Dragon Ball’s timeline is messy, and the series’ continuity isn’t always consistent. Ever since it began, Dragon Ball DAIMA has made things more confusing than they’ve ever been before. This was inevitable with the anime being set in-between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, but especially strange choices have been made to really make fans scratch their heads.
Goku having the ability to use Super Saiyan 4 before Dragon Ball Super is the latest continuity issue to spawn from Dragon Ball DAIMA. While Episode 18 made it seem like Goku could only enter the form with help from Neva, Episode 19, “Betrayal,” makes it clear that he can use it at will. Despite it not being able to match the power of Super Saiyan God or Super Saiyan Blue, there are plenty of times in Super when it would have made sense for Goku to use Super Saiyan 4, and yet it’s never even mentioned.
Related
Dragon Ball DAIMA Doubles Down on SS3 Vegeta Plot Hole, Retconning Dragon Ball Super Again
No matter how you slice it, Dragon Ball Super can no longer be canon without major revisions – and Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta is the proof.
Adult Goku Uses Super Saiyan 4 For the First Time in Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 19
Super Saiyan 4 is Goku’s Final Weapon Against Gomah and the Evil Third Eye
With the introduction of Super Saiyan 4 in Episode 18, “Awakening,” Dragon Ball DAIMA gave itself the perfect explanation for why Goku doesn’t use the transformation at all in Dragon Ball Super. Specifically, Goku is only able to power up after receiving a magical transfusion from Neva. If the anime had wished to, Dragon Ball DAIMA could have established that Goku is incapable of accessing Super Saiyan 4 without the elder Namekian’s help. With only two episodes remaining in the anime, this wouldn’t have been difficult.
For whatever reason, this idea is immediately contradicted and disproved. At the end of Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 19, “Betrayal,” Goku makes a big show of cycling through his transformations in a moment reminiscent of Super Saiyan 3’s reveal during Dragon Ball Z’s Buu Saga. At the conclusion of this sequence, Goku re-enters Super Saiyan 4, and does so without Neva’s help. While SS4 Goku’s focus in this moment is entirely on his final battle against Gomah, fans are left scratching their heads at the implications of his ability to do this.
Related
Dragon Ball DAIMA’s penultimate episode restores the status quo in a glorious, action-packed assault as Goku and Vegeta go all-out on Gomah.
It’s undeniably cool to see Super Saiyan 4 not only canonized, but in a form more akin to how it looked in Dragon Ball GT, while used by an adult Goku. With its awesome power, Goku will finally be able to defeat the Supreme Demon King, and the infinite dark magic of the Evil Third Eye. Yet, it’s exactly because Super Saiyan 4 is such a famously strong transformation that Goku being able to freely utilize it is so bizarre. If he doesn’t need Neva to access the transformation, then there are numerous moments in which he should have used it in Dragon Ball Super, which is set nearly 4 years after the events of Dragon Ball DAIMA.
There Are Numerous Moments in Dragon Ball Super Where It’d Make Sense For Goku to Use Super Saiyan 4
Goku’s New Transformation Doesn’t Line Up With Previously Established Events
In a way, it almost doesn’t matter that Goku never uses Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Super. There is not a single major opponent Goku faces in this series who is stronger than his Super Saiyan 3 form, but weaker than his Super Saiyan God form. True as this may be, Dragon Ball is an anime, not a fight simulator, and Goku makes very deliberate use of all his other available transformations throughout the anime to serve various narrative purposes.
The most obvious instance when it would have been pertinent for Goku to use Super Saiyan 4 is during his initial battle against Beerus on King Kai’s planet. After Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, and Super Saiyan 3 all fail to allow Goku to touch the God of Destruction, it would have only been logical for him to use Super Saiyan 4 against Beerus. Super Saiyan 4 Goku wouldn’t have stood any more of a chance against Beerus, but Goku doesn’t even think about trying to use it. Likewise, when Goku is discussing how strong Beerus is, he notes that even Vegito wouldn’t be able to fight against him, but makes no mention of Super Saiyan 4.
Related
Dragon Ball Finally Reveals Vegeta’s Worst Fear After 34 Years
Dragon Ball Daima Episode 19 reveals Vegeta’s greatest fear of over 30 years during his epic battle against King Gomah as Super Saiyan 3.
Even after Goku unlocks Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue, he still routinely uses his other transformations. Typically, this isn’t a matter of conserving energy, as Super Saiyan Blue gives him total mastery over his ki control. Rather, it’s because Goku likes to enjoy himself no matter how high the stakes get, and finds it fun to feel his opponents out while using his weaker forms. To an extent, there’s also a strategic element to this, as it can lure his enemies into a false sense of security. For all the times Goku uses Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2, he never uses Super Saiyan 4. Unlike Super Saiyan 3, which he barely uses after the Battle of Gods Arc, Super Saiyan 4 doesn’t even have the disadvantage of being a rapid energy drainer.
The one time that it would have been absolutely beneficial for Goku to use Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Super is during his battle against Caulifla, Kale, and the two’s fusion, Kefla. Goku has more goals during this fight than just to win. He’s trying to train himself, he’s aiming to buy time to regain the energy he lost during his fight clash with Jiren, and he’s attempting to train the Universe 6 Saiyans, and make them stronger. Super Saiyan 4 would have been the strongest transformation Goku could have used while focusing on restoring his God ki, and it would have been a valuable lesson for Caulifla and Kale if he’d displayed the highest peak of a non-divine Super Saiyan’s power.
The Nature of Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball DAIMA Remains Unclear
Neva Has Not Explained to Goku How He Gave Him a New Transformation
The biggest question about the canon incarnation of Super Saiyan 4 is what precisely it is. Neva may have given Goku the power to use the transformation, but fans know nothing else about it. Technically, it hasn’t even been confirmed that the canon version of this iconic form is called Super Saiyan 4, as Goku is yet to call it that. This all stands in stark contrast to Dragon Ball GT’s take on Super Saiyan 4’s introduction, which gave the new transformation one of the most satisfying, and most detailed, explanations in the franchise.
The secret to why Goku doesn’t use Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Super might be found in the form’s unique properties. Since so little has been explained about the canon version of Super Saiyan 4, the issues at play could potentially be resolved with a single line of dialogue from Neva. This might not be an especially satisfying way of handling things, but it would at least make sense of the current confusion. Given how little time is left in Dragon Ball DAIMA, it would also be the most efficient way to handle things.
Related
Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 20 Sets Up the Anime’s Final Battle (& Final Fusion?)
Dragon Ball Daima is nearly over, but the final anime by the late Akira Toriyama is going out with a bang for its final battle between Goku and Gomah.
Perhaps the most obvious explanation Neva could offer Goku is that the effects of the spell he used are temporary, and he won’t be able to use Super Saiyan 4 forever. Alternatively, Neva could have placed a restriction on the spell he used which keeps Goku from using the transformation outside the Demon Realm. This could either be explained as a necessity to make the magic work at all, or another example of Neva being cheeky and acting mischievously to amuse himself. The latter explanation could help to make the canon version of Super Saiyan 4 more interesting than it currently is.
If Goku can only use Super Saiyan 4 in the Demon Realm, then this could potentially be viewed as his “Majin” form, which would be fitting given the transformation’s demon-like appearance. It’s also possible that Neva may not say anything, but Goku will, and he’ll explain that he finds Super Saiyan 4 unsatisfying to use because he didn’t earn it with his own strength, just as he initially disliked Super Saiyan God. Dragon Ball DAIMA has one more episode to tie up its loose ends. Perhaps in Episode 20, “Maximum,” the anime will be able to explain why Goku never even thinks about using Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Super.
With how much is left to cover in the series finale, however, it’s more likely that it will remain an odd bit of weirdness that fans will theorize over for years to come.
-
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.
-
Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Release Date
-
October 11, 2024
- Writers
-
Akira Toriyama
-
