Dragon Ball has always been a marathon, not a sprint, and if that pattern holds true, then Daima’s premiere, titled “Conspiracy,” is essentially the warm-up before embarking on the journey ahead. Given that the late Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama himself was heavily involved in the conception and production of Daima (a word he invented). Somehow “Evil” means “evil”). I think it’s carefully cultivated the core of character building and plot that the rest of the series will feed on and grow into its own pyre, but it doesn’t exactly start off with a bang.

The most striking thing about Daima’s premiere is the animation. Sure, there are just a few showy CG-enhanced moments in the back half of the slightly bloated 32 minutes, but for the most part it sticks with Dragon Ball’s house style. There was no need to reinvent the wheel; Toriyama’s distinctive art style is iconic, revered by mangaka (manga artists) and loved by fans. There’s a combat training montage between Goku and Vegeta that feels like it exists purely as fan service; I could practically hear the cheers from the cinemas when the first three episodes were shown together in mid-November.

As befits a reboot of the series to mark its 40th anniversary, Daima begins by introducing its concept the way many after-school shonen anime might – although it unfortunately chooses to abandon its solid traditional opening theme waiting to announce “Here comes a new story”. until the end credits. Here is our main man, Son Goku, his crazy powers and the unusual circumstances he faces in his life to achieve the ultimate goal: collect the Dragon Balls and summon the magical dragon Shenron to grant three wishes! No doubt it’s a retro move that harkens back to a certain time, but I appreciated it as a direct reference to the series’ history, executed without withholding relevant information from potential new viewers who may be more familiar with that Al Roker correctly pronounces “Super Saiyan” as a giant balloon as Goku floats through the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade as they are 40 years of Dragon Ball history.

While Daima makes an effort to be welcoming to those unfamiliar with Dragon Ball at all, most of the episode felt like she was speaking directly to – and winking at – existing fans. In fact, so much time has been spent rehashing old battles that I’m still not entirely sure how Daima plans to differentiate itself from the rest of the canon.

Case in point: Exactly half of the episode takes place in a room where Daima’s new (and classically goofy) villain Gomah is reviewing the play-by-play footage of the iconic Dragon Ball Z fight against Majin Buu. This entire scene in the Demon Realm viewing setup pulls several levers without being painfully obvious. First, you’re throwing red meat at people like me, for whom watching this fight as a child was a formative memory; Secondly, there’s the TL;DR of an important story arc for those who don’t know what a Majin Buu is; and third, it serves as an exhilarating moment for Gomah as the newly crowned Supreme Demon King in the story, even if it’s not particularly compelling. He’s intimidated by how strong the creatures on Earth are, so Gomah decides to find a way to suppress their power, even though they’re entire dimensions apart. His best idea is of course Tap to view.

Still, it takes half the episode to get through the entire setup; I won’t accept criticism for my impatience in real time, although all I really wanted to know was why everyone “went small” according to Daima’s trailer. (So ​​petty!) Even as Gomah leaves the Demon Realm on a seemingly urgent mission to suppress the power of Earthlings, the plot remains measured and methodical, casually introducing some of the series’ new characters, with question marks for backstories and goals . “Who cares about all this?,” Daima seems to say, “when there are so many more episodes ahead of us?“(Although an exact episode count has not been confirmed, there is speculation that 20 episodes are planned for this first season.) We’ll get there when we get there.

Dragon Ball Daima Images