Movies News Talk
Bulma's Back and Better Than Ever in Dragon Ball DAIMA!
Bulma, that iconic Dragon Ball character, is back in a big way in Dragon Ball DAIMA! And this isn’t just some cameo, she's a main player. For those of you who've only encountered Bulma in later installments of this awesome franchise – it might seem pretty out of character to you! Why does this even matter? It matters because this amazing series returns this character and showcases one of the most loved aspects: her role as the most indispensable Tech Genius of that legendary team.
DAIMA smartly remembers how Bulma’s initial meeting with Goku started that entire Dragon Ball narrative – creating some very nostalgic memories for the fanbase, including showing how she and her car were initially seen as a demon by Goku! Yet those kinds of callbacks are actually far more effective in those specific circumstances, bringing all the prior events into a new light and context! It takes everything even further! Her return alongside a de-aged Goku (which will obviously impact his appearance, especially those initial fights in those opening episodes) to the Demon Realm is a clever nod and really showcases Bulma's continued importance, even through all that character development that has affected how much focus other key characters, such as Goku, received as a main protagonist.
In Dragon Ball DAIMA episode #2, we get this refreshing glimpse: Bulma handles that de-aging pretty smoothly compared to those other folks, showing just how confident and self-assured her very personality has always been throughout the entirety of the series and despite major character growth; her overall style never loses that confident swagger we've come to know, as emphasized within this specific part of this article. She even mentions this! She was delighted with what this transformation meant! That's brilliant!
The episode has her fully fix Supreme Kai Shin’s old spaceship which used to go between Universes—which obviously emphasizes her talents in practical engineering and the fact that this has almost always been her area of strength throughout the series, rather than relying only on those martial skills many other members of her teams all seemed to gravitate toward. It totally recalls that classic genius tech wiz vibe and those essential moments involving supporting roles played by other significant characters throughout the entire history of Dragon Ball!. Ten days! That's all the time she requests for the repairs, completely showcasing that quick-witted problem-solving and impressive competence and skill and really reinforces why Bulma’s personality and traits have always been such strong contributions to this awesome team of highly-capable fighters and individuals throughout this entire series!
This is really huge! The finale of episode 2 includes Glorio’s appearance! It was first teased in episode 1’s post-credits! And that creates the need for speedy repairs to allow Bulma’s husband's travel, because, with his need for this travel; Bulma's essential importance gets once again reinforced, showing a very specific aspect concerning the creative vision for this episode! There’s that very significant hint: she gets called into an incredibly important assignment! Given this need; Vegeta's inability to get a seat means she must use her engineering and knowledge of these spaceships and is implied; her technical skills now get emphasized for their immense value in enabling this event.
Those clever details recall that Namek Saga from Dragon Ball Z— except that emphasizes her skill and talent far more prominently. She isn’t just some casual addition or someone who does something purely because this particular story decided to include it— instead she uses that initiative to bring a needed piece to make that whole sequence far, far greater, really highlighting those key qualities that have been an underappreciated aspect, compared to her other team members.
This series made a key strategic choice that several other storylines did not consider in previous versions. Bulma, throughout the many Dragon Ball iterations has never really been a fighter! Unlike those extremely combat-focused heroes, this character made contributions in totally different, underappreciated areas such as design and technical support! Even in Dragon Ball Super, she wasn't sidelined— there are major contributions, ranging from designing awesome suits for Vegeta to a totally new Dragon Radar. But many newer attempts to develop and showcase her strengths completely fails and uses cheap ways of portraying some silly quirks which really hurt that original personality, thus her potential greatness.
This change, portrayed effectively here, and showcasing what could've worked for this Series for far longer– using her existing, essential and core personality rather than creating additional shallow moments or making silly, contrived decisions to further the plot.
Dragon Ball DAIMA isn't merely doing fanservice! They aren’t using nostalgia and are cleverly reinterpreting the already known characteristics of one particular character and returning some of those essential skills that had already existed, yet was neglected previously. That intelligent move gives Bulma a chance to shine! The writers cleverly avoid that trap— this approach creates something new and unique which many fans love!