Highlights
- Toei Animation announced a new Dragon Ball animation project called Dragon Ball DAIMA, set to debut in fall 2024, to commemorate the franchise's 40th anniversary.
- The teaser trailer suggests that the series might explore the Demon Realm, with a mysterious entity resembling a Kai being shown.
- Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, revealed that DAIMA will feature a grand adventure with intense action, where the cast reverts to childlike forms due to a conspiracy and Goku uses his Power Pole to compensate for his small size.
At a panel held at New York Comic Con on Thursday, staff at Toei Animation revealed a teaser trailer that announced a brand-new Dragon Ball animation project coming in 2024. The upcoming Dragon Ball DAIMA is a brand-new installment commemorating the 40th anniversary of the franchise, with the concept, story and character designs created by original series creator Akira Toriyama.
In addition to the teaser, the title logo and a statement from Toriyama were also released. Dragon Ball DAIMA is expected to make its debut in fall 2024.
The teaser begins with a nostalgic recap of the various milestones of the Dragon Ball franchise from 1984 until the present, where it skips to 2024, revealing the upcoming anime project. Based on the visuals, as well as the project name "DAIMA", the series could possibly be exploring the Demon Realm once ruled by the likes of Dabura and Babidi, with an enigmatic entity resembling a Kai being shown.
Series author Akira Toriyama also released a statement introducing the upcoming anime as well as explaining the title. "DAIMA" is a made-up term derived from the word written å¤§é” in Japanese, with the kanji meaning "big/great" and "evil" respectively.
Toriyama translates it to "Evil" in English, and summarizes the upcoming series as a journey to a new world to fix the results of a conspiracy in which a mysterious wish upon the Dragon Balls sees the cast revert to childlike forms; the same call to action that kicked off the events of the non-canon installment, Dragon Ball GT. He describes it as "a grand adventure with intense action", and reveals that Goku will be using his Power Pole to compensate for his small size.
An excited Toriyama claims to have poured more into this project "than usual"; while Goku voice actor Masako Nozawa can't contain her excitement, expressing her curiosity at the conspiracy that leads to the events of DAIMA, but at this point, the details are still a secret. In addition to the teaser and title card, new visuals for Goku, Vegeta, Bulma and other characters were also released, showing off that the upcoming Dragon Ball DAIMA boasts a crisp animation style that seems halfway between what we got in the Broly movie and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. While it may not necessarily be the continuation of the Dragon Ball Super anime that fans have been pining for, the enthusiasm of Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama when it comes to this project is palpable.
Source: Dragon Ball Official Website