Dragon Ball Daima

Episode 6

It's time for another round of Daima Fridays as our road trip through the Demon Realm takes a bit of a detour. Compared to the last couple of episodes, this one is slower, but that mostly works to the show's benefit. The downtime helps build more chemistry between Goku and his new pals and provides an opportunity to get a little clarity on all the mysteries surrounding Glorio. While we end up getting as many questions as we do answers, it does at least manage to culminate in one of the show's best action spectacles to date.

When we last left the crew, they were in the middle of yet another ship crash, and while I wasn't too sure about them having to spend a few more episodes on foot, it seems like the damage wasn't quite as bad as that cliffhanger implied. It does give us the solid gag of Panzy claiming to have only brought the bare essentials, like toilet paper and camping gear despite all the visible junk sticking out of her bags, which is as good a sign as any that she'll be a fun addition to our little band of travelers. That feeling is only enhanced as we watch her bounce off of Goku's wild boy antics, and her constant disgust at his total lack of hygiene is a good enough bit that I'm a little less worried about her feeling too much like a discount Bulma.

This pit stop also gives more insight into the Glinds as Panzy seems confused by Goku referring to Shin as the Supreme Kai and how much authority he seems to have. The entire concept of the Kais seems foreign to her, meaning there could be a story behind how they ended up at the top of the universe's cosmology that we don't quite know about. We also learn more about Shin's relationship with his siblings Degesu and Dr. Arinsu. They aren't really “siblings,” but happen to be from the same place. As it turns out, the entire race of Glinds are genderless tree people and the three of them happened to be born from the same tree with an age gap of a few hundred years or so between them. Shin does, however, point out that Degesu has always been a lot more ambitious than the other Glinds, and that ambition is part of why he chose to stay behind in the Demon Realm than join them in the outside world. While there isn't a lot to glean from that, knowing he's ambitious makes me wonder how he's happy working under someone as silly as King Gomah, and if he's loyal to the little guy or just sucking up to him to achieve his personal goals.

While all that leaves us with questions, we do at least get a few new answers in the meantime. When the gang has a run-in with King Gomah's forces, Glorio reveals that he's actually from the First Demon Realm, and while he's not a native there, he has a patron who's backing him behind the scenes. Unbeknownst to the others, that patron is none other than Dr. Arinsu, meaning Glorio has been on King Gomah's payroll all along. With how long the show has been vague about his motives, it's a much less exciting revelation than I expected. Still, a couple of things keep this from completely losing my interest. We learn that demons from the Third Demon Realm like Panzy are expected to have collars on them. The same is supposed to be true of Glorio. It's possible that working for Gomah might be more about the freedom that comes with it than being devoted to him. If that turns out to be the case, he will be a little more interesting, so I'm curious to learn exactly how deep he is with them.

The gang then decides to spend the night in a cave only to run into a Minotaur looking to make them dinner. Glorio decides to take care of it himself, but when Goku tells him he might be outmatched, this offends Glorio enough to challenge Goku to a fight. Since Goku is well…Goku, it pretty much goes without saying that Glorio doesn't have a prayer against him and it takes some prompting from Shin for Goku to get serious and decide to see what Glorio is capable of. While this sounds like it'd be a bit too one-sided to make for an exciting matchup, it ends up being the show's flashiest fight yet, as Glorio uses both magic and his fists to prove his strength. I was hoping we'd be able to go a little longer without seeing any energy beams, but having them coming entirely from Glorio gives the fight enough presentation to stand above the usual beam struggles of Z and Super, while also serving as a good visual indicator of just how much stronger Goku is. The real kicker though is watching the Minotaur react to all this as he goes from being annoyed by his prey to downright terrified the second he sees how strong Goku is, and watching him try to exit the stage while still trying to act intimidating makes for a great punchline to cap this off with.

Since it seems like Glorio takes pride in his strength despite his aloof attitude, I wonder how getting humbled like this will affect him. Mainly if he'll carry a Vegeta-sized chip on his shoulder over the loss, or if he'll opt to try learning from Goku instead. The possibilities seem fun either way, and it would be a good way of getting him more attached to the others so we don't have to wait for him to betray them. Time will tell exactly where this ends up going but now that Glorio has room to be more than just mysterious, I'm interested in seeing how he evolves as a character.

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Dragon Ball Daima is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.