The first episode of Dragon Ball Daima officially premiered on Friday, October 11, on Crunchyroll.
Other streaming platforms like Netflix and Max will release Dragon Ball Daima a week later, on October 18. This means that the first episode will have different release dates depending on the platform you are watching and your location in the world. New episodes will be released every Friday.
This first episode reveals who is behind the transformation of Goku and the Z Fighters, introduces new characters, and clarifies the role of the Daima series in the timeline.
Initial reviews of episode 1 of the new anime Dragon Ball written by Akira Toriyama have appeared on social media.
Almost all of these reviews are positive, considering various aspects: animation quality, visuals, storytelling, and the emotional impact of the anime after so many years of absence.
A fan commented: “The animation is absolutely stunning. (Katsuyoshi) Nakatsuru’s illustrations are breathtaking, I cried within the first 10 seconds.”
“It’s been a long time (Yoshitaka) Yashima just joined as a member of an animation team. And just as expected, the character designers Nakatsuru and Kubota have delivered outstanding performances. I can confidently say that this is a sacred anime.”, another enthusiastic fan shared after watching the first episode of Dragon Ball Daima.
Dragon Ball Daima continues the saga of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super as the main anime installment in the franchise. The setting of Daima is confirmed to be set in the main timeline of the franchise and is a continuation of the story that began in 1984. Although Dragon Ball Daima is a continuation of Dragon Ball Super, it is clear that this is a very different kind of Dragon Ball series.
Daima seems to be influenced more heavily by the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT. The idea of Goku being transformed back into a child form is first used in GT. The concept of a younger Goku embarking on a humorous adventure without knowing what is actually happening focuses on the original purpose of Dragon Ball.
The Dragon Ball Daima series will consist of a total of 20 episodes, a significant reduction compared to other Dragon Ball series like Dragon Ball Z (291 episodes) and Dragon Ball Super (131 episodes). All episodes will be broadcast on Japanese national television for 30 minutes, including commercial breaks. The first episode even has an additional 11 minutes of content.
