Dragon Ball Daima totally reshapes classic anime lore with a very clever scene you may have missed

Dragon ball resonates with so many people for so many reasons, and while more than just a few fans will likely agree with the vast majority of them, one reason that often goes unnoticed but serves as an important foundation that helped shape Dragon ballThe iconic world of is the influence of Chinese and Japanese folklore. Without a doubt, the most widely recognized of these influences is how the 16th century character Sun Wukong inspired Son Goku.

But, as in that example, as Dragon ball incorporated these influences for decades was very specific. Creator Akira Toriyama always reinterpreted them in such a way that they essentially became his own creations that were only loosely based on the original source material. In other words, Dragon ballSon Goku was never written to be the real Sun Wukong. He just shared a lot of characteristics.

However, Toriyama made a drastic change with Dragon Ball Daima incorporating a true Japanese folktale that serves as a story told to a character in Dragon Ball'universe. I was really shocked by this moment just because Toriyama had never done this before. Furthermore, if Daima Following the example of other animes that have used folk tales in this way, the effects would be very interesting.

A classic Japanese folktale appears in Dragon Ball Daima

The story of the red ogre and the blue ogre is known even in the demon world

In Daima episode #5, a Majin nanny taking care of a kidnapped baby. Dende reads little Namekian a story that includes a Red Ogre. The fact that there is a Red Ogre brings to mind The story of the red ogre and the blue ogre until although the Blue Ogre is missing. In this story, the Blue Ogre helps the Red Ogre befriend human children who were once afraid of him, but the Blue Ogre's methodology requires him to leave the Red Ogre for good. This marks an incredible shift in how the franchise incorporates lore into its story.

Although Toriyama has always incorporated folktales into his story, as with Sun Wukong, one that best highlights DaimaThe monumental deviation from the norm is one moment away from the anime adaptation of Dragon Ball Z manga when Goku meets a red ogre named Mez and a blue ogre named Goz in the house of infinite losers. Other than the fact that they are ogres and are red and blue, Mez and Goz share nothing with the red and blue ogres of the same name from Japanese lore.

It can be argued that Mez is like his red counterpart, as he helps Goku return to Snake Way, as his actions can be interpreted as Mez showing kindness towards Goku, just as the Red Ogre wanted to be friends with humans. However, it's still very different, as Mez only helps Goku because he lost a race against him.

Other anime have used the same popular story effectively

The blue and red ogre appears in many anime

Other anime have used real-life folktales as powerful metaphors for their fictional characters that represent certain aspects of the original story. One of the best examples is My love story!!which also used the Story of the Red Ogre and the Blue Ogre. In the first few episodes, the monkey protagonist Takeo Gōda always saw himself as the Red Ogre because he never got a girlfriend. He only saw his best friend and popular chick magnet, Makoto Sunakawa, as the Blue Ogre because he didn't seem interested in girls. But in later episodes, there is an incredible revelation where Takeo discovers that Makoto is more like the Blue Ogre than he thought because of the painful sacrifices he would have to make in his name.

Natsuki Subaru's Re: Zero also mentions the story of the two ogres, which has particular relevance in the series because Natsuki interacts with two girls of the Oni race, Rem and Ram, who have blue and red eyes and hair, respectively. Once again, a popular folktale is used to highlight important narrative themes in an anime, showing how ingrained this medium has become in Japanese culture over time.

From now on, Dragon Ball Daima It only referenced the Red Ogre and Blue Ogre story once, but it will be intriguing if the series brings it back with a deeper meaning, perhaps to highlight the relationship between two characters. As of now, no one knows who could represent the Red and Blue Ogres. Dragon Ball DaimaThe reference is so atypical of the franchise in general, but perhaps it becomes as effective a metaphor as it is for other anime.