Ever since the premise of Dragon Ball Daima was revealed, fans have been saying it looks a lot like the Dragon Ball GT series of the late '90s. Those comparisons didn't stop with Dragon Ball Daima's premiere. is approaching, so now is the perfect time to answer that question.
What is Dragon Ball GT?
Dragon Ball GT or “Dragon Ball Grand Tour” is a Dragon Ball animated series that premiered in 1996. This is a sequel to Dragon Ball Z. However, the GT anime is not based on any of the manga series by creator Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z), but instead as an original anime-only creation by Toei Animation, hoping to further capitalize on Dragon Ball Z's popularity.
The story of Dragon Ball GT sees Goku transformed from an adult back to his child state, due to King Pilaf's unintentional wish to the dragon god: “I wish you were smaller so you wouldn't get in my way anymore.”
The problem is, Pilaf uses the ultimate dragon balls (Black Star Dragon Balls), so after granting the wish-maker's wishes, they fly into space. If they are not collected and returned to their original location within a year, the earth will explode. Therefore, Goku participated in the journey to find the dragon balls throughout the universe to save the earth and return to its original appearance.
Dragon Ball GT is not considered canon in the main story and is often criticized for not being Toriyama's creation. However, it also helped solidify the franchise, with “mini” versions of popular characters, the introduction of Broly, as well as a Super Saiyan 4 transformation.
Later, Dragon Ball Super finally made the character Broly official.
Is Dragon Ball Daima a modest remake of Dragon Ball GT?
The story of Dragon Ball Daima has author Akira Toriyama actively participating in the design and creation process, after initially only contributing a few ideas. It appears that Daima is an attempted “remake” of Dragon Ball GT, with slightly tweaked parameters.
First of all, we know that Dragon Ball Daima will be a main story. So it's not an independent promotional anime. Additionally, we know that Dragon Ball GT involves exploring the galaxy, delving into dragon mythology and continuing with villains and story arcs from Dragon Ball Z. And Dragon Ball Daima will harks back to Dragon Ball's Demon Realm mythology, a place that appears in Dragon Ball games and promotional anime like Dragon Ball Heroes.
Based on what the trailer has shown, Dragon Ball Daima's story sees several demons escape from the Demon Realm and corrupt the Dragon Balls, with a spell that turns Goku and the Z Fighters into kid.
Goku must go on a mission with Kai to collect the Dragon Balls and reverse the beast spell, while fighting the forces of the Demon Realm. The content clearly bears many similarities to Dragon Ball GT, but focuses on material inspired by Toriyama himself, rather than a creative team at Toei.
After Toriyama's departure earlier this year, fans seemed willing to accept that as a full badge of authenticity.
