Manga and anime legend Akira Toriyama is more involved with the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima series than he has been with any other entry in the franchise since 1995.
The new Dragon Ball show was announced at New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2023 with a fall 2024 release window. Details on the project are light, but based on its reveal trailer, it seems to heavily feature childlike versions of iconic characters like Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, and most of the rest of the cast. Fans might be cautious of kid versions of these beloved characters after we got the often-criticized Dragon Ball GT. However, there is one major reason to keep hopes high: Dragon Ball creator Toriyama is back.
During a panel presentation at NYCC (via Kotaku), executive producer Akio Iyoku assured audiences that Dragon Ball Daima has incredible talent behind it:
“There are some things I can’t say but one thing I can tell you is [in] this production Akira Toriyama has been deeply involved beyond his usual capacity overseeing the original work, story, character design, and more. Additionally, [Toriyama] has planned entirely new episodes for the storyline so please look forward to the start of the series.”
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The Dragon Ball creator is said to have “meticulously” crafted new designs for familiar characters, while also aiding in the creation of new vehicle and monster designs. As pointed out by Popverse, Toriyama has largely taken a hands-off approach when it comes to the anime series since 1995. For whatever reason, he’s all in on Dragon Ball Daima, though, making the upcoming project the spinoff series he’s been most involved with in nearly 30 years. So, while baby versions of Goku and Vegeta might be off-putting at first, it helps to know Toriyama has some plans in mind. We’ll have a better idea of how it will all play out when the show premieres later next year.
