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The appeal of Dragon Ball goes far beyond just anime – it is a genuine pop culture phenomenon that transcends genres. So, it makes sense that Netflix, the biggest streaming service in the world, would want in on the action. With anime becoming a more important part of the Netflix library each year, they’re adding Dragon Ball Daima to their Fall line-up just a week after the first episode debuts on Crunchyroll.

The announcement shows the growing competition that Crunchyroll faces in the anime streaming world. This season, Netflix has the Ranma ½ remake and is streaming new episodes of Dan Da Dan at the same times as Crunchyroll, but the acquisition of the latest – and potentially last – Dragon Ball anime is a bit different. Crunchyroll, in its previous form of Funimation, was responsible for bringing what is arguably the most famous Dragon Ball English dub to Toonami. This brought the series to the English-speaking world in a more accessible way and gave a whole generation their first taste of what anime could be. The franchise is tied to the company’s history in a very real way.

Typically, Netflix has a handful of exclusive anime like Delicious in Dungeon each season, or it picks up the rights to the first season of a popular anime from Crunchyroll’s library. This works well for both parties – Netflix gets a popular show to add to its library and Crunchyroll remains the place to see new episodes when they air. Plus, legions of new fans are exposed to shows like Spy x Family and Jujutsu Kaisen, giving them an incentive to subscribe to Crunchyroll when new episodes air.

With Dragon Ball Daima coming to Netflix on October 18, 2024 – just a week after its Crunchyroll debut – it feels like the two companies are entering a much more direct competition. Even with parent company Sony’s backing, it is unlikely that Crunchyroll can compete with the simple number of subscribers that Netflix has. 

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Aggretsuko vs Chainsaw Man: Two Wildly different anine with the same anti-capitalist message
• The Summer Anime season return of Kaiju No. 8, Sakamoto Days, & Dan Da Dan are forcing me to break my vow of watching less anime
• From Tomo-Chan to Oshi No Ko: How some of your favorite manga creators got their start in hentai
• Piracy is baked into anime's past, but, like Crunchyroll, we should move on from it
• Flying whales, mechs, and Miyazaki vibes: Inside Netflix's Leviathan anime with the people who made it
• How AI translations of manga continues the 'enshitification' of the medium, and why Japanese publishers are "less precious" about it
• I never wanted a Cyberpunk Edgerunners sequel, but God help me I'm going to watch it
• The Summer Hikaru Died delivers its cosmic horror at an agonizingly slow pace
• The one thing that Dan Da Dan does better than Demon Slayer ever did
• Studio Ghibli movies have never been as cozy as you think they are and that's what makes them magic