Hey, everyone. It’s currently Saturday, October 14th, 2023, at 4:40 pm EST when I’m beginning this post; a day after my brother turned 19, and 2 days removed from the release of the New Web Anime(No clue what that means, but I’ll be assuming it means “Streaming Original,” which………….. we’ll get to in a minute)- the next installment in the “Dragon Ball” franchise created by Akira Toriyama- published in the pages of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from December 3rd of 1984(I thought for so long that it was May 9th, but that’s a separate thing) to June 5th of 1995- revealed at New York Comic Con 2023: 

Dragon Ball Daima

Yeah. It was reported by leakers as “Dragon BallMagic,” and that may well have been something like a placeholder or the name of the project itself, as the trademark was not coined until October 6th of this year. It was actually revealed in a short message from series creator Akira Toriyama that the term “Daima” is a term he made up for the series- it would be read as……….. a phrase I can’t type out on my keyboard, but it would translate to something like “Evil” in English. You’ll see the message at SOME POINT in this post so you can see for yourself. The series is coming in 2024- the 40th Anniversary of the franchise. Another project going on building up to it: The “Dragon Ball Super Art Gallery-“ various mangaka take 1 of the 42 volumes and redraw them in their art style(and adding a few different things here and there), as well as sharing their experiences with the series. It’s just nice to see how beloved this series is- which makes……….. it’s Current state………. somewhat Tragic. 

The Current State of Super

This has nothing to do with “Daima” itself- we don’t know it from a can of green paint. I’m more referring to “Super.” Because that iteration is…………… rotting. Like Gas was. Even though a new project is coming out- the “Super Manga” is still going for the people who “like” it. Not that I think there are many. Then again, the series saw a spike in volume sales with the Volumes with Bardock on the cover. And only those 3, as I’m sure you could tell looking at all volumes before and after. 

*Sigh*……………….. I don’t want to say I “hate” “Super.” But I can’t pretend that I like it. It’s………….. at its worst: A Hollow Rehash of a better story- visual references and written similarities that miss “the point.” Manga AND anime have this problem, but the anime’s already over and done with and- according to credible leakers- will not be back at least as long as “Daima” is running- however long that is. I……………… refuse to buy anymore of the “Super” manga- not until I see Toyotaro improve his writing. Because make no mistake: He is the one writing that. Toriyama gives him guidelines and a few artistic corrections, but Toyotaro is left to interpret that guideline and convey it however. And you see what he makes. I’m sorry- writing and drawing is an extremely difficult process, but at some point you just gotta tell em. Or- sense “Super” is such a corporate series(all those transformations being included for whatever reason)- the Execs in charge. Who only listen to you when they risk losing money on this investment. And they’ve lost out on MY dollar. 

I know it doesn’t say much compared to how many people are buying the manga, but………. it’s SOMETHING. I could stop talking about it to keep eyes off of it, but………… Eh; why the h#ll not? It’s “Dragon Ball” at the end of the day- I won’t buy it, but I’ll keep up with it. Don’t know if that makes me a “Hypocrite,” but I’ll keep covering it. Because it’s still going. It’s gonna be a weird situation; “Daima” doesn’t seem to be getting a manga, but “Dragon Ball” itself has an ongoing monthly series that isn’t getting animated. But according to V-Jump Editor-And-Chief and series editor “Victory” Uchida: The transformations and techniques WILL appear in the video games one day(possibly a hint at the upcoming Budokai Tenkaichi 4), and even went on to say something like “The Anime doesn’t need to follow the manga.” In essence: “Super” will go on until there’s LITERALLY no money in it. Which probably isn’t gonna happen any time soon. 

I don’t care if “Super’s” anime comes back or not– I really, truly don’t. What would be the point in SUPREME grade animation if the story still stinks? ‘Cause I REALLY do not care about the Granolah arc, and I watched the Moro content crash and burn personally. No more movie retellings- I refuse to sit through that again. Oh man, how are the movies gonna be handled going forward? We know that there is another movie in production, but will it be labeled as a “Daima” movie or a “Super” movie? This whole situation sounds like a marketing nightmare. I would have preferred it if the “Super” manga were to end with this “Super Hero” retelling- take a few months off- and come back with the “Daima” monthly manga and let that get a few chapters under it’s belt before the anime premieres. That’s just ME, though. 

ALSO…………….. I would demote Toyotaro and bring in Dragongarow Lee to do the art. He’s the one who did the story and art for the Yamcha side manga. Which was pretty fre@kin’ FUNNY, let me tell you; he did a really good job with the comedy of the situation. And the ART itself was- GREAT!! Closer to Toriyama’s than Toyotaro’s- not so “sharp” looking, with better page lay outs. Seriously, have I posted a full page of “Super” in a while? There’s SO MUCH GOING ON. Vs the “Yamcha” manga where………. I like looking at the pages. He said like he’s certain he’ll be able to show  what he means between 3 character centered pages and 3 regular pages to convey what he means properly. It’s not so much I don’t know what pages I’m gonna use- it’s if this is where I’ll be able to put images without making the post look “ugly.” In cases like this, I’ll put the images I’m talking about below first and input the rest of the images AROUND them. I used to put the images up as I went, but making posts is easier when you’ve written it out first and insert the images after you’ve finished. My little advice to all Aspiring Bloggers out there. 

The Story Of Daima

Okay- The “Elephant In The Room.” When this series was leaked- when we got our hands on some information- we found out that “Daima” will follow Goku and Supreme Kai Of Universe 7 Shin, who have turned back into children. And when EVERYONE heard it- even I, I’ll admit– everyone got “GT” flashbacks. Which…………… FAIR. I mean; whether you’re comparing it to “Super” or judging as its own thing- “GT” wasn’t all that great. And one of the things that people will ALWAYS point to as one of the glaring- if not the Central Issue- is Goku becoming a Kid again. That and the fact that it was more “Goku Centric” than ever before. It’s like……….. I don’t mind him becoming a kid again. At least not for the whole series. Which- according to leaks- he WON’T be in “Daima.” We’ll……….. we’ll see about that; they could always pull a “Adult Goku In The Last 5 Episodes” or something if they wanted to. That would suck. But I like the idea of it. I think you could tell a really cool story about him “rediscovering” all the power he had as an adult and learning to use it in a smaller, weaker body. As opposed to “GT” where he basically just had a kid’s body but the same strength. 

I think this series should “reset” the power scale, rather than try to escalate things; reset all the characters back to the power levels they had at that age and let them “acclimate” to fighting like that again. It actually reminds of this super cool Fan Manga- something you may have heard of: “Dragon Ball Sai-” What if Vegeta was sent to Earth instead of Goku! He BASICALLY steam rolls all of original “Dragon Ball.” If we were to see something like what we saw in that manga for Vegeta, then………….. this should be good…………… I’m getting sidetracked again. I haven’t even explained to you the full story Details!! ‘Cause we don’t have a lot of them. In Short: A New Evil Force is out for something, and is aware of the Z Fighter’s existence. So what seems to be happening is they summon Shenron and wish that turns Goku and ALL of his friends into children again. Even Shin and Kibito, as we see in the teaser trailer. 

And so the story is that Goku and Shin are going on a “Grand Adventure” to stop these guys and get their adult bodies back. Yeah, Goku and Shin- the main team this time around! Every “Dragon Ball” fan worth their weight in manga knows Toriyama loves his character pairings- Goku and Vegeta basically rule the modern era; Goku and Gohan; Krillin was made to pair with Goku, if you recall; Goku and Bulma; Androids 17 and 18; Krillin and Gohan; Androids 19 and 20; Vegeta and Trunks; Goten and Trunks; Caulifa was made up to pair with Kale; Shin and Kibitio; on and on through annals of time. This particular point has also gotten people talking about Goku and Shin’s relationship as depicted throughout the story- from, uh………… the Majin Vegeta thing to Goku’s slide at him in the “Super” anime rendition of the Goku Black content. And it doesn’t seem like Goku has “respect” for Shin; like he’s………… the Ruler Of The Universe, but sees it as “So what?” But not in the same way he talks to someone like Beerus or…….. even King Kai, to be honest. 

I don’t think Goku doesn’t respect him; it’s more like……….. Shin hasn’t shown him anything respectable. King Kai taught him Kaio-ken and Spirit Bomb; Beerus kicked his @$$ and- even after getting a fancy GOD form- still beat him; and he came in at a point where “A Thousand Times Stronger Than Frieza” was……… the standard threat level. Something like that. And this could be the story that changes that- where Shin gets to show us what the status of “Supreme Kai” means. ‘Cause the fandom also doesn’t respect Shin. 

Another thing that I remembered being talked about: Timeline Placement. Because people…………….. are sick of this 10 year gap. “Super Hero” has taken us the closest we’ve been to the end of those 10 years, so where will “Daima” take place. Also in the 10 year time skip. God F*ckin’ D@mmit. Where in the f*ck does this take place in comparison to “Super?” Is “Super” even canon anymore? Is THIS even canon? Toriyama probably doesn’t care. But the fans do. Leading to false leaks like “This takes place in the 4 year gap between the defeat of Buu and the arrival of Beerus.” Because “Super” starts 4 years after Buu is defeated. I thought for way too long that it took place 11 months after Buu was defeated. But that can’t work because Gohan was still in High School when the Buu Saga was taking place. In fact, it was stated that he’s just starting High School. Did not catch that until YEARS later. At some random point, too;  I don’t even know what prompted it!

But you know what? I’d be willing to accept it. Heck, looking it up; the “Yo! Son Goku And His Friends Return!!” OVA took place 2 years after Buu was defeated. And that’s basically getting wiped from the canon all together. So f*ck it, if you’re not trying to get rid of “Super,” then you might as well explore those 4 years leading up to Beerus’ arrival. Plus, now we have a concrete, sensible reason as to why Beerus and Whis aren’t there to help. And I JUST REALIZED halfway through that sentence that Kibito and Shin are still “Kibito Kai” at the start of “Super.” So unless they defused- re-fuse at some later point in “Daima-” and defuse again in “Super-” this has to take place in that last itty-bitty bit of time between “Super Hero” and the end of “Z” proper. Ugh……….. Then I guess Beerus is just sleeping again and Whis is “True Neutral” and just refuses to help. Can we just get out of this 10 year period already. 

And yeah; EVERYONE is a kid this time around- Vegeta, Yamcha, Piccolo, Bulma, Chichi, and Goten and Trunks- the younger characters- are babies. And they are now going be defending Earth while Goku and Shin are off fixing this mess. And considering how strong Vegeta was as a kid(if you want to assume that a version of his training sequence in the original Bardock special occurred), then…………… the Earth should be safe. Or not, if Frieza decides to show up. He enjoys killing children. And will take GREAT Enjoyment in getting another chance to wring Vegeta’s little neck. 

AS FOR THE VILLAINS. The trailer shows us that they’ve been watching at least since the Buu conflict. Of all the scenes that clip by, it’s a lot of Buu saga content- Goku vs Majin Vegeta; Babidi gets a small little segment; all of that. Someone connected to Babidi? Or Dabura? ‘Cause they look like they’re in a h#llscape in the trailer. And one of them looks like some kind of Kai. So maybe this is Toriyama paying off the concept of the “Ma-Kaioshin/ Demon Gods” he threw out in an interview discussing the Demon realm? He seems to have been going back through some stuff he said randomly to make some of these plots. Like with Buu; he said once that Buu had “long periods of Hibernation between cycles of destruction.” That’s what Buu falling asleep in “Super” is. So these may well be Ma-Kai’s after something. What it IS, however, is still unclear. 

Some people speculated that that one shot of the Dragon Balls an a Namekian looking at them implies that we’ll be seeing Zalama create the Super Dragon Balls. Not so sure about that, but then I was of the mindset that Broly would never return. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE RIGHT NOW; Toriyama could basically do and tell whatever kind of story he wants. So maybe. 

Conclusion

I could probably talk a lot more about stuff like “Character Utilization” and Animation, or just in general what kind of story they want to tell and how the fights are going to be constructed- because there’s a lot of things around the combat to talk about. But that’s probably better saved for another post. And I WANT to do another post, but I have work for  3 days this week, and likely again on Saturday. Or maybe I’ll get lucky like I did this week and get Saturday off. You never know with my job, honestly. And it’s landed me in some, uh…….. some “Hot Water” with my manager. Not that I care anymore. Ah……….. Let me know what you guys think of the reveal! And what you think will be happening in “Dragon Ball Daima.” And until next time, all- Stay Safe, Stay Golden, and Have A Magical Day!! Later!