Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 review: Arguably the first filler episode except for one detail

Modified Jan 10, 2025 22:30 GMT

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 review and more (Image via Toei Animation). — Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 review and more (Image via Toei Animation)

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 aired on Friday, January 10, 2025, at 11:40 pm JST. This episode was mostly focused on the party having a forced landing on a mysterious planet in the Second Demon Realm, which, while fun, could be considered inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, except for one detail at the beginning.

This Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 review analyzes the anime’s storyline, production quality, casting choices, and other elements. Let's see the series' progression thus far and conclude whether it does justice to the legacy of author Akira Toriyama and the franchise.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series and reflects the author’s opinions.

Reviewing Dragon Ball Daima episode 13

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13: A brief synopsis

Dr. Arinsu as seen in the most recent episode (Image via Toei Animation)

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 starts with King Gomah being utterly frustrated at the fact that Goku's party has gathered two of the Dragon Balls. He requests Degesu to shut down the Warp-sama so they can't access the First Demon Realm. Degesu agrees to do it, but the episode shows him conflicted about the decision.

Meanwhile, the party is having issues with their ship and is forced to land on a mysterious planet. During this time, Bulma and Panzy work on fixing the ship, bonding with each other. Glorio is also seen talking with Dr. Arinsu in secret, with the latter stating that, after Majin Duu's recent victory, she now has all the Dragon Balls.

The last part of Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 has Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo dealing with the Megas giants who live on that planet, with the protagonist doing most of the work as a Super Saiyan to help the others escape. They manage to do so, and the episode ends with Neva stating that the Second Demon Realm has an even more terrifying planet than this one.

Narrative review of Dragon Ball Daima episode 13: A fun but mostly inconsequential episode

Super Saiyan Goku with the party in the most recent episode (Image via Toei Animation).

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 arguably suffers from some whiplash effect because of the previous one having come out two weeks ago and Vegeta's Super Saiyan 3 being such a talking point ever since. That is because it makes the story's events perhaps not worth waiting for many people. Especially considering that barring the Gomah decision with the Warp-sama, what happens here doesn't affect the plot greatly.

It is quite obvious that Toei Animation has delivered once again in the animation of the fighting sequences, the visuals, and the music, with all of these elements being a consistent highlight of the series. Some interactions in the episode, such as the one between Panzy and Bulma, are nice to see, but this section was also lacking compared to previous installments.

It's quite clear that this series's adventurous nature continues to divide many fans. However, this episode might be the one where that approach didn't contribute to moving the plot forward. That wouldn't be a problem if Daima was a series with several arcs and a long-term vision, but instead has a limited amount of episodes, so things like this hurt the pacing.

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13: Reviewing the production, animation, soundtracks, and voice acting

Vegeta, Shin, and Piccolo in the most recent episode (Image via Toei Animation).

The voice actors continue to deliver high-quality performances, which is shown throughout the interactions. Characters such as Bulma and King Gomah have some solid performances because they tend to have a wider emotional range, which is clearly seen in this episode.

As mentioned earlier, the animation continues to be another strong point, especially when it comes to the fighting sequences of the series. Goku's fight with the Megas giant was well done, and his Kamehameha to his pet was definitely a highlight of the episode.

Final thoughts

Dragon Ball Daima episode 13 was mostly a fun venture that added more details to the lore of the Demon Realm. It provided a bit of world-building but might not influence the story in the grand scheme of things. Leaving aside Degesu shutting down Warp-sama, this might be the first episode in the series that could qualify as filler.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika