Anime

Dragon Ball Daima Recreates Pivotal DBZ Moments

Dragon Ball Daima uses wild new animation tech to recreate the Buu Saga.

Toei Animation

Dragon Ball Daima’s first episode didn’t just set the stage for the new tale that will transform Son Goku and his fellow Z-Fighters into children, it also took the opportunity to revisit some major moments from Dragon Ball Z. In seeing what happened to the former king of the Demon Realm, Dabura, new villains Gomah and Makaioshin needed to explore the past events of the Majin Buu Arc. Thanks to Toei Animation evolving by leaps and bounds since the Buu Arc debuted in the 1990s, viewers had the opportunity to check out what the fight against the many different iterations of the pink powerhouse might have looked like had they been animated today.

While Dragon Ball Super’s television series might have ended in 2018, the franchise continued via two feature-length films. Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero followed the Z-Fighters post-Tournament of Power, with the latter movie doing something that many didn’t see coming. Using Toei’s new animation style that was seen in shonen series like One Piece, the production house recreated the earlier days of Son Goku, along with the Cell Saga, in Super Hero. While a Dragon Ball and/or Dragon Ball Z remake hasn’t been announced, Daima and Super Hero give anime fans an idea of what they might look like.

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Dragon Ball Z Reborn

While focusing mostly on recreating pivotal moments from the Buu Arc, including but not limited to the Majin Vegeta fight, Gotenks Vs. Super Buu, Gohan Vs. Super Buu, and the death of Kid Buu, Toei Animation had more in store. The studio went so far as to recreate other key moments of the shonen sequel series, some of which you can check out below. Should Dragon Ball Z ever need a fresh coat of paint, it would be difficult to think of a better example than what we saw in Dragon Ball Daima’s first episode.

Dragon Ball Daima’s First Season Future

Dragon Ball Daima’s premiere ends with Gomah and Makaioshin successful in wishing upon Earth’s Dragon Balls to transform Goku and company into “first graders”. While the anime heroes might have been depowered as a result, we have already seen in promotional material that Goku can transform into a Super Saiyan. It has yet to be seen whether or not the Saiyan will be able to go beyond this initial form but even having that puts him in a good place for future challenges.

As was shown in the new anime’s opening salvo, the Demon Realm denizens have plans for the future while reflecting on the past. Gomah might not be as big as Dabura, the previous ruler of the underworld, but that isn’t stopping him from forging diabolical plans of his own. With a strange new Namekian, Neva, at his side and a Kaioshin to call his own, the villain is one that is sure to cause the Z-Fighters some major headaches in the future.

As of the writing of this article, no Dragon Ball remake has been confirmed but there have been quite a few anime revivals in recent memory. Recently, series like Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura have been given fresh coats of paint and even One Piece will breathe new life into earlier stories of the Straw Hat Pirates thanks to Netflix’s The One Piece. Should the original series or Dragon Ball Z get remakes, they would be in good company.

Want to stay updated on the pint-sized Z-Fighters in their new anime series? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Son Goku and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.