‘Dragon Ball Daima’ Episode 5 Recap & Review: A Super Step Backwards

Warning: Spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima Episode 5, “Panzy,” ahead.

With the overwhelming amount of content being released every year, jumping into a brand-new series is not as simple of a decision as it used to be. For a recognizable franchise such as Akira Toryiama‘s Dragon Ball, fans have been divided going into Dragon Ball Daima since it takes a step back from the action-heavy stories.

With five episodes now out, the series has gone back to its roots, for better or worse, with its narrative pacing and worldbuilding. Goku (Masako Nozawa), Supreme Kai (Yumiko Kobayashi), and Glorio (Kōki Uchiyama) now have a plan to use the Demon Realm Dragon Balls and save Dende (Erina Goto). A mysterious woman just introduced herself to them in Dragon Ball Daima Episode 4, but just who is she, and can she be trusted? Find out in our Dragon Ball Daima Episode 5 “Panzy” recap below!

Panzy Joins the Team in ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ Episode 5

The episode begins with the caped woman (Fairouz Ai) revealing herself to Goku, Glorio, and Supreme Kai. She questions how Goku can be such a strong kid, but he casually mentions that he trains a lot. When she notices Goku’s round ears, Glorio mentions that he’s a Saiyan from the Second Demon World. As they’re leaving, Goku accidentally tells her that they’re going to see King Kadan (Naomi Kusumi). She offers to go with them and says her name is Panzy.

She asks what magic Goku can do since every Majin can do at least one spell. Goku fails to do anything substantial, so Panzy uses telekinesis to lift a rock, but it takes a lot of effort. She notes that her real specialty is tinkering with machines.

Panzy questions what business a Glind like Supreme Kai has in the Third Demon World, but Glorio gets annoyed and tells her to stop asking questions. As she leads them down a shortcut to King Kadan’s castle, she complains that Demon King Gomah’s (Showtaro Morikubo) gold coin policy is cruel since The Gendarmerie will drain nine years of a person’s life. She notes that people in the Demon World can live up to 1,000 years.

King Kadan Meets Goku in ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ Episode 5

When they reach King Kadan’s castle, Goku doesn’t find it impressive. Glorio mentions that the Third Demon World King is like an uncivilized mafia boss. Pazny defends the King slightly by saying he only steals from criminals and only kills bad people. When they reach the gates, Goku, Supreme Kai, and Glorio learn that Panzy is King Kadan’s daughter and the Princess of the Third Demon World.

Meanwhile, in Demon King Gomah’s castle, he complains that one of his employees needs to be better at taking care of Dende since being captured in Dragon Ball Daima Episode 2. Gomah plans to have Dende make new Dragon Balls for him once he grows older. Back at King Kadan’s castle, Panzy vouches that Goku is a strong fighter. King Kadan wants Demon King Gomah defeated so he can take on the role and bring peace to the Demon Realm.

King Kadan says if Goku defeats Demon King Gomah, he can marry Panzy when they’re older. But Goku notes he has already a wife and kids. Supreme Kai fills them in on how they were turned into kids by Demon King Gomah. King Kadan and Panzy are shocked that Goku and Supreme Kai plan to battle the Tamagamis guarding the Demon Realm Dragon Balls, mentioned in Dragon Ball Daima Episode 1. Before he lends them a plane, King Kadan has Goku fight his warriors without any weapons to prove his strength.

Goku Faces King Kadan’s Army in “Panzy”

Goku easily defeats King Kadan’s guards, briefly turning into a Super Saiyan to push his opponents away. Impressed by Goku’s strength, King Kadan supplies them with an aircraft, food, water, and weapons. He also has the new plane’s data rewritten so they can access Warp (Kenichi Ogata) without any issues. Supreme Kai asks if King Kadan can help Bulma (Mai Nakahara), Vegeta (Yudai Mino), Piccolo (Tomohiro Yamaguchi), and Kibito (Yusuke Handa) to the Demon Realm without a PIN.

King Kadan asks one of his soldiers, Hybis (Reimi), to go to the outside world and escort Vegeta and the crew into the Demon Realm. Without any planes large enough to fit them, King Kadan has his other soldiers steal one from a gang. Goku says they’ll go on ahead while the others catch up. Panzy gets ready to join them since her tech expertise could be an asset. Goku promises King Kadan that he’ll protect her.

Before they jet off, Supreme Kai privately provides more evidence to Goku that Glorio is suspicious. King Kadan didn’t know they were turned into kids, but Glorio wasn’t shocked when he picked them up. Glorio also mentioned that he was “requested by the King” to get them, but he was the one who approached King Kadan. Goku doesn’t seem worried just yet.

‘Dragon Ball Daima’ Episode 5 Loses Steam

The final moment of Dragon Ball Daima Episode 5 sees Goku and the crew crash land somewhere in the Third Demon World after barely blasting off since their packed belongings weighed them down. “Panzy” ending with the ship crashing right away is annoying. While the episode continues to advance the story, introduce lore, and fit in action scenes, it feels like the series is moving one step forward and two steps back.

It’s starting to make sense why the series has 20 episodes lined up with these obstacles constantly being introduced. While Dragon Ball Daima seems to be falling into the same narrative detours Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball GT had, Episode 6 has the potential to change this franchise trend.

Dragon Ball Daima is streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix with Japanese audio and subtitles in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. New episodes are released weekly on Fridays.

Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.