Dragon Ball DAIMA Shows Why Weekly Releases Are Best

Despite only airing a handful of episodes, Dragon Ball DAIMA has cemented itself as this season’s must-watch anime, receiving praise from fans and critics alike and drawing a whole new audience into the world of Dragon Ball. One of the most fascinating things about Dragon Ball DAIMA is that Toei Animation has opted to use a weekly release model rather than dropping all the episodes at once, meaning the show’s success is the perfect example of why the weekly release model is superior for both fans and studios.

Dragon Ball DAIMA sees Gomah, a being from the demon realm, become the realm’s king after the sudden death of King Dabura. However, after seeing Goku and his friends take down Majin Buu, Gomah becomes worried that the gang will one day invade the Demon Realm, so he and his associate Degesu decide to head to the mortal realm, gather the Earth Dragon Balls and wish for Goku and his friends to be turned into children, presuming that this will render them helpless and unable to do anything. Of course, Goku and his friends refuse to take this change lying down, and thus, they head into the Demon Realm to work out how to return to their original bodies.

Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Weekly Release Adds To The Hype

Having To Wait A Week Makes Each Episode Feel Special, Leading To Vibrant Fan Communities

One of the best things about Dragon Ball DAIMA’s decision to use a weekly release schedule is that it turns every new episode into a massive communal event. When a show releases all its episodes at once, every viewer gets to watch the show at their own pace, with some being able to watch the entire show in a single night and others taking weeks or months to work through all the episodes. While some will argue that this is more convenient for viewers, it does lead to two massive problems. Firstly, being able to quickly work through the show whenever you have random free time makes each episode feel less noteworthy, as they often easily end up blending in with the background noise of day-to-day life.

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Secondly, the deliberate ritual of putting aside time to watch a show and knowing that others are doing the same enhances the experience and the atmosphere of each new release, similar to how major sporting events like the Super Bowl, World Series, or World Cup have a unique atmosphere and feel like a massive deal simply because the viewers know they are sharing in a grand experience with hundreds of other people.

Currently Released Dragon Ball DAIMA Episodes (And When They Came Out)

Plus, the wait gives fans time to digest plot points, concoct fan theories, make fan art, and talk about the show with their friends. Having time between episodes allows the viewers to ponder what they saw in the episode, allowing them to notice small details or make connections they may have missed on first viewing, leading to a deeper understanding of the plot and a greater connection to the characters. This helps make each new episode release even more exciting, as fans wait with bated breath to see if their theory is true or if their favorite character will make an appearance. This is especially useful for a show like Dragon Ball DAIMA, as while it is based on a long-running franchise, it is introducing a lot of new concepts and characters, many of whom may get lost in the shuffle if viewers binge the show, as people who rush through the show would likely only focus on the characters they already know and love.

These discussions, combined with the fact that everyone is at the same point in the story at the same time, lead to the formation of vibrant online and offline fan communities. These communities make every episode release feel like a bigger deal as viewers not only excitedly wait for the new episode, but also for the exciting discussion and interactions that follow it. This is great for fans but even better for anime studios, as immense amounts of public hype may lead to new viewers hearing about and discovering the show, which is very important considering anime studios live and die on their viewership figures.

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Spreading the episodes out also means it’s easier for viewers to avoid experience-ruining spoilers. When a show is released all at once, a viewer who falls behind can easily have the entire plot spoiled for them. While a viewer who falls behind on a weekly show can still encounter spoilers, only the current episode can be spoiled, meaning that the viewer is less likely to drop the show outright because they retain some immersion and still have unanswered questions.

Weekly Releases Allow For Easy International Distribution

Dragon Ball DAIMA Is Being Shown All Around The World, And The Weekly Model Means Everyone Gets The Best Experience

A weekly release schedule is also great for adventure or road trip-style stories as it allows the viewer to feel the scope of the journey, making everything feel more epic. When a viewer watches an entire show in a single night, the characters’ journey and the show’s world feel smaller, no matter how much the dialogue tries to stress otherwise, simply because the viewer’s perception of time trumps the fiction they are experiencing. So, by spreading the episodes out, the journey and world feel much grander, as the viewer’s personal perception of time matches what the characters are going through.

Similarly, the wait between episodes also adds extra weight to plot points and cliffhangers because the wait gives time for tension to build up and for the viewer to really consider the ramifications of what could happen to the characters, something which leads to the viewer feeling events as strongly as the characters do, something that doesn’t happen when the viewer can see the resolution to the plot beat within ten seconds of it being set up.

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It should also be noted that Dragon Ball DAIMA’s weekly release schedule is also the right choice due to the franchise’s international nature and the mixed distribution model it forces. In Japan, Dragon Ball has traditionally been aired on broadcast television. Dragon Ball DAIMA sticks to this tradition, airing new episodes on Fuji TV. However, in America, only a handful of anime series are broadcast on traditional television, with the vast majority of anime fans watching all shows via streaming. Using the binge model would make international distribution hard because if American fans got all the episodes at once, the global nature of the internet would mean that Japanese fans would get the story spoiled long before the final episode aired.

The only way to avoid this would be to launch the show on American streaming platforms after the show has finished airing in Japan. However, this leads to the opposite problem, as American fans would likely stumble on Japanese fans talking about the show online and get the whole plot spoiled long before the show is released. Thus, a weekly model is the best way to handle it as it means that all countries get the show and can enjoy it without being spoiled. No matter if the local distributor is a traditional television network or a streaming platform.

Having Dragon Ball DAIMA use a weekly release model was a stroke of genius. While some fans may not like having to wait a week between episodes, the upsides far outweigh the downsides. The wait between episodes has turned Dragon Ball DAIMA into a massive communal event, with fans across the globe adjusting their schedules to guarantee they don’t miss out on a single moment of Goku and his friends’ adventures. Because of this, every episode is surrounded by a cloud of social media hype so big that even people with no knowledge of anime have heard about the show and its importance, meaning that this show will likely be many people’s first exposure to Dragon Ball. Hopefully, other anime studios and distributors notice how much of an impact the weekly release model has had on Dragon Ball DAIMA’s reception and opt to use it for future releases.

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  Dragon Ball DAIMA

  Due to a conspiracy, Goku and friends are transformed into children. They intend to travel to a mysterious new world to undo this change

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  Dragon Ball

  Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.