Dragon Ball Daima

Episode 7

After how big of a spectacle the fight between Goku and Glorio was last week, I was expecting something big to come from that. Instead, it seems as though things with Glorio have been put aside for now. Although it makes sense to save all that for later, it's still a bit of a bummer, since I was hoping it might change things between them. Fortunately, there's enough going on here to compensate, as Goku and the others go after the first of the Demon Realm's Dragon Balls while Bulma, Vegeta, and Piccolo prepare to catch up with them. While the result is less exciting than the last couple of episodes, it's still a fun time and gives us a solid setup for where things could be headed.

As Goku and the others head towards the first of the Demon Realm Dragon Balls, they end up having a run-in with King Gomah's forces. While Goku's Instant Transmission is enough to keep him from being discovered, the soldiers start getting suspicious of Panzy when they use the collar on her neck to identify her as the one who attacked them back when we first met her at her village. This causes a fight as Shin and Glorio decide to fend them off. While it's a solid action sequence, it's a bit of a downgrade compared to what we got in the last few episodes and is probably the weakest one we've gotten so far in the visual department. Of course when I say “weakest,” I only really mean getting something between a 7.5 and an 8 rather than a 10, so it still looks plenty good enough to get a pass, and while Shin using telekinesis to crash a few ships isn't as cool as Goku zipping around with his Power Pole, it's still plenty fun to look at.

However, the most interesting part of all this comes after the fight as we learn more about what that collar means. Panzy explains that they were created by Dr. Arinsu during Dabura's reign as a tracking device for Majins of the Third Demon World, and they're indicators of their status as third-class citizens. When Shin realizes that the metal used to create the collars comes from an indestructible metal that originates from the Glind's home planet, he also reveals that he knows how to remove them, and helps to get rid of Panzy's. While it feels cheap for Panzy to get her collar removed so easily, Shin decides to do so without a second thought helping to place the show squarely above several other isekai that have somehow wrestled with the topic of breaking slave collars. The moment leads to the revelation that Shin has been going by an alias this whole time, and Panzy decides to thank him by asking for his real name: Nahare. It's pretty sweet and shows that Panzy is starting to take more interest in her new companions. Still, I do hope this isn't the last time the subject of the collars is brought up. Not just because it would feel lazy otherwise, but also because the idea of Goku and the others accidentally liberating the Majin from their oppressive government in their hunt for the Dragon Balls sounds like a gag Toriyama would write, so I hope it comes true.

Meanwhile, Bulma's group hits a snag in trying to make their way to the Demon Realm, as their ship is missing a few parts, and Bulma can't figure out how to reverse engineer it. Thankfully they could hitch a ride with King Kadan's servant Hybis, who has been wrangled into being their guide until they reunite with the rest of the group. Almost every new character in Daima has been a winner. I especially like Hybis because he would rather be hitting up the beauty parlor or going on a date than put up with any of the overtime being forced on him. That makes him the most relatable character and gives him energy I can rally behind. Hopefully, he sticks around when the whole band finally gets together. However, that will probably happen later rather than sooner, as Goku decides not to wait for them in favor of preparing to fight one of the Tamagami for the nearest Dragon Ball (which is pretty much the most Goku-like decision imaginable). Speaking of Goku being Goku, if there's one gag in this episode that didn't land for me, it was towards the beginning where Panzy wonders how Goku even managed to procreate only for him to casually drop that he wasn't very involved in raising his kids. Goku's poor parenting skills aren't a secret, but Super exaggerated those qualities to the point where it's a wonder Chi-Chi never took the kids and left. I feel the joke has reached its limit, so I hope this is a one-time deal and not a frequent occurrence. Putting those fears aside, I'm still otherwise pretty happy with where Daima is going, and with Goku having his first square-off with one of the Tamagami next week, I hope it'll make for a pretty killer showstopper.

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Dragon Ball Daima is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.