Fans who had been waiting for another creature like Majin Buu to appear ever since his debut decades ago rejoiced when Dragon Ball Daima finally delivered with Majin Duu and Kuu. Although they may have received mixed reactions, the twist and explanation as to why Dr. Arinsu added a Saibaman seed to Duu and Kuu’s recipe should have been more than enough to assuage the critics. However, Dr. Arinsu’s reasoning for using Saibaman essence as an ingredient is actually the same as what drove Dr. Gero to build Androids 16, 17, 18 and 19 the way he did.

On the surface, just reintroducing Saibaman to the Dragon Ball universe after decades of neglect was ingenious for nostalgia alone. Most people who are watching Daima are undoubtedly driven primarily to relive their childhood. In fact, Daima‘s inspiration was to commemorate 40 years of Dragon Ball. However, Majin Duu and Kuu’s inclusion served a relevant purpose by building upon a known and defining aspect of their species, which helped make their comeback all the more effective and innovative. However, this whole scenario is also correlated to a compelling part of the Android Saga.

Androids 16, 17, 18 and 19’s Ingredients Were Altered to Make Them More Obedient

Dr. Gero Played Around With the Material and Energy Core Till He Got It Just Right

In Dragon Ball Z, Dr. Gero changed how he built his androids to rectify past mistakes. Dr. Gero initially made Android 16 completely out of synthetic technology, but he saw it as a failure. Although Gero never stated why in the manga, creator Akira Toriyama elaborated in the Q&A section of “Dragon Ball Full Color Androids Saga” volume 3 that Gero felt that 16’s kind nature would conflict with his goal to destroy Goku, which turned out to be true. So he offset this by adding humans as a base for 17 and 18 to retain humanity’s natural fighting abilities.

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However, Dr. Gero also made 17 and 18 into energy infinite models, which turned out to be a mistake, since the doctor later linked their lack of obedience to their ability to create their own energy. Gero later attempted to fix this by making his next creation, Android 19, an energy absorption model, and based on how it turned out, Gero’s plan worked because 19 was loyal until the very end.

The Saibaman Seed Also Affects Duu and Kuu’s Obedience

Whereas Buu Was 100% Majin

Dr. Gero’s reasoning for not making Android 19 energy efficient matches with Dr. Arinsu’s decision as to why she added a Saibaman seed when creating Majin Duu and Kuu. Saibaman are naturally obedient, which Dragon Ball Z proved by how they completely obeyed Nappa and Vegeta when terrorizing Goku’s friends on Earth. Since Babadi had failed to control Majin Buu, Dr. Arinsu’s following theory in Daima suggested she could make her Majin more compliant by adding a seed from the easily manipulated Saibaman.

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Later events proved Arinsu’s experiment succeeded based on Kuu’s desire to do anything for her, but it also revealed another truth: the Saibaman essence diluted the Majin’s power. What’s so compelling is that Dr. Arinsu tried to compensate for how pathetic Majin Kuu turned out by how deeply she planted the seed into Duu. For Kuu, she planted it five centimeters. Meanwhile, it was 20 centimeters for Duu. The deeper the seed, the less the Saibaman essence diluted her creation.

On the surface, Dr. Arinsu’s answers to Majin Buu‘s failures seem simpler than Dr. Gero’s, since hers just required one new ingredient. Dr. Gero went from 100% synthetic technology to part human and from infinite energy to energy absorption models. However, Dr. Arinsu’s efforts stand out because of how she “installed” her one ingredient, and, of course, the inclusion of a whole other character and species from the Dragon Ball franchise, the once forgotten, Saibaman.