Dragon Ball DAIMA Director Reveals Akira Toriyama Made Everything Up After the 1st Half

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The anime series was the final *Dragon Ball* project Akira Toriyama, the series creator, worked on before he passed away. Recently, an interview with the show’s team revealed that the story for *Daima* wasn’t fully written when it was presented to Toei Animation.

Details emerged during a recent interview with *Dragon Ball Daima* Director Yoshitaka Yashima, featured in a bonus booklet with the Japanese Blu-ray release of the show. According to a translation and summary by X (formerly Twitter) user @Venixys, Yashima received an early draft of the script from Akira Toriyama that wasn’t finished – Toriyama hadn’t yet decided how the story would unfold or conclude. Yashima explained that the initial outline only covered about half of the plot, leaving the production team unsure of what would happen next.

Dragon Ball Daima Was Approved With an Incomplete Script

Yashima said that when he first read the original outline from the series creator, he had a general idea of what it was about. However, he was curious to see how the story would actually develop. Other people involved in the series, including Director Aya Komaki, explained that the initial draft was surprisingly thorough. It included not only character dialogue but also the lyrics to songs. Komaki noted that the draft even contained musical notation for Neva’s singing and that the unique greeting ‘Kcha!’ used by the character Majin Duu was created by the series creator himself. Komaki felt this showed the creator’s dedication to every detail.

Yashima also shared in the interview that Toriyama collaborated closely with the anime team as the story continued. He explained they didn’t receive vague ideas, but rather detailed concepts developed with specific timing in mind. According to Iyoku, Toriyama didn’t just create backstory elements randomly; he’d introduce them when he felt it was the ideal moment to reveal them, rather than forcing ideas on the spot.

I was so excited when *Dragon Ball Daima* finally came out in October 2024, and I really enjoyed the ride! It finished its 20 episodes in February 2025. I know some fans were a little disappointed, maybe feeling the villains weren’t strong enough, but honestly, I thought it was a fantastic, fresh take that really captured the spirit of classic *Dragon Ball*. While Toei hasn’t officially said anything about a second season, Iyoku recently hinted that more *Dragon Ball* anime is definitely on the way! He said they’re working hard on things behind the scenes, so we should all stay tuned – I know I will!

Dragon Ball Daima is currently streaming on Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll.

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2025-10-06 01:39