I started watching Beyblade again solely out of nostalgia. I watched the original season of Beyblade as a kid and thought it would be nice to go back to and I'm glad I did. What started out fine but nothing special with the first season, became kinda bad with the second season, actually ended on a high note with this third outing.
For those who don't know, the "first generation", more commonly known as "gen 1" or "plastic gen", is the collective name given to the original three seasons of the Beyblade anime. Namely, Beyblade, Beyblade V-Force and Beyblade G Revolution.
Having now watched all three, I can firmly say that G Revolution is the best of them all and a fitting end to the OG run of the anime.
In G Revolution, the forever main character, Tyson, is excited to enter a new Beyblade tournament with his team of friends, known as the Bladebreakers. However, when it's announced that there are going to be some rule changes in the tournament, his friends decide it would be best to leave the Bladebreakers, and join their old teams for the purpose of battling Tyson themselves and proving how good they really are.
What follows is one large tournament arc and to be perfectly honest, that's what works best for a Beyblade story. When it tries to delve into lore or introduce a big bad villain/end of the world scenario, it's just not very interesting. Thankfully, G Revolution steers clear of that.
While you may think that a show spanning tournament arc would not leave any room for character depth or development, it actually does a pretty good job of conveying those aspects of the story quite well. There is some actual, believable character growth here and it was nice to see. Not just main characters either, some side characters get their fair share too. It was also impressive that these side characters had their own motivations and back story.
An anime such as this, lives or dies on the quality of the battles. I'm pleased to say that G Revolution has by far the best battle in gen 1. They are flashy, well animated and because characters are physically active participants (they control their Beyblades with body movements etc.), there are actual steaks and consequences, beyond simply losing a match.
Don't get me wrong, G Revolution isn't perfect by no means. The overall story is a very simple one and the tried and tested "power of friendship" trope permeates pretty much every aspect of the anime, although, not egregiously so.
All in all, for an early 2000s anime with a young target audience and the purpose of selling spinning tops, it's remarkable that it's this enjoyable and fun. Well worth a watch.
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