Thoughts about Daima Episode 1

Not sure if this now becomes a weekly blog but the first episode was quite impactful regarding new information and lore - so let me go through some of my thoughts.

The big thing first: Even though some people expected it, it was a big revelation to hear that the Namekians seemingly originate from the Demon Realm - with emphasis on the pointy ears.

Also Neva is quite a personality, there's probably more to him. The moment when he collected the petrified Dragon Balls and reverted them back was jaw-dropping. It seems that he is the last remaining Namekian left in the Demon Realm and the others must have escaped for some reason. Interestingly he mentioned to Dende that he hasn't seen other Namekians in tens of thousands of years (何万年). I saw subtitles just going with "thousands of years", I guess for simplicity and more natural wording. Anyway, in the Granolah arc Monaito was said to be more than 500 years old, Neva is certainly in another league here, but whether that's due to natural circumstances or some wish remains to be seen. Seems definitely different to Namekians we have seen in Universe 7. And where Zalama fits in all of this is also a curious topic. Maybe he was one of the "refugees" and brought the Super Dragon Balls to Universe 6 and 7. And then the other new sets of DBs got created based of them.

Speaking of the word "Namekian": In the first Daima episode the term "Namekkujin" is used much like in the Granolah arc which refers to the race in general. However, especially throughout Z and most of Super the term "Namekkuseijin" was more common, as this is about Namekians from Planet Namek specifically ("sei" = planet). That's something lost in translation and difficult to localize. Or is that the reason subs went with "Nameks" instead of "Namekians"?

Anyway, interesting that the Namekians are going full circle in a way with Demon King Piccolo. Hopefully we get to see a flashback of their past life throughout Daima. Especially the reason they left the Demon Realm - Neva must have been there at the time.

Let's get to the Makaioshin Degesu. I found it interesting that he refers to both Dr. Arinsu and Shin as older siblings. Well, since they all come from the same tree it makes sense. And Doctor Arinsu also being a sister kinda contradicts with "Super Exciting Guide" info where it's mentioned that Shinjins are meant to be genderless. In May 2009 Toyotaro (back then as Toyble) wrote about this very topic on his blog as he was making his AF story with the female Kaioshin Lila as one of the main antagonists. He admitted that it might be contradicting but there are also genderless Namekians which are rather treated as male. The same way some Kaioshins could be seen as female as well. At least that was his point of view at the time. Whether that applies to Dr. Arinsu is a different question and remains to be seen. We could ask a similar question about Chronoa and Aeos in the videogame universe.

Another big talking point became the way how Kaioshin and Kibito could revert their fusion - they let themselves absorb by Buu on purpose and split due to a special gas inside him. Much like Goku and Vegeta back then. Of course in Super it was explained that there is a 1 hour time limit for mortals. Surely both can be true, but with this explanation it seems that the gas was the actual reason in the Buu arc while the time limit was the factor against Zamasu (although the fight was shorter due to power drain). With Kibito being fused again about three years later in Battle of Gods (or one year in the 2008 special if we can count that) the events in Daima will lead to them being merged again. Could be just a gag at the end like Old Kaioshin being angry with them and removing one potara each ... Or a battle in the Demon Realm forces them to be merged. And maybe Buu is sleeping later leading them to go back to the Kaioshin realm as Kibitoshin.

Speaking of the Demon Realm. In promotion and also in dialogues the Demon Realm is referred to us "Daimakai" (大魔界), so the "Great Demon Realm". Previously we mostly saw "Ankoku Makai" (暗黒魔界, Dark Demon Realm) being used. It may refers to the three worlds of the realm as a combined term. Or does it have something to do with the Demon Realm being a separate realm from the other universes? When Gomah, Degesu and Neva left they were asked to which universe they wanna go. It gives the impression that the Demon Realm may not be directly connected with Universe 7 as seen in the guidebooks. Could there just be one realm in all multiverses? Did the "independent" Demon Realm wandered around "inter-universe" space and accidentally collided with the bottom of Universe 7 and got stuck there at some point in the past? Meaning even with being somewhat connected to Universe 7 they consider themselves a separate realm with access to the other universes as well. Meaning the murder from Jiren's master Gicchin comes from that very same Demon Realm?

Anyway, there might be more to discuss, but I leave it there. Lots of things are happening in the Dragon Ball World, let's see what's up with Glorio this week.

My pre-Daima thoughts

Dragon Ball Daima is just around the corner and I'd like to use the opportunity to write down some of my thoughts and expectations regarding the new upcoming Dragon Ball series.

When the first trailer came out in October last year I felt quite open about having a new DB show despite that would mean that the DBS anime could be delayed even further.

More worldbuilding, more lore, the Demon Realm, Makaioshins... Everything sounds very promising. The only "worry" I had was how it would all work with Super and the timeline in general in terms of continuity. As it seems, it might actually be placed before the start of DBS and therefore being properly connected with the Buu events from DBZ. I'd be happy with that... We have like a 4 year gap between the Buu arc and Battle of Gods, so it makes sense to use it. Ok, there's also the 2008 special with Tarble there right in the middle, but how that connects to DBS material is probably a topic on its own.

A big talking point regarding the timeline placement was also that we saw the Kaioshin and Kibito split. In the DBS manga their fusion split during the Battle of Gods events using the Namekian Dragon Balls. The anime only mentioned it at the Universe 6 tournament, so it might happened during or after the RoF events there. I assume the wish/curse/magic in Daima which makes everyone small also splits up Kibitoshin and later they probably all get turned back to normal. Maybe the Daima events give them the feeling that they actually preferred to live as two people and in DBS they got the chance again to do so with the Namekian Dragon Balls. And even if it's not explained within the series, I'm sure Toyotaro finds a way around it at some point.

Generally I like that we finally get to see the Demon Realm as a part of a main story. Also the Makaioshins, about which we first heard about back in 2009 in the Super Exciting Guide. And that actually gives me some hope that we may finally also get to see Planet Kaishin. So where the Core People from the afterlife are from. Seeing their daily life there would be something. I saw some speculations that the green planet seen in the promotional material might even be that very planet. I personally rather imagined it being located above or in the yellow clouds in the afterlife - kinda like King Kai's planet, but bigger of course. But that green planet also has something like another Kaio planet in the sky. What could that be about?

Or what about this theory: That green planet is actually the real homeworld of the Namekians which was referenced in DBS chapter 69. With Namekians being magic users in a way, a connection to the Demon Realm could make sense. But would that mean U6 also has Namekians which came from their respective Demon Realm? Maybe. And what about Zalama then? I'd still like to see something like a Dragon Realm outside of all the 12 universes, but maybe I read too much of Toyo's AF (ok, that realm was technically in U7 as it was drawn prior to the multiverse expansion).

Speaking of Namekians, it seems like there are actually Namekians and maybe a new set of Dragon Balls (with a dragon called "Dorusie"?) involved. The usual dragon summon in Namekian starts with "Takaraputo", but here it's "Porutaratto". Actually that wording has been used before: At the time when Dende became the God of Earth in DBZ episode 173 where he revived Shenlong. So does that mean an already existing dragon of the Demon Realm is getting revived? And what's the role of the Namekians here in general? Are they native to the Demon Realm or did they come from an outside world and some of them went to U6 Namek, some to U7 Namek, some to Cereal and some to the Demon Realm...

Also wondering about whether all the Heroes/DBO/Xenoverse lore regarding the Demon Realm still works with what we will see in Daima or whether things would get overwritten. But technically you could say that these videogame events might happen in a future timeline. Still curious to see whether certain characters like Mira (being Dabura's younger sister) at least get a cameo - much like Vomi in Super Hero.

But even if not, we will have some new characters from the Demon Realm. Glorio and Panzy (both based on flower names) seem quite interesting and let's see what's their deal is. I saw some confusion as they are referred to as being a "majin", much like "Majin Buu". Overall the term "majin" spelled as "魔人" just means "demonic person" and likely here just refers to demonic inhabitants of the Demon Realm. Generally it can be translated in many ways. Same wording with Majin Ozotto by the way. In Nagayama's SDBH manga that majin spelling is also used referring to Mechikabura's underlings at the early part of the story. But in SDBH you mostly see another "majin" spelling with a slightly different meaning: 魔神 (Demon God). This term mostly refers to the God forms of Towa, Poutine and so on. Anyway, I expect to see 魔人 being used more often in Daima.

With the Demon Realm itself being located at the bottom of Universe 7 and seemingly being quite isolated from the rest of it, it will be interesting to see how they get there. Maybe a special spaceship is needed to cross a certain barrier to enter - in a way (but different of course) like the cube Whis used to bring everyone to the U6 tournament. On the other hand the spaceship seen in the trailer gives me some Namekian vibes.

And we seemingly have at least two Makaioshins: Degesu and Dr. Arinsu. Much like Gowasu or Zamasu their names are based on some old forms from "to be". Actually "arinsu" is used by Urutei in One Piece (Wano Kuni arc) quite a lot, at least that's where I know it from. Will be interesting to see what they are up to and generally curious about the extended lore. Also, what's that "doctor" about?

Another thing I've been wondering if there will be a manga version or at least some promotional chapters. Technically Toyotaro would be free again after the Super Divers chapter this month, but Dragon Ball Super might also continue at some point. There will be some special chapter by Naho Ooishi in November, but not sure whether it's related to the anniversary, Daima or both. And there's also Nagayama who just finished the SDBH manga. But maybe he finally also gets some time off after drawing Heroes content for such a long time.

Overall, interesting times ahead. Has been a while since we had a weekly DB anime and let's see how long it will go - without knowing anything my feeling is like until some time around March.

Some people already got a first taste of Daima at the Daimatsuri event at Odaiba last Sunday. Even though me and a few friends tried to apply, we unfortunately didn't get selected in the ticket lottery. But for those who were there, so far lots of overwhelmingly positive impressions. That being said, can't wait for Friday night and thanks for reading.