Toei Animation
Dragon Ball Daima is finally here and anime fans have a lot of questions when it comes to the long-awaited return of the Z-Fighters to the small screen. While this series is arriving following Dragon Ball Super’s previous run, this doesn’t mean that the story itself is one that will feature Super Saiyan Blue and Ultra Instinct. With so many surprising moments arriving from the first episode, now is the perfect time to break down when this series takes place in the Dragon Ball timeline. Marked as one of the last projects that involved deceased creator Akira Toriyama, Daima is a series that is already making major changes to the franchise’s lore.
Warning. If you have yet to watch the first episode of Dragon Ball Daima, be forewarned that we’ll be diving into serious spoiler territory. While Daima’s anime has arrived following the conclusion of the Tournament of Power, Broly’s arrival, and Gohan becoming a “Beast” while fighting Cell Max, the story actually takes place prior to these events. As documented in the premiere episode, Dragon Ball Daima takes place following the death of Kid Buu at the hands of Goku and the biggest Spirit Bomb formed to date. This original anime series also happens before we see Beerus and Whis hitting the planet Earth and Goku changing his hair to red after achieving Super Saiyan God. Daima doesn’t necessarily spell out how long before Super it takes place though it’s clear that the fight against Kid Buu is still fresh in the Z-Fighters’ minds.
Toei Animation
Daima’s Timeline And The End of Z
Dragon Ball’s timeline in relation to both Daima and Super can be a little confusing. As previously mentioned, Daima does take place before Goku fights Universe 7’s God of Destruction, but Super takes place in between Daima’s events and the “End of Z” arc in Dragon Ball Z. For those unfamiliar with the “End of Z”, these were the final episodes of Dragon Ball Z that took place many years after Kid Buu’s defeat and brought the series to a close by seeing Goku coming face-to-face with Uub. As Dragon Ball Super continues, it has yet to be revealed when the sequel series will catch up to Dragon Ball Z’s final arc.
Despite Dragon Ball Daima taking place after Kid Buu’s demise, the new anime adaptation gave fans the opportunity to see several major fights from the Buu Arc recreated using Toei Animation’s slick new animation style. New villains Gomah and Makaioshin of the Demon Realm wanted “cliffnotes” on what took place during the fight against Majin Buu and thus viewed the past storyline that featured moments like Majin Vegeta’s arrival, Gotenks fighting Super Buu, Gohan’s Mystic debut, and more.
Toei Animation
Dragon Ball Daima is Changing The Game
As mentioned previously, this final anime series from Akira Toriyama is one that is making some big changes to the Z-Fighters’ universe. On top of officially giving anime fans a look at the Demon Realm, the locale where the villainous Dabura was once king, Dragon Ball Daima also gives viewers a new origin story of the Namekians. For some time, Piccolo and his race were simply considered aliens that hailed from the Planet Namek, but the arrival of Gomah, Makaioshin, and Neva The Namekian has thrown the alien origin story for a loop.
In the original Dragon Ball series, the villainous Piccolo was known as “Piccolo The Demon King”. This moniker now makes more sense than ever as Gomah reveals all Namekians are in fact demons, originating from the Demon Realm and eventually finding their way to the Planet Namek. Once this tidbit is revealed, Neva The Namekian debuts new powers that some Namekians could only dream of, setting events in motion to transform the Z-Fighters into children.
Toei Animation
Dragon Ball Super’s Future
In the face of Daima’s timeline and when it takes place in the overall shonen frnachise, you might also be wondering where Dragon Ball Super is right now. The anime adaptation remains missing in action following the television series’ conclusion along with the releases of Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. There are still two major arcs that the anime has yet to touch in the Moro and Granolah The Survivor Arc that could potentially warrant quite a few episodes.
As for the manga, Dragon Ball Super went on an indefinite hiatus following the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama. Luckily, artist Toyotaro has confirmed that he plans to bring the series back, though he was remiss from stating when we can expect a new chapter to arrive. While the last installment of Dragon Ball Super’s manga was one that could have been seen as a series finale, the matter of Black Frieza is one that is lingering over the heads of the Z-Fighters.
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