REVIEW: ‘Dragon Ball DAIMA’ Episode 3 — “Daima”

With Goku (Masako Nozawa) and his friends turned small, their quest to undo the wish and return to normal continues. Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 3, “Daima,” takes Goku, Supreme Kai, and Glorio to the Demon Realm for the next step of their adventure.

Right away, Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 3 takes us out of this world. Literally. The trio, flying in Glorio’s Demon Realm ship, have to go through space to reach the Demon Realm. They have to travel through something called a “Warp” to reach it and get to King Gomah. It’s a fun way to take the story in a different direction by leaving the planet, something that has long been a staple in the Dragon Ball franchise.

Viewers are already familiar with Gomah from the opening episode, but Goku is essentially clueless. This travel sequence is a chance for Glorio to describe Gomah to Goku and help him understand what is at stake. Goku also gets introduced to the Warp, a goldfish-like creature that sends people to and from the Demon Realm. Viewers already had a chance to see what the Warp is, but now Goku gets to learn.

It helps that we have already been introduced to things like Gomah and the Warp, but it does start to feel redundant when something is explained after it was already shown in previous episodes in a way that made sense. If the earlier scenes had been more ambiguous, the moments in Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 3 might have felt more natural. Instead, they do feel a tad awkward and more like padding for time than anything else.

What we do get here, however, is a fun comedic moment. Dragon Ball has always had some solid comedy, mostly centered around Goku and how oblivious he can be. Here, he is told that Warp is sensitive and does not like being insulted, so Goku insults him unintentionally by calling him a goldfish and then a different type of goldfish. It is not groundbreaking comedy, but it fits perfectly with the series and is a nice little moment of fun.

This is followed up by a sequence where we learn about the three different layers of the Demon Realm. Goku needs to reach the First Demon World, but Glorio can only get him into the Third Demon World. This sets the groundwork for an extended story of Goku battling his way through different levels to ultimately get to Gomah.

It makes sense, even if it does feel a bit rote. There is nothing new with the idea of “you have to battle through different levels to get to the villain,” and the idea of going through different battles to get stronger is another Dragon Ball staple. All of this sets the expectations for viewers slightly lower than originally expected. Instead of being a bad thing, this allows viewers to sit back and enjoy the ride instead of trying to focus on any level of complexity. It’s appreciable, the willingness to focus on characters and action, even if it comes at a creative story’s expense.

The Third Demon World itself is pretty interesting. It has a purple sky and various lands located on floating islands. A gas covers the land, too, which makes Goku weaker than he already is. I like the idea of giving him a second reason not to be at full strength, making him work twice as hard to do things that might normally be easy. It also sets up for a fart joke which, let’s be honest, we all are going to laugh at.

Once the trio arrives at the main town, the intrigue really starts to pick up. The dark streets, neon lights, and shady characters bring the underworld vibe to life. There is clearly plenty of seedy activity going on here, and things are not all as they seem. It will be interesting to see how this is explored later on, if at all. This new area has some real potential to provide plenty of mystery.

The only major action sequence comes when the trio is eating at a local bar. Goku is trying to eat his hamburgers in peace but keeps getting attacked. This leads to another comedic moment where he tries to eat while having to fend off these giant monsters. His size, combined with how aloof he is, makes it all the more entertaining, even if it does nothing to progress the plot.

The adventure of the week ends with a shocking crime, setting up the challenge for the next episode. It did come almost entirely out of left field, which is nice. Keeping viewers on their toes and not making everything too easy to see coming is always appreciated. Hopefully, they will continue building on this in the next episode.

Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 3 is another solid adventure with Goku and friends as he tries to get back to normal size. Great comedy and somewhat intriguing storylines keep the story moving, even if it doesn’t stand out as spectacular.

Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 3 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.