The long-awaited return of Dragon Ball didn’t disappoint with its explosive Episode 1 premiere of Dragon Ball Daima. However, an unforgettable moment in the series premiere might have been teased in an underrated anime series from the spring 2024 season.
As pointed out by Dragon Ball animation enthusiast AnimeAjay (@/AnimeAjay), the key animation of Vegeta sacrificing himself to destroy Majin Buu in the Dragon Ball Z recap scene in Dragon Ball Daima Episode 1 was handled by Shun Sawai. Sawai has worked on numerous projects, such as Oshi no Ko, Lupin the Third: Part 5 and Bocchi the Rock!. However, he’s also worked on the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie as a digital key animator and is a big fan of the franchise itself — so much so that he made an additional social media account dedicated to Dragon Ball fan art. Before the release of Dragon Ball Daima Episode 1, Sawai worked on another anime series that premiered during the spring 2024 season that parodied one of the most famous scenes in Dragon Ball history.
The Dragon Ball parody comes from Episode 3 of Oblivion Battery. Brilliant first-year student and baseball catcher Kei Kaname undergoes a Super Saiyan-like transformation that plays out almost exactly like Goku’s Super Saiyan awakening in the “Frieza” saga of Dragon Ball Z. However, Oblivion Battery doesn’t just parody Super Saiyan Goku but Super Saiyan Vegeta as well, as Kei’s transformation ends with a gigantic explosion of energy, just like the scene of Vegeta sacrificing himself to defeat Majin Buu that Sawai worked on in Dragon Ball Daima.
Oblivion Battery is based on the Shonen Jump+ online series by Eko Mikawa. It revolves around Taro Yamada, a student and former baseball player who quits the sport after being humiliated by two genius batteries (a pitcher and a catcher in baseball), Haruka Kiyomine and Kei Kaname. However, after transferring to a school with no baseball club, Taro is reunited with Haruka and the now amnesia-ridden Kei, who no longer remembers how to play baseball. As Taro helps Kei regain his memory by playing baseball with him and Haruka, he slowly regains his passion for the sport. Oblivion Battery ran for 12 episodes from April 10, 2024, to July 3, 2024, and was animated by Jujutsu Kaisen studio MAPPA.
Amusingly, Oblivion Battery isn’t the only anime that has referenced Dragon Ball this year. Episode 3 of The Elusive Samurai featured a cheeky reference to Goku with a religious-like character with his own version of the Spirit Bomb. Like Oblivion Battery, The Elusive Samurai is a Shonen Jump series by Assassination Classroom author Yusei Matsui. Dragon Ball Daima, Oblivion Battery and The Elusive Samurai are all available to stream on Crunchyroll. New episodes of Dragon Ball Daima premiere every Friday on the anime streaming service.
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