Dragon Ball Daima 1×06 Review: “Lightning”

Dragon Ball Daima season 1 episode 6, titled ‘Lightning’, featured some interesting developments about Glorio’s intentions as our crew continued their mission to save Dende from King Gomah.

One of the things I’ve been enjoying about Dragon Ball Daima is how the creative team continues to add lore to the decades-long Dragon Ball franchise. There’s so much to explore about the Demon Realms and the writers are handling said exploration quite well. While I’m sure certain hardcore fans might be able to point out a bunch of plotholes and retcons, this particular fan (me!) is here for the latest developments.

With Panzy being curious about Shin and his relationship with Goku as well as with his two siblings, we got an explanation about how Glinds were born. It’s revealed that Glinds were basically tree-based people. If I understood correctly, there were five trees with each tree giving birth to a Glind every couple of centuries. Being born from a tree was the reason (according to Goku) why Shin was okay with drinking liquids instead of feeling the need to eat actual food. And though Glinds didn’t have the traditional concept of “siblings”, they did seem to share a specific bond if they were born from the same tree. So, Dr. Arinsu was the older sister, with Shin being the middle child, and Degasu being the youngest.

Shin’s siblings decided to stay in the Demon Realm while Shin and the other Glinds left. There’s likely going to be a better explanation down the line about why Shin’s siblings stayed behind. Shin did share that it was because Degasu was quite ambitious and different from the other Glinds. However, with what we have seen of Degasu, he doesn’t come across as ambitious to me. Dr. Arinsu, on the other hand, was definitely busy plotting and scheming to achieve something (which I’ll get to in a bit).

Another major revelation about the Glinds was that they weren’t born with a specific gender. So, that would mean that Glinds like Shin and Degasu decided to identify as “male” as they grew older while Dr. Arinsu was comfortable with being “female” presenting.

Yay to Dragon Ball Daima, part of a globally popular franchise, featuring such type of queer representation so casually in its storytelling. We have seen similar representation via the “all-male” Namekians, but I think this is the first time we have seen characters presenting a particular gender they were comfortable with.

Continuing their journey, ‘Lightning’ fleshed out more of the group dynamics. Glorio was basically stuck taking care of three “children”, Panzy was not a fan of Goku’s lack of hygiene, and Shin continued to be suspicious of Glorio’s motivations (and with good reason).

Even though I like Panzy being added to the group (the previous episode revealed that she was a Princess of Kadan Castle), I’m a bit unsure about how the writers will handle someone like her once Bulma enters the picture. The two seem to share very similar personalities.

With the group being threatened by a hungry minotaur named Minotaur (ha!), deciding who should take care of the creature led to Goku and Glorio having a little battle. Glorio didn’t take kindly to Goku stating that the little Saiyan was stronger than him. I mean, we all knew Glorio stood no chance against Goku, but I think that particular scene was about letting the audience realize that Glorio took pride in his strength.

Being prompted by Shin to take the fight seriously (because Shin wanted to see just how powerful Glorio was), Goku decided to go Super Saiyan for the first time while being in the Third Demon Realm. Understandably, he was able to end the fight in an instant, but he did allow Glorio to showcase a powerful attack. Panzy and Glorio described Glorio’s lightning-like energy beams as magic. However, it didn’t look like magic to me. But then again Panzy also thought Goku’s Super Saiyan aura was magic. So, perhaps the definition of magic and using one’s Ki is similar. I hope we get an explanation soon because magic, in a more traditional sense, does exist in the Dragon Ball universe. We have seen Panzy use her magic to try and lift a levitate a small rock.

Coming back to Glorio and another major revelation, ‘Lightning’ showed that the person Glorio was hired by was none other than Dr. Arinsu. We don’t know what her endgame is but I wouldn’t be surprised if it involved using Goku to defeat King Gomah as well as the Tamagami. I think that once Goku has gained access to the Dragon Balls after fighting the Tamagami, Dr. Arinsu will swoop in to steal the Dragon Balls and make her wish. And yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if Glorio experienced a change of heart and betrayed Dr. Arinsu after growing closer to Goku, Shin, and Panzy.

I’m interested in learning why Glorio’s working with Dr. Arinsu in the first place. What does he want? He seems to be a capable fighter. So, why would he put himself through escorting a somewhat annoying little Goku through the Demon Realm in such a manner? Hmm.

As for what’s been going on on Earth during the past few episodes, Vegeta’s shown training in his new child-like body (of course!) while Bulma continued to work on repairing Shin’s old spaceship. The closing moments of ‘Lightning’ had Bulma state that the repairs were done which led to Vegeta, Piccolo, and Kibito getting ready to travel to the Demon Realm. However, the ship stopped working after flying only a few feet off the ground.

We know that Panzy’s father King Kadan had sent one of his men to get the Z-Warriors from Earth in the previous episode. So, even though Bulma wasn’t able to fix the ship, Goku’s friends should reunite with him soon enough. And frankly, I’m okay with the delay. I’m enjoying seeing Goku and Shin traveling with Glorio and Panzy. They are fun new characters I want to spend more time with while learning more about the Demon Realms.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Daima season 1 episode 6?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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