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Warning: Contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima.Throughout the entirety ofDragon Ball Daima’s run, the biggest hang-up people have had about it has been its relationship toDragon Ball’s canon. Taking place a year after the Majin Buu saga,Daima, on the surface, would fit very cleanly into canon, but certain story elements blatantly contradictDragon Ball Superwithout ever being explained, which has been annoying for anyone wanting a more uniform narrative fromDragon Ball.
The contradictions betweenDragon Ball DaimaandDragon Ball Superare impossible to ignore, and by the end of its run, people were calling it an alternate timeline at best and non-canon, at worst. While it’s understandable that people would be upset about things like that, not only does it ignoreDragon Ball’s long history with its specific approach to canon, butanyone who watchedDragon Ball Daimawhile actively thinking about how it worked into canon was missing out on one ofDragon Ball’s best stories in years, and overall, that’s disappointing to think about.
How Dragon Ball Daima Contradicts Dragon Ball Super’s Canon
Dragon Ball Daima’s Weird Relationship With Canon
Dragon Ball Daima’s relationship with canon is a major issue to some, and that doesn’t come from nowhere. For starters, Dende is depicted as a child instead of an adult, and while it’s not the first time that’s happened, it’s nonetheless egregious. More than that, though, is how Kibito Kai used Majin Buu’s gases to split back into Shin and Kibito, and while that doesn’t necessarily retcon the Potara earrings’ lore, the problem is thatShin and Kibito are still separated byDragon Ball Daima’s finale, even though they were fused in the beginning ofDragon Ball Super.
Bigger than all of that, of course, is whatDaimadoes with Goku and Vegeta. In a surprising turn of events,Daimagave Goku and Vegeta Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan 3, respectively, and while it’s not impossible to explain away Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta, Super Saiyan 4 Goku is a plot hole because Goku knew it beforehand, yet he never uses it inDragon Ball Super, despite how useful it would have been.Goku and Vegeta’s new Super Saiyan forms are the biggest examples ofDragon Ball Daima’s blatant contradictions with canon, and unfortunately, that’s impossible to ignore.
Dragon Ball Daima’s Positives Far Outweigh Its Issues With Canon
Why Dragon Ball Daima Is Plenty Worth A Watch
As annoying asDragon Ball Daima’s issues with canon may be, avoiding the series specifically because of them does nothing but a disservice toDaima. From a visual perspective,Dragon Ball Daimahas some of the best animation of anyDragon Ballproject thanks to its gorgeous visuals and fluid and creative fight scenes, all of which are far better than the majority of what people had to sit through withDragon Ball Superfor three years. In terms of pure spectacle, there are fewDragon Ballprojects better thanDragon Ball Daima, and that shouldn’t be ignored.
More than that is the quality ofDaima’s story. While there are plenty of shortcomings in the pacing and overall execution, between the consistently great comedy and how great a job every episode does of selling the chemistry between the heroes and villains alike,Dragon Ball Daimaboasts some of the most fun writing of any recentDragon Ballproject and is an all-around perfect tribute to Akira Toriyama’s legacy. Every aspect ofDragon Ball Daimais a fun time, and anyDragon Ballfan would be remiss to pass on it just because it doesn’t perfectly mesh with canon.
Dragon Ball Stopped Caring About Canon Years Before Dragon Ball Daima
Canon Has Never Been A Concern For Dragon Ball
Above all else, the biggest reason whyDragon Ball Daima’s relationship with canonshouldn’t be an issue is because that’s always been a problem withDragon Ball. WhileDragon Ball’s canon is largely consistent across 40 years, the series has always been filled with retcons and inconsistencies, with notable examples being Piccolo’s origins, Vegeta’s motivations, and Beerus’ power level. Even Goku being a Saiyan is arguably a retcon after he was originally just a boy with bizarre monkey powers, socriticizingDragon Ball Daimafor continuity errors doesn’t work whenDragon Ballhas been doing that from day one.
All of that, of course, is whyDragon Ballis so iconic.Dragon Ballalways focused on just delivering what Akira Toriyama and other writers thought would be cool in the moment and worried about making it work later on, andthe fact thatDragon Ballhas always found ways to make its inconsistencies work as a flowing narrative is nothing but a hallmark to the strength of its writing.Dragon Ball Daimawill probably be more of the same eventually, but even if it isn’t, it has so much going on for it that it really shouldn’t matter.
