Dragon Ball Daima edits Mr. Popo off screen in France
Dragon Ball Daima has aired in France with Mr. Popo edited off screen, even though the character’s voice can still be heard in some scenes. The change was reported by Journal du Geek and picked up in coverage of the anime’s French television debut.
What viewers noticed
Daima first premiered in October 2024. The series, part of Akira Toriyama’s franchise, follows Goku and his allies after they are turned into children and sent into the Demon Realm. It arrived on French TV channel Gulli on November 4, 2026, and viewers soon noticed that Mr. Popo, the longtime attendant of Kami and later Dende, never appeared.
Instead of only trimming his lines, the broadcast removed, cropped or re-edited scenes so that he does not show up on camera. His voice remains in certain scenes, so the character technically still exists in the French version. One fan wrote on X that he speaks but does not appear on screen. Another report said Episode 2 was treated the same way, with scenes heavily re-edited and zoomed in to hide him.
The long-running debate over the design
Mr. Popo’s design has drawn controversy for decades. Critics argue that his dark skin, exaggerated red lips and other features resemble racist caricatures. Defenders say the character was never meant to depict a Black person. Some fans point to similarities with Mahakala, a dark-skinned guardian deity in Buddhist and Hindu traditions, and suggest the look draws on religious imagery.
The character has been altered before. In the American CW broadcast of Dragon Ball Z Kai in 2010, he was recolored blue. France is also not the first country to edit him out of Daima: Germany’s broadcast received similar changes when the show premiered on Toggo Plus in August 2026.
No official explanation yet
It is unclear whether the French edits were ordered by Gulli or by Toei Animation Europe. Neither has publicly confirmed the reason for the changes. The situation is notable because Toriyama was involved in Daima’s story and character designs, and the series even offers new hints about Mr. Popo’s mysterious origins.
Viewers in France who want the original version can watch all 20 episodes of Dragon Ball Daima uncensored, with subtitles, on streaming services including Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Source: dexerto.com
Image: dexerto.com