English Dub Review: Dragon Ball Daima “Awakening”

Reject modernity. Return to monke.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Goku and the gang try fighting Gomah, but the abilities of the Third Eye give him the upper hand. When all seems lost, Neva gives Goku a surprise boost in power, and Arinsu signals Glorio to make a move.

OUR TAKE

We’re down to the final three episodes of Dragon Ball Daima, and from here on out, it’s basically a fireworks show. This week begins that with not just a full fight with Super Saiyan 3 Goku and the debut of the Demon Realm’s Porunga, but making this a full GT tribute by bringing back Super Saiyan 4 basically out of nowhere. Oddly enough, this was something a lot of people predicted while Daima was initially airing, and I and many others basically wrote this off as fans just wanting stuff they thought was cool in more recent Dragon Ball stuff. Well, slap my bottom and call me Dolores because sure enough, we’ve got Super Saiyan 4 and I’m thrilled!…mostly. For one, since Daima takes place between the fight with Kid Buu and the events of Battle of Gods, there’s been talks about how well Daima fits in with the timeline, which are made a lot more complicated if Goku has a form that he never uses in Super (and even more so by the end, but we’ll get to that). And on top of that…well, there’s no real weight to Goku getting this form, or really any form, just as a random boost from a total stranger.

How did Neva know Goku was able to become this? How was he able to bring this transformation about? Why not do it for everyone, or at least Vegeta too? There’s naturally been more theories and headcanons about what this says about Neva and the Namekians and the Saiyans that would all be pretty neat ideas IF they were in the story at all, but they’re not, so we’re just left with yet another thing that has good qualities but feels like it was barely thought out. Probably because it was, going by interviews with the staff that came out around the time this episode did. It’s what makes Daima so frustrating as a whole, especially when it does stuff I really like. And despite my criticisms, there’s most certainly stuff about this episode that I do really like, specifically the fights which involve everyone getting a bit of the action (aside from Bulma and Panzy who are off on the side screaming “GOKU!”), and of course the Super Saiyan 4 transformation and fight. This being Toriyama’s last Dragon Ball project does kind of add to the frustration but also to the magic. And since this is likely Stephanie Nadolny’s last episode as Mini Goku, it’s probably the best time to say that I’m grateful she got to come back and reprise this role, get to be Super Saiyan 4 this time, and do one last Kamehameha for good measure. Two episodes left, so let’s see what else Daima has left in the tank.