DAIMA-Need Some Patience

Even as I write this review, I’m grappling with my feelings on episode 6 of Dragon Ball DAIMA. On the one hand, I think the episode in isolation is very strong, showcasing the strengths of DAIMA that continuing to impress and excel. Every fight scene seems to be better than the last, and this episode’s sparring match between Goku and Glorio is fantastic. Pair that with character dynamics being fleshed out, and the conspiracy around Glorio deepening with his reveal as an agent for Dr. Arinsu, and this episode is compelling when taken on its own. 

On the other hand, I’d be lying if “Episode 6: Lightning”  also didn’t evoke sympathy for recurring complaints about DAIMA’s pacing. Up to now I’ve steadfastly defended the pacing of the show, comparing it to the slower pace of the original Dragon Ball series, and that is a comparison I still believe to be apt.

The fact is, Dragon Ball had 153 episodes across which it could tell its story, and DAIMA is likely to have around 20. We are nearly a third of the way through the episode count, and in some ways, it feels like the plot has barely started.  

I am left in a conundrum, then. I enjoyed the actual contents of this episode quite a bit, but as the credits rolled and we are hardly any closer to any major plot-relevant events, I begin to worry about the pacing.

This is an episode review, and I am judging what I have watched. Do I rely on my positive feelings towards the episode itself? Or my negative feelings about the direction it signals the show heading? 

The following review contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Dragon Ball DAIMA.

Plot Summary

Episode 6 opens in the middle of the action, as the gang’s newly acquired ship began a rocketed descent to the earth at the end of episode 5.

Pansy diagnoses the problem as a ship overburdened with (mostly her) luggage. She begins the unload, and makes some repairs, when they are spotted by a Gendarmarie patrol ship. To their luck, Goku had just been struck by a sudden bowel movement and was busy heeding nature’s call, allowing them to resolve the inquisition without violence.

One thing becomes clear though, the Gendarmarie are actively looking for Goku.

Once the ship is airworthy, the party gets in an afternoon’s flight. Shin expounds on the peculiarities of Glind biology, explaining they are grown from trees, and Glinds that come from the same tree are considered siblings. Degesu, Dr. Arinsu, and Shin all come from the same tree, and thus are siblings.

After the science lesson, the crew lands the ship and take overnight shelter in a cave. At this point we get a major plot reveal, as Glorio makes a call in the evening to his boss, Dr. Arinsu! We have an inkling of why she might have vested interest in King Gomah’s downfall, but what is her ultimate goal?

To make things spicier, the conversation was overheard by the already-suspicious Shin. It’ll be interesting to see how this comes to a head.

As the party attempts to get a good night’s sleep, they are awoken by the original inhabitant of the cave, a colossal Minotaur. He declares his intention to feast on our heroes, and Glorio volunteers to fight. Goku suggests Glorio is too weak, and the two settle the dispute with a sparring match, hilariously ignoring the angry Minotaur.

Glorio is no slouch, and he proves this by going toe-to-toe with Goku in his base form, overwhelming him with energy blasts. Goku is finally pushed to the point of trying Super Saiyan, and is delighted to learn he has full access to the form in his child form. At this point he dispatches Glorio fairly easy. Goku thus earns the right to fight the Minotaur, who is suddenly eager to leave via any excuse possible.

In the dying minutes of the episode, we join Bulma as she finishes the final touches on repairing the other spaceship. Vegeta, Piccolo, and Kibito fill the ship and begin takeoff, until the ship loses power and comes crashing down. Bad luck for spaceships lately! Luckily we know our friend Hybis is on the way to collect these characters and bring them into the plot. 

Analysis

To start, I want to restate what a wonderful job of worldbuilding DAIMA is doing. I can’t say I ever wondered how Supreme Kai’s species was born, but the answer that DAIMA has provided is creative and interesting, and makes me care about something I didn’t before. That is as high a compliment as you can give to retroactive worldbuilding.

It is impressive how DAIMA can drop gigantic lore bombs like the Namekians being a demon race, or the origin of the Kais, without majorly retconning anything or making the original series feel invalid. Previous sequel series such as GT and Super had a knack for invalidating earlier portions of the show with retcons, so I appreciate the tact on display by DAIMA. 

We officially have chibi Super Saiyan! The entire fight with Glorio was excellent, I appreciated a higher level of fighting than Goku stomping goons, but the transformation was the highlight. I love that they maintained Goku’s traditional serious demeanor while Super Saiyan.

It works doubly well here, as it is such a contrast with the excessively goofy attitude of child-form Goku, even by Goku standards. I can’t wait to see where the transformations go from here. Considering DAIMA takes place right after the Buu saga, will we get a child version of Super Saiyan 3? I always felt it looked a bit odd in Dragon Ball GT, but I’d love to see them take another shot at it.

Character dynamics are being developed here, particularly Glorio and Shin. Shin’s distrust towards Glorio is totally valid, especially after catching him calling Dr. Arinsu. But is she such a malicious person to work for, that it would deem Glorio a bad person, or a traitor? She certainly is sinister, but she seems a great deal more rational than King Gomah.

Replacing a malicious tyrant with a regular tyrant might be an overall improvement. Dabura was king before Gomah, and although he was clearly a tyrant, Panzy claims life under his reign was substantially better than under King Gomah. Perhaps Dr. Arinsu will betray Goku, or perhaps it will be an instance of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Time will tell.

I hate to end on a downer, but the pacing is a real concern for me. If this was a long-running show as Dragon Ball traditionally is, I would be thrilled to ride out this slow pacing, but considering we are nearly a third of the way through the 20 episodes, I can’t help but feel concern.

We are four episodes from the halfway mark, and Goku hasn’t even really done anything. Every episode covers so little ground that it has me worried the series will begin rushing when it is finally time for the plot to happen. It feels like DAIMA has the pace of a 100-episode slow burn shōnen anime, but with the runtime of a seasonal show, and that has me worried.

Final Score (3 out of 5)

It is such an odd feeling for me because I really like the slow pace. I enjoy having time for little character moments, and spending enough time in each scene to feel like this is a lived-in world with fleshed out characters. If we had 100 episodes of DAIMA and they were all this pace, I would be thrilled.

I just can’t help but leave it a bit worried the show is setting itself up for a rushed conclusion. Twenty episodes is not a lot to work with, and despite being nearly a third of the way through, it doesn’t feel like much has really happened. Between multiple ship failures and deliberately slow pacing, DAIMA seems vested in delaying its cast from their objectives for as long as possible, which is perplexing considering the episode count. 

Putting my long term worries about the show aside though, this was a good episode! But despite the inherent quality, I am left feeling the beginnings of pacing concern. As for the review score, writing this review helped me sort out my thoughts. I am ranking the episode primarily based on my feelings about the episode itself, but I will be watching further episodes with a more critical eye towards episode pacing. 

How did you feel about episode 6 or Dragon Ball DAIMA? Are you a critic of the pacing as well? Or do you feel like I have nothing to worry about? Let me know in the comments down below!

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Featured Image: Toei Animation

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