Dragon Ball is one of the most popular anime series of all-time, so there are understandably sky-high expectations with Dragon Ball DAIMA. DAIMA is not only the first new canonical Dragon Ball anime in years, it’s the last official piece of Dragon Ball media series creator Akira Toriyama had a hand in before his tragic passing. This is a situation where it could potentially be impossible to satisfy fans and match the level of excitement that they’ve felt since DAIMA’s announcement.
Despite these steep standards, Dragon Ball DAIMA manages to rise to the occasion and functions as the perfect celebration for the franchise’s 40th anniversary. Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 1, “Conspiracy,” is a sublime mix of old and new that culminates in a special product that truly feels like vintage Dragon Ball. DAIMA begins with a slow, but satisfying start and it’s perhaps only appropriate that a series that involves its heroes being turned into children will make its fans feel like kids again.
Dragon Ball DAIMA Replays The Hits As The Anime Sets Up New Adventures
There are plenty of new things to celebrate in Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s premiere, but this episode delivers a deeply nostalgic dopamine high when it recaps Dragon Ball & DBZ. This might have felt plodding and redundant in any other series, but DAIMA‘s animation is so polished and gorgeous, it doesn’t matter. It’s a genuine thrill to see some of the Buu Saga’s biggest moments and the franchise’s fiercest foes depicted in DAIMA‘s immaculate art style. A still visual of Cell shouldn’t necessarily conjure palpable joy, but it does, which is part of Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s power. Just like Goku and company get transformed into Mini versions of themselves, Dragon Ball DAIMA transforms past setpieces into fresh masterpieces.
It’s important to have reasonable expectations for this premiere. First episodes are often bogged down with exposition and recaps before they actually get into the real story. In this sense, Dragon Ball DAIMA’s first episode is infinitely more effective than Dragon Ball Super’s premiere – which also just recapped old events, in that case Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, albeit with worse animation. Dragon Ball DAIMA also finds a legitimate reason to revisit the past, rather than this just being a gratuitous clip show that manipulates memories. It’s a simple, yet effective decision to have Degesu and other Demon Realm representatives studying the heroes’ actions during the Buu Saga so that they can better understand their opponents and cultivate the best strategy to guarantee their defeat. It also adds to the villains’ mystique and turns them into more intimidating threats, since they know significantly more about their enemies than the heroes do about them. This isn’t just a case of the characters playing, “Remember When?”
It’s appreciated that Dragon Ball DAIMA’s premiere is at least super-sized and has more time to celebrate this event so that the old material doesn’t feel so cumbersome. At the same time, it might have been a better if Dragon Ball DAIMA kicked off with a two-episode premiere so that audiences got a better sense of what this series is really about. It’s hard to not get excited over every minute of this premiere, and it’s actually an effective entrypoint to the franchise for any curious Dragon Ball newcomers who have never seen any of the series before. It’s also a beautiful way to commemorate Akira Toriyama’s legacy and everything that he’s accomplished with Dragon Ball over the past four decades. That being said, it’ll be interesting to see how often fans revisit this premiere after the honeymoon phase has worn off. If nothing else, there are some excellent new Buu Saga visuals that are bound to flood the fandom.