The sixteenth episode of Dragon Ball Daima, broadcast in Japan on January 31, 2025, finally takes the heroes inside Gomah's palace. The title belongs to Degesu, the vice-king and the Supreme Kai's brother, who shows his true face. Dende is rescued, but in the finale the tables turn: the Third Eye reaches the right hands, which is to say the wrong ones.
Summary
With most of the Gendarmerie beaten, the group heads for the palace to free Dende. At the gates the Gendarmerie Force is waiting, striking its usual poses. Vegeta decides to handle them alone and, despite their weapons and swagger, knocks them down one after another without breaking a sweat; the four are tied up and taken out of play. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and the Supreme Kai enter the palace while the others wait outside. Panzy, however, has a hunch and secretly follows them.
Degesu, meanwhile, takes Dende from his crib and carries him toward a ship, ready to flee. When the heroes catch up, he points a gun at the child and forces them to stop. Asked by his brother what he is doing, he answers plainly: he too wants to become Supreme Demon King. Panzy leaps out of hiding to attack, but Degesu blocks her; at that moment a hat hits him on the head. Glorio threw it, having slipped in with Hybis: it is the hat Hybis got in exchange for his belt. In that moment of distraction Piccolo floors Degesu with a single chop and Panzy catches Dende.
Degesu is tied up and led away at gunpoint by Kadan's troops. With Dende safe, the group decides to get the last Dragon Ball and become adults before facing Gomah. But when Goku challenges Tamagami Number One, he finds the ball is already gone. Just then Dr. Arinsu arrives in the square with Majin Kuu and Majin Duu: they have the one-star ball.
Inside the palace, the demon woman who got the Third Eye from Hybis finally finds Gomah, who has just watched Degesu's betrayal. Overjoyed, the king tells her to take as much treasure as she wants from the next room, then struggles to pry the eye out of the buckle, succeeding only after a bathroom break and with the help of a plunger. He asks her to set it in his forehead. As the eye clicks into place, Gomah begins to transform, growing enormously in size and power.
Our take
Degesu had always hung back, the nervous deputy carrying out orders. Here the series gives him his scene, and the result is consistent with what it had set up: in the Demon Realm everyone wants the throne, and the Supreme Kai's family is no exception. His defeat, quick and a little ridiculous, also says a lot about Daima's tone, which prefers to deflate villains rather than load them with epic weight.
The best part is the cross-cutting: while the heroes celebrate Dende's rescue and discover that Arinsu has the ball, Gomah, plunger in hand in one of the series' most absurd gags, prepares to become the final threat. It is a very Toriyama way to introduce the boss: first a laugh, then terror.
Trivia
- "Degesu" is the official English title on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Toonami aired the English dub on October 5, 2025.
- The four Gendarmerie Force members Vegeta defeats are named Hillia, Danima, Mashim and Kadem.
- Directed by Ryūta Kawahara, with Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Shun Sawai as animation directors and Yūya Takahashi as chief; written by Yūko Kakihara.
- According to figures cited on Wikipedia, the series' Japanese ratings dipped with this episode before surging again with episode 18.
- Degesu is voiced by Junya Enoki in Japanese.
Characters
- Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, the Supreme Kai, Panzy, Glorio and Hybis
- Degesu and Dende
- The Gendarmerie Force
- Dr. Arinsu, Majin Kuu, Majin Duu and Tamagami Number One
- Gomah and the woman in the hat