Current Objective: Survive

It was inevitable that Dragon Ball DAIMA would slow down a bit, following the epic two-episode showdown between Vegeta, Kuu, and their respective Tamagamis. Thankfully, “Episode 13 – Surprise” is a solid episode nonetheless, that avoids the pitfalls of earlier “downtime” episodes.

While Goku and friends travel to the First Demon Realm to collect the final Dragon Ball, they are waylaid by a storm that sends their ship careening onto a nearby planet. Full of colossal creatures, the heroes must do their best to stay out of trouble while the ship is repaired.

Naturally, they do not stay out of trouble.

This is obviously an episode meant to give a bit of a breather before the main plot kicks into high gear for DAIMA’s final stretch. That had me worried considering the poor quality of the last downtime episode, the series-worst “episode 9 – Thief.” However, this episode deftly avoids the numerous issues that plagued “Thief,” and it makes for a significantly more enjoyable episode. The stakes are more believable, the conflict doesn’t feel like a waste of time, and the episode takes the opportunity for some interesting worldbuilding. Episode 13 might not rock your dragon, but it is perfectly serviceable.

The following review contains spoilers for Episode 13 of Dragon Ball DAIMA.

Plot Summary

Both Tamagamis defeated, King Gomah realizes Goku is bound toward the First Demon Realm. In a panic, he orders Warp-Sama deactivated. This destabilizes the atmosphere, creating a storm that knocks Goku’s ship out of the air (yet again). They crash-land on “The Planet of Mega,” inhabited by gigantic humanoids known as “Megath.”

While Bulma and Panzy busy themselves repairing the ship, the fighters defend against a horde of massive hamsters. Between Piccolo and the Saiyans, they manage to fight off the rodents, only for a dreaded Megalith to appear. A truly cyclopean figure, Goku roughly matches up with the Megalith’s finger. More horrifying yet, this is but a child.

The heroes take the stealthy approach, but the Megalith’s doglike pet alien puts chase to them. While they flee, Bulma and Panzy finish the repair to the ship. Unfortunately, the Megalith mistakes it for a fly, and endeavours to swat it out of the air. Under siege from the giant, a desperate struggle ensues which causes both Saiyans to ascend to their Super forms.

Goku barely manages to save the day, blasting the pet creature with a Kamehameha, and blocking the Megalith’s blow with his power staff. However, this is a matter of survival as opposed to victory. With no choice but to flee, Goku looks longingly back towards the Megath, admiring his sheer strength.

Neva informs the party that Planet Mega is only the second scariest planet in the Demon Realm, as the “Planet of Giga” is home to the Gigath who are twice the size! A terrifying thought.

Analysis

It is heartening to see DAIMA self-correct in regards to the downtime episodes. I genuinely had a great time with this episode, but after the mess that was episode 9, my enjoyment was not assumed. 

Episode 9 took place in the aftermath of Goku’s victory over Tamagami Number Three, and served the same purpose of providing a bit of space before DAIMA pushed forward into the main plot. It was unfortunately a bad episode that felt like a waste of time, in large part because of the entire lack of stakes.

The plot revolved around two regular Majin stealing Goku’s Dragon Balls, and Goku getting them back. Two generic guys were never going to keep the Dragon Ball away from Goku, and the resolution of this issue was never in question. There were zero stakes. Goku effortlessly took his prize back, the thugs provided no meaningful or interesting challenge to him, and the episode ended exactly where it started.

The entire thing felt like a waste of time. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes watching Goku track down and beat up hapless victims for twenty minutes, I get enough of that trying to play ranked matches in Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO.

While the structure of this episode is the same as episode 9, the execution is significantly better. There are real stakes here. Indeed, the Megath is significantly stronger than either of the Tamagamis faced by the heroes, and they can only hope to survive against it, as opposed to defeating it. The Megath swats at Goku with his school ruler, and Goku has to go Super Saiyan to avoid being annihilated by it!

Obviously we know these characters all live to see another day, the fact that we don’t know how they will survive their encounter with the Megath is what makes things interesting. “Surviving against an impossibly large creature” is a good deal more interesting than “casually taking a Dragon Ball back from two useless goons.”

In addition to more believable stakes, it helps that the story being told here is actually interesting. Planet Megath is fascinating. Seeing Goku be so comparatively small that when he falls into the Megath’s book bag, he must avoid being squished between skyscraper-sized textbooks, is a fun gimmick. Also showcased when Goku flew into the fur of the Megath’s pet, and had to retreat from fleas that were bigger than him. Downtime episodes offer a great chance to put characters into situations that the primary story may never put them in, and sticking them on a planet full of impossibly huge creatures is a fantastic example of this.

As a small aside, I appreciated the time spent allowing Panzy and Bulma to fix the ship together. They made fast friends, bonding over their mutual mechanical aptitude. I appreciated Panzy teaching Bulma about the mineral “Majilite” that powers the demon realm, and especially her offer to utilize her father’s criminal connections to steal some for Bulma, much to the latter’s surprise. Poor Bulma doesn’t get much opportunity for girl time. The vast majority of the cast is male, so it is really cool to see her hit it off with another girl in the cast, especially Panzy. Two geniuses fixing a ship. While their meathead friends battle giant hamsters.

Final Score (3.5 out of 5)

This was a decent episode all in all! A very noticeable improvement over “episode 9 – Thief.”

While the plot isn’t really advanced, the episode does offer some interesting questions about the path forward. Thanks to information from Glorio, Dr. Arinsu is now aware that Goku has two of the dragon balls, and is headed directly to her. When will the showdown happen, and will Glorio stay loyal to the scientist, or defect to his new friends? Also, why was Degesu so utterly terrified at the thought of deactivating Warp-Sama? The man looked like he witnessed a murder after flipping the switch. It caused a weather imbalance, but will there be further ramifications for this action? 

This was a fun diversion, and it set up some interesting trails for DAIMA to follow going forward. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

How did you like this episode of Dragon Ball DAIMA? Did you find it to be an improvement of the last post-Tamagami episode? Were you still itching to get back to the main plot? How do you think the show will progress from here? Let us know in the comments below! 

Featured Image: Toei Animation

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