In what would end up being his final gift to the world, Toriyama sensei left us with some of his best ever work, Dragon Ball Daima, returning to the magical sense of adventure that the original Dragon Ball series had, while delivering some of the franchise’s best action and transformations. What it may lacked in story, it made up for in epic moments. This simply put felt like a love letter to the dragon ball community and fans who have supported this series over the decades. It’s fanservice in the purest and most wholesome form. Canonising previous transformations and concepts that would’ve seemed unbelievable justa couple months of ago. Many will sit and debate how this fits into the canon of the franchise and to those I simply say, “just enjoy it man”. As someone who grew up watching the original dragon ball with my dad back in the early 2000s, there was a strong sense of nostalgia watching Goku in kid form going on a classic shonen style adventure to gather the dragon balls and making friends along the way. For newer fans this may have felt like a departure from what they know in the Z and Super era, but for me this was Toriyama going back to his roots and frankly his prime when writing. Dragon Ball at its best was when Goku didn’t have all these transformations and had to actually rely on his friends to help him. While Daima does have those big action set pieces and newly canonized forms as I mentioned before, it strikes a healthy balance between the magic of the original series and the epic fights of the more recent DB franchise. It almost felt like Toriyama knew he was going to die and wrote this with that in mind, satisfying both types of fans while opening up possibilities for future instalments. The story wasn’t the strongest in Daima, I felt like there was much more emphasis on the journey itself. The companions, the banter, the sticky situations Goku, Glorio and Panzy got into, etc. I found the antagonist to be pretty disappointing as a big bad on his own. He felt more like a device for Toriyama to be able to bring out all these cool new abilities and transformations which I’m ok with. It’s dragon ball, it’s no stranger to mediocre antagonists who do just that. For me, the big highlight was just seeing Goku and the others go on this adventure together in a new realm we’ve never explored and expanding upon the existing Dragon Ball lore and mythos. Production values are where Daima really shines to me. It’s easily the best looking DB show ever. It has movie quality art and animation for most of the series and episodes 19 and 20 are probably the best we’ve seen outside of DB Super Broly and a handful of ToP episodes. This show looked great. Also really enjoyed the musical selections! Credit to the staff who brought this to life. My general feelings after 20 weeks of watching this are this is the second best Dragon Ball instalment ever. I know I know “GT BAD!” Is the general narrative online, but I personally loved the villains and story in that the most out of any Dragon Ball so that’s my top 1. BUT Daima canonized some concepts from that series and goes back to that Dragon Ball gathering sense of adventure so it’s a close second and a fitting final gift from Toriyama-sensei to us longtime fans. Dragon Ball Daima gets 9 out of 10.

Let’s make this clear right from the start. Daima was a cashgrab that nobody wanted and few watched. It was made just to canonize Super Saiyan 4, the same way the Brolly movie was made to canonize the filler villain. Toriyama in general spent his last years in rehashing old ideas, making the line from the opening song “here comes a brand new story” to be deceptive. Daima is part of Toriyama’s attempt to incorporate a lot of non-canon ideas into canon, but since he is not a good writer he did a crappy job. Not only Daima contradicts pretty much everything that has been canonfor decades, it doesn’t even fit with the Super continuity. The way the Potara earrings work changed, the origin of the Dragonballs and Majin Buu changed, and Piccolo doesn’t even know how to speak Namekian anymore! It also has no explanation for why Goku never uses Super Saiyan 4 in Super, or why Kaioshin is not fused again. It will piss off anyone who still thinks Dragonball is consistent with its rules. Not that it ever was or it matters at this point. Although Daima expands the lore by delving into the demon realm and the origin of the Namekians, that doesn’t mean a thing because no one gives a shit about the setting. A dozen universes were introduced in Super, they were left completely unexplored, and nobody complained when the Tournament of Power began. Because Dragonball is all about the fighting, not exploration. It is not One Piece or Tower of God; it’s Goku changing hair colors and exchanging energy beams with a villain. Plus, there have been so many fanfic stories over the decades, to the point the canon lore doesn’t matter anymore. Heck, Xenoverse and Sparkling Zero are nothing but ‘what if’ scenarios, yet nobody complains about the breaching of canon. Heck, not even Daima cares. What matters the most is if people wanted Daima, and the answer is, they didn’t. When it was first announced everyone quickly yelled “We want Moro!” meaning they wanted the next arc of Super to be adapted. Daima, like GT, is a cashgrab, and if it had never been made, nobody would miss a thing. Not even calling it a sendoff or a passion project of Toriyama is enough to excuse its existence. No one cares about anything else the late mangaka made, from Dragon Quest to Blue Dragon, to even the very recent Sand Land. And they certainly don’t care about silly gag comedies that involve Muppet Baby-like versions of characters from the battle manga they love. Let’s be honest, people only care about Dragonball, even if Toriyama isn’t involved. Quick reminder that all he was doing with Super was giving Toyotaro, the succeeding mangaka, vague concepts and plot threads and was then letting him do as he pleased. The result was a complete mess of unbaked ideas and bad writing. The fans didn’t wait 10 minutes before calling Daima a GT 2.0, which in many ways it is. Once again, Goku is back to being a kid through a wish from the dragon and travels to distant lands in a spaceship to undo it. Despite many others becoming babies along with him, the premise did not change. On the side of lies, the shills of this cashgrab were insisting it’s not a rehash. It’s more like a return to the style of the original series, when Goku was still a kid and there was a lot of adventure instead of constant Super Saiyan transformations and energy beams. This was quickly proven to be a lie, since not only Daima is chockfull of transformations and energy beams, it also doesn’t feel like the original series in the slightest. Back then Goku and the gang were far more violent and sexually deprived compared to the sanitized versions they had post Z. Remember how kid Goku killed and ate his enemies? When he sexually molested every girl he was coming across with his pat-pat move? That’s not here. We got the adventure aspect and the design of Goku, but not the personality he had as a kid or the type of comedy the original show was using. The jokes were in general too sanitized. Even if you liked the vulgar Dr. Slump type of comedy Dragonball used to have at first, this is not a return to that kind of humor. It’s safe and inoffensive, making it dull and unmemorable. The shills obviously refused to admit that, and insisted you shouldn’t let your hatred of GT to get in the way (in case you didn’t know, nobody liked anything in that show aside from Super Saiyan 4, because it was boring). The shills eventually backpedaled when Super Saiyan 4 got rehashed and sang a different tune. Oh, it actually is a rehash and you should watch it because you love GT! The rehashed transformation was nothing but memberberries, but it became an instant hook regardless. Too bad it happened in the finale. The rest of the show was a chore to watch and the idea to rehash Goku becoming a kid didn’t sit well with the audience. Narrative-wise it was done to depower him, but aesthetic-wise the Muppet Babies / Tiny Toons type of designs didn’t look nice. It’s the adult forms everyone liked, not the chibi ones. How do you switch from buffed adults who only care about punching each other to baby food without eye rolling? It’s like seeing Rambo become a My Little Pony. Your average Dragonball fan only cares about action and transformations, not a bunch of brats doing goofy things. No wonder the show lost 80% of its audience just from that. It also didn’t matter in the long-run, since the only opponent that posed a challenge was the final villain. Everyone else was a cakewalk, even with Goku being a much weaker kid. Everyone else becoming kids didn’t matter either, since Toriyama didn’t do anything with it. It was there just as a joke for the first episodes and then didn’t play a role for the rest of the series. It could be argued that it was done to make the show more accessible to children viewers, but it didn’t work since not many were watching the show, and those who did were all 40 year old diehard fans waiting to see epic fights. They eventually got them. Even then, though, the fights are just a hollow spectacle. They don’t have the epicness of Z, since everyone looks dumb and the threats are barely felt. Nothing is at stake in this show, since the good guys don’t mind being kids. In fact, they love it! On top of that, there is no time limit that would lead to Earth blowing up like in GT. Basically, there is no tension, pressure of time, or stakes in general. Despite that, the vast majority of viewers/readers were pleased, even if they were aware that they were essentially being given garbage. Because none of them cares about the quality of the story, and they certainly don’t care about who wrote it. They just wanna see adult Goku changing hair colors and exchanging energy beams with a villain. They don’t want to see Rugrats versions of Goten and Trunks rolling on the floor and laughing. If I haven’t said a single word about other characters beyond Goku so far, it’s because they were largely left underused. Daima is still the Goku show, with Vegeta being the jealous boyfriend. Despite featuring around a hundred named characters, everyone beyond those two is just there to offer exposition or gasp at how strong Goku and Vegeta are. Most of the older cast is left on Earth where you never see them again after the first episodes. Gohan in specific doesn’t even exist, further proving how much Toriyama regretted making him the new protagonist for a while. Others like Piccolo, Bulma and Shin come along for the heck of it, without offering a thing to the plot. New characters like Glorio and Panzy were initially important for taking the main characters to other places with their airship, and explaining the situation of the demon world, but once Goku began flying again he didn’t need them anymore, and he sure didn’t care about the world he was in. On the villain side, we get Gomah, who is basically Pilaf with a clown head, a completely unthreatening gag character. His two lieutenants, Arinsu and Degesu, seemed to have a hidden agenda that would complicate things, but it never went anywhere and the plot remained fairly silly and straightforward. In fact, the plot was so silly and straightforward it became completely forgettable. There was nothing interesting going on while the gang was traveling in the demon world. The challenges were so easy to overcome, Toriyama had to artificially make some situations to seem more dangerous than they actually were. There were instances where the audience was supposed to believe Super Saiyans who can blow up planets with a finger couldn’t deal with a big child, or normal solders with laser guns. Such moments were not only insulting the audience, they were also clearly done to stretch a fairly simple mission to five times its natural duration. Just how many episodes were wasted on their airship breaking down and them having to walk? How many minutes of every episode were wasted on characters that don’t shut up and explain everything, even when something is obvious? 80% the show was a complete chore to watch. On top of that, there were plot points that were dropped entirely, such as the fusion bugs that were constantly mentioned, made everyone to expect fusion, and it never happened. The highlights ended up being the major battles with the guardian robots and the big bad, but even those had to be artificially made to seem harder than they actually were. One of the robots was given a power up out of nowhere, just so we can have a fan service moment with Vegeta turning Super Saiyan 3. And Gomah finds this completely broken eye that instantly turns him from a nobody to someone more powerful than a Super Saiyan 3. The tradition of people gaining power ups with no effort, and devaluing the earlier arcs when training and never giving up were pivotal, continues. Basically, there is no build up to the highlights, the power ups feel unearned, and the battles end up being superficial because of it. I kept thinking all they have to do is shoot the big bad with a laser gun and be done with it. In case it wasn’t obvious yet, I do not recommend Daima. It was a complete waste of time and an insult to old fans that care about anything other than transformations. I place it even lower than GT, which was also a cashgrab but came out when people were starving for more Dragonball. GT also came out during the 90s when options were limited to what was airing on TV. That is not the case today; you can watch anything you want, from any year, and at any time of the day you fancy. And who would turn his head towards Daima when Sparkling Zero came out at the same time, with every character of every arc and a hundred what-if stories? There is also Multiverse, the best fanfic, that has many times surpassed the official material. Do those two have the best writing? Hell, no! But that is not what fans of the series want. They are pleased with seeing Goku changing hair colors and exchanging energy beams with a villain. Therefore, who gives a dime about Daima when you have so many better alternatives? As the ratings have proved, not many.

Dragon Ball Daima – Akira Toriyama’s Final Work! I am speechless. How do you even begin to review something like this? To do it justice, we need to analyze the series properly. Many people loved it, while others didn’t. But one thing is clear—Dragon Ball Daima is amazing in its own way. Pros / Positives of Dragon Ball Daima: + The Demon Realm was finally introduced for the first time. + Rich lore expansion, including the reveal of Super Majin Rymus, the creator of all universes in the Dragon Ball Multiverse.+ Confirmation that Namekians and Supreme Kais actually originate from the Demon Realm. + exploration and world-building of the Demon Realm. + Incredible fan service : Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Super Saiyan God Goku are now canon!!!!! + My theory about Gomah being the final antagonist and that funny-looking character turning out to be the main villain actually came true. + One of the best anime openings—amazing music and stunning animation. + Great fight sequences with solid choreography. As a Dragon Ball fan, what more could you ask for? Cons / Negatives of Dragon Ball Daima: - No fusion, despite the Fusion Bugs being introduced early on (Toriyama-sensei really trolled us with this one). - Shallow exploration of the Demon Realm and minimal use of magic. - Some retcons from Dragon Ball Super, such as the Kibitoshin fusion and Goku using Super Saiyan 4. Final Thoughts: Overall, Dragon Ball Daima was an incredible journey. It may not be the best Dragon Ball series, but it’s certainly a fantastic anime on its own. Despite its flaws, it shines in the anime world (and yes, it broke the internet again!). As a Dragon Ball fan, I truly appreciate this series. Ratings: Story & Plot Progression: 3.5/5 Animation & Music: 4.5/5 Characters: 4/5 Bonus (Fan Service): 4.5/5 Enjoyment, Impact & Personal Satisfaction: 5/5 Total Score: 21.5/25 Overall Rating: 9/10 (A+)

Before watching this series, ask yourself what do you think about "Dragon Ball". Does it really deserve to be an inspiration to so many creators? Does the original story have anything beyond surface level, which wouldn't just make it some comic/cartoon for kids? Or is it just mindless fun, and you want to see the last "game" of your favorite "football team"? Depending on your answer, you'll either have a lot of fun or will be constantly disappointed. CHARACTERS: Firstly, let's start with the characters. There are quite a lot of cameos and the main cast includes a lot of heroes, which you might remember fromthe previous series, but there are also some notable omissions, which (in certain cases) are quite odd. This in and of itself isn't a big deal - the main problem lies in the (lack of) use of the already established characters, who became a part of the main roster. Besides Goku and Vegeta, they just didn't do all that much. At best, they might have had one or a few gags, but usually they were a background character #47, whose presence simply coincided with Goku and Vegeta's screen time. The story would really benefit from having a smaller roster and giving it more shine. This inadequacy is however somewhat balanced with a colorful cast of new heroes, which I really have to praise. I don't think I particularly disliked any of them, so kudos for that. They provided a lot of laughs, some insight, and I'd gladly see them back in the future productions. One of them, even though they have left a bad first impression, has even managed to become my favorite character. But if I really have to critique the new heroes, I'd say that they also felt more like an aid to the big guns, rather than being the ones who drive the conflict in the place which is supposed to be their home. When it comes to villains, you have neutral forces such as the Tamagami, who can be quite enjoyable, but it's better to think about them as challenges, rather than normal people. And at last you have our antagonists in the form of Gomah and Degesu. The only thing they contribute to the story is that they try to make it harder for our heroes at every turn possible, but besides that, they are too comedic to be taken seriously, which is a problem, because the story wants you to treat them like real, evil villains, similar to the ones we've seen in Z. THE MAIN PROBLEM: Using this example, you can guess, what's the biggest problem with "Daima". It's the sudden shifts in tone. It almost feels like 2/3 writers were taking turns writing episodes, and all of them had a different vision of the series, as one episode is packed with action, the other is toilet humor incarnate, and the rest adds lore which contributes nothing to the story. All three of these aspects could be integrated much better, and flow into each other more naturally, but the plot doesn't commit to any one of these fully, and instead of, for example, making the first portion more humorous, the second one more information-heavy and the last one full of action, it's all mixed without any thought, whether it sticks well or not. LORE AND "CANON": Now that I mentioned lore, it's worth pointing out that, unfortunately, rarely does it make any sense. At this point it's unclear whether certain events were supposed to be taking place hundreds, thousands or millions of years ago. Some characters possess knowledge, which they have never shown before, while forgetting things, which we've seen they knew earlier. If anything's certain it's the fact that nothing makes sense anymore and in the rare instances, when you could theoretically try to make sense of new info, it's as unimportant to the story, as it could possibly be, and it most likely won't be resolved, as "Dragon Ball" in recent years doesn't like to do that. While I'm at it, it's also worth noting, that it's best to forget "Dragon Ball Super" when watching "Daima", as both of these contradict each other a lot. Trying to make sense of it is either impossible or requires big, unnecessary logic hoops. This is not to the detriment of "Daima", as these can just very well be two separate continuities, but it's good to keep that in mind and set your expectations well. HUMOR: But if you don't particularly care about all of that and simply enjoy Toriyama's gags, then you'll certainly find yourself having a lot of fun, as there are quite a lot of them and, if it weren't for the problems with the tone I mentioned before, I really wouldn't write anything bad about them. Obviously, humor is subjective, but besides making us laugh, they can also make you feel like you're experiencing early "Dragon Ball" without recreating it 1:1 like the franchise likes to do nowadays. STORY, ANIMATION AND POTENTIAL: And lastly, the story. This should be, by far, the longest portion of this review, but as you might guess, there's not a lot to talk about the plot itself, because the story is as simple and as surface level as it gets. There is no nuance to be found, no deeper themes, no substance, unless we add to it a lot of "headcanons". Some plot points, which could very easily drive the plot, are quite literally dropped and forgotten mid-series, and the conclusion to one plot thread, which was established early on, doesn't get a satisfactory conclusion - it kind of resolves itself, without showing the reasons behind the actions of certain characters. Other plot points lead to nothing, even though the show unsubtly leads you to believe they really want to explore them. And what's worse, most likely this was all because of forced fan-service and nostalgia-baiting, which were the main driving forces behind the creation of this series. For anyone who's looking for something fresh in "Dragon Ball" - you won't find it here. There was a lot of potential, you might enjoy some early portions, but later on it was just wasted. Unless you're here just to see some nice fights and transformations. If the story really decided to go one way or another, it could've been saved. Instead, it chose the constant balancing between the lighter tone and the more serious tone, which created a big mess, the only saving grace being the animation, most likely the best the franchise has ever offered. That's all I can say about it, as I'm not a professional in this field. I like seeing nice colors, and cool poses, but this can't substitute a good plot, narrative coherence, and themes which were heavily lacking. What hurt the most, however, is that at some point, you start to accept that it's not even worth theorizing about what will come next, as usually it's the most boring and predictable choice. And I say that, while comparing it to other series in its class, and especially when comparing it to the original manga, where Akira Toriyama proved to the world his capabilities.

Dragon Ball has had a long history, including the non-canonical Dragon Ball GT. GT was about Son Goku getting turned into a kid by Pilaf, and had to run around the universe to collect the black star Dragon Balls (which were different from the normal ones.) While it had some good points and interesting story arcs in the second half, you could certainly feel the lack of budget and conciseness. Thankfully Oda went ahead and returned to the idea with Dragon Ball Daima. King Gomah, the king of the Demon Realm, decided to turn Goku and friends into kids for fear they were too strong. Thisleads the gang to seek out a way to get to the demon realm and reverse the wish. It has a lot of the charm of the OG Dragon Ball, which may not be some people's speed if that happen to be fans who only watched Z and Super, but it makes for a whimsical journey that is a joy to watch while not slouching on fights. The new characters and additional lore on existing characters is surprisingly well done without being planned ahead of time, and it gives more reason for some side characters to be more important to the story rather than being cheerleaders on the sideline. For Toriyama's final work involving Dragon Ball, it truly is an encapsulation of everything good about the series in a brief, low-stakes 20 episode romp through the Demon Realm. 9/10; RIP Toriyama Akira 3/1/24

The anime is set just after Martin buu saga and before Beerus arc it’s your typical Dragonball show with the classic comedy and fighting but it is short with 20 episodes I did enjoy it but it wasn’t as good as super or Z That being said a couple of things have been proven to be Canon like SS4 and vegeta ss3 and they’re not linked to GT etc the Demon realm stuff is fun and all but it did just feel like an arc in a bigger series The only good fight scene was at the end and that was about it It wasfine. Nothing special, but I feel like it was hyped up. Too much. If you are a fan of Dragon Ball to check it out 6/10!

As the final piece written by the great Akira Toriyama, I feltl emotional saying goodbye to the Dragon Ball world. Daima attempts to recapture the fun and energy of the original Dragon Ball but it doesn’t quite reach its level. That said, the anime was enjoyable, and I never felt bored watching it—solid 6/10. Characters The new characters were simple and fun—not too complex, but fitting for a kid’s show. However, as expected, Vegeta got done dirty once again. Animation Dragon Ball animation rarely disappoints, and Daima is no exception. The fight scenes were visually stunning and well-animated throughout. Recommendation If you’re looking for a lighthearted anime with no complicated plotor character development but with amazing visuals and fights, Daima is a solid choice. For OG Dragon Ball fans, it’s worth watching for the nostalgia and callbacks to DB and DB GT. However, if you’re only a fan of Dragon Ball Z, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Dragon Ball Daima the 3rd sequel series to Dragon Ball Z that takes place prior to Dragon Ball Super? and is canon! In terms of continuaty its probably the most confusing adition to the franchice, there have been retcons and plotholes before but this series is just it cant take place in the same timeline as either super or gt the retcons and implications it would create are too big to ignore. In terms of quality, the story starts out great and follows more the og dragon ball although sadly it spended far too much time on already established characters (bulma, piccolo, vegeta) than on the newones (panzy, glorio) and dragged out fights The villains are the worst out of every other DB series, they are all shallow with no menacing factor or even make a false danger to the characters in case someone hasnt seen super or gt and doesnt make it there i doubt they will ever feel a sense of danger. For some praise, the fights are easily the best in the series, the animation is on par if not better than dbs broly and the demon realm is probably the most unique in all of anime (i will not say its mind blowing but in comparison to every other hell/demon realm i have seen its leagues better) Overall: (7/10) It didnt live up to the hype but if you are a dragon ball fan you should definetely watch it especially if you are a gt fan and in case you havent seen dragon ball it looks like a great entry point, there is a small recup at the start so inthat case that should be enough for you to understand whats going on.

All the chapters are boring until the fanservice comes (The only good ones are chapters 17-18-19) The ending is horrible, the only characters that deserve to be canonized in the super canon line are Majin kuu and Majin duu. I honestly think that Toriyama couldn't finish creating Daima and the fanservice was on Toei's part. Do I want more of daima? No, I'm sure toei will make the continuation of daima only be fanservice to sell merchandising and dlcs in the games. Despite everything DAIMA is still a better product than GT Gomah? The villain is horrible, he has such a bad design and he only existedfor the fanservice of SSJ4 and SSJ3 Vegeta. The worst of all is that at the end of the story they show you that the demon eye that Gomah wanted is sold in a store as if it were something common to find, if you want a good Toriyama product before his departure to heaven, please play and watch SAND LAND

At first, I really liked Dragon Ball Daima, because it had that classic Dragon Ball feel with its journey-driven structure. But as it progressed, my interest started fading, mainly due to the uninspired and bland character designs. Since Dragon Ball Super, the franchise has struggled with creativity in this area. The designs feel lazy; just minor tweaks to colors and hairstyles or the usual "bigger, more muscular villain" trope. Even fan-made content feels more fresh and inspired. As for the story, I didn’t expect much—just an adventure with fun fights, as usual. And in that regard, Daima delivered. The fights were well-animated, and the final battlewas genuinely worth watching. That said, Dragon Ball has never been known for its deep lore, but Daima introduced major continuity issues that the series didn’t even attempt to address. Maybe they’re saving explanations for a second season? Overall, the series started strong, dragged in the middle, and picked up again in the final two episodes. But sitting through 18 episodes just for a decent ending doesn’t feel worth it. At least Toriyama left a gift before his final rest. R.I.P. king!

I hate how good the animation is because the story was really bad. First time I’ve ever been bored watching Dragon Ball. At only 20 episodes this somehow managed to feel drawn out. Somewhere in here is a good 90-minute movie that's being forced to pad itself out. But still this is probably the best animated Dragon Ball series. They don’t do anyone justice though. Gohan doesn’t make one appearance. Piccolo didn’t really add anything and even forgot the Namekian language. Totally out of character. I find it very hard to believe Toriyama wrote this like Toei claimed because it constantly went out of itsway to contradict canon (as opposed to other moments where Toriyama just forgets stuff) and played out like poor fan fiction.

Dragon Ball Daima is truly a love letter not only for all Dragon Ball fans, but also for all fans of the works created by the late Akira Toriyama. You can feel the original author's touch throughout the anime. He had a huge influence on it, after all. It is full of references and fanservice from various manga created by Toriyama-sensei's, but all of those elements blend so well with Daima's setting that it should not be an issue for viewers less familiar with either non-Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball works. As for the story, Dragon Ball Daima offers a fine mix of adventure and gaghumor (known from the original Dragon Ball anime), and epic action with flashy transformations (that are characteristic to Dragon Ball Z). By that, Daima balances well-known tropes and themes, mixes them, and offers an experience previously present only in the decades-old Dragon Ball GT. What's more, it allows viewers to discover more details about the Demon Realm - a part of the Dragon Ball universe that many fans wanted to see more of in an original storyline. With its cast of interesting brand-new characters (whether they are friends, foes, or neutral) and new, unseen-before lore details being revealed in many episodes, we get a fine example of nostalgia meeting innovation. The awesome visuals and fluid animation, especially (though not exclusively) during action sequences, make Dragon Ball Daima a pleasure to watch. The good soundtrack, especially the "banger" songs from the opening and ending themes, further elevates the viewing experience. I won't mention voice acting, because it is superb, as it has always been in Dragon Ball (or, more specifically, in the anime industry). Masako Nozawa's performance as Goku in Daima might be one of the best out of all Dragon Ball anime. I had a lot of fun watching this show. It had its cons here and there. Yeah, it was not perfect, and surely there will be fans who would not be happy with the new stuff or rich, sometimes over the top fanservice, which this series is abundant in. But you know what? I loved this show despite its flaws or shortcomings. Dragon Ball Daima works extremely well both as a Dragon Ball anime and as a fun animated series telling a cool story. Rest in peace, Toriyama-sensei. Thank you for Daima, Dragon Ball, and all the other works you have ever worked on.

It's a fine last hurrah from Toriyama and I think you can tell, especially in the earlier parts of the series he had a big hand in its vibe. I feel if he didn't unfortunately pass away it would have lead to a much more cohesive series but I feel the vision was carried on well enough even if the story falls apart towards the last half of the series. The action, animation, choreography were all immense to make up for it though but if I'm honest its a bit of a "what could have been" in the end. If you like Dragonball you'll love this, wartsand all. If you're not a huge DB fan, I don't think it'll be for you. I wouldn't mind more of Daima, but I would personally prefer more Super with the team that worked on this adapting the manga of Super but more Daima next? Won't say no.

Daima feels like a heartfelt celebration of Dragon Ball, particularly in its exploration of concepts like the Demon Realm - ideas that Akira Toriyama seemingly harbored for years. There’s a distinct charm in witnessing his unfiltered creativity at play, especially in the realm’s structural design. Yet, while the Demon Realm is conceptually intriguing, it lacks the depth and vibrancy needed to feel truly alive. The societal hierarchies and political dynamics are glossed over; aside from fleeting glimpses like Degesu or Arinsu, we see little of the realm’s governance, nobility, or internal conflicts. Gomah himself feels underdeveloped - more a reactive force obsessing over Goku’s progressor the Third Eye than a ruler with tangible ties to his people. An expanded focus on the Demon Realm’s factions, akin to Episode 14’s richer storytelling, could have elevated the world-building from mere backdrop to a living, breathing entity. The treatment of Super Saiyan 4 further highlights Daima’s struggle with narrative cohesion. While the form’s return was initially thrilling for me, Goku’s explanation for its attainment felt disappointingly abrupt. This speaks to a broader fatigue within the franchise: as fans, we crave continuity and meaningful development, yet Dragon Ball increasingly fractures into disparate iterations - GT, Super, the manga, and now Daima - each operating in isolation. For younger audiences, this lack of a unified vision risks diluting the series’ emotional weight, much like the Gundam franchise’s fragmented universes. Toriyama’s genius has always shone brightest when collaborators elevate his ideas - whether Kazuhiko Torishima’s editorial guidance or the Chrono Trigger Dream Team’s synergy. But when external pressures - be it Akio Iyoku’s fan-service mandates or Shueisha/Bandai’s commercial demands - take precedence, the result feels strained. Daima embodies this tension: its core is pure Toriyama, a whimsical adventure through the Demon Realm, yet the execution is muddled by corporate urgency, as if the story’s flow were secondary to marketability. In the end, Daima is a mix of water and oil - Toriyama’s creativity floating atop a sea of commercial imperatives. Still, amidst the unevenness, there’s joy in seeing the master’s imagination at work. Wherever he is, I hope he’s sketching away, laughing with the same boundless delight he’s given us for decades.

Dragon Ball Daima has had a lot riding on it's shoulders in the eyes of fans, given that this is Toriyama's truly last project he worked on before he passed away. And in my opinion it's the best thing we could've gotten, as someone who's been with this series from manga, to anime, to games throughout my life. It was a gateway back to youthful excitement I thought I'd never get to experience again. The spirit of Toriyama's Dragon Ball is felt through everything in this series. The jokes are sometimes raunchy and silly, or just straight-up weird toilet humor, a long-missed trait of the earlyDragon Ball manga that always made the story so hilariously juvenile despite the stakes it often dealt with realistically. The battles throughout these 20 episodes encompass every form that it has taken throughout the history of the series, from tiny Goku's martial arts and power pole, to super forms and energy beams galore, the series loves and respects every part of itself and wants to celebrate all of it with the fans. The progression within Daima also feels like a genuine continuation after the Buu saga, furthering the training and evolution of characters, as well as filling in cracks in the original Dragon Ball lore that we never really got answered. Why did the original Piccolo call himself a Demon King? Where did Kaioushin come from? Dabura showed up in the Buu saga and that door is opened fully in Daima, to fully complete the lore of Dragon Ball's original run. The production of the anime is also top-notch, it all looks amazing. If you look at the staff you'd find countless names from the anime's entire history, like Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, the character designer of the Z anime series, as well as incredibly reputable key animators like Naotoshi Shida, who's probably Dragon Ball's greatest contributor for action animation. In the end, this series is the ultimate celebration of Dragon Ball, and the most heartfelt a love letter could be from a creator to his fans. Toriyama has passed on, but his spirit is fully felt throughout all of Daima, to a point it nearly brings a tear to my eye. Don't listen to the people saying Daima's worse than Super or that it messed up the lore or whatnot, this is all Dragon Ball in it's truest form. It's Dragon Ball, it's Dragon Ball Z, it's Dragon Ball Super, hell it's even a bit of Dragon Ball GT. As Dragon Ball fans we should love and appreciate this final installment for all of it's beauty, despite some pacing hiccups in the early episodes, since it encompasses everything that made Dragon Ball what it is today.

So this was my first full Dragon Ball series and it is the most amount of Dragon Ball episodes I’ve ever seen. And it was pretty exciting. Despite disappointing CGI for Shenron (they hand drew him in the 80’s, speak to those animators Toei) and the fact that the veteran cast were discarded (mostly) in favor of younger actors due to the premise, this series definitely delivered on the excitement factor, Kamehameha’s and Super Seiyan forms to make this a worthwhile watch, even if you’ve never seen Dragon Ball before, there is enough exposition to help new viewers like me. Although, for a man who’sgoing to be a grandfather, Goku is unnaturally immature and that makes him a very hard character to understand. Rest in Peace, Toriyama sensei.

Finished Dragon Ball Daima and I'm feeling emotional because it's the final story Toriyama told us and Dragon Ball has been a part of my life for over 30 years at this point. Daima, much like Super, is another series that maybe we didn't really need, but I enjoyed nonetheless. It was so fun to revisit all our faves and get to expand the lore of the franchise at the same time. I approached the series as kind of a dessert piece and I think that was the key to enjoying it. If I expected it to be compelling or overly emotional outside of realworld circumstances, then I think it would have disappointed me. This is why I chose to mark this review as mixed feelings, because I think some people in fandom expect everything in the franchise to have the impact of the original stories when the latest installments just don't have the same punch to them. That said, this wasn't a bad story, though at times it could have moved a little faster. It also wasn't a bad note to end on now that we're out of the Toriyama era either. If you like Super and are curious about realms outside of the one that the franchise mainly takes place in, then you'll probably like this series. If you're looking for something that is meant to remind the audience of what it's like to watch Dragon Ball or DBZ, then you might be disappointed.

If you are expecting something like DBZ or DBS TOP saga, you´ll probably be disappointed. Toriyama´s last work conveys everything Dragon Ball stands for (or at least should stand for). A nonchalant, sometimes even silly, expedition to the mysterious Demon Realm. New characters are a good addition (some I´d say are even great), mixed in with Toriyama´s classical light-hearted humour means you´re in for a treat. As chapters go on the series expands upon some of the og characters background which makes way to great interactions. Art style, colour palette and animation make Daima one of the best animated DB media (excluding recent movies). Pacing suffersa bit in some episodes and the big big bad Demon King would´ve benefitted of some bigger motivation, as he feels rather plain (his assistants do suffer from this as well). All in all, Daima is worth your time and it´s definitely one of the best DB media ever made.

Before anything else, its good to note that dragon ball daima is an awesome anime in its own right and it isnt just a remake, despite sharing some similarities with GT due to the author clearly being inspired by it while writing daima. Now, even though GT has many fans and for sure has its iconic moments, a lot of people dont quite enjoy it as much as the other dragon ball series. This can be explained by the fact that GT wasnt made by Akira Toriyama (dragon ball's original author) and, as a result, it doesnt feel like a dragon ball story to manyof the fans. Meanwhile, Daima is undoubtedly a work of Toriyama; in particular, its rather similar with the original 1986 dragon ball pre-piccolo saga because both consist of low stakes adventure stories, in which we keep up with Son Goku and his friends, while they battle their way through mighty foes to reach their objectives. But I think that daima is better described as a mix between the original dragon ball and modern dragon ball since it focuses not only on the adventure and the worldbuilding but also on high intensity battles. Moreover, daima presents to us a range of new characters and places that, in addition to what I already mentioned, create a fresh and entertaining experience. (Story) At the start of the first episode, after a recap of the story so far, we see two unknown characters watching the events of the majin buu saga through the interior of a giant magical globe that surrounds them. All the scenes of the saga are remade, very well, and we get to see some of its most iconic moments with a more modern, refined art style, which is pretty nice. Then, we eventually understand that those two, Gomah and Degesu, are from the demon realm and they were trying to determine the whereabouts of Dabura, the previous supreme king of the demon realm. Given that Dabura died during the events of the majin buu saga, Gomah becomes the new supreme king, succeeding Dabura, while Degesu gets to be his counselor, or something like that. But it doesnt end there, because Gomah comes to regard Goku and his friends as threats that might disturb him later, so, he goes to earth, gets the dragon balls, summons Shenlong and wishes that Goku and the others become kids, just like Pilaf did in dragon ball GT. After that, since he turned everyone into kids, and even kidnapped Dende shortly afterwards, our best guess is that Goku is going to the demon realm himself and battling against Gomah. As it turns out, this guess is correct and for the most part, the story takes place in the demon realm, where one of daimas main strengths resides. I think thats the case because, firstly, demons have been mentioned in dragon ball a couple of times. For example, back then, in the piccolo saga, Piccolo was said to be the great demon king, while his subordinates were also demons. And obviously, in the majin buu saga, there was Dabura, the supreme king of the demon realm. But the concept of a demon was never truly explained and the demon realm wasnt even mentioned since Daburas appearance. Until toriyama took notice of that and filled this void in the dragon ball lore with dragon ball daima. Secondly, if you read the dragon ball manga, you know that one of Toriyama's strengths isnt the making of the battles themselves, which might seem contradictory at first. But its true that if you compare the anime with the manga, you'll notice that the battles are greatly more developed in the anime. So, actually, what Toriyama truly excels at is in story (if you ignore the many plot holes) and worldbuilding. That alone made dragon ball one of the most popular battle shonens in history because he creates an interesting world to get the readers involved in the story, and then he uses the narrative to hype the audience up for the upcoming battles. While these things are definitely lacking in dragon ball super, they are very much present in daima. This is evident during Goku's stay in the demon realm, when we get to know about a brand new world, never shown before in the series, and its inner workings, which is just enough to get the audience interested in the story and to provoke a sense of awe whenever something new is revealed. We also meet the tamagamis, supposedly very strong beings in charge of defending the dragon balls of the demon realm, and we expect from the very beginning that they'll be fighting the main cast. Then, with everything combined: the initial premise, the exploration of the demon realm, the secondary hunt for the dragon balls, and also the characters, we end up having a pretty entertaining setting for the story. Also, there are the occasional toriyama gags, which lighten the mood quite a bit. For instance, the main cast encounters an old namekian and the first thing he does is sing the original dragon ball opening. And whats more, theres Warp-sama, the powerful being that connects our realm with the demon realm, and hes very insecure about his appearance because he looks like a goldfish. These are some of the gags that I personally found funny but its good to note that sometimes the jokes can be way sillier, and they might not be for everyone. (Animation/art) The animation is good and it gets even better during battles. But, at the end of the day, I think that the best feature of the animation is the consistency, because it wasnt present at all in the latest anime of the franchise, dragon ball super, and you truly miss it when its not there. Besides, speak of the devil, another popular complaint in dragon ball super was the art style, specifically the character design, done by Tadayoshi Yamamuro. In dragon ball daima, the character design is done instead by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, who was also responsible for the character design in GT and in episodes 200 to 291 of Z (the majin buu saga). Katsuyoshi's design is very similar to Toriyamas modern artsyle and I would say that it is a great change overall. (Characters) From the characters that we already know, the ones that we see the most during the anime are Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Piccolo and Shin (whose origins are elaborated a bit more in daima). While all members of our main cast have their own roles in the group and they arent simply bystanding in most scenes, which is something to praise in daima, it would be misleading not to say that, for better or worse, Goku clearly receives more attention than the others, as he is the protagonist. So, about Goku; he has been portrayed for a while, specially in super, as an oblivious meathead, which is a subtle misinterpretation of his character. Since the beginning of the series, Goku isnt dumb but actually just purely naive, lacking in general and academic knowledge, the reason being that he lived alone in the forest as a child. Besides, we see his quick wit and battle prowess in multiple occasions during the original dragon ball and dragon ball Z. That aspect of his character is recovered in daima, even if he might seem a bit goofier than usual as a child. Other than that, Goku remains very charismatic and its always fun to watch his scenes. Among the new characters from the demon realm, we have, as antagonists, Gomah, Degesu and Arinsu. Gomah is the new supreme king of the demon realm; hes short, angry and conceited, like Pilaf if he actually got into a position of power. Throughout the story, hes shown in a lot of comic situations and you dont really get to fear him or anything, like you would if he was a DBZ villain, but its impressive how much of a fight he gives in the final episodes. Apart from being an entertaining character, I think hes a fitting main antagonist for daima's lighthearted setting. Meanwhile, Degesu and Arinsu are revealed to be Shin's siblings and I guess you could say they are part of the demon realm nobility. However, they dont necessarily cooperate with Gomah and both have their own motives and goals, which makes the story a bit more interesting. We also have, from the demon realm, Panzy, Glorio and Hybis. Panzy is like the equivalent of Pan in GT; shes a rebellious little girl who decides to join Goku on her own accord but shes actually helpful in a number of situations, despite not being able to fight, and I would say they made Panzy more likeable than Pan. Likewise, Glorio is also a good character. He goes to earth and says that he was asked by the king of the third demon world to take Goku to the demon realm, as long as Goku defeats Gomah. But the interesting part is that, from the start, Glorio seems to be hiding something, whether it be who asked him to escort Goku or if that person even exists. Its yet another layer to the story that will be elaborated upon along the episodes. On the other hand, Hybis is just a funny guy. (Music) The soundtrack does its job when it comes to enhancing the tone of the scenes. And sometimes, it looks similar to dragon ball super's ost, thanks to the use of violins, drums, trombones and also guitars. In particular, I enjoy the song that plays whenever goku does something cool, as well as the antagonist's theme in the final battle, which adds a more menacing aura to him. Now, even if you dont like daima, I think we can both agree that the opening, just like the ending, is phenomenal. The lyrics are in sync with that optimism present in dragon ball as a whole. For instance: "Here comes a new story/Thousands of jabs and silly jokes/Are waaiting for yoou!". The vocalist sings that part of the song, gradually elevating his voice just as the characters are shown looking at the sunrise. Honestly, its a true tearjerker, given the recent news about the author. Meanwhile, the ending is just as good. In the lyrics, we see some metaphors relating to birds and mountains. And that might seem a bit too specific for me to comment on it but its actually very relevant. This is because, if you look it up or you already know some japanese, the surname "Toriyama" is composed by the words "tori", which means bird, and "yama", which means mountain. At the end, you even get to see the image of a bird opening its wings and flying away. Needless to say, that is some amazing attention to detail. Dragon ball daima is a great anime all around and it doesnt show any major flaws. The story is compelling and it has a strong internal coherence (notice that I do not mention the external coherence, which is to say that powerscalers and lore persons may have a tough time connecting daima with the other dragon balls), the animation is consistent, the music is awesome and the new characters are very entertaining, not to mention that the titles of the episodes dont spoil everything! Thats unheard-of! Although, I can imagine a number of subjective reasons a person might not like the show. For instance, there are multiple references to past events in the series, which can be considered nostalgia bait; some might not like how that one transformation was portrayed, others might also not even like the initial premise of the main cast turning into kids because it makes the show look childish. In that case, it makes sense that they would prefer something like DBZ, in which the stakes are higher and the antagonists are actually menacing. Following that thought, I think that fans of the original dragon ball are the most likely to enjoy daima from the very start. And with that, my commentary about the show itself is over but I think that its inevitable to talk just a little more about other subject due to the context behind the release of dragon ball daima. Regardless of you having enjoyed daima in general or not, I believe that most of you, before reading this, have already watched other dragon ball series and taken a liking to at least one of them. As a consequence, the passing of Akira Toriyama may affect each one of us, in varying degrees. But its a fact that his works were really influential in popular culture, and even in some people's lives. For that, I thank him, his family, his friends and his coworkers for everything, and may he rest in peace.

I really liked DB Daima, it was a very interesting arc showing the kingdom of demons and how the story developed, it was something that was very reminiscent of the classic arc where Goku and Bulma explored the world looking for the dragon balls. I just hope that this animation quality extends to other arcs of the anime, as such a huge work deserves to be treated with even more care after Akira's death. I wish Dragon Ball never ends because it was the anime I will always want to watch and regardless of age I will still raise my hands to help the genki dama. Rest inpeace Akira, your work is in good hands.