Dragon Ball Daima has finally reached its conclusion. The anime’s 20-episode run provided a substantial amount of fan service, bringing to life the wishful fiction from old internet forums and introducing numerous new and returning transformations. The show also showcased Toei Animation’s capabilities, putting it in conversation with popular power fantasy series like Solo Leveling through its intense fight scenes. However, Daima‘s most significant achievement is that it serves as a fitting conclusion to the late creator Akira Toriyama‘s 40-year legacy with the series.

When Dragon Ball Daima premiered last year, fans were eager to know how it would fit into the series’ canon and what new revelations it would bring. The show quickly confirmed that it takes place after the Buu saga in Dragon Ball Z and, technically, before the events of Dragon Ball Super. However, maintaining canon consistency has never been a top priority in Dragon Ball. Shows like GT, Super, and now Daima make references and callbacks to past events, creating an impression of concurrent storytelling, but they have always felt like loose spin-offs, driven by either financial incentives or Toriyama’s desire to rectify past mistakes. The charm of Dragon Ball lies in watching Toriyama play with his characters in a series of what-if scenarios, and Daima is a wish fulfillment that both he and his fans can enjoy.

This is not to say that Daima disregards series canon entirely. Toriyama takes a page from One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s playbook by expanding on forgotten lore and hand-waved concepts from Z, making villains seem more imposing. In Daima, Toriyama expands on the demon realm and Majin lore while casually retconning certain aspects to tell a fun, magical adventure reminiscent of the early Dragon Ball series. The trio of Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta are turned into kids, and their adventure is filled with comedic hijinks and a dash of Super Saiyan fan service.

The show’s finale punctuates this point with an uninterrupted, dialogue-free action sequence, followed by a comedic gag that alleviates the tension, characteristic of the mangaka behind Dr. Slump.

The final episode of Daima brings a sense of satisfaction, followed by a pang of sadness, as fans wonder what’s next. It’s hard to ignore the feeling of emptiness when a posthumous work reaches its conclusion. Watching seminal series like Berserk continue after the passing of Kentaro Miura is always a queasy experience, and Dragon Ball is now at an impasse where Toei Animation will consider producing more anime without Toriyama.

Rather than contemplating the idea of Dragon Ball continuing without Toriyama, Daima should be seen as the franchise’s finale – a conclusion to a mega-popular series where Toriyama set aside power creep discourse and brought his characters on one last adventure filled with jokes and epic moments.

Dragon Ball Daima is available to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.

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