Dragon Ball Daima 1×20 Review: “Maximum”

Dragon Ball Daima anime episode 20, titled ‘Maximum’, brought the series to a satisfying close while keeping with the narrative’s comedic nature and fast-paced action sequences.

With Goku and the Z-Warriors being told about how to separate King Gomah from the OP Third Eye in the previous episode, ‘Maximum’ began with Goku in his Super Saiyan 4 form doing what he could to provide Piccolo an opening to hit King Gomah three times on the back of his head. As usual, the animation team did an impressive job showcasing Goku’s SS4 power. There were bright colors, numerous punches, and a whole bunch of lightning. I liked how Goku SS4 could really hurt King Gomah even though Goku wasn’t fully rested before the confrontation. SS4 is no joke.

Goku using his Kamehameha against Gomah was a stellar moment. The energy beam not only pierced through Gomah’s attack but it was powerful enough to break the seals existing between the Demon Realm, allowing the three worlds to be reconnected.

A thing I enjoy in the Dragon Ball franchise is that even though Goku and the Z-Warriors are good guys, they aren’t against killing an opponent. I mean, they will try to show as much mercy as possible, but sometimes completely taking a foe away from the board is the only option. I’m okay with a kid-centric IP making such narrative decisions. It makes conflict resolution feel a bit more realistic. So, yeah, Goku’s Kamehameha blew a hole through Gomah’s chest and if it weren’t for the Third Eye’s incredible healing/reality-manipulation ability, that would have been it for the Demon King.

The healing process did allow Piccolo to go in and start hitting the back of Gomah’s head, but he’s only able to land two hits before being thrown away by Gomah. As someone who wanted the threat to be vanquished already, Piccolo’s failure really made me go, ‘Oh, come on!’

I instantly thought about how it would have been a better strategy to keep Gomah occupied defending an energy attack, basically immobilizing his body, and then have someone else go in to land the three hits. 

But yeah, being the final episode, the writers didn’t drag out the battle any longer and had Majin Kuu, of all beings, hit the back of Gomah’s head three times with a giant spell book. The result was instantaneous, with the Third Eye falling from Gomah’s head and Glorio crushing it under his feet.

Reverting to his original size, I was wondering how the Z-Warriors would punish someone like him. It’s revealed that Dr. Arinsu wanted to keep Gomah and Degesu prisoner instead of exiling or executing them. The two villains were bottled up in a separate dimension where they would need to live out their 99-year-long sentence. According to Marba, the prison had a small garden and tons of games for them to play. It could have been a lot worse for Gomah and Degesu. Considering the previous villains the Z-Warriors have faced, I can see why Gomah and Degesu were shown mercy in such a manner.

As for who was going to rule the Demon World, I understood why Dr. Arinsu rejected the offer. Her becoming Demon Queen wasn’t going to work for her because until she used the Dragon Balls to make her wish, someone else was going to swoop in soon to take her place. I continue to be a fan of Dr. Arinsu being sensible about things.

With the Z-Warriors returning to Earth, the right to become King fell on Majin Kuu. He’s the one who landed the three hits after all. Frankly, I’m okay with King Majin Kuu. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he appreciated teamwork. He made Dr. Arinsu his Vice Supreme Demon King and proceeded to make Glorio, Neva, King Kadan and more his Ministers. The Demon Realms will be okay under his rule.

The finale ended with a short sequence where Goku and the rest revisited the bug shop in the Third Demon Realm because Goku wanted more energy bugs. That’s where we got the humorous reveal about how the owner of the shop had two Third Eyes in an old dusty jar because she had sold one a long time ago. An incredibly OP magical weapon being up for sale at an item shop made sense with the anime’s isekai elements.

Certain fans aren’t happy with said reveal. They are also grumpy about the reveal concerning Goku having already achieved SS4 after his fight with Majin Buu via intense training. Apparently, Neva just gave him a little nudge in the direction during his fight with Gomah.

From what I could understand, SS4 is supposed to be achieved from finding a balance between the three Saiyan forms and a Saiyan’s ape-like genetics. An element of love is supposedly involved too. However, Dragon Ball Daima changed that answer to simply training more to unlock SS4.

As I have said before, trying to make sense of Dragon Ball lore and canon is a lost cause. It’s one of those IPs that’s not really meant to have consistent lore or canon. It’s all about having fun through always increasing powerscaling and bombastic battles.

Dragon Ball Daima literally had Shenron tell Gomah he was only going to grant one of his three wishes because the mystical dragon didn’t know who Gomah was. That should have been indication enough about how this anime was going to handle storytelling.

Frankly, I really enjoyed watching and reviewing Dragon Ball Daima. Not only did it bring back the original Dragon Ball vibes, but it also introduced Dr. Arinsu and added some well-written queer representation to a long-running IP.

My only gripe, if I’m to say anything, would be how the Fusion Bugs weren’t used at all. While I would have liked to see Goku and Vegeta fuse during the final battle, I would have been okay with Kuu and Duu undergoing a fusion instead to create a new fighter against King Gomah. I just wanted the Fusion Bugs to be used somehow. But it is what it is. DB Daima was still highly enjoyable to me.

Of course, an incredibly successful franchise like Dragon Ball will continue. It will be interesting to see what fans will get to enjoy next as it will be the first major project not having the late Akira Toriyama‘s involvement.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Daima anime episode 20, ‘Maximum’?

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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