The Evolution of the Dragon Ball Franchise
Each individual series in Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise stands on its own and tells a complete story. That being said, Dragon Ball has been able to progressively evolve and transform into something bigger because of the grander story that all its series collectively tell. While each installment features heightened action exploits, it's fascinating to look back and see how relatively grounded the original Dragon Ball was in comparison to its successors, each of which expands upon the series’ boundaries.
New Dragon Ball stories are always a cause for celebration, whether it’s new manga chapters, an original movie, or a completely original series. Dragon Ball DAIMA is the franchise’s most recent anime and the final entry that Toriyama worked on before his death. It features the franchise’s trademark combat, transformations, and surprising Dragon Ball spectacles. However, there are some grander questions surrounding Dragon Ball DAIMA’s timeline, exactly when it's set, its status as canon, and how it might connect to the franchise’s future.
When Is Dragon Ball DAIMA Set?
Dragon Ball DAIMA takes place between Kid Buu’s defeat and Dragon Ball Super. One of Dragon Ball’s most interesting elements is that it actually allows its characters to age and for the passage of time to be felt, rather than the whole series existing on a floating timeline that keeps individuals and events in stasis. There are plenty of anime that succeed with a more static approach to their storytelling, but Dragon Ball has really been able to creatively blossom by turning young characters into adults and depicting the circle of life as new heroes step into the spotlight.
Additionally, there are also lengthy periods of peace in Dragon Ball where the world is able to collectively heal. Dragon Ball skips over these peaceful periods, but it makes sense that there would at least be temporary periods of downtime before a new evil arises. Dragon Ball’s first three series present a very clear timeline that adheres to a logical chronology. Dragon Ball Z is set five years after the original Dragon Ball, while Dragon Ball GT picks up five years after the ten-year time-skip epilogue in Dragon Ball Z that follows Kid Buu’s defeat.
This all makes sense, but the equation becomes slightly more complex once Dragon Ball Super is added to the mix. Dragon Ball Super is set after Kid Buu’s defeat, but the entirety of the series – at least up until this point – takes place within the ten years that separate the Kid Buu Saga and Peaceful World Saga. In this sense, Dragon Ball Super is set after certain Dragon Ball Z elements, but Dragon Ball Z’s final material still takes place after Dragon Ball Super. This puts Dragon Ball DAIMA in a unique situation since fans were uncertain if it would be set following Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power, a nebulous side story that’s intentionally vague with its timeline placement, or some other alternative.
Dragon Ball DAIMA reveals that it's set in Age 775, and the events of its first episode are centered around Trunks’ ninth birthday. This offers a pretty exact idea of when Dragon Ball DAIMA is set in relation to the other Dragon Ball series. Trunks is eight during Dragon Ball Z’s Buu Saga, but Dragon Ball DAIMA also mentions how it hasn’t been that long since Goku and company used the Dragon Balls to make Earth forget about Buu. This seems to indicate that Dragon Ball DAIMA is set about six months after Kid Buu’s defeat.
Is Dragon Ball DAIMA Canon?
Dragon Ball DAIMA is canon, but so is everything else. There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy a franchise, but there’s a certain preciousness that can come up regarding what qualifies as canon and what’s superfluous expanded universe material. There is certainly more productive material to break down when it comes to Dragon Ball. However, this is a franchise that has an oddly complex nature with canon due to the abundance of non-canon movies, video games, and copious filler episodes.
The grand rule of thumb in Dragon Ball is that any series that Akira Toriyama is creatively involved in should qualify as canon, since he’s Dragon Ball’s creator. Toriyama was a guiding force in Dragon Ball DAIMA, which would certainly suggest that it’s meant to be a canon story that’s set between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. Curiously, Dragon Ball DAIMA seems to intentionally go out of its way to contradict several pieces of Dragon Ball Super’s lore, which is also supposed to be canon. Furthermore, Dragon Ball DAIMA features the Super Saiyan 4 form, which was previously limited to Dragon Ball GT.
In doing so, Dragon Ball DAIMA is simultaneously a continuation of Dragon Ball Z, a precursor to both Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT, but also its own original entity. Dragon Ball DAIMA playing fast and loose with canon seems to suggest that it’s something that Toriyama never took too seriously in the first place and that it’s become more of a fandom’s obsession than a genuine issue. This topic has become even murkier after Toyotarou’s recent comments regarding how essentially “everything” is canon because it’s all on his mind when he’s telling these stories.
Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Future Is In Flux
Dragon Ball DAIMA is only 20 episodes, making it the shortest Dragon Ball series. DAIMA tells a complete story, but there’s still so much more that can be explored within the anime’s Demon Realm. There are many concepts and characters that Dragon Ball DAIMA merely broaches and feel destined for greater depth in a second adventure. After all, the anime teases the prospect of a Join Bug fusion, only to never follow through on this front.
DAIMA’s brevity could mean that these 20 episodes are merely the first season and that more stories will follow in the future. Dragon Ball DAIMA is an original anime, but that’s not to say that it couldn’t receive a manga adaptation that expands upon and continues its story. There’s also the possibility of recurring feature films that are all set within the Dragon Ball DAIMA continuity. Alternatively, Dragon Ball DAIMA’s future may be in limbo, but Dragon Ball Super – in theory – is still supposed to be ongoing.
It’s not impossible for Super’s next storyline to make a pit stop in the Demon Realm and better connect the dots between the series and bring over several Demon Realm residents. Glorio, Majin Kuu, and Majin Duu would be even more interesting outside the Demon Realm and in a new context. Dragon Ball DAIMA’s characters and ideas also continue to live on in video games, whether it’s Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot or Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO. In lieu of an official Dragon Ball DAIMA continuation, this material can continue to evolve in video games. Within a few years, there could even be video games that are focused completely on Dragon Ball DAIMA. Many exciting opportunities lie ahead for Dragon Ball DAIMA, which has proven itself as a proper piece of Dragon Ball canon, but the franchise just needs to act. Confusion and concerns over canon could curb DAIMA’s future before it really gets a chance to get going.
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