The new Dragon Ball Daima series was announced at New York Comic Con this weekend, slated for a fall 2024 release date.
New York Comic Con always drops some major news; and this year, Toei Animation has some big updates. A brand new Dragon Ball series called Dragon Ball Daima was announced at NYCC. The word “daima” loosely translates to big or large in Japanese, which fits the title and content of the new show. Based on the teaser trailer, it appeared to show off some iconic characters in a chibi-fied anime format. This means lots of cuteness! The release of the film coincides with its 40th anniversary, scheduled for fall 2024, in about a year from now.
For those who are unfamiliar with chibi anime, it is essentially a cuter animation style of most likely an already popular franchise or series. It is cuter because the characters usually have smaller bodies and big heads, which makes them more adorable and creates funny moments. These alternate versions of the main anime series provide fans with new stories, both short and long. They also include humorous moments that might not fit well in the main series. Some of the best chibi animes covered popular series like Attack on Titan and isekai’s like Overlord and KonoSuba.
In terms of who will be in Dragon Ball Daima, it appeared that characters up to Dragon Ball GT will be involved. However, unlike GT, series creator Akira Toriyama was said to be heavily attached to this chibi-fied new production. “There are some things I can’t say but one thing I can tell you is [in] this production Akira Toriyama has been deeply involved beyond his usual capacity overseeing the original work, story, character design, and more,” executive producer Akio Iyoku said. “Additionally, [Toriyama] has planned entirely new episodes for the storyline, so please look forward to the start of the series.”
Iyoku couldn’t say much about Toriyama’s influence on Dragon Ball Daima, but he did mention that the series’ name was decided shortly before its world premiere at NYCC. Also, Toriyama “meticulously” crafted various elements of the show, including the design of various characters like Bulma, vehicles, and monster designs.
Going off the trailer, I really think it was adorable to see some chibi versions of Piccolo, Android 18, Krillin and Bulma alongside Goku and Vegeta. Goku was even seen getting his good old Power Pole back in this series! The manga will be celebrating its 40th year in publication in 2024, so this new Dragon Ball will be an awesome time for a refreshing series like this.
Toriyama’s latest series Dragon Ball Super has been a resounding success. It was like a restart for the franchise, along with a few anime films like Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero that came out at the same time as the current series. As someone who has fallen a little behind on the new series, Dragon Ball Daima might be my entry back into Toriyama’s world.
