Dragon Ball DAIMA Slows Down (While Promising Big Things Ahead)

Key things

• Episode 4
  Dragon Ball DAIMA
  slows down the adventure, concentrates on negotiating prices and buying bugs.
• Despite the slow pace, the episode unfolds in the third act with a revealing conflict and a fun battle.
• The trio must navigate obstacles such as heavy air and plot twists that hint at an exciting journey ahead.

The following section contains spoilers for Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 4, “Chatty,” which can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Netflix.

Despite the strong first two episodes, the previous episode Dragon Ball DAIMA began to show some cracks as the adventure seemed to slow down. With the fourth episode now upon us, will the series pick up some steam and regain some of the excitement of the first two episodes, or will viewers be in for another slow slog?

The answer is more complicated than you might expect, so let's discuss the latest episode Dragon Ball DAIMA.

What happened last time?

Our heroes—Goku, Kaioshin, and Glorio—start their journey through time and space using a space capsule that Bulma has repaired (promising that she and other long-time favorites will join them later), and the three enter another dimension by speaking. to the god of space and time known as Warp-sama (barely: Goku almost torpedoed that plan when he told the god of time he looked like a fish). The three end up on another planet where they hope to track down Dende and his captors.

Lost capsule

Since they're strangers and Goku doesn't have the best table manners to begin with, the three end up getting into a bar fight during dinner where Goku finds himself getting a little more used to his tiny body and is able to move around more freely than he was able to before . It seems they picked the wrong gang to fight, because when they woke up, they found their space capsule stolen (although at least the thieves were kind enough to leave a note behind).

what now

Without a space capsule, our heroes can't return to Earth (or do much else that requires long-distance travel). They start walking and think about their next move. Goku suggests that maybe they should all fly to make further progress, but Glorio points out that the air on this planet is heavier than Earth, and as a result, he would tire quickly. Not only does Goku figure this out very quickly, but when a monster attacks him, he finds his reflexes are still slower than usual (probably due to the double negative of not being used to his new body AND the heavier air).

It's time to go shopping

Since the air is too heavy to fly around, the trio find a shop that can sell them a plane. However, the plane costs a lot more money than they have on hand, and instead consider buying bugs that restore stamina (which Senzue Beans would do… if everyone remembers to take them with them on the trip). Will our heroes buy bugs or try their luck negotiating a plane? Does anyone care? This is all so…oh look, Dragon Balls!

The adventure slows down

This is the slowest episode yet Dragon Ball DAIMA we still got Negotiating airplane prices and deciding how many bugs to buy is the thing that made it another Dragon Ball space show so damn boring. Although not confirmed, there will apparently be at least 20 episodes Dragon Ball DAIMA. If that's all there is to it, it seems foolish to waste time on such things. Thankfully, the episode digs itself out of the hole it digs itself into with a much better third act.

While this is the part of the episode that will be kept under wraps so as not to spoil too much, the rules of this planet's Dragon Balls are revealed in more detail (with the most interesting reveal being that there are only three on this planet as opposed to seven). Despite not being interested in the Dragon Balls before (Goku only sought them out to help the people he cared about), in this case he for some reason wants to put aside the mission to rescue Dende and go find them (although this desire may have had more to do with by having to fight the guardians to get them, which definitely IS in character).

The episode also ends with the trio's first real conflict with a new character who will likely be VERY important in the coming episodes! After all, this is far from a great episode. Honestly, it's a bit boring. It's not terrible, though, and at least new elements are still being introduced to keep the intrigue going. It also ends with a battle that is fun to watch and reminds us how talented Akira Toriyama was at staging a good fight sequence. Hopefully this is a sign that the exposition is coming to an end and we can continue with the adventure at hand.