Back when I was in elementary and middle school (think late ‘90s and early 2000s), Dragon Ball Z was my favorite show. While I still consider it to be one of the best animated series ever made, I have to admit that I haven’t watched Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta and the rest of the Z Fighters in action, at least regularly, in more than a quarter-century. You could call me a lapsed fan, I suppose.
But that all changed when a colleague recommended Dragon Ball Daima shortly after the first show made since the death of franchise creator Akira Toriyama debuted on the 2024 TV schedule. After watching the first episode (they’re released weekly for everyone with a Netflix subscription), I must say that I’m all charged up like one of Goku’s Kamehameha attacks. And guess what? I feel like a kid watching ‘90s anime all over again!
Growing Up, I Was A Massive Dragon Ball Z Fan, But Fell Off During Those Extended Breaks Between Seasons
Cartoon Network’s highly influential Toonami programming block was my jam back in the day, so much so that I would run home as soon as my bus hit the parents’ street. Each afternoon, I would bust through the door, throw down my backpack and sit down for a couple of hours of shows like Reboot, Gundam Wing, Sailor Moon and, of course, Dragon Ball Z. I’ll never forget watching those first few seasons – the Saiyan Saga, the Frieza fight on Namek where Goku first went Super Saiyan, the wild war with the androids and then Cell – but then it all came to a screeching halt before the start of the Buu saga.
Back then, when I still had a dial-up modem and no access to the Japanese VHS tapes, I had to wait extended periods of time while the next sagas were being localized for American TV. At some point before the Buu saga kicked off, I stopped watching Dragon Ball Z. I stopped filling my binder with terrible drawings of my favorite characters, and I stopped looking at images from later seasons and the sequel series, Dragon Ball GT. And I never returned… until now.
After Years Of Not Knowing Where To Start With The New Series, Dragon Ball Daima Has Given Me An Entry Point
While I stopped watching Dragon Ball Z many years ago, the franchise has continued with various series, movies, video games and other media. However, overwhelmed with hours upon hours of stories to catch up and characters to learn about, I never went back simply because I didn’t know where to start without going all the way back to the beginning and watching seasons I’d already watched a handful of times.
But when I heard my colleague talk about Dragon Ball Daima and how much fun it was to watch and how it was perfect for lapsed fans like myself, I decided that it was finally time to go back and rekindle my love for a franchise that meant so much to me as a kid. One episode in, I have to admit that it feels like I’m that awkward 12-year-old version of myself who thought a short-sleeve shirt with a sweater vest was a good look all over again.
The Daima Premiere Pretty Much Caught Me Up To Speed On What I Missed In Later Dragon Ball Z Episode Before Starting The Next Journey
When I first watched the Dragon Ball Daima premiere, I was immediately thrust into the action of Dragon Ball Z, specifically the Buu saga I missed out on all those years ago. Finally, I was getting to see what Majin Buu was all about and all the different forms of the devastating and incredibly powerful creature. The first half of the episode is essentially a recap of everything that I missed told through the eyes of Gomah, the new King of the Demon Realm, before he starts his journey that’ll play out over the course of the series.
Not only that, the Dragon Ball Daima premiere (the only episode available at the time of this writing), also showed what the Z-Fighters have been up to since and how they’ve settled into life following the extensive battle with Buu.
But then, in the final moments of the episode, Gomah, Degesu and an ancient Namekian named Neva leave the Demon Realm and invade Earth to steal the planet’s Dragon Balls and wish for all of the warriors to be turned into children, kicking off a new adventure that is similar to what happened to Goku in Dragon Ball GT.
The Blend Of Humor, Drama, Horror, And Action That Made Me Fall In Love With Akira Toriyama's Series Is Better Than Ever
Back in the day, I loved how Dragon Ball Z found a way to mix humor, drama, horror and action to create some truly wild situations. On one hand, you have Goku hamming it up as an angel or eating loads and loads of food, but then you have diabolical creatures that can wipe out entire cities before even reaching their final form. I was so stoked to see that Dragon Ball Daima continued that wild combination of genres.
Again, I’ve only watched the first episode so far, but everything about that premiere was awesome and has me so excited to see how things play out for all those young Z-Fighters as they attempt to fix things yet again. And the Demon Realm, which looks both cool and unsettling, is something I hope we see a lot more of in the future, even if it’s just Goku eating giant bowls of demon rice or some strange bowl of food.
I Feel Like Dragon Ball Daima Was Made For Lapsed Fans Like Me, And That's Great
There’s no doubt that a large portion of Dragon Ball Z fans never stopped watching the series and have stuck with the franchise over the years, but I can’t help but feel like Dragon Ball Daima was created with lapsed fans like me. There’s so much about the show that feels catered towards those viewers who fell off the train long ago and need some help getting back on before things really take off.
If that was the intention of the late Akira Toriyama and everyone else involved with the continuation, then hats off to them, because this could be an awesome model that other long-running franchises could use in the future. But hopefully there won’t be as many filler episodes as Dragon Ball Z.
New episodes of Dragon Ball Daima are available each Friday on Netflix, and I’ll be there to check them out as a prodigal fan returning home. While we don’t know what the future holds for the franchise, there are some upcoming Netflix movies and shows worth checking out, especially for fans of anime.