Dragon Ball has a legacy that spans multiple decades, encompassing entire generations. This is all thanks to the genius of Akira Toriyama, who spun wild, fantastical tales that captivated millions across the world.
Toriyama’s final gift to the fans was the Dragon Ball DAIMA installment, and it is rife with the Toriyama brand, the gags and the manner of engagement make it clear. The fans were extremely hyped when they saw the reveal of the Super Saiyan 4 form of Goku, even more so when it was declared to be canon.
But now, the director, Aya Komaki, has stated that the form was not a true Super Saiyan 4 form and was induced by Neva rather than being something unlocked. What does this mean for the legacy of Toriyama?
Why DAIMA’s Super Saiyan 4 was a massive letdown
The Super Saiyan 4 form that we saw in DAIMA was not the same one that was seen decades ago in Dragon Ball GT. Goku is now clad in all red, meaning that Toriyama gave this form his personalized touches to make it canon.
But after the many arguments and debates between the fans about how the SSJ4 form fits in with the continuity in the main timeline, the director, Komaki’s statement makes it clear that DAIMA’s SSJ4 wasn’t achieved through Saiyan evolution but was instead triggered by external forces.
The director of the episode where Goku’s new Ssj4 form is Awakened for the FIRST time (thus the term awakening) confirms that the form is new (he was not hiding it from Vegeta) and they also expanded on what they were thinking for the portrayal of how the form was “Born” meaning… pic.twitter.com/N0bZwvRUgn
— Jordan Lee (@JordanLDurham) March 3, 2025
This completely changes how the form is perceived and its place in the franchise. Fans always viewed SSJ4 as the ultimate progression on the Saiyan path. However, according to Komaki, the form is the result of the fusion of Saiyan power and Great Ape characteristics.
She is the foremost authority in interpreting the scene, but saying that DAIMA’s SSJ4 is not really a Super Saiyan 4 approach undermines that idea. Instead of being the peak of Saiyan evolution, it’s now just a transformation forced by Neva’s energy.
Isn’t it too soon to forsake Toriyama’s legacy?
Even in Toriyama’s concept art, this version was labeled “SSJ4 for DAIMA,” we cannot be sure what his intentions were when he made it. But it feels like dissociating DAIMA’s Super Saiyan 4 from the canonical timeline is to make room for a nouveau Super Saiyan transformation in Dragon Ball Super.
Unlike a fusion of the Great Ape instincts and the Saiyan bloodline, a natural and unlocked form would mean greater power. Considering the existence of the Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego techniques in Dragon Ball Super, only a massively powerful transformation would be relevant.
Odd because from what I interpreted from the last episode, Goku knew he had it. He mentioned training hard after Buu to obtain it
— AEGI Phoenix (@AEGI_Phoenix) March 4, 2025
Yeah that line from goku only meant that he knew there was something beyond 3 not that he already had the form i thought was obvious
— Maicon (@Maicon75458987) March 3, 2025
This primal form was definitely useful against King Gomah, but after the power scaling, it will be a puny form on the Universal scale, especially when Gods of Destruction and Angels come into play.
It can also be seen that the Dragon Ball GT had primitive art for Goku and Vegeta’s SSJ4. The tone of the series has changed a lot since then, and Toyotaro might embrace a different idea of how the Super Saiyan 4 should look.
Considering that Ultra Instinct is a technique, the ultimate goal might be to utilize the Super Saiyan 4 form with Ultra Instinct. Is this defying Toriyama’s will or complying with it? We do not know, but one thing is for sure, we will get to see a new Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Super.
Dragon Ball DAIMA is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
