Dragon Ball DAIMA is Akira Toriyama’s final project and with it, his magnum opus, the Dragon Ball franchise, finally explores the often mentioned but never before seen Demon Realm. The first episode of the series not only gave us our first glimpse at the Demon Realm once ruled by Babidi’s puppet Dabura, but also of its own set of magic wish-granting orbs, which were revealed to be the very first set of Dragon Balls to be created by the Namekians.
How do these differ from the various iterations of Dragon Balls we’ve been introduced to over the course of the franchise?
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The Demon Realm’s Dragon Balls Are Among the Hardest to Collect
The Most Heavily Guarded Dragon Balls
In the Demon Realm, there are only three balls that need to be collected for the dragon to be summoned; however, each one is guarded by a powerful being known as a “Tamagami” (literally “Sphere God”), which is why there haven’t been any wishes granted on this set in a very long time. They were created by an ancient Namekian named Neva, who accompanies King Gomah and Degesu to Earth and uses his magic to reawaken the Earth Dragon Balls from their inactivity. The Demon Realm’s Dragon Balls are said to be the original Dragon Balls and are therefore the precursor to every other kind of Dragon Ball introduced in the franchise’s various iterations except for one set: the Super Dragon Balls created by the Dragon God Zalama, which were also touted to be the original set of Dragon Balls in Dragon Ball Super. This conflict may be abated by thinking of the planet-sized Super Dragon Balls as divine Dragon Balls and the Demon Realm set as the original set created by the Namekians.
The Demon Realm Dragon Balls are much bigger than those of Earth and even Namek. Since there hasn’t been any record of the Tamagami being defeated and the Dragon being summoned, there is next to no information about the usage parameters or limitations of the Demon Realm Dragon Balls, nor do we know the identity of the dragon found within them, so even if they were to be collected, the dragon summoned and a wish granted, there’s no telling how they will be scattered, or how long they will be dormant. What we do know; however, is that the Demon Realm Dragon Balls bring forth a dragon capable of granting any wish that doesn’t exceed the limits of its creator’s power – so if its within Neva’s ability, it will be granted, which sets a terrifying precedent for the kind of power the old Namekian possesses. From what we’ve seen, as the creator of the original Dragon Balls, Neva has some kind of sovereignty over Dragon Balls, even the ones he didn’t create himself.
Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Release Date
- October 11, 2024
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Akira Toriyama