After 25 years,Dragon Ball Daimahas just broken a major record for anime in the United States. While anime has always been big in the West with fans, critical reception has been another story, not so much that critics have hated anime, but because, for whatever reason, any appreciation they have has rarely translated to awards, whether it’s winning them or simply being nominated.
Dragon Ball, of course, is no stranger to being snubbed from awards in the West, but that’s finally changed in a major way. Nickelodeon just revealed the nominees for the next Kids’ Choice Awards, and to the surprise of many,Dragon Ball Daimais the first anime to be nominated for Favorite Cartoon at the Kids’ Choice Awards sincePokémonin 2000. Considering how the Kids’ Choice Awards typically play out,Dragon Ball Daima’s chances of winning are slim, but the fact that it could achieve such an honor is nonetheless impressive.
Dragon Ball Daima Is Great, But It Has No Chance At The Kids’ Choice Awards
Why Dragon Ball Daima’s Failure Is Inevitable
Dragon Ball Daimagetting nominated for the Kids’ Choice Awards is great, but unfortunately, it stands no chance of winning. The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon has almost always been won by Nickelodeon cartoons, and the past 20 years, specifically, have seen the category dominated byNickelodeon’s best show,SpongeBob SquarePants, not unlike how Disney and Pixar have famously had a stranglehold on the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Whether the show is rigged is hard to say, but regardless,SpongeBob SquarePants’ dominance at the Kids’ Choice Awards all but assures thatDragon Ball Daimawill lose.
That doesn’t mean thatSpongeBobcan’t be beaten, of course. Not only didSpongeBobnot win Favorite Cartoon until 2003, withRugratsandThe Simpsons, of all shows, winning from 1999-2002, but whenSpongeBobwas on a winning streak from 2003, it was briefly dethroned in 2008 byAvatar: The Last Airbender, as well.SpongeBob’s current dominance is unlikely to be broken again, but at the very least,the fact that some shows have beatenSpongeBob SquarePantsat the Kids’ Choice Awards proves thatDragon Ball Daimastands something of a chance, and that’s something to look forward to.
Dragon Ball Daima Is One Of The Best Shows Of The Year, Kids’ Choice Award Or Not
Why Dragon Ball Daima Is So Great
Even ifDragon Ball Daimadoesn’t win at the Kids’ Choice Awards, that doesn’t change how great a show it is. Not only doesDaimahave some of the most breathtaking artwork and animation of anyDragon Ballproject, especially in the final few episodes, but the story is incredibly fun for how much it plays into the adventure comedy tropes of classicDragon Ballwhile still maintaining the great action that has defined modernDragon Ball.Dragon Ball Daimais easily one of the best anime of modern day, and that won’t change anytime soon.
More to the point is how muchDaimarespectsAkira Toriyama’s legacy. Toriyama was always at his most comfortable when he was free to makeDragon Ballas lighthearted as possible while still throwing in plenty of action, soDragon Ball Daimais a great show because it’s the exact sort ofDragon Ballstory Akira Toriyama had been wanting to write for years. Winning the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon would be great, but anyone who’s seenDragon Ball Daimaalready understands what makes it so special, and it’s going to stay like that for years to come.
