hook from Super.

In Daima, before the opening theme even starts playing, there’s a small clip explaining what Goku’s been up to so far. Dragon Ball has had different looks throughout the eras², but with this short primer clip, it can show how it used to look in an animated series made in the Reiwa era. It’s going to have a real nostalgic feeling for the older fans and be really easy to get into for the new fans, so you can really tell the production team is trying to broaden its scope.

Iyoku: We had some talks where Sensei said that there are probably people that don’t even know that Dragon Ball was originally a series about collecting all the Dragon Balls and facing up against strong enemies. So we tried to make a series that would be easy to get into even for people that would be watching for the first time. And it also becomes easy to show that Goku has grown a lot but was turned back into a child.

The series was made to be enjoyed by children, but Iyoku also stated: “We didn’t make it childish. And obviously, we need to show the charms of both the characters and the story. Since we want this series to be enjoyed by both parents and children, we also made sure to invest in the visual aspect of the series…” — a perfect balance so that both children and adults can enjoy it.

■ A visible “connection”

Daima is clearly set at the end of the Majin Boo arc of the original comic, but, as Dragon Ball has a lot of different stories, fans inevitably discuss between themselves where this one fits. While it hadn’t been outright stated up until this point, according to Iyoku-san: “The story was handled by Sensei himself, and the fact is that it happens right after the end of the Majin Boo arc. That’s all there is to it.”

And you can see a lot of connections to the original comic. In Daima, the origins of the Kaiōshin, the Namekians, and Majin Boo will be revealed. There will also be new reveals and plot twists every single episode.

Iyoku: I do think it’s interesting to wonder about what Daima‘s place is within Dragon Ball, but we’re trying to include a lot of connections to the original series. While the team didn’t know about them, and it wasn’t our intention to show them from the start, there were a lot of those connections to the original series just waiting to be revealed inside Sensei‘s head, and of course we are also trying to showcase them. The one revelation that really left me floored was the fact that people with pointy ears came from the Demon Realm. I think it was an idea that had always been vaguely inside Sensei‘s head, but that really surprised me. I think he had a really good grasp of the Dragon Ball world, and he just changes focus depending on the specific series. He’s not just forcefully making stuff up out of thin air. I think having a good setup is also important, and since this is an animated series where there is no comic to base it off of, we’re consciously trying to make it have that comic “hook.”

Daima has to be a series that both maintains its “Dragon Ball-ness” but that also shows something completely new to the audience — undeniably, quite the tall order.

Iyoku: The series has continued for quite a long time, so we can’t quite stray too far from what makes Dragon Ball what it is, but if you keep repeating the same things over and over again, the viewers will get bored. It’s a difficult balancing act. It’s basically what we’ve been doing up until now, but while it is difficult to make sweeping changes in order to meet the viewers’ basic expectations, you also need to pursue new challenges.

■ Future developments for “Dragon Ball”

Daima is going to be broadcast and streamed worldwide. Due to the widespread adoption of streaming services, people are now able to watch the same animated series at around the same time all over the world, but for the Dragon Ball franchise, this is a first.³

Iyoku: I didn’t quite know what the response would be, but we thought about a day-and-date worldwide distribution, with a focus on streaming. I feel like this specific series is going to have a very different reception depending on the individual countries and regions. I think it will basically be received as an animated series, but depending on the country and region, Dragon Ball‘s going to be pushed forward to viewers right alongside live-action drama series, so I’m kind of curious to see what the reaction will be. It’s not going to be thought of as “just” another animated series. It needs to be recognized as something with wide appeal. We need to change the base concept every time, but this time, I really feel like we won’t know unless we try.

Future developments in the Dragon Ball franchise are eagerly awaited, and not just in the animated front: video games, merchandise, comic books… there are so many avenues, but where is the franchise heading next? Iyoku-san stated: “Animated series and video games take time to make. We’re in the middle of preparations, but we are thinking of sharing more information in the meantime, when the time is right. I want to make more things…” — so we can expect to see more Dragon Ball in the future. It should continue to be a series that is still cherished 50 years in the future, perhaps even longer.

Daima will air its last episode on February 28th. There should be lots of exciting developments and many mysteries still remain unsolved as of now.

Iyoku: I believe the action in that last episode will more than meet everyone’s expectations. The climactic battle really is amazing! Regarding the story, there are things that people will see coming, and some things they will not, so some things might be expected, some might not, and some that should make people completely astonished. I think you will enjoy it even more if you take the opportunity to watch the series all the way from the beginning again.

What might just happen at the end? Everyone’s eyes are on the last episode of Daima as it approaches.

The following translator notes are included for the benefit of the reader as supplemental information.

¹ Toriyama himself comments on the meaning of “GT” in his introductory text for the Dragon Ball GT “Dragon Box” release.
² This is specifically referring to Japanese eras, which have changed every time a new emperor takes the throne since 1868. Dragon Ball has lived through three different eras: it started at the very tail end of the Showa era (1926-1989), went through the entirety of the Heisei era (1989-2019), and keeps on being an active franchise during the current Reiwa era (2019-present).
³ An official simulcast for the Dragon Ball Super television series did eventually begin, but not until episode 63 — more than a year after its debut and about halfway into its total run. This does indeed make Dragon Ball Daima the first Dragon Ball franchise series to receive a complete simulcast, from beginning to end, contemporary with its original Japanese broadcast.

English Translation: Zénpai

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