Dragon Ball DAIMA: A Big plot hole Makes an Even Bigger Mistake!
DAIMA's Opening Episode: Making Super Hero's Plot Hole Even Worse!
Dragon Ball DAIMA's first episode is a huge hit—critically acclaimed, loved by fans! But, it also makes a really bad decision: It makes Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's already embarrassing plot hole even worse! This new anime, showing de-aged versions of Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma, seriously messes up a pretty important plot detail.
The villain Gomah wishes for Goku and friends to become kids— but when Shenron asks about the kids already present (Goten, Pan), Gomah quickly decides to make them babies! Why is this such a mess? Turning those incredibly powerful characters into babies would've totally neutralized them! This also completely negates the rationale that would've naturally transpired after receiving Shenron's question and Gomah choosing kids; naturally extending this into reducing other, significantly important characters into babies. A poor, sloppy decision. That plot hole could've been completely avoided through basic storyline logic and creative rethinking; yet the series writers intentionally choose to embrace this error. The bad decision isn't an accident; a total missed chance that could've otherwise easily be fixed. This seriously bad writing choice deserves heavy criticism, because it doesn't need to happen!
Dragon Ball's Wishy-Washy History: A History of Bad Decisions
This whole issue of bad wish decisions happens before and demonstrates the significant and sometimes profound challenges that creative writing produces and its ability to completely undermine some crucial narratives! Super Hero makes the exact same kind of terrible decision; with a slightly different premise.
The goal? Make Piccolo and Gohan the stars— meaning the Saiyans are sidelined! So, no wish bringing them back after being out of the world. And the result? Those Dragon Balls' summons are made, but neither Piccolo nor Bulma even remember to wish those other powerful fighters back, leaving an enormous, important, yet crucial point largely missed within the narrative itself, failing to deliver and creating an entirely missed storytelling opportunity! Piccolo even calls this out when this key, glaring mistake in planning becomes readily obvious, a rather embarrassing plot element, yet this isn't even fixed after that confrontation in this new storyline. It seems they simply repeated this choice. Both series showcase exactly why careful consideration before executing these storyline decisions truly matters!
DAIMA's Bad Choice vs. GT's Surprisingly Better Approach
That initial wish in DAIMA is really sloppy, completely far inferior to that earlier inspiration (and its surprisingly plausible setup found in Dragon Ball GT). Pilaf's wish involves getting Goku to become a kid. Shenron misinterprets things, totally changing Goku! That setup’s smart because Pilaf knew Goku as a kid; and knowing Goku's adult power, wanting him de-aged is totally plausible!
In DAIMA, Gomah’s explanation? Total garbage! It just throws the “babies” element seemingly randomly to avoid those dreaded “Black Wishes” in that Dragon Ball universe!
DAIMA also makes an amazing mistake and completely misses another moment to justify this de-aging which otherwise could be readily justified. At the start; he's watching the Majin Buu saga! He could’ve easily reviewed more moments in Goku's life. That missed opportunity totally undermines that choice. These writers had so many obvious answers that would've easily and perfectly justified everything, showing again just how poor planning affected that key moment, completely harming an otherwise exciting new installment that deserves so much more than to repeat errors.
Conclusion: DAIMA’s Missed Chance for Improved Storytelling
Dragon Ball DAIMA's initial de-aging storyline presents that enormous missed opportunity, showcasing poor execution. Super Hero made that mistake already! And DAIMA didn't fix this. Repeating errors just show laziness; which highlights again, those kinds of problems that bad storytelling involves and those obvious misses easily avoidable by simply taking more time. This undermines what might’ve otherwise have made DAIMA's story way stronger. A big disappointment!
