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Beyblade or Bakuten Shoot Beyblade (爆転シュート ベイブレード, Bakuten Shūto Beiburēdo; Explosive Shoot Beyblade) in Japan, is the first season of the Original Series anime. It was produced by Madhouse under the direction of Toshifumi Kawase as an adaptation of the Japanese manga series Beyblade, written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. The series was produced and aired alongside its manga source material, promoting the sales of the Beyblade product line developed by Takara Tomy. It focuses on a group of kids who compete against other teams using Beyblades.

The series originally airied in Japan on TV Tokyo from January 8, 2001 to December 24, 2001. It was licensed to the Canadian company Nelvana to produce the English language adaptation, as well as the two sequel series, Beyblade: V-Force and Beyblade: G-Revolution, and the 2002 film Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle. It's available for streaming on Tubi, Vix, Fubo, Google TV, Prime Video, and Vudu.

Information

The series was produced by Madhouse under the direction of Toshifumi Kawase as an adaptation of the Japanese manga series Beyblade, written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. It was licensed to the Canadian company Nelvana to produce the English language adaptation, which became the basis for adaptations in other languages.

English Language Adaptation

The series was originally made in Japanese. The English language adaptation, produced by Nelvana, significantly altered the series, keeping only the premise and the basic animation. Rather than providing a translation, it changed the dialogue and manipulated the scenes to produce different character portrayals and narratives, as well as it altered all of the audio, in general. Other adaptations were made based on the English language one. In this manner, the English adaptation much differs from the original Japanese work:

  • Several names are changed to English ones.
  • The introduction and ending credits and the theme songs are replaced by new ones and new different songs.
  • The characters receive English speaking voices, mostly from young actors, just as in other languages they receive other corresponding voices.
  • All of the audio, in general, is changed from the original, which includes the addition of insert songs.
  • The next episode preview segment at the end of each episode is removed.
  • The dialogue was thoroughly altered, producing character portrayals and narratives that differ from those of the original Japanese version. An impression is left, however hard to ascertain, that deep and meaningful narratives, such as some surrounding friendship, betrayal or the ancient sacred beasts, are replaced by bragging, competitiveness, exaggerated feat accounting and joking.
  • Family ties and relationships are not kept exactly the same.
  • The arrangement of the scenes is edited.
  • Several animated actions, such as a plea gesture and an excitement jump, are given different meanings, being repurposed to different dialogues and narratives.
  • Voice-based minor characters, such as flight staff and crowd members, are sometimes added in and sometimes cut out.
  • Tournament broadcasts are particularly altered. AJ Topper and Brad Best, who provide color commentary, were added in as made-up characters. Profile cards showing contestant bit-beasts and stats were also created and added-in.
  • Dizzi, the prominent bit-beast trapped inside of Kenny's laptop computer, was added in, also as another made-up character.

Reception

The anime was possible due to the relatively successful manga, the anime was released under the name "Bakuten Shoot Beyblade". It was released to promote the toyline, Beyblades released during this period became associated with the name "Bakuten Shoot Beyblade" due to the joint success of both anime and manga. Due to its success, more series were produced for Beyblade for further lines.

Summary

The story follows the adventure of a team, the Bladebreakers, who try to win the world beyblade championship, consisting of a spinning tops sport phenomenon. The tops, called beyblades, may hold bit-beasts inside, ancient sacred beasts that can boost their power and ability. Youngster Tyson and his new friend Kenny enter a regional tournament, meeting Ray, Max and Kai, and ending up forming a team to take on the world outside of Japan. They set out to improve themselves and discover the mysteries of the bit-beasts.

Plot

Each arc of the season involves one or all of the Bladebreakers undergoing character development. Tyson learned to understand and control his Beyblading abilities in the Japanese Qualifiers. Ray experienced growth and adversity when he came face-to-face with his old team in the Asian Tournament. Max was put to the test as a beyblader against his mother's American team. All of them went through learning more about bit-beasts and unique battling styles in Europe. Kai began to realize the true value of respect and teamwork in the first half of the finals in Russia, as they all worked together to win the championships and save the world from total domination in the second half.

Tournaments

Characters

See here for more information.

Episodes

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DVDs

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Music

OP Theme

    Lyrics: Masato Yamada
    Composition: Masato Yamada
    Arrangement: System-B
    Artist: System-B

    Lyrics: Arlene Bishop & Blair Packham
    Composition: Martin Kucaj
    Arrangement: Martin Kucaj
    Artist: Sick Kid featuring Lukas Rossi

ED Theme

    Lyrics: Masato Yamada
    Composition: Masato Yamada
    Arrangement: System-B
    Artist: System-B

    Lyrics: Arlene Bishop & Blair Packham
    Composition: Martin Kucaj
    Arrangement: Martin Kucaj
    Artist: Sick Kid featuring Lukas Rossi

Insert Songs

See here for more information.

Gallery

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