When Dragon Ball DAIMA introduced fans to the long-awaited Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta, many of us were left wondering if the spin-off anime series would actually make one of the fan-favorite forms in Dragon Ball GT.canon. That finally happened when Episode 18 aired in Japan today, as it revealed Goku transforming into Super Saiyan 4 in his intense fight against Gomah. The long-awaited transformation was finally made canon thanks to this.
The official website of Dragon Ball DAIMA shared the preview for Episode 18, titled Awakening, which premiered on Crunchyroll today, giving us our first look at the spin-off's version of Goku's Super Saiyan 4 transformation. The official synopsis for Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 18 reads:
The all-out battle against King Gomah, who stormed onto the battlefield, has begun! Goku and his allies struggle against the overwhelming power of Third Eye. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Goku undergoes a shocking awakening through the emergence of a new power!
Here are the preview stills for Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 18:
The Super Saiyan 4 transformation debuted in Dragon Ball GT, a non-canon anime-original series that aired from February 1996 to November 1997. The shonen anime sequel to Dragon Ball Z was not written by series creator Akira Toriyama, so it wasn't considered canon. The current canon timeline consists of the storyline of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball Super films, none of which reference SSJ4. Instead, those anime titles introduced Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Ultra Instinct.
Since Dragon Ball DAIMA was written by the late Akira Toriyama, and the story is set chronologically after the events of Buu Saga of Dragon Ball Z and before the beginning of the events of Dragon Ball Super, we can consider Super Saiyan 4 canon now. DAIMA takes place in Age 775, which is just a year after the fall of Kid Buu (Age 774) and three years before the beginning of Dragon Ball Super (Age 778). This would suggest that the form should have appeared in later events, such as the Tournament of Power, but the latest episode of Dragon Ball DAIMA didn't provide an in-universe explanation as to why SSJ4 form didn't appear in the aforementioned titles.
Where to Watch Dragon Ball DAIMA
Outside of Japan, Crunchyroll started streaming Dragon Ball DAIMA on October 11, the same day it premiered in Japan. The streamer is simulcasting the new episodes with English (and other languages) subtitles as they're released weekly in North America, South America, India, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand
The anime is also streaming on Netlfix, which debuted in Asian regions on October 14, and then globally on October 18. There are currently 17 episodes available to stream on Netflix while the 18th episode is already available to stream on Crunchyroll. Episode 18 is scheduled to release on Netflix on Friday, February 21.
What is Dragon Ball DAIMA about?
Dragon Ball DAIMA follows the new adventures of Goku and his friends as he, Vegeta, and other characters become younger. They were suddenly shrunk due to a conspiracy, and they find out that the reason might lie in a world known as the "Demon Realm. A mysterious young Majin named Glorio shows up before them. "DAIMA" is a made-up word and its kanji could be interpreted to mean "Evil" in English.
Here's the latest trailer for Dragon Ball DAIMA:
Toei Animation produced the animation for Dragon Ball DAIMA, with Yoshitaka Yashima (Dragon Ball Super animation director) and Aya Komaki (One Piece series director) as series directors. Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (Dragon Ball Z, Digimon franchise) is in charge of the late Akira Toriyama's character designs for animation, while Yuuko Kakihara (Digimon Adventure tri. movies, Cells at Work!, 2022 Urusei Yatsura) wrote and supervised DAIMA's scripts. Akio Iyoku, founder of Capsule Corporation Tokyo, executive-produced the anime, and franchise creator Akira Toriyama is credited for DAIMA's story and character designs.
For more information abut Dragon Ball DAIMA, check out the official website of the Dragon Ball franchise.
