Beyblade (franchise)

Beyblade (Japanese: ベイブレード, Beiburēdo) is an acclaimed Japanese-Canadian multimedia franchise created by Japanese toy company, Takara Tomy and licensed and distributed by Hasbro. The franchise surrounds high-performance spinning tops called "Beyblades". Beyblades can be customized and are played by people called "Bladers" who challenge one-another in battles called "BeyBattles". Beyblade is also the name of various anime and manga series about a group of children who form teams with which they battle one another using Beyblades.

Beyblade is a very acclaimed toyline series, with over a billion units sold worldwide. Although it followed a hiatus after 2005, it returned in 2009 and received the same success it obtained as before.

Beyblade is an immensely popular series internationally, attracting millions of viewers since its inception and has been translated into different languages around the world.

The Beyblade anime is licensed by Nelvana in North America. The Beyblade manga, made originally by Takao Aoki, was published in English in North America by VIZ Media. In its revival, it was then made by Takafumi Adachi and is published in the Japanese maganize, CoroCoro Comic.

Etymology

Beyblade is a portmanteau of the words, "Beigoma" and "blade". Beigoma are a traditional Japanese spinning top that inspired and influenced the creation of Beyblade. While "blade" referred to the various spikes, protrusions, and such on the Attack Rings of plastic Beyblades.

History

Beyblade originally debuted in 2000 as a manga series known as Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2001 (爆転シュートベイブレード, Bakuten Shūto Beiburēdo 2001) which through time, became highly popular enough to be chosen by Japanese fans to become a full-on anime series. The anime series took the same name and like its manga counterpart, became very popular and successful enough for two sequels, Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002, and Bakuten Shoot Beyblade G Revolution. The anime aired roughly about a year with about 51 episodes (52 in G Revolution) and were shown on Japan's TV Tokyo.

Nelvana, a Canadian network company, licensed the Beyblade anime series to distribute it outside of Asia. With renaming the series as Beyblade, Beyblade: V-Force, and Beyblade: G-Revolution.

Up until 2005, the Beyblade franchise gained worldwide popularity and critical acclaim. With over millions of units sold worldwide. Despite this, a decrease in popularity bewitched the series with sales plummeting, as well as the anime and manga each finishing their run. Beyblade then entered a hiatus as it left the world.

Despite this, on August 9, 2008, new Beyblade products were released under Metal Fight Beyblade which consisted of new Beyblades, now with a metallic zinc alloy outer-laying, opposed to the previous plastic composition. A manga series called Metal Fight Beyblade came with it as well. Later, in 2009, it was announced that a new anime series would be commissioned based on the popular Metal Fight Beyblade manga and to air in that year.

Being of the same name, the Metal Fight Beyblade anime featured new characters, new setting, new Beyblades, new story, and an overall different universe. The series, like the previous Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, turned highly popular with two sequels produced, Metal Fight Beyblade Baku and Metal Fight Beyblade 4D. This series would be collectively known as the Metal Saga.

Nelvana, the original English licensor of Beyblade would then dub the Metal Fight Beyblade anime and bring it outside of Asian territories. With a new name, Beyblade: Metal Fusion with it's sequels renamed as Beyblade: Metal Masters and Beyblade: Metal Fury.

In early 2012, an all new Beyblade series was announced as well, as the Metal Fight Beyblade Zero-G series. Though part of the existing Metal Fight Beyblade era, Beyblade Zero-G introduced new machanics to Beyblade never-before-seen with a new anime and manga, though still taking place in the same universe as the Metal Saga.

Development

Beyblade began during the 1990's as a manga and a series of toys in Japan. The first Beyblade released was called Ultimate Dragoon. After the manga became a success, Beyblade was made into an anime that premeried in Japan, and was later dubbed and played in several other countries. Beyblade had three seasons, a few video games and a vast line of merchandise. The show originally was broadcast from 2001 and ended in 2004 in Japan. It was brought back in 2009 with a new anime based on a manga called Beyblade: Metal Fusion (Metal Fight Beyblade). The anime is aimed at younger elementary/primary-school aged children. It has a very young and light storyline with a younger and lighter tone in nature. It is a Shōnen or kodomo anime.

Aoki's most well-known work is Beyblade, which became a franchise around children who battle with spinning tops. He also made "Bakufu Slash;Kizna", "A War Story of Metal Walker" and "Mini-4WD Fighter V". Most of Aoki's manga revolve around video games or toys. His works are highly liked.

Characters

Main Article: List of Beyblade Characters

Anime details

List of Beyblade Episodes

Beyblade

Tyson Granger, a young boy and his friend, Kenny enter the Japanese Regional Beyblade Qualifying Tournament. There he meets Ray Kon, Max Tate and Kai Hiwatari and organize a team named the Bladebreakers in order to win the World Championship.

Beyblade: V-Force

The Bladebreakers have disbanded but their enemy teams reunite them quickly enough. Two new teams, Team Psykick and Saint Shields attack them by trying to steal their Bit-Beasts' for their own purposes. Hilary Tachibana (Hiromi) joins the team and throughout the season she learns Beyblade isn't a stupid game.

Beyblade: G-Revolution

Tyson, Max, Ray and Kai have once again disbanded the team and

rejoined their old teams so they have a chance to beat each-other at the World Championship. This leaves Tyson, Kenny and Hilary left on the team but a new Blader, Daichi Sumeragi and Tyson's older brother Hiro Granger join them. However when the team needs new Bey's, the shops only sell them to another team, BEGA. But, Kenny makes new Beys for the team using different parts. However the team needs one more member to get in the World Championship. Kai, returns to the group after failing to join team BEGA. The team then partake in the World Championship to become the best Beyblader in the world.

Beyblade: Metal Fusion

Gingka Hagane, a Beyblader from the Beyblading residence, Koma Village, travels the country in search of

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U.S. Beyblade: Metal Fusion Logo

strong Bladers. Along the way he meets Kenta Yumiya a strong but timid Beyblader and Madoka Amano, a beyblade mechanic. They are joined by Benkei Hanawa and Kyoya Tategami who start out as enemies but put aside their differences and develop friendly rivalries. Eventually it is revealed that Gingka is searching for the forbidden Bey, Lightning L-Drago after it was stolen by Ryuga and Doji of Dark Nebula, a secret organization with dark plans. They plan to use L-Drago to assume control of the world. It aired on Cartoon Network at 7:00 AM on Saturday Mornings.

Beyblade: Metal Masters

Gingka and his friends meet a new Beyblader named Masamune Kadoya. Masamune is a new Blader who

File:Beyblade-MetalMastersLogo.png

English Logo

joins Gingka's group and will stop at nothing to defeat him. Gingka and Masamune take part in the Beyblade World Championships where representatives from a country around the world compete to become the best Bladers. With Gingka and Masamune picked as the representatives of Japan they won't hold anything back to win. It comes on Cartoon Network at 7:00 AM on Saturday mornings.

Beyblade: Metal Fury

In the Cosmos, an unusual event has occurred.

Taking a break from their latest triumph over Faust and the Spiral Core, Gingka and Co find themselves saving a boy named Yuki from a mysterious youth named Johannes. Although Yuki is a boy genius and an

astronomer, he is a Blader who owns “Anubius”. Yuki says that he has come to tell Ginga and his friends about the voice of the Star Fragment. He witnessed the Star Fragment (a meteor) fall from the sky one day. That single light dwells within Anubius and he says that he heard the voice of the Star Fragment that evening. A great evil is trying to revive the “Black Sun” and "Nemesis", the god of destruction, by using the unknown power of the Star Fragment and destroy the world. Ginga and his friends must fight again, just as soon as they get the hang of their new 4D system beys! Experience the Cosmic Pegasus, Experience the 4D system!

Metal Fight Beyblade Zero-G

Zero Kurogane, the new protagonist who looks up to Gingka Hagane and aims to become the strongest Blader, is the No. 1 Blader who remains undefeated on his home turf. In order to test his own strength, Zero arrived at the town where Gingka and his friends were, but Gingka wasn't there and champion Bladers who aim at becoming the strongest Blader of tomorrow had gathered.

Straightaway, Zero starts to battle with them, but he wasn't used to dealing with the Zero-G Stadium, which wasn't in his hometown, so it was a tough fight for him... However, with his natural guts and instinct, Zero understands the walkthrough methods and heads towards victory.

As such, will the champion Bladers stand in Zero's way one after the other?!

Differences Between Anime and Manga versions

In the manga, most characters in the anime have slightly or significantly different backgrounds. For example, Tala Valkov (Yuriy Ivanov in Japanese) is less loyal to Boris/Bolkov while he was a part of Biovolt, mostly because he did not want to take other peoples' Bit Beasts away. Another example is Kai, who was a lot more ruthless, and slightly more sinister in the Manga than his appearance in the Anime. While he may have been heartless and cold at times during the Anime, his representation in the Manga was slightly more evil. In the manga, Kyoya Tategami is friendlier than in the anime, but curses much more.

Media

Merchandise

Main Article: Beyblade (toy)

Beyblade has toys based on the Beyblades' seen in the anime and manga. Beyblade are high-performance spinning tops that launch into an arena via their rip cord and battle another Beyblade.

Original Soundtracks

In the English language there are two different soundtracks, one of them which was made in Canada called "Let it Rip!" and the other soundtrack was made in the UK and was called "Beyblade Let it Rip!"

In Japan there are two Original Soundtracks for the first season Beyblade OST 1 and Beyblade OST 2" The second season has no original soundtracks. Beyblade The Movie - Fierce Battle, has an Original Soundtrack. The last Beyblade series G-Revolution has an Original Soundtrack also.

Films

Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle (Explosive Shooting Beyblade The Movie: Battle!! Takao VS Daichi (爆転シュートベイブレード THE MOVIE 激闘!!タカオVS大地 Bakuten Shūto Beiburedo THE MOVIE: Gekitou!! Takao VS Daichi?) is chronologically set between V-Force and G-Revolution, even though Daichi appears in the movie but, it is not-canon to the anime. A new Beyblade team named Shadow Bladers (consisting of new Beybladers Steven, Ashley, Daniel, and Henry) was introduced. It was released on August 17, 2002 in theaters in Japan and March 22, 2005 on DVD in the U.S.

After Tyson won the Japanese BBA tournament, Daichi challenges him inside the stadium. Meanwhile, Professor Tengai discovers an ancient warning of the dark spirits inside a cave on 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 are intent to reunite with the four sacred beasts, Dragoon, Dranzer, Driger, and Draciel.

The original movie storyline was also featured in volume 14 of the Beyblade manga books, but ended on a cliff hanger due to being released on DVD. Characters in the original timeline also include China, Ping Pong, and Sarenia.

Metal Fight Beyblade VS the Sun: Sol Blaze, the Scorching-hot Invader is a film based on the Beyblade: Metal Fusion series. It was released in Japan in August 21, 2010. An English version has yet to be announced.

It's summer vacation and Gingka and his friends are excited about a Beyblade tournament but Helios, a mysterious young boy stand in their way. He possesses "Sol Blaze", a Beyblade that has been passed down since ancient times. As an intense battle between Gingka and Helios unfolds, extreme weather develops throughout the world.

VHS/DVD Releases

The popularity of Beyblade in Japan was popular enough to have VHS and DVD releases of the show. In Japan all of the episodes have been released on VHS and DVD. The Beyblade DVDs first two volumes had three episodes a piece and were sold new at 4,200 yen per DVD. The rest of season one that had five episodes were sold new at 5,500 yen. The Japanese Beyblade DVDs first season titles were Called SHOOT (plus the volume number). The Beyblade 2002 DVDs were released in two separate titles. Blader Project (Vol 1~10) and BB Victory (Vol 1~8). G-Revolution the volumes were called by the series name G Revolution and the volume number. There are 17 DVD volumes in G Revolution.

When Beyblade was dubbed by Nelvana, the USA DVDs of the first season were only released in Nelvana TV dub edited. The second season V-Force DVDs have only got released in Australia in a box set of 12 episodes for now at least. When Beyblade G-Revolution was the next season that Nelvana dubbed, Funimation released them on DVD. Volumes one to four were edited-only English dub, but then due to fan outcry, Volume five onwards contains the original Japanese episodes as well as the dubbed version. Volumes five and six were released but no new releases have been confirmed.

Video Games

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

V Force Adventure (Game Boy Advance)
Beyblade (Game Boy Color, Japan Only)
Beyblade (PlayStation)
Beyblade 2 (PlayStation, Japan Only)
Beyblade: V-Force - Super Tournament Battle (Nintendo Gamecube)
Beyblade: G-Revolution (Game Boy Advance),
Beyblade: V-Force - 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)
Beyblade V-Force 2 In 1 TV Game (Plug-and-Play)
Metal Fight Beyblade DS (Nintendo DS, Japan Only)
Beyblade: Metal Fusion (Nintendo DS)
Beyblade: Metal Fusion - Battle Fortress (Wii)
Beyblade: Metal Masters (Nintendo DS)

Broadcasting

Beyblade, Beyblade: V-Force, and Beyblade: G-Revolution

Japan: TV Tokyo
Brazil: Jetix (and some time ago, Globo (TV XUXA's block), Cartoon Network (2002 - 2003.)
Denmark: Cartoon Network (Toonami block)
Pakistan: Cartoon Network (Toonami)(not broadcasted any more)
Ireland: RTE TWO (The Den block)
Nepal: Ntv {not broadcasted any more}
Poland: Jetix (and some time ago, Polsat, but not any more.)
Portugal: TVI, Canal Panda and Panda Biggs
Netherlands: Yorin, Toonami (not anymore)
United Kingdom: Toonami, Five, S4C (In wales/Welsh language only on Planed Plant), Cartoon Network (2002 - 2004), POP (January 28, 2008 - ), Kix! (May 19, 2008 - )

United States: Jetix
Germany: RTL 2, Jetix (nowadays not broadcasted)
Austria: ATV
Czech Republic: TV NOVA (nowadays not broadcasted)
Italy: Italia 1
Latin America: Jetix (before it was Fox Kids).
Mexico: Jetix (before Fox Kids), Televisa (Canal 5)
Costa Rica: Repretel canal 4, only G-Revolution
Canada: YTV (not broadcasted any more)
India: Cartoon Network (Toonami)
Israel: (nowadays not broadcasted)
Singapore : Kids Central (not broadcasted any more)

Beyblade: Metal Fusion and Beyblade: Metal Masters

Japan: TV Tokyo
Canada: 'YTV
United States: Cartoon Network
Mexico: Televisa (Canal 5)
United Kingdom: Nicktoons
Indonesia : Indosiar
Australia : Channel 10
Singapore : OKTO (Metal Masters started) and Cartoon Network (Finished airing)
Portugal: Panda Biggs (Metal Masters started 05/10)
Spain: Boing
Philippines:Cartoon Network
India:Cartoon Network

Changes in the English version

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

Beyblade, Beyblade: V-Force, and Beyblade: G-Revolution

The phrase "Go Shoot" was replaced with "Let it Rip", possibly to avoid references to gun violence, but the official reasoning is unknown.
New intro/opening sequences.
Several characters' names were changed, many characters having their Japanese names changed to English alternatives. The original ones can be found on the list of Beyblade characters.
Instrumental soundtracks were changed to punk and metal style music, with lyrics. There wasn't any original Japanese soundtrack remaining.
Sound effects are changed to familiar American sound effects. There weren't any original Japanese sound effects 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 easy to guess how this mix-up occurred.
AJ Topper and Brad Best were added to make comments about the tournaments. They did not exist in the original instead, 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).
Many team names were changed in the English dub. (e.g. Team BBA was changed to Bladebreakers). The only two teams to not have their names changed were the BBA Revolution and BEGA (also known as Justice 5), both of which come from G-Revolution.
Originally the Beyblade name and the bit-beast name was different; for example, instead of Dragoon for both the blade and the bit-beast, it was Dragoon for the blade and Seiryuu for the bit-beast.
The characters were younger in the original with Tyson starting the series at 13 instead of 12, with the rest of the team aged accordingly.
Darker and mature themes such as violence, punching, grabbing and nudity are removed in the dub for censorship to appeal American audiences.
The text edits are performed for cultural streaming, such as having scenes showing Japanese text and kanji cut in the dub.

Fan reaction to these changes were mixed. Hardcore fans disliked the dubbed version of Beyblade and used the original Japanese versions as references instead. 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, its original name is shown (e.g. Seiryu rather than Dragoon).

Beyblade: Metal Fusion

Changed name from Metal Fight Beyblade to Beyblade: Metal Fusion.

Darker and mature themes such as violence, punching, grabbing and nudity are removed in the dub for censorship to appeal American audiences.

Kept most of the characters names.

Changed the logo.

Changed some of the episodes names.

Changed the opening intro.
Kept "Let it Rip!" instead of "Go Shoot!" when launching a bey into battle.
Dark Cancer was changed to Dark Gasher.

Beyblade: Metal Masters

Many Beys' names were changed- Ray Unicorno to Ray Striker, Gravity Perseus to Gravity Destroyer, Grand Ketos to Grand Cetus, Basalt Horogium to Twisted Tempo, Rock and Poison Giraffe to Rock and Poison Zurafa, and Tornado Herculeo to Cyclone Herculeo, and Hell Kerbecs to Hades Kerbecs

Insert Songs

Beyblade:

Let's Beyblade (opening theme) - Lukas Rossi
Never gonna take me down - Anthony Vanderburgh
Let's go Beybladers - Krystal Band
Heavyweight Generation Beyblades
All Across the Nation - The Black Europeans
Swing Low

Beyblade: V-Force:

Underdog - Mudd
Always be in the game - Jason Dean Bennison
Switchblade - Lenz

Beyblade: G-Revolution:

Rise Above the Storm
I'm Not Going Down
Hang On and Bonus Edition, Bladers At Chronic