Beyblade

Beyblade (ベイブレード) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 2000 to 2002, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon volume by Shogakukan. The series focuses on a group of kids who form teams with which they battle one another using highly powerful spinning tops called "Beyblades" which are enchanted with magical spirits.

The manga is licensed for English language release in North America by Viz Media. The manga was adapted into a three season anime series. The first season, spanning 51 episodes, aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from January 8, 2001 to December 24, 2001. The second season, Beyblade V-Force ran for another 51 episodes from January 7, 2002 until December 30, 2002. The third season, Beyblade G Revolution, spanned 52 episodes and ran from January 6, 2003 until its conclusion on December 29, 2003. All three seasons are licensed for English adaptation, broadcast, and release in North America by Nelvana.

Anime
A three season anime television adaptation was adapted from the series. The first season, spanning 51 episodes, was produced by Madhouse and aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from January 8, 2001 to December 24, 2001. The second season, produced by Nihon Animedia and titled Beyblade V-Force, ran for another 51 episodes from January 7, 2002 until December 30, 2002. The third season, Beyblade G Revolution was also produced by Nihon Animedia. Spanning 52 episodes and ran from January 6, 2003 until its conclusion on December 29, 2003. All three seasons are licensed for English adaptation, broadcast, and release in North America by Nelvana.

A new Beyblade anime series entitled "Metal Fight Beyblade" is currently in production. This series is being made jointly by Tatsunoko and Synergy SP, and is based on the aforementioned Metal Fight Beyblade manga. It premiered on April 5, 2009. Nelvana has licensed the series and will be released in North America as "Beyblade: Metal Fusion". It premiered on Cartoon network in June 2010 with showings on Saturday and Sunday(weekends).

Beyblade
The original Beyblade anime series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on January 8, 2001. It ran for 51 episodes until its conclusion on December 24, 2001. A second season, called Beyblade V-Force (Beyblade 2002 in Japan) followed, with a sneak peak on December 27, 2001, and officially premiering on January 7, 2002 and running for an additional 51 episodes until it concluded on December 30, 2002. The series third, and final, season, followed after a short break, premiering on January 6, 2003 and running for 52 episodes until the series conclusion on December 29, 2003. The series was released to both VHS and DVD, with the first season released across eleven volumes. The first two volumes had three episodes each, and the remainder held five episodes. The second season was released across 18 volumes, and the third spanned 17 DVD volumes. Nelvana licensed the anime adaptation for release and broadcast in North America. It release the first season to DVD with English language dubbing. The second season was released as a box set, but only in Australia. Funimation acquired the license for the third season, releasing the first four volumes with the Nelvana English dubbing, then releasing two additional volumes with the original Japanese language tracks with English subtitles.

Beyblade's story revolved around the Bladebreakers, who were mostly concerned with winning the World Beyblading Championships. Tyson enters the Japanese Regional Beyblade Qualifying Tournament in hope to be the best Beyblader in Japan. Tyson finds himself up against Ray Kon, and after defeating him, he faces Kai Hiwatari, who will eventually become his greatest and eternal rival. After a fierce battle Tyson barely defeats Kai, it is then revealed that Tyson, Kai, Ray and Max are to form a team called the Bladebreakers to represent Japan in the Beyblade World Championships. Tyson and his friends head off to China to match up against Ray's old team, the White Tigers. It is seen that Ray's old team holds a grudge against him for leaving them, but towards the end of the Chinese Tournament, Ray and his ex-teammates make amends, and the Bladebreakers win the tournament. After this, Tyson and his friends arrive in the USA to fight the All Starz, who are coached by Max's mother. After winning the American league, the team find themselves stranded in Europe. In order to get to Russia to register for the World Championships, they must battle the Majestics who are Europe's top bladers. Once in Russia, Tyson and his friends find themselves up against the Demolition Boys, the Russian Champions, who are ruthless and obsessed with power. The Bladebreakers then discover that the Demolition Boys are merely tools for the BIOVOLT Corporation, run by Kai's grandfather, Voltaire, and Boris, a criminal mastermind. Initially, Kai was pursued by Boris to join the Demolition Boys in the ultimate quest for power, the Black Dranzer Bit-Beast which Kai was seeking to become the best Beyblader. However, he realizes his mistakes and rejoins the Bladebreakers. During the finals, Kai loses the first round and his Dranzer to Spencer and his bit-beast Seaborg. Ray barely manages to win against Bryan, but has to be taken to hospital after the injuries from the match. Tyson manages to defeat Tala, the Demolition Boys leader who's body had been modified by Boris to win the match, in the final round, and manages to win the title of World Champions for his team.

Beyblade V-Force
At the start of the second season the team has gone their separate ways, but their enemies reunite them quickly enough. Two different groups, Team Psykick and the Saint Shields, attack the Bladebreakers by trying to steal their bit-beasts for their own reasons. During the second season, Hilary Tachibana (Hiromi in Japanese) joins the Bladebreakers, but takes time to learn the fact that Beyblade isn't just a stupid game as she thinks it is. The first half of the second season ends with the Bladebreakers defeating Team Psykick, who were manipulating their friends Kane, Salima, Goki and Jimmy. The second half of season 2 deals with the truth of why the Saint Shields and Team Psykick are after their bit-beasts and about a rock that Max's mother found that contains bit-beasts, which is stolen by Team Psykick. The Saint Shields' reason is because they wish to seal the bit-beasts in a rock because they fear that the bit-beasts could get out of control like they did in the past. Team Psykick's reason is because the Psykick's leader, Dr. Zagart, wants the bit-beasts to resurrect his son. After defeating the Saint Shields, Zeo, who is one of Tyson's new friends, learns about his true past that he is the son of Dr. Zagart, so he uses the rock's strongest bit-beast, Cerberus, to get the bit-beasts. The world championships are coming to Japan, so Hilary separates the Bladebreakers into two teams: Tyson and Max for one, Kai and Ray for the other. However, during the tournament, Zeo and his partner Gordo, are destroying the competition. Soon enough, Zeo and Gordo eliminate Kai and Ray, taking Kai's Dranzer in the process. Sure enough, Tyson and Max are up against Zeo and Gordo. Tyson manages to beat Gordo, but Max loses to Zeo and loses Draciel. During the final battle between Tyson and Zeo, the Bladebreakers find out that Zeo is actually an android, and about Dr. Zagart's reason for trying to use Zeo to get the bit-beasts. Tyson manages to convince him otherwise, and manages to defeat Zeo, making him and Max the world champions once again.

Beyblade G Revolution
After Tyson became the two-time World Champion, Max, Ray and Kai leave the team so that they have a chance to beat Tyson and become true World Champions. This leaves only Tyson, Hilary, and Kenny on the team, but a new character, Daichi Sumeragi, and Tyson's brother Hiro Granger, join them. One week after the results of the World Championships, Boris, the secondary villain from the first season, returns and creates the new Beyblade Entertainment Global Association, or BEGA, replacing the BBA. The BBA headquarters are bulldozed and elsewhere, the new BEGA headquarters are revealed. Then Boris makes a deal with the Blade Breakers, where if they defeat him and his team (Ming-Ming, Crusher, Mystel, Garland and Brooklyn), things will return to the way they were before. But he declares that all the beyblade shops must sell beyblades and their parts to BEGA associated beybladers only, else they will not be allowed to run the shops. Tyson and the team find some parts at Max's father's store, which are insufficient. Then after sometime Kenny comes with the solution, he makes new type of beyblades, using different type of parts. But they still needed one more blader, thats when Kai, who tried to join BEGA but lost severely to Brooklyn, rejoins the team. Daichi and Ray lose the first two matches to Ming-Ming and Crusher and Max ends the third match with Mystel in a draw. Then it was Kai's turn to face the unbeaten Brooklyn. He beats him with sheer will. Tyson beats Garland and it has to go to a tie breaker between him and Brooklyn, who has gone crazy from his loss to Kai. Although it is unknown who managed to win, it is speculated that Tyson wins, seeing as the BBA is restored. At the end of the series Kai and Tyson go at it one last time.

Beyblade: Metal Fusion
A re-boot of the Beyblade anime series; Beyblade: Metal Fusion (known as Metal Fight Beyblade in Japan), premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2009. Despite its low Japanese ratings but high toy sales, on June 6, 2009, ANN announced that Nelvana has licensced Metal Fight Beyblade under the name "Beyblade: Metal Fusion" and debuted in North America in May 2010. It was also stated that they were co-producers of the series.

In this version, the parts are called the "Face Bolt", "Energy Ring", "Fusion Wheel", "Spin Track", and "Performance Tip". Additionally, the Beyblades themselves have an astrology/Zodiac theme. While some present standard Astrological signs, such as Pisces, Escolpio, Leone, Sagittario, Aries, Wolf, L Drago (dragon) and Pegasus. The blades are of four types the only difference is that survival/endurance is now called stamina - Defense, Attack, Stamina, and Balance, which is a combination of all of them. DEFENCE is a counter to ATTACK,STAMINA is a counter to DEFENSE, and ATTACK is a counter to STAMINA, while BALANCE is not so much its own type, but a mix of all the others, and can be defeated by a beyblade of any type that foucuses on one area.

Movie
Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle, released as 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) in Japan, is chronologically set between the end of the second season and before the third season. The prequel to the movie was introduced in Volume 14 of the Beyblade manga to promote the movie. The story begins with the Blade Breakers enjoying their vacation with Tyson, Hilary and Kenny's teacher Ms. Kincaid, but are followed by an annoying kid named Daichi who wants a rematch from a humiliating defeat earlier in a tournament final against Tyson. Tyson Granger decides to ignore Daichi, but they finally have their rematch on a boat after he learns Daichi's reason he beyblades (His father gave him his beyblade and told him to become the best.). Meanwhile, an organization called the Shadow Bladers are intent on destroying the world using their Dark Bit-Beasts. After they capture Daichi and his bit-beast Strata Dragoon, the Dark Bit-Beast possess Daichi and use him for world domination. Tyson tries to save Daichi but ends up getting his bit-beast Dragoon sealed into stone where the dark bit-beasts were sealed away before, and the Shadow Bladers trap Tyson in a cave with Dragoon. Shortly after this, the Shadow Bladers start to attack Japan, where Kai is (Since he didn't come with the Bladebreakers on their vacation.). Dragoon, inspired by Tyson's will to escape, manages to free itself and Tyson from the cave. Meanwhile, Kai tries to fight off the Shadow Bladers but is quickly overwhelmed. The rest of the Bladebreakers come to Kai's aid and fight the Shadow Bladers, finding that the dark bit-beasts are shadow versions of their own bit-beasts. It should be an even match, but with a possessed Daichi on the Shadow Bladers side, the Bladerbreakers are outnumbered. Kai, Ray and Max charge the Shadow Bladers and defeat two of the five, but are knocked out in the process. Tyson manages to free Daichi from the Shadow Bladers, but seeing as Daichi was possessed at the time, he can't summon Strata Dragoon. Tyson tells him to connect with his bit-beast, which Daichi does and manages to call out Strata Dragoon. As Kai, Ray and Max awaken, Tyson and Daichi manage to stop the Shadow Bladers and save the world. It turns out the dark bit-beasts had possessed four children who had been near the cave when they were freed. The Bladebreakers then seal the dark bit-beasts in the cave, and as they do, the island the cave is on starts to sink. The Bladebreakers manage to get off the island in time, but Tyson is still tormented by Daichi who still wants to battle him.

Merchandise
Beyblade had a cult following in 2002 and 2003 when the series' popular spinning top toy was released.

Video Games
There have been several video games based on the show, spanning multiple consoles. However, 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)
 * Beyblade V-Force 2 In 1 TV Game (Plug-and-Play)

Reception
Beyblade was popular among all age groups especially due to its toys and accessories. It gained notoriety in elementary school playgrounds all across North America and the United Kingdom during the early 2000s. The show was aired by Fox Kids in America as well as in parts of Asia, Europe, and Australia.