#or is daima making its own lore again

[neenack]

Did they not relocate to New Namek?

[blundergato]

the western dbz fandom has got to be the worst fandom ever

i just see people complaining that daima is not super and its like...i dont get it. its like being served a delicious burger and going "you know what, id rather actually just have a dog turd"

i think the u.s. starting with dbz irreparably damaged how the series is seen here; too many fans only care about the next multicolored transformation and nonsensical power progression because even though Dbz isn't that at all, without the adventurous setting and background that dragon ball introduced, that's how its seen.

dbz lampshades the whole transformation thing because even though it introduces a lot of them, super saiyan 1 is the only one that does any work for a majority of the series. the series final battle ENDS with goku going super saiyan 1 and throughout a lot of the series, its mastering that form that matters above all else. the others are either gimmicks and/or one offs. but i guess fans just took every transformation way too seriously.

and then super just...goes banana shoes with the transformations and completely shatters its own worldbuilding. you introduce the strongest character in the entire series with beerus at the very beginning. well..goku has to have a way to SORT of match him, so he gets super saiyan god. well now, youve introduced a huge problem. who could possibly stand up to goku at this point? he was already the strongest in the universe and now hes like a billion times stronger than that. well...you just introduce a bunch of new universes where lots of people are apparently that strong now, continuously and nonsensically increase the strength of beerus since they wrote themselves into a goddamn corner and bring back old ass villains from the dead and be like "he did some push-ups and now he's caught up to everyone"

and despite ALL of that, continue to introduce more and more and more multicolored transformations that are stronger than the last, but not stronger than beerus for some reason. jiren is stronger than a god of destruction? goku beats jiren with his ultimate transformation? what do you mean he's still weaker than beerus? freeza did 10 more push-ups and now hes WAY stronger than goku's ultimate form...the one that beat the dude that is supposed to be stronger than a god of destruction? man f**k you.

on the other hand you have dragon ball daima, which is not doing any of that shit, one because it's supposed to take place before super, giving it a hard limit (thank GOD) with the transformations and because it's generally slower paced and actually taking its time to flesh out its worldbuilding, unlike super. it puts a lot of weight and respect on even just the regular super saiyan form.

you still have the issue of "how do you challenge the strongest dude in the universe" which is tackled in episode one. make him a kid. introduce a new world where the atmosphere slows everything down. done. goku still is stronger than MOST of the challenges put in front of him, but he does have to work a little bit for the bigger threats, while setting up a reasonable way to challenge him for real down the road. it feels like they actually tried to come up with a solution rather than super's "everyones just as strong as gods for no reason."

they also approach the teased big bad in a smart way. who is the last villain that gave goku trouble? majin boo, who he couldn't beat with his raw power alone. so why not go that route again? you have arinsu trying to recreate some sort of boo like being ALONG with having a backup plan with the dragon balls. is bringing a new version of boo a little derivative? sure, they did that with android 21 who was an amalgamation of cell and boo, but at least in daima's context, it absolutely works because of the lore and groundwork they laid beforehand.

with all that said, seeing fans shit on daima because there isnt...ultra instinct super mega perfected times 10 form or vegeta's VERY royal blue and purple form or freeza black and yellow black and yellow black and yellow, is infuriating. like, why? that shit is so boring. and the fights in super were TERRIBLE. daima has had less than 10 episodes and i think it has already topped the best that super offered in terms of fight scene creativity and fun. Daima is also expanding dragon ball's lore in a way that feels organic to what was always already there vs the god of destructions/angels/multiverse shit that super threw in.

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 1: CONSPIRACY

Hello, hello! Welcome back to weekly Dragon Ball commentary- feels good to say that, these posts were my roots on this website.

I would like to thank a friend for sharing their Crunchyroll and to apologize in advance to my roommate who has already caught me mid-ramblings- sorry, bestie, this is going to last several more Fridays.

Anyway, onto our very first episode of Dragon Ball Daima!

Firstly, an amazing "welcome back to Dragon Ball" recap. Since the Power Pole is due to make its comeback, I'm not surprised that they didn't forget to include a reference to the series roots in OG Dragon Ball- and the fade to them growing up AAAAHHH MY HEART

"Saiyans are known for appearing youthful for longer"- OH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW

And speaking of recapping, we're introduced to the silly little demon clown guy, Gomah, and Shin's out-of-nowhere brother, Degesu, as they do an abridged Mystery Science Theater of the Buu Arc. Apparently, all powerful Demon Not-Kais still rely on pen and paper to take notes.

With no one left to oppose him after the disposal of the Majins and Dabura, Gomah's the king of the Demon Realm. And turns out Shin also has an out-of-nowhere sister too, Dr. Arinsu. Wonder why she has the God of Destruction gold collar? Might be relevant, might just be jewelry.

It's looking like I may have to finally dip my toes in the Xenoverse lore... we're getting suspiciously close to Towa territory.

However, Goku and his friends pose a threat to Gomah's power- because of course they do, it's Goku and friends- so we need a way to nerf them in the way that's not an evil wish. So, let's turn them into kids! GT BUT ON PURPOSE!

The Demon Realm has their own Dragon Balls created by a senile Namekian they picked up off the street, but they're guarded by these figures called the Tagamis- safe bet that they'll be fighting the Tagamis later.

We have a confirmed timeline placement! It's not long after the Buu Saga and Trunks is turning nine. Gohan is conveniently off studying... why the exclusion? We don't know yet.

And now for the two casual lore drop points that I proceeded to ramble about because my roommate had just walked in:

Saiyans get growth spurts at 15

I guess this was a casual excusing of Goten and Trunks still being short in Super and it sort of lines up with Goku in original DB. He grew slightly, but I guess he was a late bloomer because he was still rather petite at the King Piccolo fight where (not counting Minus) he was 16.

But, Gohan! He had a decent amount of height at 11 in the Cell Saga. Perhaps he got a little more of the Ox King genetics than Goten did.

Goku then proceeds to slander Vegeta's height and- "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

THE SECOND POTARA RETCON

Yep, it happened again. We went from "Potara fusion is permanent, we don't know what happened with Vegito" to "Potara fusion is permanent for Supreme Kais, but if it's two mortals, it's a hour" to, now, "it was Buu's stomach acid the whole time!"

So, instead of using the Dragon Balls to separate like in Super, Kibito Kai just had Buu eat them and spit them out.

I guess this helps confirm that Daima's running on its own track and won't lead into Super. Does this mean we have three separate canons now? I'm okay with this. At least this means my fanfics are safe.

Also, looking a bit pale there, Kibito.

Back to the plot:

Seems that all of the Namekians were originally from the Demon Realm! The Demon Gang can tell because of the pointy ears- I'm getting Owl House flashbacks.

Then what does that mean for Mr. Popo?

The old Namekian magnetizes all the Dragon Balls to the lookout- because of course he can- then reactivates them from their stone state- because of course he can.

Shenron's not dealing with any monkey's paws today and he's not going to guess like Ultimate Shenron did in GT- you're going to want to input all the settings you want for your turn people into kids wish. The adult gang are all first graders and the kids are now babies.

THE WISH HITS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE EPISODE

We'll have to deal with the fallout of this next episode. Hope someone fills Gohan in.

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Feel free to send asks- I'll screenshot them if there's spoilers so I can put the question under a Keep Reading break if need be- or have a discussion in the replies.

Otherwise, stay tuned for more of my ramblings next Friday!