Is Dragon Ball Daima canon? Everything we know about Akira Toriyama’s new anime

It’s the news of the day, the week, and maybe the month: ‘Dragon Ball’ is back. Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama have announced a new anime for 2024 that will be called ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ and will arrive coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the series. Its first trailer, in addition to making our hearts jump, has set up a lot of questions about what we can expect from it. And of course, we are going to answer them as best as we can.

What does Daima mean?

The new ‘Dragon Ball’ subtitle, Daima, is a term invented by Akira Toriyama himself from Kanji (Japanese language symbols). According to Toei Animation itself, it is a play on words that, roughly translated, would be something like “evil” in English (i.e., “evil, bad, wicked”).

‘Dragon Ball Daima’ release date

Although it does not have a specific release date, ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ is expected to arrive at the end of 2024. We might be looking at autumn for its release window, which is when new seasons of important anime usually premiere. But at the latest, in the worst case, it will come out coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the series (which will be fulfilled on November 20, 2024).

What role does Akira Toriyama have in ‘Dragon Ball Daima’?

Unlike what happened with ‘Dragon Ball GT’, for example, Toriyama will be deeply involved in the project. He has been in charge of writing the story and character designs and vehicles. Even the name ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ was his! The author has assured in a letter to fans that he will be giving it “more than usual” on this occasion.

What is ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ about?

This is how the first synopsis of the series reads: “Due to a conspiracy, Goku and his friends become small. To set things right, they will head to a new world! ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ is a great action adventure in an unknown and mysterious world. And since Goku has to compensate for his size to fight he will use Nyoibo, the sacred staff with which we had not seen him for a long time.”

Will the story of ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ be canon?

And we come to the question that everyone is asking: Is ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ canon? Although there are reasons both to say yes and to do the opposite, the reality is that today it is not known. We will have to wait for Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation to make a statement (and don’t worry, they won’t be hard pressed, they have promised news about the series for early 2024).

The author’s implication seems to imply that yes, ‘Daima’ could be canon, but it would be worth remembering that the mangaka also created many characters that were later left out of the canon. (like Dr. Willow, Slug, Coola, Tapion and Minoshia, Bojack, Bujin, Zangya, Gokua and Bido from ‘The Galaxy is in Danger!’, and even Androids 13, 14, and 15).

Many fear that it could be Toriyama’s version of GT, hence so many winks that the trailer has, although that would at least allow the return to canon of Super Saiyan 4. In any case, the complaints are more likely because, with the saga of Moro and Granola from ‘Dragon Ball Super’ still to be done, jumping to ‘Daima’ in anime (and eventually in manga) would be quite an interruption.

Where is ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ set in the chronology?

Whether canon or not, the first trailer already gives some clues about where ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ could be located. It would be after the defeat of Kid Buu, but before Beerus and all the great recent developments in the series appear (Super Saiyan Blue, Ultra Instinct, the resurrection of Frieza, Broly...)

That is to say, between the end of ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and the beginning of ‘Super’ (perhaps after the events of ‘Super Hero’?). Questions and more questions to answer in the coming months. Welcome to the hype train.