beyblade

In anime and manga, the story is about a group of children battling with highly powerful spinning tops enchanted with sacred bit-beasts or spirits of mythical and powerful creatures.

The show focuses on the battles between Beyblading teams. The protagonist team, the Blade Breakers, includes Tyson Granger (Takao Kinomiya in the original Japanese versionsn), Kai Hiwatari, Max Tate (Max Mizuhara), Ray (Rei Kon/Rei Kong), and Kenny (Kyoju) who battle it out against teams across the globe to be the world's best beybladers.

The Beyblade anime is licensed by Nelvana in North America. The Beyblade manga, made by Takao Aoki, is published in English in North America by VIZ Media and keeps its original right to left format, though names are changed to match the English anime version. In Singapore, it is published in English by Chuang Yi.

Seasons

Beyblade has a total of 3 seasons with about 51 episodes in each. The Japanese names for each season have been put in the brackets. In season one the beyblades were drawn by hand only, but in seasons two and three they were brought to life with a mix of drawings and CGI.

• Beyblade (爆転シュート　ベイブレード - Bakuten Shoot Beyblade)

The first series aired. Featuring the appearance of real life Beyblades. Most of the Beyblades featured on the show were never released in real life.

• Beyblade V-Force (爆転シュートベイブレード2002 - Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002)

Second series using better animation and character design. Featuring a new cast character Hilary Tachibana (Hiromi Tachibana).

• Beyblade G-Revolution (爆転シュート ベイブレード Gレボリューション - Bakuten Shoot Beyblade G-Revolution)

The third and final series that featured a new character called Daichi who first appeared in the movie and had his own story in the BeyBlade manga. Characters look slightly older than in Beyblade V-Force, Dizzi is removed,and Tyson's jacket (from the first season) returns.

North American changes

Arriving in Canada, Beyblade was significantly changed to make it more palatable for a western audience. The most notable of the changes include:

• The term "Go Shoot" was replaced with "Let it Rip" for unknown reasons
• New intro/opening sequences.
• Several characters' names were changed, many characters having their Japanese names changed to English alternatives.
• Instrumental soundtracks were changed to pop-punk style music, with lyrics. There wasn't any original Japanese soundtrack remaining.
• Logos originally displayed in Japanese were redesigned in English.
• In V-Force dubbing, the name of Ray's new beyblade Driger-V was mistakenly(?) called "Driger 5". However, the "V" actually stands for "Vulcan". But seeing as "V" is the Roman numeral for "5", it's almost understandable how this mix-up occurred.
• AJ Topper and Brad Best were added to make comments about the tournaments. Originally, Blader DJ filled this role.
• Kenny's bitbeast, Dizzara(aka "Dizzi"), was added for comic relief during the first two seasons. It was said in the dub version that she accidentally entered his laptop causing her to speak. Dizzi did not appear in the third season.
• Before every official fight, a small scene talking about the bladers and the stadium appears. First, it shows the stadium, in different angles, with its name. Then it shows an image of the blader, his/her attack, defense and endurance points, name and special attack. An image and name of the bit beast also appears.
• Elements of the dialogue were also changed.
• Every episode and season had its title changed from its Japanese counterpart, except for the third season's title (G-Revolution).
• In the conclusion of G-Revolution, Beyblade's last season, the original version contained some images showing all the characters that ever made an important appearance, like those in V-Force and those who didn't return in G-Revolution. For some reason, Nelvana censored the images, although they were nothing but images showing all the characters. A similar thing was done for the conclusion of Cardcaptors
• Many team names were changed in the Canadian dub. (e.g. Team BBA was changed to Bladebreakers). The only two teams to not have their names changed were Team BBA Revolution and BEGA (also known as Justice 5). Both of which come from the third season Beyblade G-Revolution
• Originally the Beyblade name and the bit-beast name was kept separate. (Like instead of Dragoon, for both the blade and the bit-beast, It was Dragoon for the blade and Seiryuu for the bit-beast)

Fan reaction to these changes were mixed. Hardcore fans disliked the dubbed version of Beyblade and used the original Japanese versions as references instead. These changes are comparable to the US version of Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptors, which was also dubbed by Nelvana. It should be noted that in the pilot, Tyson says winder, the original name of the tool, rather than ripcord. It should also be noted that in V-Force, whenever a bit-beasts' data was shown, it's original name is shown (e.g. Seiryu rather than Dragoon).

Media

The whole of season 1 of Beyblade has been released on VHS and DVD (apart from the UK which only has the first 40 episodes). Beyblade G-Revolution has been released on DVD by Funimation. Due to fan outcry, Volume five onwards will contain the original Japanese episodes as well as the dubbed version. Volume 5 and 6 were released but no new releases have been comfirmed. So far, Australia has got the first 12 episodes of the second season (dubbed).

Beyblade Games

There have been several video games based on the show, spanning the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation and GameCube. However, as is the case with many video games based on licensed properties these games have been critically panned.

• Beyblade (Game Boy Color, Japan Only)
• Beyblade (PlayStation)
• Beyblade 2 (PlayStation, Japan Only)
• BeyBlade: Super Tournament Battle (GameCube)
• Beyblade: GRevolution (Game Boy Advance)
• Beyblade Ultimate Blader Jam (Game Boy Advance)
• Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002: Takao Version (Game Boy Advance, Japan Only)
• Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002: Daichi Version (Game Boy Advance, Japan Only)

Broadcasting Blocking Issues

• Brazil: Jetix (and some time ago, Globo(TV Xuxa's block), but not any more.)
• Denmark: Cartoon Network (Toonami block)
• India: Cartoon Network (Toonami block)
• Ireland: RTÉ Two (The Den block)
• Poland: Jetix (and some time ago, Polsat, but not any more.)
• United Kingdom: Toonami and Five (and from 2002-2004, Cartoon Network)
• United States: ABC Family (JETIX block) and Toon Disney

Movie

Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle ((爆転シュートベイブレード THE MOVIE 激闘!!タカオVS大地 - Bakuten Shoot Beyblade The Movie: Gekitou!! Takao vs Daichi) is chronologically between second and third TV series, but Daichi appeared in the movie. A new Beyblade team named Shadow Bladers (consisting of new beybladers Steven, Ashley, Daniel, and Henry) was introduced.

After Tyson won Japan BBA tournament, Daichi challenges Tyson inside the stadium. Meanwhile, Professor Tengai discovers an ancient warning of the dark spirits inside a cave in the island. When Daichi's Beyblade starts glowing during the beybattle, the dark bit beast from the Demon Rock Island starts possessing Tengai's students. The Shadow Bladers seek Daichi's bit beast, Strata Dragoon, in order to release the bit beasts from the ruins. After the Shadow Bladers captured Daichi and Strata Dragoon, the dark bit beasts possess Daichi and intent on reunite with the 4 sacred beasts that are partnering with none other than the Bladebreakers!

Criticism

Often the dialogue and writing of this show meet much criticism, including "corny" one-liners and many tiring catch phrases. Also, many plots of the series have been the target of ridicule, such as a jump from "beyblades" to magic (much like its card based counterpart Yu-Gi-Oh!). Among its flaws was also the dark, and usually evil, characters that threw off the momentum for what seemed to be a show basically about kids battling one another with fast moving tops. In the end, the show could not contend with rivals, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon.

Trivia

• Tyson's original Japanese first name, Takao, is the same first name as the creator of the Beyblade manga, Takao Aoki.
• Dizzara(aka Dizzi), Kenny's "Bit Beast", is not featured in the Japanese version, instead his Laptop is just a basic laptop used for data storage. The Dizzi character was added for comic relief, originally the laptop displayed graphics of each team member's Beyblade as well as stats and a status report.
• In the movie, during the final battle of the Japan tournament, look in the background. One of the signs says "Go Shoot" instead of "Let it Rip".
• The show's English intro theme song is sung by Supernova band vocalist, Lukas Rossi.

See also

List of Beyblade characters

External links

English

• Beyblade official website
• JETIX U.S. Beyblade website
• YTV Beyblade website
• Hasbro Beyblade website

Japanese

• (Japanese) Official d-rights homepage
• (Japanese) Takara Toys' Beyblade website