Dragon Ball Daima Episode 19: Vegeta's Super Saiyan 3 Final Flash Nearly Ends King Gomah Before Goku Reaches Super Saiyan 4

Dragon Ball Daima episode 19, titled Betrayal, picked up right where episode 18 left off, and it did not waste any time giving fans what they wanted. Goku and the rest of the group are turned back into adults in the first ten to fifteen seconds of the episode, confirming that Glorio made the right choice when he summoned the dragon and used the wish himself instead of granting the demon realm figure's request to become ruler.

Goku and the Group Are Turned Back Into Adults Almost Immediately

Going into this episode, I expected the transformation back to adulthood to be saved for the very end of the series. "I thought they were going to wait till the very end," I said, based on how the story had been building. Instead, the show resolved it right away, which lines up with what episode 18 set up when Glorio was shown reflecting on the adventure he had with the group and how they bonded even though they were not especially close.

That quick turnaround also cleared away a plot thread that could have complicated the finale. Since the wish was already made and everyone is an adult again by the start of this episode, the show does not have to spend time on that transformation in episode 20, freeing up room for whatever else is being planned for the last chapter of the story.

Vegeta Dominates the Fight Against King Gomah With an Adult Super Saiyan 3

If you are a Vegeta fan, this episode was built for you. Vegeta took up roughly seventy five percent of the episode, fighting King Gomah for the majority of the runtime. I had heard from super chats that Vegeta was still going to be part of the fight, but I did not expect him to carry this much of the episode. He starts in his base form and actually manages to land several hits on Gomah before transitioning into the adult version of Super Saiyan 3.

One of the biggest revelations of the episode is just how much power Goku and the others lost while they were turned into children. I knew there was some kind of decrease, but it was much bigger than I had anticipated, even accounting for the fact that I expected some kind of nerf. As soon as Vegeta feels his power return with his adult body, he tells Goku, "I'll handle this," which is a very in character move for him, skipping any kind of rock paper scissors approach to deciding who fights first.

The animation during this stretch is crisp and clean, and the fight escalates into a beam struggle before Vegeta unleashes a Super Saiyan 3 Final Flash. The blast is massive, and I expect fan art of that moment to spread everywhere. It sends Gomah flying into the sky, and for a moment it looks like Vegeta actually finished him off. But the third eye kicks in again, regenerating Gomah and allowing him to grow even bigger, giving him a fourth distinct size when you count his pre Gomah form. It made me wonder how a game like Sparking Zero would even handle that many size variations, or whether they would include both the kid and adult versions of Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta.

Super Saiyan 3's Energy Drain Forces Vegeta Back to Base Form

As the fight continues, Vegeta powers back down to his base form while still fighting as a Super Saiyan 3. That immediately reminded me of the handicap tied to that form from the Majin Buu arc, where Super Saiyan 3 is described as high on energy consumption. A living body has to spend that power fast enough to win quickly, and if the fight drags on, the body cannot sustain the form.

Even after reverting to base, Vegeta still wants to keep fighting Gomah. "You got to respect the balls on that man," but I will be honest that I thought this was foolish given how powerful Gomah had already shown himself to be. At that point I felt like Goku, Vegeta, Kudo and Tamagami should all be jumping in together to beat him rather than taking turns.

That stubbornness reminded me of the Majin Buu arc, specifically when Vegeta broke Fat Buu out of pride even though Majin Buu had already wiped out a planet. As a viewer you are left thinking they are making the problem harder on themselves by being stubborn, and I understand why the characters do it, but I still found myself wishing they would just work together to finish Gomah off.

Goku Cycles Through Every Super Saiyan Form and Reaches Super Saiyan 4

With Vegeta stepping back, Goku tags in, echoing the structure of the Kid Buu fight on the Supreme Kai's planet where Goku and Vegeta traded off. Just like his first fight with Majin Buu above West City, Goku runs through the Super Saiyan forms in sequence, hitting one, then two, then Super Saiyan 3 with sparks and energy flying everywhere. I want people to actually listen to how Masako Nozawa performs Goku's voice differently as a child versus an adult, since some viewers have claimed they sound the same, and they genuinely do not.

Goku then taps into the remaining magic power given to him in the previous episode and begins charging up in a transformation sequence that reminded me of his Super Saiyan 3 transformation from the Janemba movie, with the same kind of exaggerated, over the top effects. The power up is strong enough to shake the entire demon realm, with a scene showing Tamagami 2 sensing it from a separate demon world despite the worlds being far apart.

Goku ultimately reaches Super Saiyan 4, the same magenta haired version introduced in episode 18, not the black haired form from Dragon Ball GT. This version is triggered by the magic used on him rather than the moon and the Golden Great Ape transformation that powers the GT version. I covered how that transformation works in a separate video explaining the mechanics behind it. Even though this form does not work anything like the other Super Saiyan forms and cannot be reached through training, it is still internally called Super Saiyan 4, and animators have referred to it that way, so I expect the name to stick for merchandise. I fully expect S.H.Figuarts to release both kid and adult versions, and I am curious whether a game like Sparking Zero would include both as separate entries.

The Third Eye's Hidden Weakness and the Plan to Remove It

Elsewhere in the episode, the demon realm figure who wanted to rule explains that a previous ruler was once able to put the third eye in and remove it at will, which sets up the idea that the third eye can be taken off Gomah. She sends a Majin ally to retrieve a spellbook, and I could not help noticing how much this character resembles Towa in design and function.

While Vegeta fights, Piccolo points out that the third eye is what keeps regenerating Gomah and preventing him from taking real damage, saving him every time it looks like he is finished. Reading through the book, the group learns that hitting Gomah three times in the back of the head hard enough can knock the third eye off entirely. That setup is very similar to the failsafe Dr. Hedo built into Cell Max's forehead, where hitting that specific point could damage or kill it, except here the weak point is on the back of the head.

Gomah's design pulls from several eras of the franchise at once. His clothing resembles Jiren, his size recalls Cell Max, and now his weak point mirrors Cell Max as well. That is part of why I do not like calling this show "GT 2.0." Yes, they are bringing back GT concepts, most notably Super Saiyan 4, but Toriyama and Toyotaro are clearly borrowing ideas from many different points in Dragon Ball's history, not just one.

Goku comes up with a strategy alongside Piccolo where he fights Gomah head on while Piccolo attacks from behind, and I assumed that could involve the Special Beam Cannon, though Goku never says that outright. If that is the plan, it feels close enough to the Cell Max setup that it might be a bit too derivative, but that remains to be seen.

Fusion Bugs and a Packed Finale Are Still to Come

I expected the fusion bugs to appear in this episode, but they were held back entirely and are being saved for the finale in episode 20. There had been talk about whether the last episode of Daima would run longer, since the premiere ran about 32 minutes, roughly eight to ten minutes longer than a normal episode. According to what Fuji TV listed on its site, though, the finale is still scheduled at the standard length, which means a lot of story will need to be packed into that time. My guess is that the episode will split roughly evenly between a big fight and the characters saying their goodbyes.

On the story side, the demon realm figure fires Glorio after he makes the wish, asking him, "did you forget what I did for you," which left me wanting to know more about what she meant. Despite firing him, Glorio still thanks her. Back with the group, Panzy thanks Glorio as well, and Goku finally says Glorio's name correctly for the first time, closing out the running gag of him getting it wrong throughout the season.

My Take on Episode 19 Compared to Episode 18

Both episode 18 and episode 19 were good episodes for me, though I think I liked 18 slightly more because of the music, the transformation sequence, and the sense of the whole group running and teaming up together. Episode 19 was not bad at all, just a notch below that in my view, and I think Vegeta fans in particular are going to enjoy this one more given how much screen time he received.

The next episode preview shows a glimpse of Super Saiyan 4 Goku fighting Gomah, but as usual these previews for Daima are extremely short, often only about five seconds, so most of the surprises are still being kept secret, including exactly how the fusion bugs come into play. The fact that the fusion bugs are still being saved tells me Super Saiyan 4 alone will not be enough to finish Gomah off. "I don't know how they're going to finish off this fight," whether it comes down to the third eye's strength or Goku running out of magic power. I don't know everything, but that is the cliffhanger heading into the finale.

What did you think of how episode 19 handled Vegeta's fight and Goku's transformation?