Dragon Ball DAIMA is good. That is it. It is only good. It is not great, it is not amazing — it is just good. Unfortunately, that is also growth from where it started. When it was in its early stages, the anime was slow and boring, giving underwhelming episodes that didn’t actually work right. Much of it had to do with how simple the story was.
When the story is going nowhere, there are no deeper themes to guide it and no strong depth to the characters either; the audience’s attention is likely to go elsewhere. Luckily Toei Animation understands that just as much. The focus thus remains on the fight scenes and the animation style; both of which have been executed rather flawlessly. For how predictable the story is, it has surprisingly endured 19 episodes without becoming irrelevant and monotonous.
Balancing the spotlight in Dragon Ball DAIMA
Right before the finale of Dragon Ball DAIMA, it makes sense to give Vegeta his moment to shine. This satisfies fans and doesn’t let his character go to waste. On the other hand, characters like Bulma and perhaps even Panzy struggle to stand in the story without fading away in the background. In most cases, both women are only showing up when it is convenient and with regard to another male character. Bulma literally stays in the background for most of the series.
She gets this moment where she is dramatically walking towards the battle, Vegeta and Gomah fighting while her husband is draining every bit of energy left in him. She is determined to get him to stop so that he doesn’t exhaust himself and the build-up and shot are no less grand than when Goku would be walking towards a fight. So how does she convince him to stop fighting? No more baths together.
I’ll admit I found it funny, no matter how much my inner feminist was fighting not to. I did, and it worked, I shall begrudgingly admit. The joke worked for all its value but that didn’t stop it from reducing both Bulma and Vegeta’s worths to their relationship. Here’s this guy who is absolutely obsessed with fighting, a foe that is so undefeatable that Goku canonized Super Saiyan 4 but no, a bath with Bulma would always persist. (I loved every second of this scene, thank you Akira Toriyama.)
Does adulthood change anything?
When the episode first began, I obviously wasn’t surprised that Glorio’s loyalties stood with Goku and not Arinsu. What surprised me though, was Arinsu’s motherly behavior towards Majin Kuu and Glorio. Either she was giving off a motherly vibe or I have some serious mommy issues. All of these twists and changes of allegiances aren’t making much sense but for the sake of plot convenience, I am willing to turn a blind eye.
The first half of the episode focused on Vegeta and as much as I have a bias towards him, it felt lacking. The animation has never felt smoother than it was in this episode and the transitions were so natural that it took me a second to absorb. However, the moment Goku took the stage, the tone of the anime also changed with it. That entire scene where he was showcasing all of his transformations felt like every boring episode of DAIMA was worth it.
With the amount of attention they put on Super Saiyan 3, I was almost convinced- almost convinced that they wouldn’t show his transformation into Super Saiyan 3 but of course, this is Akira Toriyama’s passion project and he made sure to make it so that no one will forget it. They finally have a way to deal with Gomah and Arinsu is taking the proverb – the enemy of my enemy is my friend – a little too seriously.
The finale is next week and I have been waiting way too long for this. I hope they go all out with this episode because of how much build-up there is. The concept of the anime was not bad at all, but the execution was still lackluster. The story could have been elaborated a little more but it wasn’t. I have come to terms with its drawbacks and now, especially for the finale, choose to look only at what the episode will do good and nothing more.
Rating: 8/10
Dragon Ball DAIMA is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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