Dragon Ball Daima: guide to Toriyama's final story

Dragon Ball Daima is the series that celebrated the franchise's 40th anniversary. Broadcast in Japan from October 11, 2024 to February 28, 2025, it runs for 20 episodes and was conceived by Akira Toriyama, who wrote the story and designed the new characters. It is his final work for Dragon Ball: he died on March 1, 2024, seven months before the premiere. Set after the Majin Buu saga, it takes Goku and his friends back to pure adventure, in a world waiting to be explored.

The story

One year after the defeat of Majin Buu and the death of Dabura, the new Supreme King of the Demon Realm, Gomah, decides to get rid of the warriors who could threaten his rule. He kidnaps Dende and uses Earth's Dragon Balls to shrink Goku and his friends back into children.

To undo the wish and rescue Dende, Goku, Supreme Kai, Vegeta, Piccolo and Bulma set off for that unknown world. They are helped by the demon Glorio, the lively Panzy and, later, the elderly Namekian Neva. The Demon Realm is split into three worlds, each with its own Dragon Balls guarded by the Tamagami, guardians who must be beaten in contests of strength and wits. Along the way secrets about Supreme Kai's family come to light, while the scientist Arinsu fields two new Majin, Kuu and Duu. In the finale an adult Goku transforms into Super Saiyan 4, and Vegeta pulls out Super Saiyan 3.

Sagas and episodes

Toei did not split Daima into official sagas: the 20 episodes form a single journey, marked by the crossings from one demon world to the next. The first episode runs ten minutes longer than usual; the pace picks up in the second half, once the group reaches Gomah's palace, and the final episodes play almost like one long battle.

Main characters introduced

• Gomah, the new Supreme King of the Demon Realm, and his deputy Degesu, Supreme Kai's younger brother;
• Glorio, the demon who guides Goku, with a secret to keep;
• Panzy, a young demon from the Third World who keeps the group's ship running;
• Neva, an old Namekian who speaks the language needed to use the demon Dragon Balls;
• Dr. Arinsu, Supreme Kai's older sister, with her creations Majin Kuu and Majin Duu;
• the Tamagami, guardians of the Dragon Balls.

Production

Toei Animation announced Daima at New York Comic Con on October 12, 2023. According to executive producer Akio Iyoku, the project had been in the works for five years: the staff began thinking about it during the film Super Hero and asked Toriyama to take a look, and he ended up writing the entire story. In his message accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Tokyo Anime Award Festival, shown after his death, Toriyama explained that Daima was meant to be an original series without him, but that by giving advice here and there he had become deeply involved. Besides the plot and characters he designed vehicles, monsters and background characters, and coined the title: "Daima" is a made-up word, written in Japanese with the characters for "great" and "demon". Iyoku wanted a show families could watch together, aimed at people who grew up with Dragon Ball GT and now had children of their own. Like GT, it was meant to be an adventure, with a different feel from Super, where Goku is always chasing the next level of strength. Looking back, Iyoku felt that Toriyama's unexpected decision to make the whole cast small helped the show reach a wider audience.

Direction is by Yoshitaka Yashima and Aya Komaki, with series composition by Yūko Kakihara; Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru adapted Toriyama's designs for animation. Masako Nozawa is still Goku, while Yamcha, for the first time, is not voiced by Tōru Furuya. The score is by Kōsuke Yamashita. The opening, "Jaka Jaan", is by German producer Zedd with Japanese duo C&K, with lyrics by Yukinojo Mori; the ending, "Nakama", is again by Zedd, featuring singer Ai.

Release around the world

The world premiere took place on October 6, 2024 at Tokyo Big Sight, during the Dragon Ball Daimatsuri event held for the manga's 40th anniversary. On TV the show aired late on Friday nights; from the second episode almost every main character had a new Japanese voice, since they are now kids.

Outside Japan, Crunchyroll simulcast the series from day one, with Netflix following a few days later. Toei and Fathom Events screened the English dub of the first three episodes in US theaters in November 2024, and the full dub was released on Crunchyroll from January 10 to May 16, 2025. Daima then made its US broadcast debut on Adult Swim's Toonami block, from June 15 to November 2, 2025. In Europe, dubbed versions followed in 2026: Italy's Italia 2 from September 14 and Spain's Clan from September 12.

Legacy and why you should watch it

Daima was met with a mix of curiosity and suspicion: many fans were waiting for Dragon Ball Super to return and did not see the point of another story with kid Goku. By the end, though, the mood had shifted: several critics praised the final episodes in particular, with some of the most spectacular fights ever animated for the franchise.

For our team, Daima is above all a farewell letter. It brings back the spirit of adventure of the original series, with exploration, humor and oddball characters; it digs into the mythology of demons and Supreme Kais; and it gives Bulma, Piccolo and Vegeta room they had not had in years. The animation is superb and the direction makes the most of the fights. The first half is slow, but that is the price of a story that wants to take its time on the road.

Where to start

• Where it fits: Daima slots in between the Majin Buu saga and Dragon Ball Super, without contradicting the later series. Our watch order helps you place it.
• What you need to know: familiarity with the Buu saga, in Dragon Ball Z or Kai, is enough.
• Never seen Dragon Ball: you can start here, but many jokes and callbacks land better after the original series.
• Dig deeper: the history of Dragon Ball covers the forty years that led to Daima.

Did you know? The lyrics of "Jaka Jaan" hide the creator's name: in the official romanization, a few capitalized syllables spell out "Tori-yama Akira". And in the opening and ending animations a white bird flies near Goku: "tori" means bird in Japanese, and Toriyama's company was called Bird Studio.