Vegeta's Super Saiyan 3 Transformation Makes Dragon Ball Daima Episode 12 an Instant Classic

Dragon Ball Daima episode 12, titled True Strength, is easily my favorite episode of the series so far, and I think it is going to be a lot of people's favorite too. This episode was, in my words, "absolute peak," packed with top notch combat for almost its entire runtime as it continued the fight from last week between Vegeta and Tamagami 2, and between Majin Duu and Tamagami 1.

Vegeta escapes the creature that swallowed him almost instantly

The last episode ended with Vegeta getting swallowed by a giant creature, and this episode he simply gets right back out. Looking back on it, it felt like a forced cliffhanger thrown in just because this fight was always going to run more than one episode, rather than something that needed real resolution. Once that was out of the way, though, both the Vegeta and Tamagami 2 fight and the Majin Duu and Tamagami 1 fight were really good.

Surprisingly, Tamagami 1 and Tamagami 2 turned out to be stronger than expected. During the fight, Vegeta goes Super Saiyan and then Super Saiyan 2, trading blows evenly with Tamagami 2.

A burst of magic pushes Tamagami 2 into a glowing new form

Partway through the fight, the magic user powers up Tamagami 2 again. He has genuinely powerful magical abilities, and he enhances and powers up Tamagami 2 to the point where Tamagami 2 essentially transforms, though he does not change his overall look entirely. Instead he starts glowing purple and blue, which looked really impressive on screen.

Thinking about all the new characters and designs Daima has introduced, the Tamagami might be my favorite new Toriyama design of the whole series. They have this cybernetic vibe while still being alive and sentient, and the different weapons they carry only add to it.

Majin Duu needs a chocolate boost to defeat Tamagami 1

While the Vegeta fight was played completely straight, the Majin Duu versus Tamagami 1 fight leaned more into comedy, and both worked well for what they were going for. Majin Duu starts to struggle in his fight, and the way he turns it around is almost absurd: he needs a chocolate boost, because apparently chocolate motivates him. With that boost he manages to defeat Tamagami 1. It is worth remembering the rule here is not to kill the Tamagami, just to defeat them in battle, and doing so earns Majin Duu the one star Dragon Ball.

Gomah finally starts to suspect Dr. Arinsu

While the fight is happening, a group of military police show up to watch. Meanwhile Gomah and his companion, watching the Vegeta and Tamagami 2 fight from the castle, start to realize something is off. This is the episode where Gomah legitimately begins to suspect that Dr. Arinsu is up to something, because they see Majin Duu, his fellow Majin, and Dr. Arinsu together with the one star Dragon Ball and start questioning what is going on. Up to this point, Gomah simply did not know.

A math puzzle and a hidden hero solve Majin Duu's final challenge

Just like with Tamagami 3 before them, defeating Tamagami 1 and Tamagami 2 in battle is not enough to claim their Dragon Balls. There is still a non combat puzzle to solve first. This keeps reinforcing something I have said before about Daima, that it feels like a JRPG with a lot of Star Wars mixed in, since solving a puzzle to get what you need is exactly the kind of thing you see in a video game.

Majin Duu's companion helps him solve his puzzle, which turns out to be a series of numbers that need to be added up quickly, similar to how a genius character in a movie can add up complex numbers instantly. That companion may be weak as a fighter, but is clearly a math wiz, and is also, notably, a karaoke singer. Without that puzzle getting solved, they would never have gotten the one star ball, which makes that character just as much a hero of the episode as Majin Duu.

Vegeta's Super Saiyan 3 transformation scene is gorgeous

The Super Saiyan 3 transformation scene is absolutely gorgeous, and if you are a Vegeta fan, this needs to be seen. Once he goes Super Saiyan 3, it becomes serious business. Vegeta is faster, he is stronger, and Tamagami 2 cannot land a hit on him. At one point Tamagami 2 tries to attack with his trident, and Vegeta uses the Super Saiyan 3 power to simply break it.

He loses the eyebrows and his hair spikes back like Sonic, exactly as the transformation has always looked. In my view, this fight and this moment surpassed the earlier Goku versus Tamagami 3 fight in the series.

Answering the fans who call Vegeta a jobber

I saw a lot of comments this week from people saying Vegeta is going to job again, that he is a jobber who can never get a win. I understand people wanting Vegeta to be the main villain, and I do not think Tamagami 2 is a main villain at all, but this was still one of the greatest Vegeta moments ever put to screen, and it was executed so well.

Why didn't Vegeta use Super Saiyan 3 back in Dragon Ball Super?

I broke the story about Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta back in September, and when I first heard about it I did not believe it and thought I was being trolled, until I double sourced it and confirmed it was true. The obvious question is why Vegeta never used Super Saiyan 3 later in the Super era if he had it here. My speculation when the story first broke was that Vegeta has always known about the form since Goku used it in the Majin Buu saga, so it is not that he does not know about it.

Super Saiyan 3 is a flawed transformation. It offers huge power, defense, and stamina, but the energy consumption is extremely high, similar in concept to the drawback of Trunks's buffed up grade three form. That drawback is why, when Goku tried using Super Saiyan 3 against Kid Buu, his body could not sustain it, and against an opponent with Kid Buu's regeneration, that drain made winning nearly impossible. My guess is that Vegeta realized those drawbacks were not worth it and chose to stick with Super Saiyan 2 afterward. I do not think this is a plot hole, since Super Saiyan 3's flaws have already been established going back to Dragon Ball Z, stated by both Vegeta and Goku, and even referenced in the god books.

This was fan service, and Toriyama's feelings about Vegeta changed over time

There is no question this was fan service. Since Vegeta could not be given any god forms, and certainly nothing like Ultra Ego, giving him Super Saiyan 3 was likely a way to make Vegeta fans happy. There has been talk over the years that Toriyama once said he did not like Vegeta, but that was during the original manga run, and his feelings changed as time went on, which is part of why Vegeta became a secondary main character alongside Goku, especially throughout Dragon Ball Super, where the story revolved around the two of them and their adventures together. With Super Saiyan 3 now in hand, Vegeta is arguably on par with Goku, and a Super Saiyan 3 Goku versus Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta fight would be something fun to see.

The finishing sequence: a broken trident and a Mike Tyson style left hook

Tamagami 2 tries to stab Vegeta with the trident, and Vegeta blocks it with one finger before breaking it entirely, then delivers a chop that splits the water in half. Vegeta comes in hammering Tamagami 2 with punches, smashing him repeatedly. He follows with a Super Galick Gun, and just like in the Tamagami 3 fight, Tamagami 2 is able to hold it back and push it up, but that becomes a momentary distraction that lets Vegeta connect with a huge left hook to the jaw, which I called Mike Tyson's favorite punch. Vegeta then gets right next to Tamagami 2, grabs him, and drops him, ending the fight. Vegeta wins and, after solving the accompanying puzzle, earns the two star Dragon Ball. This was my favorite moment in Daima so far.

How the magic user's power actually powers the Dragon Balls

When the magic user casts his magic, he is actually powering up the Dragon Ball itself, which is what gave Tamagami 2 that blue aura. I had heard months earlier, though I do not remember exactly where, that the Dragon Balls in the demon realm work like an energy source that grants magical power rather than direct fighting power, and this episode is the first time that made full sense to me.

During the Majin Duu fight, Tamagami 1 also powers up and gets a red aura at one point, even though the magic user was not there to power up that ball. Either something different is going on, or Tamagami 1 knows how to do this himself. From what I understand, the lower the number, the stronger the Tamagami, meaning Tamagami 1 should be the strongest of the three, yet this episode made Tamagami 2 look stronger thanks to that power boost. It makes me wonder whether, had Tamagami 1 gotten that same power up, he might have been strong enough to beat Majin Duu.

What comes next for Daima

After the fight, Goku offers Vegeta one of the revive bugs, which work like a Senzu Bean, and Vegeta flatly says he will never eat a bug, which sets up the cliffhanger. Daima was not set to air the following week, taking a one week break for New Year's, and was scheduled to return on January 10 with episode 13, beginning the journey to the demon realm where Gomah is located and kicking off the larger finale. January 10 was also when the English dub episodes were expected to start appearing on Crunchyroll. As it stands, Vegeta and Goku together hold two of the Dragon Balls, Dr. Arinsu has one, and Gomah has just started to suspect Arinsu may not have his best interests at heart, with eight more episodes left for the story to play out.

What did you think of Vegeta finally getting his Super Saiyan 3 moment, and where do you think the story goes from here?