Are the Kai Demons? This Changes Everything. Dragon Ball Daima Episode 3 Review

Dragon Ball Episode 3: “Daima” finally brings Goku and Shin to the Daima realm but some casual revelations might shake up everything we know about the Dragon Ball multiverse.

Does Toriyama intend to bring all his ideas full circle with these sudden reveals or will they topple over every plot built up that led to the Buu Saga?

The Demon Realm Explained

A lot of worldbuilding happens in this episode while using as little space and material as possible.

We begin with an explanation of how Demon World travel happens.

What we know as spaceships that were used by Gomah and to travel are actually “planes” for the demons.

This is because it seems that they treat Universe 7 or any universe’s space as air.

Like the last episode, Goku needs to adjust to his new body, which is going to help with the powerscaling of the series to be more palatable.

The air in the Daima Realm seems to much denser, yet another adjustment for Goku and any future fights in the area.

Bandits appear to try and attack the group with bows and arrows but Glorio scares them off with his weapon, which further adds to his mystique.

This is due to the Third Demon World’s gas causing the air to be heavy.

Is this gas specific to the Third Demon World or the other Daima worlds?

Speaking of which, notice that the Demon World is divided into three, with Glorio specifying that entry to the First Demon World is only for those from the palace of the Demon King.

The three Demon Worlds might be a reference to the old “worlds classification” that is still prominent to this day.

However, the terminology remains outdated as “Second World” refers to communist regimes and after the Cold War, there are only a few of them left.

In the context of Daima, the Second Demon World is the middle or upper class of the Demon World as shown when Glorio talks about Shin. More on that later.

We also get a bit on Demon World economics, as the hotel the group stays in overcharges and Goku is taking in new cuisine in the form of “black burgers” from the Demon World.

Goku’s loud statements and lack of familiarity catch the attention of the residents who want to drive him away but Glorio and Goku drive them off.

The Kai are Glinds? 

A major deal throughout this and last episode revolves around how pointed ears make a particular race a demon.

The only way someone can enter and exit the Demon Realm is by having pointed ears.

Even someone as human-looking as a Saiyan can pass off as a demon so long as they have pointed ears.

In the last episode, we learned that the Namekians actually came from the Demon World, which was treated as more of Akira Toriyama returning to the original intent of King Piccolo as a literal demon.

Through the Buu Saga, we see that demons are not exactly entities of pure evil, although majority of the characters who are identified as demons act this way.

Instead, we treat them as extra-dimensional beings who have often left the Demon Realm due to its excessive restrictions or the desire to make a name for themselves.

This motivation to leave the Demon Realm has been clarified in this episode as it explains the Namekians in general, as well as beings like Shin and possibly the other Kai.

It might even be possible that the Namekians leaving the Demon Realm motivated other races to do the same.

And we go back to Shin, who has gained prominence throughout this episode as Glorio, who is unfamiliar with Universe 7 or the Kai, points out from Shin’s appearance that the latter is a “Glind”, a Demon World race, which Shin confirms.

This raises some questions on the original explanation for the Kai origins, who were from the Core Planet and born from the fruits of a sacred tree, although this aspect is mentioned in the 2009 databook, “Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide”, which is not written by Toriyama.

However, this explanation does make sense and could even reveal something about the origin of the gods of Universe 7 and even beyond.

Glorio and Shin’s distrust is mutual because Glorio has a low opinion on Glinds, who are from the Second Demon World and usually have no reason to go to the “lower” Third Demon World, implying a form of classism among demons based on species and world location.

This does explain why Shin, who knew of his own demon origins and the travel protocols, was not aware of the need for a PIN number or clearance since he was probably used to less restrictive travel.

That or he was probably too young to have seen the development of stricter travel laws for the Daima Realm.

Some fans in community forums have pointed out how stupid the idea is because it acts as a hasty generalization over every pointy-eared creature encountered in Dragon Ball.

We might get more clarification later on but perhaps these recent plot elements are something Toriyama wanted to properly address through Daima.

With 20 episodes for the Daima Saga in total, we might see enough time for these controversies to settle.

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