Dragon Ball Daima had quite a few surprises for anime fans in its first episode but one of them might tower over the rest. For quite some time, shonen fans believed that the origin story of Piccolo and the Namekians was settled. Shockingly, the new anime adaptation has seen both the introduction of Demon Realm denizens and hinted that not all was as it seemed for those who resided on the Planet Namek. Needless to say, it seems that creator Akira Toriyama still had some big surprises for Dragon Ball fans before he passed away and it shows that Daima will create some big changes for the long-running shonen franchise.
Warning. If you have yet to watch Dragon Ball Daima’s first episode, be forewarned that we will be diving into serious spoiler territory. Daima’s story is one that is a direct result of not just the death of Kid Buu, but the death of Dabura. Once the king of the Demon Realm, Dabura was enchanted by Babidi and was killed by Fat Buu. Once the Demon Realm’s runner-up to the throne, Gomah, learned of Dabura’s demise, he became the new de facto ruler of this realm. In a shocking twist, Gomah reveals that the Demon Realm has a Namekian of its own, opening the door for Piccolo and his race’s new origin story.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Piccolo The Demon King
In the original Dragon Ball series, the villainous Piccolo was one who would often refer to himself as “The Demon King”. During Dragon Ball Z’s events, the Namekians were initially said to be aliens, hailing from the Planet Namek. In Dragon Ball Daima’s debut, Gomah reveals that the Namekians didn’t originally hail from this alien world but instead, came from the Demon Realm. That’s right, the green-skinned anime characters are in fact demons.
Hilariously, Dende learns this all from Gomah, who tells the young Namekian that this was a fact that he should have known. Thanks to Namekians’ “pointy ears”, they should know that they are all demons. Unfortunately for the latest Kami of Earth, Gomah and his allies didn’t arrive on Earth to make friends.
Neva The Namek
Daima introduces an elderly Namekian named Neva who was responsible for creating the Dragon Balls of the Demon Realm. While viewers didn’t have the chance to witness how these orbs differ from the ones that we’ve seen in the shonen world so far, Gomah and Makaioshin note that their Dragon Balls grant “black wishes”, aka evil wishes that could even kill targets.
Neva himself doesn’t necessarily appear to be maleficent but he has no problems doing what Gomah tells him. Once arriving on Earth, the elderly Namekian immediately uses an ability to gather all of the world’s Dragon Balls instantaneously, even able to transform them back to normal from stone. In looking to make sure that the Z-Fighters won’t be a threat to them, Gomah wishes for them all to be changed into “first graders” setting the new status quo for the anime adaptation.
With the sequel series focusing on Goku traveling the galaxy and sure to set foot in the Demon Realm, we might get the chance to see what that alternate plane’s Dragon Balls can do. Since Gomah has back-up in his own Kaioshin and potentially armies of demons, it’s going to be no easy task for Son to win victory, especially as a first grader.
Want to see what other secrets are revealed when it comes to Dragon Ball Daima? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Z-Fighters and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.