#daima episode 5

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 5: PANZY

Haven't been feeling well this week, so I'm glad I could top it off with some Dragon Ball

Time to get formally introduced to Panzy! Our scrappy little tech-savvy tomboy to round out Team A until Team B comes along. I definitely see them trying to fit her in as a Bulma parallel (or even a foil or rival) if the opening animation is any indication.

Training is an absolutely foreign concept to Panzy when Goku brings it up- does that mean certain characters are particularly gifted with their levels and there's nothing they can do to change? Or is it that they simply haven't tried? Apparently, Goku being able to fly is also a shock- I guess Glorio's a special case.

The Demon-Folk don't have ki, but instead have specialty spells- Panzy has levitation, albeit not at a good level. Perhaps something she's not willing to show off. If that's the case, Glorio being able to fly might be one of the spells in his arsenal.

And the quirks of demon aging- they apparently have an average of a thousand years of lifespan under their belts and Panzy is still child-sized at 82! Are they late bloomers or is there a different measurement of time in the demon realm? What does that mean for the Namekians? I'm still confused as to what's the maturity age for a Namekian when classed under Shenron's youth wish.

And speaking of Namekians- Baby Dende!!! Gomah and crew are raising him as their own and they're... oddly doting and wholesome with him. Guess it's to make sure he's on their side when he grows up. They're waiting patiently for him to grow up enough that he can create new Dragon Balls for them. You're going to have a lot of waiting to do... Unless my theory of different time measurements is correct. Maybe that's why they were funneling out lifespans- can they feed that into Dende to make him grow up faster?

We've made it to King Kadan's castle and- surprise- Panzy's apparently the princess! The King is said to be an unjust mafia man, but Panzy still things someone's out to give him a bad name. ...And the King promptly tries to marry off Panzy (once she's even older than 82) to Goku before he mentions he's already married.

We got our first little blink at Super Saiyan!

They're loaned a spare plane, so it's time to begin the Dragon Ball Hunt! Panzy's tagging along whether you like it or not!

Also HYBIS- Silly little guy. The iconic Toriyama-style gag character. Apparently he's going to fetch Team B to avoid the pin code snafu, but I sense some other wacky shenanigans will get in their way.

Shin is growing more suspicious of Glorio. Clearly he has something to hide and I'm all for seeing what it might be. Hoping they hide it if the Dragon Ball Legends appearance drops first.

Unfortunately, Panzy packed too much useless junk and the engine shorts out! Looks like it's time for a crash landing!

Putting this note at the end because I write these very stream of consciousness- the concept of collars. They mention them as a form of tracking or ID after Goku flees from the Gendarmerie. Took me a second glossthrough to notice the little red collars on everyone. Except, notably, Panzy (although we haven't seen past her scarf) and GLORIO (although we don't know if this is Demon World specific). Interesting...

Onto the preview: Shin seems disgusted at the thought of canned food products, Glorio and Goku have what I'm assuming is a spar (we can't have the betrayal this early), and we meet the Minotaur from the opening!

EPISODES WITHOUT KNOWING HANVI'S WHEREABOUTS: 5

...Yeah, they're totally baiting us. Maybe we'll get a hint when we tune back in with the B Team.

[p-tinkie-85]

Goku has five children according to the German subtitles.

No, that's not a joke, it's actually in there.

That's in episode 5 of Dragon Ball Daima: Panzy. Goku actually says "I'm already married and have 5 kids".

Uh, you don't have 5 kids Goku, only 2 or did I miss something? Did you f*ck with someone else or what?! Any crazy theories you have in mind?

[neenack]

So, uh, bad news friends

[neenack]

LEGIT SAME OP

Please let us see Degesu one more time bc he was supposed to have his moment, the setup was there, but they just fumbled the entire bag. I am going off in the tags abt this because I think this highlights yet another instance of a much bigger issue in Daima.

That's it? Why did they make the whole episode have Degesu's name if he was only going to appear for 5 minutes without any depth and be defeated by a hat?

I thought the relationship between Degesu and Shin was going to be explored further... Do you think this will be the last time we see Degesu in Daima?

[duhragonball]

Daima 06: Lightning

Centipedes? In my rations? It's more likely than you think!

Last time, Goku's group set out for the next leg of their trip, when the plane crashed. Apparently it wasn't that big a deal. Panzy concludes that they put too much luggage on board, which kept the plane from flying very far, but it didn't actually do much damage. Panzy recommends they leave a bunch of their supplies behind and she'll give the engine a look and they can be on their way.

Okay, I think there's a growing consensus among fans that Daima is slower-paced, and maybe this is setting up a controversy over whether this is a good or bad thing. Maybe the honeymoon period for the show is winding down, or we're just far enough into the series for the audience to realize it's probably going to be this way from here on. So I'll go ahead and weigh in on this.

For my part, I think the pacing is fine. It's different from the other shows in that you don't have this constant reliance on filler to pad the runtime. We're not checking in on King Kai to see what he thinks about all of this, or sending Goku on a fetch quest that ends up becoming a plot cul-de-sac. Instead, we're mostly laser-focused on this one set of characters on a journey, and occasionally we'll switch over to Gomah or Bulma's group on Earth, and pretty infrequently too.

But Daima does its own padding for time, and it does it by lingering a bit on things that probably don't need quite so much time. Conversations take a bit longer than they need to. The running gag where Goku gets Glorio's name wrong. The fight scenes are a tag gratuitous, but I think everyone gives them a pass because they're good. Still, I don't think anyone was worried about whether Goku could win that barroom brawl. If this show had half as many episodes allotted to the same plot, I'm pretty sure they could cut a lot of material and get the important stuff to fit.

I don't mind that much, because this relaxed pace kind of reminds me of reading the Dragon Ball manga. By that, I mean each episode kind of feels like a manga chapter, and not that much gets done in a single chapter. You might have several panels of characters getting to know each other, and then just enough exciting stuff to make the chapter feel worthwhile. Actually now that I think about it, it's a lot like my experience reading the Jaco the Galactic Patrolman manga. It's like twelve chapters, and the first five or so are very focused on introducing characters and situations, so it really doesn't pick up until the end, and even then, it's still quite low-key. But it's so good that I didn't mind it. It was just really chill. Daima feels a lot like that.

That having been said, I do find this plane crash between Episodes 5 and 6 kind of a cheap way to waste time. King Kadan described all the extra provisions he loaded onto the plane in Episode 5, then the plane started to go down and Panzy said it was the excess luggage. Then in Episode 6 the plane lands and Panzy repeats that the luggage was the problem, and she lists all the supplies all over again.

Then Panzy gets out her tools to run a diagnostic on the engine, but instead of actually working on the plane, she asks the Supreme Kai what his whole deal is. And that's fine, but it starts to wear thin in places. Like, they could have just had this conversation on the plane and gotten wherever they're going. The plane crash just adds time, and I'm not sure how many more times they're going to pull that trick before it gets old.

Nevertheless, I'd rather watch these characters talk about themselves outdoors than on the plane, so I'm not too worked up over it. But I can already tell this is going to be a focus for Daima critics in the future.

I like the way Goku explains the Supreme Kai. He tells Panzy there's a "bunch of god-like guys called 'Kais.' And the greatest one of them all is Supreme Kai-sama here!" and he gives him a hug while he says it, like he's bragging on a pal, which I guess he is. I just think it's nice to hear Goku's perspectives on all of his friends.

Panzy's impressed that Shin is a god, and that he made a smart move leaving the Demon Realm to take the job, but then she finds out he doesn't get paid, so it sounds less impressive to her. This kind of raises more questions than answers. Does Panzy even understand what a god is? Also, it seems pretty clear now that Shin and all the other Kais were born in Demon Realm and left to become gods in the Outer Universe, but how did that work? Did Grand Zeno put up a help-wanted sign? Were their other overseers that the Glind replaced when they became the Kais?

I just always assumed these guys were some sort of weird feature of the design of the universe. Like, there were always Kais running things, and they were literally born and bred to carry out that role. But no, they're just Demon Realm expats who showed up to work one day. If the universe functioned without them before, then why do we need them now? Hopefully this series will answer all of this.

Anyway, Goku's gotta poop, so he just announces this to everyone for no reason. He farted in Episode 3, so I have this sneaking suspicion that this show is going to do a lot of Goku poop-and-fart stuff as we go. That might be a good idea, as it keeps the show from getting too reliant on "Goku's hungry" gags. GT did those a lot, and it got pretty ridiculous. It got to where Goku would complain about being hungry right after he got done eating. If he said he had to poop half the time, at least it would cut the hungry gags down to a manageable level.

Anyway, Gomah's troops show up while they're waiting for Goku, so Glorio and the others have to play it cool to get rid of them. Glorio claims to be from the First Demon World, and Shin from the Second, but since Panzy's from the Third, they want to scan her collar, which she has under her scarf. Gomah apparently made all the Third Worlders wear the collars to make it easier to collect taxes from them, but he didn't implement this policy elsewhere, since the goons aren't too suspicious of Glorio or Shin. They find the idea of tourists traveling around the Third World strange, but let them go. Oh, and they ask if they've seen a kid with spiky hair and red pole, because there's a ten gold coin reward out for him.

Goku returns when they leave, and Shin suggests that Goku tie his hair back or something. Goku says his hair is too resilient for this. Oh, right, there was that Super episode where he had all that hair gel in it, and his hair sort of broke loose like when the Incredible Hulk rips through Banner's pants legs but not the crotch. Panzy asks if Goku washed his hands, and the answer to that question is no. Goku, that's nasty.

The gang take off again, and Panzy asks Shin if it's true that Glinds are born from trees. Shin confirms this, so I'm glad we're not doing away with that lore. I was seriously beginning to wonder if Toriyama forgot about all that stuff, or if he was dumping it in favor of new lore. Of course, this is all news to Goku, so the Supreme Kai explains how his kind are born "once every few centuries from the Glind Tree". There's a flashback to show this, and we see these trees with big purple trunks that are all fat on the bottom, and the newborn Glinds are in these holes in the bark, just hanging off of stems from their backs.

Also interesting to note: the Glind buildings and vehicles in this shot look a lot like Namekian houses and ships. I don't know if that's intentional, or this is just Toriyama's aesthetic for this sort of thing. I always thought Majin Buu's house looked a lot like Namekian architecture, for example.

So does that make the Supreme Kai and the other Glinds plants? I never really thought of it that way, so Goku raises an interesting point. Shin says he "doesn't know about that". I feel like there ought to be a firm answer to this, one way or another. Goku also asks if this is why Shin only drinks liquids and never eats, but Panzy jumps in before he can respond. I feel like we've seen Shin eat before, but oh well.

Panzy wants to know about Degesu, who works as Gomah's second-in-command. Is he Shin's brother? Yes, because he was born from the same tree about 216 years after Shin. Are all of the Glinds brothers, since they're all born from the same tree? No, because there's five Glind Trees. Kibito and the Elder Supreme Kai must have been born from one of the others.

Panzy wants to know why Degesu remained in the Demon Realm instead of leaving with the other Glinds? Okay, this implies that there was one Glind migration out of Demon Realm, and Degesu chose not to go. But for this to work, it must have happened after Degesu's birth, which is well after Shin's.

The thing is, Kibito is much older than both of them, and the other Supreme Kais from Universe 7 are even older still. I'm talking about the ones who fought Majin Buu and Bibidi like five million years ago. The whole point of all that was that Shin was the rookie Supreme Kai, implying that the others had been doing the whole god thing for a lot longer.

And then you have the Elder Supreme Kai, who's much, much older still. He claimed to be the Supreme Kai from fifteen generations prior. I'm not even sure what that means if they were all born from the same five trees. Maybe it just means there were thirteen Supreme Kais between the Elder and the current Supreme Kai. But Shin reigned as Supreme Kai for at least five million years, so these aren't short terms in office.

I'm not too worried about this, because I have to assume we'll get to an episode that explains the Namek and Glind exodus from Demon Realm. They keep bringing it up, so it must be important. And I guess this is what I mean when I say I don't mind the slow pace of this show. There's still a lot to look forward to, even if it's just characters swapping lore.

But back to Degesu, Shin says that he was very ambitious and didn't get along with the other Glinds. That doesn't seem like much of an answer to me. Then again, Shin came along on this mission because he hasn't seen Degesu in so long and he really doesn't know what he's been up to after all this time. He may not know a whole lot about him in the first place.

Panzy asks about a Glind woman who's a genius scientist, and Shin confirms that this is Arinsu, his older sister. Or, more accurately, they're siblings, since Glinds don't actually have genders, so they're not "exactly men or women."

Again, I had heard this about the "Core People" before, and I'm glad they didn't toss out this lore. I've never quite understood it, though, since the Elder Kai is big horndog, and the Supreme Kai of Time once got a big crush on Bardock in Xenoverse 2. Arinsu has big ol' titties, and I don't know how you get those if you grow from a tree. Like, none of these guys have anything to do with sex at all, right? The trees might have freaky deaky alien tree sex, but not the Glinds themselves.

Then again, I guess this is all just fantasy stuff, and I might as well be asking why Arinsu has nostrils or ears. There must be some magic that makes these trees grow people, and maybe some of them end up with big ol' titties or a magnum dong or both or neither. But until today I kind of figured all of the Kais were just completely smooth down there. Like they didn't even have buttholes.

Perhaps they modify their bodies at some point in their life cycle, and some of them present as man or women just out of a personal preference or some sense of fashion. This might explain the Supreme Kai of Time's transformation where she gets really tall and shapely. They all sit around figuring out what they want to look like, like they're screwing around with a character creator mode in a video game. Chronoa's like "Yeah, I want my base form to be all smol and cute, and then my super form's gonna have a big ass and big-ass titties."

Wait, maybe I'm onto something. The Supreme Kai gave Goku those pointy ears with remarkable ease. Maybe that's not a special weird power that only gods have. Maybe all the Glind have it and they do it to themselves all the time. Degesu just gives himself a third testicle for a week to "see how it rides."

Anyway, we don't learn anything new about Arinsu in all of this. She's a mad scientist who also stayed behind for the excitement of Demon Realm, but this was already known.

Night falls and Panzy explains that it's perpetual twilight on Third Demon World nights because there's two suns. Glorio wants to land and make camp in a cave for the night, and Panzy hates this because she wants to shower. Goku's like "skill issue, just never shower, like I do."

While Goku sleeps off dinner, Panzy asks why Glorio says he's from First World, when he looks like a Third World guy. He claims that he got hired by someone in First World, so he currently lives there. Who hired him? He deflects the question. Shin asks why he wants to defeat Gomah, and he claims it's because Gomah is evil, but Shin finds it odd for a Majin to have such a defined sense of justice.

Anyway, we find out exactly who Glorio's working for, because he phones up Dr. Arinsu while the others are asleep. But Shin hears him return to camp, so he clearly knows something's up, even if he doesn't know what.

By early morning, a minotaur comes out of the cave they're sleeping in, and he plans to eat them all. Apparently he stinks really bad. Goku isn't scared because he thinks the guy is a cow, so he doesn't get why this guy thinks he's on the other end of the food chain. Normally this is where Goku would kick some ass, but Glorio volunteers first, and Goku's like "Uh, I'm the main character, I should fight this guy." But Glorio doesn't see it that way, because he doesn't think Goku's that much stronger. Well, there's only one way to settle this, so it's on.

Yeah, the minotaur gets reduced to a spectator, and it's Goku vs. Glorio. Goku's impressed with Glorio's abilities, but we all know he's not trying very hard. Finally, Glorio whips out some purple lightning powers, and Shin asks Goku to fight harder so he can see the true extent of Glorio's power. I guess he figures that'll help him understand Glorio's agenda better.

So Goku fights harder, but Glorio manages to knock the Nyoibo out of Goku's hand, and he prepares to fire some big finishing lightning move. Goku decides to try something out, and he turns Super Saiyan. He did this briefly in Episode 5, but now he's staying in that form, and just stands there and lets Glorio shoot at him so he can try to deflect the beam. And he does. He just throws out his hand and it dissipates on contact. Goku does a little self-satisfied "Hmp!" and then snap-vanishes behind Glorio and puts his hand on his back. Fight's over, Goku wins.

This is a really great way to introduce Super Saiyan into the series. This is very likely the most iconic aspect of Dragon Ball. Maybe the Kamehameha clears it, but I don't think there's much else that comes close. So it's hard to imagine viewers who don't know anything about the form, but they're still out there and they need to know. So we have Goku fighting in base form, and then he decides to use it, not to win a hopeless battle, but to do something cool in a sparring match. Base Goku could probably have done something else to defend against Glorio's power, but Super Saiyan Goku can just tank the thing and get past Glorio's guard all at once.

It doesn't give away the entire Super Saiyan experience. It's a power up, and it shows a lot of promise, but here, it's just one of Goku's many techniques. The full extend of it can be shown off later. It's still an open question how well Goku can fight this way. He's been de-aged, and the environment in Deamon Realm slows him down further, so it's possible that he can't use Super Saiyan as long as he could before, or maybe he can, and it just doesn't give him the same boost that it normally does.

Also, it's just really cool to see Goku enjoy showing it off. He does this cool smile when he finishes transforming, and he looks all badass when he blocks Glorio's beam, and he's grateful that he can still do it in his kid body. "Yep, I'm whatcha call a legend, nbd. The missus doesn't like the hair color, but what're ya gonna do, right?"

Oh, right the minotaur. Well Goku hasn't forgotten him, but the minotaur suddenly remembers that he had a big dinner the night before, so he's too full to kill and eat these guys like he said he would, so he goes back to bed. Well, that's a shame. Maybe they should swing by this cave on their return trip.

Goku poop update: He has to go again.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Vegeta is doing reps on the Lookout while Bulma finishes the Supreme Kai's old plane. They all pile in to follow Goku to Demon Realm, but Bulma… stays behind? That's weird. Anyway, the ship lifts off, then immediately breaks down. It didn't even get twenty feet into the air. So that's another plane crash cliffhanger for you. I sure hope this show finds a more reliable mode of transportation soon.

[cuttyclowngirl]

Daima EP.5 (Spoiler) Review/theories

• While Panzy's eye color means nothing in regards to her lineage, she does come from an important lineage as some of us suspected. Panzy, princess of machine otakus. Glorio not immediately recognizing her by name or appearance likely implies either 3rd world demons aren't interested in the royal family in general or Panzy's very existence is somewhat restricted to those who live/work at her castle. Could it be that she never actually received a collar as a result of that? Is that why she wears the scarf?

• Glorio very clearly doesn't want anyone outside of Goku's circle to join in regardless of any help they can offer. (Not part of Dr Arinsu's plan?) No choice now. Panzy's a helpful mechanic.

• Glorio did in fact speak to King Kadan, who did not in fact request that Glorio seek out those who defeated Majin Buu; implying that Glorio "snuck" into King Gohma's castle & gathered intel on Goku & crew in episode 1 before being "sent out" by King Kadan. Even a 3rd world demon who does "work" in the 1st world shouldn't be able to get anywhere near the castle of THE SUPREME KING of the DEMON REALM. He was let in. Dr Arinsu popped up unannounced in episode 1 & Glorio just happened to be spying behind a pillar? Nah.

• The 3rd demon world being the biggest, (yet worst off) world in the entire realm might just maybe imply worlds 1&2 have slightly lower gravity, but probably not.

• King Kadan is a man of seemingly righteous anger (Glorio describes him as an uncivilized Mafia boss) who wants to get rid of King Gohma & somehow assume the throne of Supreme King. For "peace". Is that actually possible? Was he perhaps promised that position by a manipulator in the shadows? (Dr Arinsu?) Panzy said her father "only steals from criminals & only kills bad people", which is usually a set up for a heartbreaking reveal that'll leave Panzy in tears. Or it could be nothing.

• Apparently those awful collars even function as tracking devices.

• They even have onigiri in the Demon Realm. Cute. Implies demon rice fields & unique demon ocean seaweed.

• Panzy has a knife she hasn't used yet. Judging from all that courtyard soldier training going on at her castle, she probably picked up a few moves from watching & learning.

• It was nice hearing Goku introduce himself with both his names. His interactions with Panzy are cute so far, as I'd hoped. Panzy herself is charmingly stubborn, insisting on getting her way without throwing tantrums/ throwing a fit.

• In the 3rd world at least, the inhabitants live up to a thousand years. This likely doesn't apply to the Glinds who live for a VERY long time.

• Every Majin (demon) can use at least one magic spell. So could magical enhancement explain Glorio's strength?

• Goku can canonically touch his nose with his tongue.

• Panzy implied that there are next to no Glinds in the Demon Realm due to the vast majority leaving ages ago, as many of us suspected. Though based on the passive aggressive conversation Shin had with Glorio episode 3, there might be a handful of Glinds somewhere in 2nd world.

• So the stick with blue cloth tied to it from the OP isn't a grave marker, but a path marker. Based on the sound of the wind (in the scene in this episode) & the direction the cloth was blowing, you're supposed to take the path the cloth points to. (In the OP the cloth is blowing to the right, then the camera pans to the right, where Goku & crew are seen traveling)

• Panzy confirms that Dabura was still a bad guy prior to the events of the Buu saga, so thankfully he hasn't been retconed as a good guy King. (Wouldn't make sense)

• Dende's caretaker (nanny?) is cute. Hope she gets a name. Much smarter of King Gohma planing on raising Dende so he can have his own personal set of dragon balls & probably get rid of Neva. (So it was probably Degesu's idea)

• I want to know what those demon onions have seen...

• The Tamagamis have never been defeated. Their poor win streak's about to be demolished.

• Smart of Shin (Supreme Kai) to bring up the pin number issue with King Kadan, who introduced us to a demon (of currently unspecified gender) named "Hybis" (Hibiscus flower?) who loves ballet & will head out to pick up/help Vegeta & crew. Hybis also shows off a device that's visually similar to the dragon radar, but also Babidi's energy reading device we saw Spopovich using when Gohan went SSJ2 at the tournament in the Buu saga. Just cooler. (Panzy is also seen holding a similar device in the ED) I swear, if the eyeball on Hybis' belt turns out to be the Tertian Oculus...

• Shin straight up drops "universe 7" in front of Goku, who doesn't register it & that's hilarious. Shin also finally shared his suspicions of Glorio with Goku, bringing up things we've been bringing up & such. Goku was Goku about it.

• I wasn't ready for the children's book art style bit when King Kadan ordered 3 men to steal a plane for Hybis from the "Nemophy Gang".

• Man, someone must've put a plane curse on Glorio, cuz bro has ZERO luck in that department. A 4 day trip & it breaks down in 2 minutes. (Guess Kai-Kai isn't an option)

• Hope we return to Kadan castle from time to time to introduce us to a few of those background characters like cool, pretty, buff red head with the silly ah chest plate.

• Wonder if Glorio actually has any of that liquor King Kadan offered to provide.

• Cute detail of Goku carrying luggage with his nyoibo.

• I super hope that axolotl tailed stuffed animal Panzy brought along will actually be sold IRL. I want.

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon Ball Daima, episode 5. Time to meet the new girl for realsies.

For like forty years.

Goku's leaving out information that's extremely relevant to the new girl's question. The reason he has the skills of a middle-aged martial arts master is because that is literally what he is.

We're still going to the castle? I thought we turned around to go chase the Dragon Ball instead. Maybe I misunderstood.

Gloom n' Doom was trying to leave her behind but we all know who the real star is, and he accepts bribes in exchange for friendship.

He also accepts friendship without bribes. He's just nice. But he's not gonna turn down some onigiri if you're offering.

We have a name! Between Glorio and Panzy, it seems the denizens of Daimakai have flowers for their name pun theme.

(Goku, you named your son after rice. You have no room to talk.)

Not sure if the exchange over whose name is weirder is meant to be a parallel to Goku's first meeting with Bulma. Very rarely do the punny names get called out as funny in-universe.

They're going the "Everyone has their own unique superpower" route for the Majin, I see. And Panzy's is....

Telekinesis.

We've seen telekinesis a few times. Chiaotzu and Guldo are the most prolific telekinetic characters. But they're also...

Like. They both kinda fall into the category of "Characters who got exactly one fight and then fucked off or died." We've never had a character who was important to the plot and had abilities centered around psychic powers.

I hope that's about to change but Dragon Ball is notoriously terrible with its female characters so I'm not taking anything for granted.

Panzy is completely ruining Glorio's vibe as our solemn guide to the demonic lands and he can die mad about it. XD

Weird thing to have a character say before cutting to a montage of everyone pleasantly sightseeing with no trouble whatsoever while happy fun-time music plays in the background.

The front gate is HUNGRY OM NOM NOM NOM

Is....

...is the plan to raise Baby Dende like an ordinary child over the course of many years so that he imprints on Gomah and comes to see this castle and its occupants as his home and family?

Is that what we're doing here?

(Wouldn't he still have his memories? Goku and the others do.)

Oh, she is definitely like the king's daughter or something. There's a reason she happens to know the most convenient way to and from the castle. Glorio needs to learn how to read a room.

You know, I really thought they were gonna tease that out a bit longer.

She's got her own distinct style to her but she's definitely a bootleg copy of Bulma. Child genius female super-mechanic who attaches herself to Goku after seeing how powerful he is and happens to be the daughter of the most rich and powerful family in the region. There's visibly a lot of Bulma in her character DNA.

Even her logo on the front of her shirt often looks like a C because of the stuff covering it.

Which is kinda making me start to wonder if Glorio is a bootleg copy of Future Trunks. Grim and serious demeanor, showing up out of nowhere in a magical fantasy vehicle, leaning on a weapon but also being able to fight without it, that jacket... Huh.

HAHAHA NO

Goku, sure, but Kaioshin is one whole Fuck No in the realm of fighting Majin Buu. It is thoroughly established that he'd be up shit creek without a paddle in a straight fight with Buu.

...

In fact, so is Goku. The only form of Buu that Goku has ever been a match for is Fat Buu. And that is strictly hypothetical, based on Goku's impression of Buu versus how strong Super Saiyan 3 is supposed to be..

Strictly hypothetically, his Super Saiyan 3 could waste Pure Buu too. We all saw how well that worked out.

"Wait but wasn't Goku holding back so Vegeta could have a turn?"

Common misconception but no. Vegeta accuses Goku of that, but Goku was sincerely giving Buu his all and getting wrecked. Super Saiyan 3 is the only form Goku has that can match Buu on paper, but Super Saiyan 3's drawbacks prevent it from being able to match Buu in practice.

So. Uh. No. There is not a single person in this room that can cash the check that Glorio's stupid mouth has written. Not counting sequel series that haven't taken place yet at this point in the timeline, the only time Goku has ever been on Buu's level was when he had Vegeta to fuse with.

Seems legit. I like the cut of his jib. We should definitely make him king.

He commodifies women as bargaining chips to be bought and sold by their fathers. I don't like the cut of his job. We should not make him king.

Goku proving himself by fighting all the royal guards at once is a fun fight, well animated, and nicely paced. But I particularly enjoyed this moment.

Goku transforming to Super Saiyan not to actually go Super Saiyan but just to use the burst of ki that comes from it as a radial attack to blow the goons away. Weaponizing the power-up itself.

Some real "Shazam hits his opponent with the transformation lightning bolt" energy going on here.

...

I legit thought this guy was going to, like, reveal some sort of power that lets him teleport directly to Earth and then bring back Vegeta, Bulma, and Piccolo in a snap.

I'm looking forward to having Panzy on the team. Especially when Bulma gets here. I can't wait for Bulma to meet Discount Bulma.

[dbzebra]

Episode 20 of Daima was amazing from beginning to end it was so exciting to watch! I thought the animation couldn’t be topped from last episode but it was!! 11/10 epsiode

Last few weeks might be DB has ever looked in animated form period. This episode has the best Kamehameha of the franchise imo and the fact that a version of Super Saiyan 4 did it makes it even better for me

Dragon Ball Daima was a really fun series. I wish it lasted a little more but it was Toriyama’s last gift to the fandom and I’ll be forever grateful for that. Haven’t felt this excited and happy watching modern DB in a LOOOOONG time. Gonna catch up on the dub now!

it’s good to have a series that just does what it wants to do and doesn’t care about adhering to a specific narrow timeline

also

I am fucking VINDICATED

Daima pretty much disregards Super outside a few minor references and honestly good lol. Daima being it’s own thing works way better than having to fit into Super’s timeline 

The term canon has such a deep chokehold on this fanbase it's honestly ridiculous. It's all fucking canon just in different continuities!!

The original run, Super, GT and Daima are all separate timelines but they’re all canon.

GT has ALWAYS been canon to the Z anime and the sooner people get that the better. Same with the movies. Garlic Jr especially 

"ITs not CanOn" shut the hell up lol. So many people in this fandom use canon to determine quality when that doesn’t make any sense. 

You know the type I mean. 

"Well umm actually this is canon so it's better than (insert filler/movie here) that isn’t canon" SHUT UP THATS

NOT HOW IT WORKSSSSSSSS

Like genuinely who fucking cares if it's

CanOn or not? Do you like it? Cool! Don't?

Ignore It!

There's so many people who just handwave away filler, or the original movies, and especially GT because NoN CanOn and put stuff like DBS on a pedestal purely because of that meaningless term. Not to mention DBS has multiple continuities so why are those all canon but the movies/GT/Daima etc isn’t?

People are turning on Daima being canon or not despite Toriyama writing it. Why does everything have to fit into DBS?

The Z movies did whatever and they were fun because of it

Also love how certain fans move the goal posts with things

First it was made by Toriyama = canon

But now since Daima contradicts Super, Daima is supposedly not canon?? GT fits almost perfectly after Z and that's not canon either in their eyes because Toriyama didn’t do it

So which is it? 

Made by Toriyama or consistency? Can’t be both. Going by the former, any future DBS arc isn’t canon anymore but you know people will justify that is and then turn around say Bardock the Father of Goku isn’t canon etc etc. and the latter, DB contradicts itself all the time. Z and Super included. I mean we see Gero die like 5 different ways in the anime across Z, fiillee flashbacks, movies and GT flashbacks 

Just so tired of this meaningless “canon” debate. It’s fucking absolute nonsense that doesn’t even mean anything in a series that has a whole arc and a whole freaking spinoff series about timelines and fixing shit

Dragon Ball is Dragon Ball. We all have our preferences on what is better or worse or whatever else but this canon vs non canon debate crap needs to end. 

Thank you for coming to my ted talk 

[strawsoldier]

Winter 2025 Anime Round-Up

I always get so lazy when it comes to doing things. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...My Happy Marriage still has two episodes left but I'm not going to wait for them (I'm barely paying attention to that story to begin with). Also decided to change the formatting a bit cause looking back at my older round ups is killing my brain.

Anime of the Season: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Best Opening: Kaijuu (Orb: On the Movements of the Earth)

Best Ending: NOX LUX (Re:ZERO Season 3) & Georgette Me, Georgette You (Bang Dream: Ave Mujica)

Drops: Zenshu

Plans to Watch at a later date: N/A

Completed:

Dragon Ball DAIMA - (7-10)

Not gonna indulge in this series too much out of respect for it being the last work that Toriyama will ever write for this franchise. I had my issues but it was, through and through, everything I loved about Dragon Ball growing up as a kid. Thanks for everything, Toriyama

-----------------------------------------

Danmachi Season 5 - (7-10)

The long break between episodes killed this rating from being higher. Nevertheless, Danmachi is still very enjoyable and one of the best in the fantasy light novel genre. (Not a high bar but still worth noting)

-----------------------------------------

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth - (10/10)

When I try and write down what makes this show so unique. I can't help but feel like I'm downplaying it immensely. I could never predict what happened in this show and that the experience all the better. All the characters made such a long lasting impact that left some of the best introspective experience I've had in television, not just anime. You'll probably never find another anime like this, and for good reason.

Was very tempted to remove a point for the night scenes being too damn dark but I couldn't

-----------------------------------------

Sakamoto Days - (7/10)

This show didn't really do anything special for me, outside of being a show with an adult cast. But I do appreciate how silly it was and how much fun the characters were when we weren't supposed to take them seriously. Can't wait for Season Two

-----------------------------------------

Blue Exorcist: The Blue Night Saga - (8/10)

VOLN redemption? In the 2025? Not the craziest thing to happen this year. As I mentioned previously, this season was a massive step up in quality from the previous two. Maybe the smaller cast and more contained story worked in it's benefit, but I was very impressed.

Fuck Aniplex tho

-----------------------------------------

Re:ZERO Season 3 - (8.5/10)

The most passionate anime team continues their 9 year run of making this source material as enjoyable as it can be. Even with all the staff shuffles, Re Zero managed to handle all the action spectacles with lots of deft and creativity. Don't know what else to say, Re:zero still good y'all.

-----------------------------------------

Bang Dream: Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast - (8.5/10)

The show gave me brain damage, but it also blew me away in what you can accomplish with a passionate team of writers and directors. I hope the industry can learn from this show in just how creative and bold you can be when you have absolute free reign (and kinda unhinged).

I need to be checked into an asylum.

-----------------------------------------

Blue Box - (7/10)

A good show that I got bored of quickly when I realized best girl wasn't going to win.

-----------------------------------------

Solo Leveling: Season 2 - Arise from the Shadow - (8/10)

Still blown away at how much I love this shit. Absolutely stupid but also incredibly shameless in how much fun it is. Coupled that with an anime studio that went well above and beyond in presentation; Solo Leveling continues to be pretty damn great

-----------------------------------------

Medalist - (8/10)

ENGI redemption arc is insane 😭

Actual peak sports anime. All the praise and success that this manga had is absolutely deserved. Inspirational story bout never being too late to accomplish your dreams and the important relationships between mentors and students. S2 gonna be so good

-----------------------------------------

My Happy Marriage S2 - (6.5/10)

Still pretty much the same as S1. which I enjoyed, so no reason why I wouldn't enjoy more of it. The current arc that it's in is boring me to death, but I love seeing these two fall more and more in love with each episode. I'm hoping the last two episodes can stick the landing, but that score will most likely remain the same.

[miki-kaname]

Anime I've Seen in 2024 (New and Old)

New

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training arc - 5/10: Too short and over too quickly, really wished they could’ve added more.

My Hero Academia season 7 - 6/10: Tiring at this point, I actually don't care anymore.

Date a Live V - 7/10: It didn't shocked me like everyone else, I've seen heavier shit then this. Still, it's an appropriate finale. I've heard there's like two light novels left in the series. Maybe one day for season 6.

Sand Land - 7/10: The main story is fantastic and a great stand alone series. The second arc is okay. It's good but completely unnecessary.

Bocchi the Rock! movie - 8/10: Cramming a whole season into a two part movie is surprisingly good. Saw it in theaters and I had a good time. So... when season 2?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict - 8/10: So far, it's still great. It's very intense.

Dragon Ball Daima - 8/10: Great story, great characters, great world building, and great animation. The pacing though... cocktease.

Old

Dragon Ball - 10/10: Revisited as myself paying tribute to the late Akira Toriyama, who pass away this year. This series is still amazing and charming. Please watch it and ignore the fandom who hated it for no reason. Your life will change forever.

Dragon Ball Z - 9/10: This was the first time I watched it in the original Japanese version. A completely different experience. I had a ton of fun going through the whole thing again.

Lucky Star - 7/10: At first, I really love how these girls just sit around and talk endlessly. But then... it kept going. Then it got super annoying. And then it got to be not fun anymore. By the time I got to ep. 12, I remember saying to myself," WE GOT 12 MORE EPISODES OF THIS SHIT?" The ending was cringing, I'm sorry, I did not like it. I give it some time and... it wasn't that bad in retrospect, I was just not in the right mood. I'll give it another chance one day.

K-ON! - 10/10: I read the manga a year ago and I greatly enjoy it, so I was looking forward for the adaptation. Unfortunately, an unexpected moment occurred in my life that made me delayed my binge watch. Once I felt better, I finally watched it and... it was what I desperately want: comfort. The characters were great, the music is pretty catchy, and the overall experience was enjoyable. When it was over, I felt sad, sad that it was over. But it did heal my soul.

The Melancholy of Haruchi Suzumiya - 4/10: Surprised I didn't receive hate mail from my opinion of this anime. Why did I really hated it? Haruchi Suzumiya herself. Fuck! That! BITCH! I hated everything about her, she gave me flasbacks to Asuka from Evangalion, who is also GODAWFUL! This anime reminded me why I hated tsunderes, I never felt so much anger in my life. If there's any silver lining, it gave me Yuki Nagato, and Mikuru Asahina is cute. I know there's a movie, but I refuse to watch it.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan - 7/10: I got nothing to say about this spin-off, but I like this better then the main one.

Berserk (1997) - 8/10: Finally started watching this classic and, wow, this was not what I expect it to be. I was really into the story and the battle scenes were gory. The ending? Still haven’t recover from that dramatic experience.

Hidamari Sketch - 10/10: You know why I started watching this? I watch the second presidential debate, and it was a total shit show. To get away from politics, I put this on, not expecting what I was going to get. And what did I get? Possibly one of the cutest, comforting, fun shows I've seen in awhile. The girls were great, the animation was abstract, and it was pretty relaxing. I was a bit bother by the ecchi scenes, glad Madoka didn't had that treatment. By the end, you feel like you made friends with them. Or better yet, you became family with them. This is another show that heal my soul.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - 8/10: This one has been on my watch list for awhile, but I'm glad I saw it. Another relaxing show that just happens to have plenty of scenes that goes TOO HARD! Like whole, was not expecting them to throw at me. Everything else is great too.

Yuru Yuri - 8/10: I thought I wasn't going to like this because of how mean spirited it can be. But... not only was this shit funny, but it's also heartwarming. This was a lot a fun.

What to expect next year?

[makiruz]

Dragon Ball Daima episode 1: You are 5 years old, you don't know what Dragon Ball is, here's the cliff notes version

[themattress]

How Toriyama/Toyotaro salvaged "End of Z"

Let me start this post with a personal confession that may or may not be unpopular: I have very little interest in Dragon Ball DAIMA. I have slightly more than I used to after Akira Toriyama's death since I am naturally curious to see what the last Dragon Ball related material he ever produced is like, but otherwise it still looks like just a different take on Dragon Ball GT, my least favorite Dragon Ball series, except that more characters than just Goku turn young and it's the Demon Realm that's being explored instead of space. It also doesn't help that the head writer, Yuko Kakihara, makes me nervous - she's done fine work as an episodic script writer on anime such as Fresh Pretty Cure, My Bride is a Mermaid, and Pokémon Journeys, and she was fantastic as the head writer of IRODUKU: The World in Color. But in terms of shows closer to what Dragon Ball DAIMA seems like, she was head writer on that god-awful Stitch anime that Disney stupidly allowed to be made. Worse still, she was the writer of Digimon Adventure Tri. So you can understand why I have reservations.

Point is, I consider Dragon Ball DAIMA to be a sideshow, regardless of what its merits may end up being. For me personally, it's the manga/anime trilogy of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super that really counts the most. And as tragic as the circumstances behind the end of Toriyama's involvement on the latter are, I am highly impressed what he and his mangaka protégée Toyotaro were able to accomplish. With three major steps, they have substantially retconned the notoriously underwhelming ending of the original manga series and DBZ anime, known as "End of Z" among fans, in a way that makes a satisfying closure.

The first step was way back in Dragon Ball Online. Toriyama was involved back then in canonically mapping out the future of the Dragon Ball world, long after Goku, his friends and his family have passed away. And a major part of that was how Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Pan affected that world for the better in their adult lives. Gohan in particular has a masterful end to his long struggle between being a fighter and being a scholar by becoming a scholar on ki fighting techniques, publishing a study that makes it widely possible for humans around the world to master ki control and gain flight and energy blasts. It's a perfect outcome for him.

The second step was through Toriyama's involvement in the new movies and Super series. End of Z now cannot happen the way it was presented in the original manga and anime. There are way too many discrepancies, from character appearances, the lack of certain characters who it would make little sense not to be there, and details like "none of Goku's friends saw him for 5 years before then" which have now been completely contradicted. Obviously the 28th Budokai where Goku meets Uub and takes him under his wing for training is still canon, but that event is now free to transpire in a far more plausible and satisfactory way than the famously rushed, haphazard and OOC way in which it was depicted before.

The third and final step was the last collaboration between Toriyama and Toyotaro in the Super manga. The final three chapters they worked on together were an epilogue to the story of the Super Hero film, actually tying its plot together with the side plot featuring Goku and Vegeta on Beerus' planet. Perhaps responding to prevalent criticisms, the movie had already made a major point of showing how the world can still be successfully defended by the Z Fighters even without Goku and Vegeta being there. And in these three chapters, the point is carried even further by having Goku test what the new generation is capable of, a theme that's even reflected in the final chapter's title, "Passing On To The Future". This completely recontextualizes End of Z. Originally made as a laughable attempt to salvage the "Goku passing the torch" direction with Uub in place of Gohan after Toriyama botched it so badly with him, now it makes Uub only the latest in a large field of fighters that includes Gohan. Now it's Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Pan, even Broly of all people, who are being gathered as Earth's next line of defense once Goku and Vegeta finally expire. Uub will join that group. (Oh, and being Namekian, both Piccolo and Dende will still be around to assist, of course.)

So while the narrative of Dragon Ball may have peaked with the Cell Saga, now the Majin Buu Saga -> Battle of Gods Saga -> Resurrection F Saga -> Universe 6 Saga -> Future Trunks / Goku Black Saga -> Universe Survival Saga -> Broly Saga -> Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga -> Granolah the Survivor Saga -> Super Hero Saga -> End of Z together create a worthier follow-up than just the Majin Buu Saga -> End of Z was back in the day. Certainly not perfect, even when leaving the loose ends out of it (so Freeza's just gonna stay loose out there with a new ultimate form?), but feeling much closer to a fully realized ending.

Thank you, Toriyama. You made it up as you went along right to the very end, but as usual, your remarkable creative talent managed to make it all fit together. You are deeply missed.

[ash-plavell]

Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 5 - "Panzy"

Gonna get a bit on the personal (and also somewhat political) side for my “pre-review paragraph” and say that I’ve never been so scared for my own safety. You probably already know the results of the US presidential election by now, but just in case you don’t, all I’ll say is that to try and reduce the chance of me being attacked just for being myself, I have to put on an additional mask OVER the…

[duhragonball]

Daima vs. Super

I’ve got a little time on my hands, so I thought I’d start on this series I wanted to do about Daima’s continuity with the other Dragon Ball series. I’m starting with Dragon Ball Super because I think that’s the simplest one to discuss. I will be spoiling both shows under the cut, so keep that in mind.

All right, so when Daima was first announced, my initial assumption was that it would be set after Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.  The Broly movie, Super Hero, the Moro and Granolah manga arcs each take place after the final episode of the DBS anime. But Pan was three years old in Super Hero, so it seemed like the only real question was whether a new project would be set after the “End of Z”.  Maybe I should make a little timeline of the DBS continuity.

Dragon Ball 1-153

Dragon Ball Z 1-288

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods or Dragon Ball Super anime 1-18, or manga 1-4

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F or Dragon Ball Super anime 19-27

Dragon Ball Super anime 28-131 or manga chapter 5-42

Dragon Ball Super Movie 1: Broly

Dragon Ball Super manga ch.42-87 (Moro and Granolah arcs)

Dragon Ball Super Movie 2: Super Hero, or manga chapter 88-100

Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 101-?

Dragon Ball Z 289-291 (”End of Z”)

As it turned out, Daima was revealed to be set two years after the defeat of Kid Buu, which I believe puts it two years before the events of Battle of Gods and the beginning of the DBS anime.  So in terms of DBS, Daima is like a prequel series. Both shows are set in the “ten year gap” between Kid Buu and the finale of DBZ, but Daima takes place before Beerus or any other DBS stuff happens. 

Alternately, we could look at Daima as a hard reboot. It feels like the mission statement of Super was to fill in the “ten year gap”, and now we have Daima, which looks like it’s starting all over again.  It’s only twenty episodes long, and it only covers a single adventure in Year Two of the gap, but one could imagine a number of sequel series that might continue covering the Ten Year Gap without any regard for the events already established by Super.

I say this because there are a couple of glaring discontinuities between Daima and Super.  The first is only natural: Since Daima is set before Super, there’s no way for Super to acknowledge any of the events in Daima.  In particular, Super Saiyan 4 is revealed in Daima, but Goku never mentions it in Super.

This could easily be explained away by Goku abandoning the form after Daima Episode 20 and before he met Beerus in Battle of Gods.  He challenged Beerus to a match on King Kai’s planet, and went Super Saiyan 3, claiming it was his strongest form. But in Daima #20, Goku claims he discovered the form while training after Kid Buu. So that only leaves us with three options.

Goku was fibbing to Beerus and kept SSJ4 a secret for no apparent reason.

Goku had reached a point in his training where he decided SSJ4 wasn’t practical for combat.

Daima and Dragon Ball Super are simply incompatible.

I’m not fond of any of these options, since I feel like the whole point of introducing Super Saiyan 4 in Daima was to make it part of the wider Dragon Ball continuity. If Daima’s in it’s own little compartment, then that’s no different from the original SSJ4 debut in GT.  If Goku has a stronger form in his arsenal and chooses to hide it from an opponent like Beerus, then that defeats the entire purpose of it. 

Option 2 is the simplest way to go, but it also breaks Super Saiyan 4, and that’s no fun. You can make the case that Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Ultra Instinct will obsolete SSJ4 anyway, but if Goku abandons the form before he even meets Beerus, then it’s basically just a one-off.  He used it against Gomah that one time and never again?  Weak.

I suspect that if Toyotaro plans to continue the DBS manga, he may want to work Daima lore into his stories, and he might no-prize some of these issues away. For example, we saw Black Frieza defeat Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta, so maybe the key to victory is for Goku to combine UI with SSJ4, sort of like how he stacked Super Saiyan Blue with the Kai-o-ken.  I could see him trying that, especially since he had Goku rapidly switching between God and Blue when he fought Zamasu in the manga.

Or maybe Goku brings SSJ4 back because he decides it’s the best way to maximize his own Saiyan power. The Granolah arc had a lot to do with Goku and Vegeta finding their own paths forward, as opposed to simply imitating Whis and Beerus with their UI and UE forms. Maybe training with Broly would help them figure out what they really need to do, and SSJ4 might be the missing piece of the puzzle. 

There’s a way to deal with it, is what I’m saying.  The thing about Super is that it isn’t really over yet, since Toyotaro recently published that Trunks special that I haven’t read yet.  I would imagine he wouldn’t have bothered unless he had bigger plans for the future of the manga, and that Black Frieza situation still needs to be addressed.  So if Toei and Shueisha want to tie Daima and Super together in one neat little package, that’s probably how it’ll be done. 

The second discontinuity is the whole deal with Kibitoshin.  This one doesn’t bother me as much because the Dragon Ball Super franchise was so inconsistent with itself on things like this.  Let’s review.

In Dragon Ball Z Episode 267, the Elder Kai reveals that the Potara Earrings can be used for fusion, and suggests that the Supreme Kai and Kibito try to use their own Potara Earrings to fuse together.  They do, only to find out that it’s permanent.  Kibitoshin remains a fixture in the Dragon Ball cast through the events of Battle of Gods in 2013. In both the movie and the anime adaptation in DBS 1-14, Kibitoshin remains fused throughout. 

However, the manga adaptation of the comic took a different direction.  There’s a subplot with the Old Kai sending Kibitoshin to collect the Namekian Dragon Balls, because he thinks Beerus might be planning to use them for something, but it turns out to be a red herring.  At the end of Chapter 3, the Kibito and the Supreme Kai reveal that they used the Namekian Dragon Balls to wish for their separation. This was published on August 15, 2015.

I suspect Toyotaro did this in order to set up Kibito and Shin’s appearance in the Universe 6 tournament arc.  In Dragon Ball Super Episode 32, they show up to watch Beerus and Champa’s tournament.  Goku notices that they’re separate again, and they explain that they used the Namekian Dragon Balls to undo their fusion.  From an anime-only standpoint, this is treated like a big surprise, as they hadn’t been seen since the end of the Beerus fight in Episode 14.  It could be a callback to chapter 3 of the manga, except the manga’s version of Battle of Gods is completely different from the anime, where Kibitoshin did not use the Namekian Dragon Balls. DBS 32 aired on February 21, 2016. 

So on top of all of that, now we have Daima Episode 1, where Goku notices Kibito and Shin have unfused, and this time they explain that Majin Buu helped them separate..  Daima is set two years before Battle of Gods, so the implication here is that it doesn’t fit with Super at all.  Kibitoshin shouldn’t exist in Battle of Gods, or in any episode of the DBS anime, and he shouldn’t have needed the Namekian Dragon Balls to unfuse in the manga because he would have already done it with Buu a long time ago.

To me, it doesn’t really matter, since there’s three different versions of Battle of Gods that tell wildly different versions of the same story.  Expecting Daima to line up with any of them is kind of pointless, since they don’t line up with one another. I’m pretty sure Akira Toriyama just wanted an unfused Supreme Kai for this story, but he didn’t want to set it after Kibitoshin got unfused in DBS.

This is, of course, easily resolved if we assume Kibito and Shin re-fused sometime between the end of Daima and the beginning of Battle of Gods.  A few suggestions on how to accomplish this:

1) Majin Buu’s interior somehow has the power to dissolve fusions, but only temporarily.  If you get out of Buu’s body, you automatically re-fuse after one year.  This didn’t happen with Vegito because Goku and Vegeta are mortals, and according to Gowasu in DBS 66, Potara fusion is only permanent when at least one Kai is involved.  So Vegito separated inside Buu’s body, but didn’t recombine because his time limit expired first.  But Kibitoshin’s fusion had no time limit, so he recombined later, requiring him to use the Namekian Dragon Balls later on.

2) Kibito and Shin slip on a bunch of banana peels and their earrings fall off and they re-fuse.

3) The Elder Kai tells them to try the Potara again and they fall for it all over again like a couple of dummies.  I mean, it was kind of stupid how they fused together in the first place, so it’s not like they need a sensible reason to re-fuse later on.

4) During some as-yet-unseen adventure, Kibito and the Supreme Kai reluctantly choose to fuse together to defeat a powerful bad guy.  Seriously, they did get a big power boost from the fusion.  I think that gets overlooked, because they were no match for Majin Buu either way, but Kibitoshin could still be a badass against lesser villains. I bet he could give Perfect Cell a run for his money.

Again, I could see Toyotaro tackling this if he plans to continue the DBS manga and if he wants to work Daima lore into his stories.  It’d be a little awkward, since this second Kibitoshin fusion would have to take place several years before Black Frieza, but this is the same guy who did a whole page to explain where Dr. Hedo got the inspiration for the Gammas’ capes.

It is also possible that Daima and Super will wind up being left as separate things.  The precedent may have been set that future projects will be standalone sequels to DBZ without necessarily connecting to GT, Daima, Super, or one another. I tend to doubt this, though, since Daima does include some lore from Super.  Gowasu and the Supreme Kais of the other universes are shown, and Goku’s home universe is still said to be in Universe 7.  It’s not much, but it’s a pretty clear continuation of the cosmology from Battle of Gods and Super. 

And there’s nothing to outright contradict Super.  We don’t see anyone in Daima say that Super Dragon Balls don’t exist, or that Ultra Instinct is impossible, or that the Pilaf Gang was brutally murdered in a gangland shooting. It’s not like GT, where both Super and Daima seemed to go out of their way to rule out any possibility of a shared continuity.   But I’ll get into that another time...

[cuttyclowngirl]

DAIMA EP.9 (Spoiler) Review/Theories

• Only 3 more shots from the 2 minute trailer left to see in the show now.

• Panzy starts the episode off reminding us that's she's not the type of princess who enjoys roughin' it outdoors. Understandable. One more thing she & Bulma can bond over.

• So they went with "put on a silly hat, Goku" instead of having Goku walk around as a Super Saiyan. (Surprise, surprise, it didn't work out.)

• I'd forgotten that Goku's nyoibo can't shrink to the size of a toothpick like Wukong's staff. Hope it never gets stolen, then.

• If Glorio isn't being sponsored by Kadan, then I guess I should've been saying "poor Dr Arinsu's wallet" this whole time. Glorio must think he's traveling with the most oblivious people ever...

• If Panzy's rubber ducky is anything to go off, then 3rd Demon world ducks either have dinosaur-like crests or silly mohawks. I like it. Either is cute to me.

• If that was a bottle of liquor Glorio was chugging, then he oughta talk to someone. You good, buddy?

• I suppose Panzy placing a tracker on her bag holding the D ball just barely justifies recklessly leaving it by a breakable window instead of everyone's (Goku & co.) line of sight.

• The mohawked blue demon demonstrated an impressive proficiency in body altering/shape shifting magic. This further strengthens the implication that Glinds reach a point in their early life where they choose to have masculine/feminine presenting bodies via magic.

• Glorio acknowledging Panzy's helpful was a cute moment.

• Goku trying to stay up was pretty funny.

• While Vegeta's bar fight was much shorter, I liked that the interior of the bar looked wildly different, not just it's cool blue/purple lighting, but the clearly Star Wars cantina inspired middle table section with colorful drink dispensers. Though it was another bar fight that led to plane theft...

• Vegeta's burger looked yummy. Neat that it wasn't the same black bun burger. Even little bits of variety helps the world feel lived in.

• There are ACTUAL Zombies in the 3rd Demon world. (Implied) Entire forest patches full of them. And they aren't just undead, but can also TURN you into a zombie. I know it's just a bit, but Holy Moly.

• As I predicted in my episode 5 review, Hybis has the Tertian Oculus in his belt.

• I'm starting to think that this whole "timid yesman" persona Degesu has is just an act. A few episodes ago, Shin described Degesu as especially ambitious. Why would someone Shin implied to be the possibly even more ambitious than even Dr Arinsu settle for the position he holds under King Gohma's heel? I keep thinking about that wish Degesu wanted...

• While a bit selfish in it's own right, leaving the rescue of Dende/defeat of King Gohma up to Vegeta & Piccolo isn't exactly irrational. A jerk move to be sure. "Bad habit of his" indeed, Piccolo...

• Out of every angry face Bulma has pulled throughout Dragon Ball, the one she pulls when after Piccolo says "We should have brought Kibito, since he can teleport" is my new all-time fav.

• Vegeta paid extra for slow-mo shots. Also, him just sneaking up on that horse demon while they were distracted by Piccolo was so funny to me. Also also, Horse-headed demons are a thing. Neato.

• All these zoomed in shots of Marba makes me feel like she's secretly much more malevolent than she lets on. Casually mentioning that she used to sell Saibaimen seeds, as in lil killing machines, literally bioweapons, implies a lot. Plus even Dr Arinsu doesn't fully trust her.

• Since Marba only having 2 seeds left, it's loosely implied that Majin Kuu might not live for more than a few episodes. The next Majin will probably be the scarier threat. Dr Arinsu said "This thing might not work, so let's start with just one.(Seed)" One planted more than 5 centimeters down was implied to be stronger yet uncomfortable, according to Marba.

• This Majin Kuu feels sort of intelligent, (maybe thanks to Dr Arinsu's spit?). But I'm literally only basing this off of how it responded to orders/how serious it acted. Only time will tell...

• Hybis, bro, you chew weird.

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon Ball Daima 01x18 - Awakening

Here we go with the maybe-maybe not final battle of the series.

I like that Super Saiyan 3 wasn't just the answer. Goku takes Gomah by surprise and gets some good hits in, but that's just the surprise of the power boost. Once Gomah gets his head back in the game, this isn't over yet.

Duu powers up from eating a cookie. These two are so fucking great. 10/10 best thing in the entire ser--

DUU LEARNS HOW TO POWER UP FROM GOKU AND THEN GOES SUPER SAIYAN 3 JUST TO EMULATE HIM

15/10 BEST THING IN THE FUCKING SHOW

I kinda just saw Vegeta going Super Saiyan 3 as hollow fanservice. That hasn't changed as of this episode; Apparently Vegeta decided he doesn't like going Super Saiyan 3 anymore because once this became a Super Saiyan 3 fight, he fucked off to the Losers Corner with Piccolo.

It's kinda like that time he teleported in the Super manga. He did it for the one cool moment but he has no intention of actually retaining that as a new ability.

But I love Duu going Super Saiyan 3. This is beautiful.

And then he's out of the fight as goofily as he came. XD See ya later, Duu.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT

SURE, THAT MIGHT AS WELL HAPPEN XD

I actually kind of love this. My favorite thing about Neva just walking over and zapping Goku into Super Saiyan 4 'cause making people Super Saiyan 4 is just a thing he can do I guess? The fact that it doesn't inexplicably make him an adult like it does in GT.

Even Super Saiyan 4 can't overcome the marketing urge to sell child-sized Goku.

You think he's going to stop and complain mid-fight about this being an unearned power-up? I mean, it's a big Fuck Yeah moment of fanservice for people who are familiar with the form from GT. But in-context, this is just a random form created by Neva walking up and shooting him with free Strength Beams.

Goku did less to achieve this than he did to achieve God.

I mean, it's not really any different from the power-ups that Saichoro and the Old Kaioshin hand out. In fact, it's probably exactly the same as Saichoro's. That it made him Super Saiyan 4 is probably supposed to be a sly wink and nod to the camera like, "That's what Goku's fully unlocked potential is, wink wink."

But "free power-ups suck and I hate them" is a thing that Goku's going to be passionate about in a couple years so I wonder if this bothers him?

The Super Saiyan 4 fight itself is pretty terrible, though. It's zoomed in way too close and does a lot of Hollywood Editing million cuts per minute so it's difficult to actually follow the action.

The characters are just. Constantly passing in and out of the fourth wall.

Goku gets punched away, grabs onto a rocky spire, and spins around it to reclaim his momentum. That's really cool. Why is the camera shoved straight down his throat instead of letting us see him do the cool maneuver?

Strength Beams for Vegeta and then they fuse into SSJ4 Gogeta? Is that where this is headed?

C'mon, Super Saiyan 5! We are in full Why The Fuck Not territory so let's officially and for the very first time canonize Gray Monkey. XD

It's not, but I kinda wish....

Of course he had to go to colossal size after what we've been shown of how big the Third Eye's supposed to make him.

But I'm also starting to get bored with this fight. Gomah's hardly the first Dragon Ball villain to take on the tempo of

We pull out a miracle maneuver to sink him and win the day.

Never mind he's too stronk.

We pull out an even more impossible maneuver and take him down!

Never mind he's too stronk.

We pull out the MOST INSANELY IMPOSSIBLE THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN.

Never mind he's too stronk.

We pull out the MOST EARTHSHATTERINGLY....

But Gomah's lack of interesting character is working against him. Since we moved to the new arena, his one interesting villain trait of being concerned with collateral damage is gone. Now he's just an HP meter with fists.

Even Frieza felt more like he was being pushed as the fight progressed than Gomah does. He kept retreating through transformations and at multiple times we see him freaked out or worried.

But Gomah's giving nothing. They hit him super hard and then his Third Eye shimmers and he's fine. They hit him even harder and then his Third Eye shimmers and he's fine. No personality. No interesting banter. Just an ongoing set of action sequences that all end in a silent and uninteresting Nope.

An HP meter with fists is only an interesting final boss if there's other interesting things happening around him, like all the drama unfolding around the Pure Buu bout. But the only things happening in this battle are characters throwing hands with him and failing over and over.

Here we go. Here's the payoff for Glorio's treachery subplot. I literally just asked for interesting drama surrounding the fight and now he's going to confront Dr. Arinsu while Goku and Gomah are keeping each other busy.

Right around the time I was starting to get bored with this fight, we're pivoting to more interesting things. Okay. Credit where it's due, solid pacing.

Oh hey, they have a Porunga instead of a Shenron. I appreciate that. We have enough Shenrons but we've never had another Porunga before.

I like that Glorio doesn't just. Like. Flatly refuse to turn over the Dragon Balls on principle.

The man is a spy. Of course he's going to do something more treacherous.

I know I just complained about the characters pulling out miracle maneuvers and then Gomah just ignoring them and being too stronk. But I desperately want Gomah to shoot Porunga in the face and blow him up right now.

It's an established metaphysic that you can just fucking kill the dragons. There is no reason Gomah should stand idly by and let this happen.

Thank you! No further objections. You may proceed.

This is a gripe I have with late-stage Dragon Ball in general. And I should note that it's probably not going to happen.

Glorio's not going to actually make that wish. They've signaled pretty hard that he's going to do something different with the wish. I'd be very surprised if the episode titled "Betrayal" isn't referring to Glorio betraying Arinsu.

But I do want to note that I don't like how hard late-stage Dragon Ball has been leaning on "Shenron, I wish for infinity times ultimate power!"

The DBS manga had an entire arc around Granolah, a character who summoned Shenron and went "Shenron, I wish for infinity times ultimate power!"

The DBS: Super Hero manga caught Piccolo up to the God-tier characters by having him summon Shenron and go, "Shenron, I wish for infinity times ultimate power!"

And now Dr. Arinsu's whole plan is to summon Porunga and go, "Porunga, I wish for infinity times ultimate power!"

I just. I don't like the idea that you could just go to Shenron and wish to be stronger than Beerus and then poof, you're stronger than Beerus. Since Dragon Ball started doing sequel series, power creep has hit the Wish Dragons hard.

(Piccolo doing it is the one I find most grating because at least Granolah and Arinsu are antagonists. Their powers are supposed to be cheaply acquired. They're the ones who are doing things wrong. But if we're going to open the door to protagonists wishing for infinity power from Shenron then what is even the point of training and self-improvement anymore?)

At this point, we could probably just have Porunga kill Gomah. It's clearly within his power, given the way he just manhandled Gomah a second ago. Glorio could just wish for Gomah to be deleted and then it's done. Plot over.

Obviously he won't because it would deprive us of the climax. But there used to be reasons why he couldn't, and now it feels like the Wish Dragons actually can do anything with no limits whatsoever.

I mean. There's still the black magic/white magic thing from the first episode, I guess. Assuming the show hasn't forgotten it ever established that, like it did with the Third World collars and Vegeta being able to go Super Saiyan 3.

Mm.

In any case, rant that's only tangentially about Daima over. We're nearing the end of the line here and I feel pretty strongly convinced at this point that Gomah really is the Final Boss for Realsies. They've gone too hard on this fight for there to be another, bigger one beyond him. Pity that, as he remains the least interesting part of the show.