Dragon Ball DAIMA executive producer Akio Iyoku revealed why the team made Goku and his friends small in a recent interview with Mantan Web: “We were conscious of the generation in their early 30s and older who have grown up and have children.”
“We wanted to make an anime that parents and children could watch together. They are the generation that watched Dragon Ball GT as children. Conscious of that, the sense of creating a new anime series like GT became the starting point,” Iyoku said, later adding that DAIMA could serve as an entry point for first-time watchers.
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The idea of turning everyone into children was, “of course,” from Akira Toriyama. “A big theme of this work is to have a wider audience, and although this is hindsight, I feel that by making Goku smaller, the entry point has become wider. I never thought that everyone would be small, but of course, it was Sensei’s idea,” Iyoku revealed.
He added, “GT means ‘Grand Touring,’ and we are trying to depict an adventure in ‘DAIMA’ as well. It will have a different flow and form from Super, where Goku steadily improves his strength. Even though Goku is small, the sight of him fighting by leaps and bounds using his Power Pole stick looks fresh, and it will show a different appeal from Super.“
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Dragon Ball DAIMA Is Canon to the Series, Bringing GT’s Super Saiyan 4 Along for the Ride
Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s link to GT is more than just Goku becoming small. Despite its rarity, Super Saiyan 4 remains one of Goku’s most iconic transformations. Viral scenes of his Super Saiyan 4 child form in DAIMA were trumped by the return of his adult form, defeating Gomah in textbook epic fashion.
In another recent interview, Iyoku spoke about how DAIMA came about. Development on the series began around six years ago. Iyoku didn’t plan on Toriyama having nearly as much involvement as he did, but his enthusiasm led to him writing the story and designing the characters and elements of the world setting, including things like the goldfish warp mecha and Demon Realm’s setting.
Iyoku has also confirmed that DAIMA is a continuation of the Majin Buu Saga and allowed Toriyama to flesh out settings he likely had in his mind for a while. Given Toriyama’s pervasiveness in the series, it was a fitting nod to his legacy that Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s finale aired on the anniversary of his passing.
Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s Japanese voice cast for the anime includes:
- Masako Nozawa as Son Goku
- Yudai Mino as Vegeta
- Tomohiro Yamaguchi as Piccolo
- Mai Nakahara as Bulma
- Aki Kanada as Krillin
- Yumiko Kobayashi as Supreme Kai
- Fairouz Ai as Panzy
- Koki Uchiyama as Glorio
- Showtaro Morikubo as Gomah
- Junya Enoki as Degesu
- Yoko Hikasa as Dr. Arinsu
- Tomokazu Seki as Majin Kuu
- Fukushi Ochiai as Majin Duu
Crunchyroll and Netflix both streamed the series, with the former describing it:
Goku and company were living peaceful lives when they suddenly turned small due to a conspiracy! When they discover that the reason for this may lie in a world known as the “Demon Realm”, a mysterious young Majin named Glorio appears before them.
Source: Mantan Web
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