Saturday, March 3, 2007

BEYBLADE

This article is about the anime and manga. For the toy, see Beyblade (toy).

Beyblade (ベイブレード) is an anime and manga series 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 as they compete to become the world champions.

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.

Contents

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[edit] Plot

First season (Beyblade (爆転シュート ベイブレード Bakuten Shoot Beyblade?))
The first season's plot was very linear. The Bladebreakers were mostly concerned with winning the world beyblading championships. Towards the end of the season, they learn about Voltaire, Boris and their criminal organisation, which plans to use beyblading as a means to take control of the world.
Second season (Beyblade V-Force (爆転シュートベイブレード2002 Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002?))
The second season focused on a completely different criminal organization, which attempted numerous times to capture the Bladebreakers' bit-beasts, while another group, the Saint Shields, tried to stop them and seal away the bit-beasts so that nobody could use them. The championships in this season are very short and mostly unimportant to the storyline, taking place in only the last eight episodes.
In the second season, better animation and character design is used. Beyblades and some other features are animated using CGI.
Third season (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 season started with next year's beyblading tournament. In the second half, Boris reappears for a second attempt at taking over the world through beyblading.Animation has upgraded once again. The use of computer animation is much more obvious in some parts (compared to first season). Also "Dizzy" and other previous characters aren't mentioned at all.

[edit] Media

[edit] 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 seasons, 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!

[edit] Episode releases

The whole of season 1 of Beyblade has been released on VHS and DVD . Beyblade G-Revolution has been released on DVD by Funimation. Due to fan outcry, Volume five onwards contains the original Japanese episodes as well as the dubbed version. Volume 5 and 6 was released but no new releases have been confirmed. So far, Australia has got the first 12 episodes of the second season (dubbed).

[edit] Manga

Main article: Beyblade (manga)

The Beyblade manga by Takao Aoki differs from the anime in many aspects. Characters such as Kai and Tala have differing backgrounds. Kai's in particular being fleshed out more, giving a deeper understanding of his upbringing and motives.

Additionally, the manga focuses on Daichi's story, detailing his life before he joins with the Bladebreakers. In the course of his quest to become the best beyblader in Japan he meets many friends and competitors, who do not appear in the anime at all, such as Hikaru Tomonji and Kennosuke Shishi.

Most notably, perhaps, the last volume features a short chapter with the grown-up Bladebreakers and their children.

[edit] Video games

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

[edit] Broadcasting Blocking Issues

[edit] 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:

  • 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.
  • 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. 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).
  • 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 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 the third season Beyblade 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 10 instead of twelve, with the rest of the team aged accordingly.

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, it's original name is shown (e.g. Seiryu rather than Dragoon).

[edit] Trivia

  • Tyson's original Japanese first name, Takao, is the same first name as the creator of the Beyblade manga, Takao Aoki.
  • In the English version of the movie, during the final battle of the Japan tournament, one of the signs in the background says "Go Shoot" instead of "Let it Rip".
  • In the V-Force season, when Ozuma and Zeo are about to fight for the world tournament, it's possible to see Ozuma's name spelled "Ozma" on the screen in the background.
  • The show's English intro theme song is sung by Rock Star Supernova's vocalist, Lukas Rossi.
  • The song "Always Be In The Game" from the Let it Rip soundtrack is sung by current INXS singer JD Fortune.
  • In the first season, a pattern can be seen with every major team in the names of their blades. All the Bladebreakers' beyblades names start with Dr, the White Tigers' beyblades start with Gal, the All Starz' beyblades start with Try, the Majestics' beyblades end with lyon and the Demolition Boys' beyblades end with borg.
    • Tyson Granger is Takao Kinomiya, Raymond Kon is Rei Kon, Max Tate is Max Mizuhara, Tala is Yuriy Ivanov, Bryan is Boris Kuznetsov... those are some of the names changed from the Japanese version to the American version and vice versa along with many others.
  • In the manga the BEGA Pro Team make only one appearance and they look entirely different from their anime counterparts. They are only shown on one page unrelated to the story.

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