Dragon Ball Daima Ep 14 Review
Even if they would be quickly overshadowed in strength by future villains, most Dragon Ball fans remember the Ginyu Force. Their flamboyant personalities, their unique powers, and their love for choreographed posing. The Ginyu Force was Toriyama’s first affectionate parody of the tokusatsu genre and Super Sentai series, AKA the Power Rangers. A tribute to the franchise he’d grown to love from watching alongside his son. Dragon Ball would come to incorporate other sentai parodies like the Great Saiyaman and the Pride Troopers, but the Ginyu Force are the most iconic. Therefore, it’s perhaps fitting that Toriyama’s last gift to Dragon Ball would include yet another sentai parody among the antagonists. And while it’s easy to see that Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Shin, Glorio and the others will mop the floor with this new group, they’ll still be fun to watch.
Dragon Ball Daima has the best op ever made for Dragon Ball. pic.twitter.com/H6tBYWCewL
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The latest tokusatsu team in Dragon Ball
After their detour in the last episode, the hero’s party is back on track for the First Demon World. Unfortunately for them, Gomah already knew they were coming and planned ahead. Not only did he pull back the bulk of his forces to the First Demon World to defend him, he had Degesu shut down Warp-Sama across the entire Demon Realm. Whatever world its inhabitants are in, they’re now trapped there. In addition, he’s mobilized his elite forces, the Gendarmerie Force. AKA, the Demon Realm’s version of the Ginyu Force.
The Gendarmerie Force #DaimaSpoilers #Daima pic.twitter.com/xufdhvpaVV
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From the outset, a longtime Dragon Ball fan see Toriyama’s love of tokusatsu and sentai oozing off the Gendarmerie Force. They’re essentially Demon clones of the Ginyu’s, right down to their friendly nature and love for synchronized posing. The only difference between them and the Ginyu’s is that, unlike Frieza, Gomah has zero tolerance for their hammy nature. Given how he already knew how strong Goku was as an adult, and seeing how strong he and his allies are as kids, his intolerance is understandable. He’s taking the threat seriously, but his best soldiers care more about getting chips and giving candy to kids (Kuu and Duu.)
It doesn’t take a genius to know that, while they might put up a good fight, the Gendarmerie Force is going to lose to the combined force of Saiyans, Namekians, Demons, and two super-geniuses. The one upside is that, unlike the Ginyu, the Gendarmerie might stand getting out of this mess alive. That would be a nice change of pace; one last way for Toriyama to show his love of the sentai genre.
This feels like a cop-out
Meanwhile, thanks to being stuck on a planet of giants, it’s only now that the party arrives at Warp-sama. Thus, it’s only now that they learn that Gomah shut Warp-sama down, and with the barriers connecting the Demon Worlds up, they look to be trapped. At least, they do, until Neva reveals he was the one who put the barriers up to protect the Second World from thugs and snooty elites and brings it down.
As impressive as this feat is, with Piccolo even saying Neva deserved his legendary status, it feels too much like a deus ex machina. The heroes traveling with the one who created the Demon Realm’s Dragon Balls is believable, as that has happened in the past. But for that same person to be the one who created the barriers separating the Demon Realm? That’s pushing it, and it feels like Daima only did to save fans time by slogging through an episodes-long fetch quest. Normally, that would be a good thing, but in this case, it might have done more harm than good.
Firstly, consider how much time Daima’s spent in the Second Demon World. Now compare it to the time spent in the Third Demon World. The Second World is nowhere near as well explored as the Third, and that’s a problem. This is the first time outside the games and supplementary material that fans have gotten a look at the Demon Realm. The show should try and build it up as much as possible, not rush through it like this!
Yes, Daima is ending soon
Vegeta & Bulma #DragonBallDaimaSpoilers #DaimaSpoilers pic.twitter.com/arMVHXSHaE
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What makes it worse is the revelation that Daima will be ending in February with twenty episodes. Considering how this series is Toriyama’s final contribution to the world he created, many fans might not be ready to say goodbye so soon. However, it’s out of the fan’s control, with the episode seeing the party of Saiyans, Demons, Namekians, Kai, and human making it to the First Demon World…and losing their plane again.
Gomah’s preparations seem to have borne fruit, as the second the group arrives, they’re immediately beset by the Gendarmerie. The episode ends with them running from the sheer force of numbers, and they’ll likely be in for a tough fight. As exciting as that sounds, though, and as funny as the Gendarmerie Force is, it doesn’t change the fact that this episode feels rushed. That could spell bad news for the ending and, ultimately the legacy, of Daima. As any Game of Thrones fan attests, a good story can be ruined if it doesn’t stick the landing. Seeing Toriyama flex his love for sentai one last time helped, but not much. Unless the last six episodes are really good, Toei made a mistake with the number of episodes it gave Daima, and this proves it.
