Beyblade: Metal Fusion

Beyblade: Metal Fusion, also known as Metal Fight Beyblade (メタルファイトベイブレード, Metaru Faito Beiburēdo), is a Japanese manga created by Takafumi Adachi, serialized in Shogakukan's monthly magazine CoroCoro Comic between September 2008 and February 2012.

The manga inspired an anime production named Beyblade: Metal Saga, which encompasses four seasons: Metal Fusion, Metal Masters, Metal Fury and Shogun Steel. This anime was produced by Tatsunoko Pro and Synergy SP and co-produced by Nelvana. It premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2009, and aired until December 23, 2012.

Manga

The Metal Fusion manga was written and illustrated by Takafumi Adachi. In Japan, they were published in the monthly CoroCoro Comic magazine, from September 2008 to February 2012. Shogakukan later compiled the chapters into eleven shinshōban volumes. The first volume was released on March 27, 2009, and the last on March 28, 2012.^[1] The chapters were released without a title during the serialisation, where they were identified only by an arc name and a chapter number. The chapter names appeared for the first time in the volume compilation.

The plot follows the adventures of Gingka Hagane, a beyblader who is searching for his hidden past. He eventually meets up with a boy named Kenta Yumiya, and the two become fast friends. Kyouya Tategami and Benkei from the Face Hunters aid Gingka on his quest to defeat the evil Dark Nebula organization and Ryuga, a boy with the Legendary Bey known as Lightning L-Drago. One of the recruits of the Dark Nebula Organization is Tsubasa Otori.

Anime

The original Beyblade series led Nelvana to many awards and won the toy of the year award in 2002 and 2003. Since then, many toys and series have been produced in North America and Asia, but many were not as well received as the original series. As a result, Nelvana entered into talks with TV Tokyo to revise the series. TV Tokyo agreed if Nelvana would be co-producer for the series and if TV Tokyo could air the episodes first. The new series was thus produced by Tatsunoko Pro and Synergy SP, and co-produced by Nelvana, who announced the release of 51 episodes of Metal Fight Beyblade, named Beyblade: Metal Fusion in English.

The first season of the series aired in Japan's TV Tokyo between April 5, 2009, and March 28, 2010.^[2] It premiered in North America in the fall of 2010 to YTV and CARTOON.^[3] In 2010, Nelvana announced that they were looking at parties interested in the fifth season of Beyblade and the second season of the Metal Saga, to go under the name Metal Masters.^[4] This season aired in Japan between April 4, 2010, and March 27, 2011. The sixth season for the overall series was announced in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic magazine. The third season of the Metal Fight Beyblade series will entitled as Metal Fight Beyblade 4D.^[5] The "4D" of the anime title comes from the game franchise's revised "4D" system. The "4D" stands for "different" materials, "divided" (multi-part construction), "dynamic," and "deep" customizability. This season, also known as Beyblade: Metal Fury, aired between April 3, 2011 and April 1, 2012. The fourth season, Shogun Steel, aired in Japan between April 8, 2012, and December 23, 2012. Episodes 39–45 of this season were released on DVD on August 27, 2013, and September 25, 2013.

The plot of the anime version of Metal Fight Beyblade slightly differs from that of the manga. One notable difference is that in the manga, the Beys transform for their upgrades, while in the anime, the characters just switch parts or get an entirely new Bey. Another difference is that, in the manga, the characters started with the Metal System (4-piece top), while in the anime they started with the Hybrid Wheel System (5-piece top).

Season 1: Metal Fusion

Beyblade: Metal Fusion is the first season of the Metal Saga. The series stars Gingka Hagane, a talented blader traveling all around Japan to get stronger so he can defeat the Dark Nebula, an evil organization who is also responsible for the death of Gingka's father Ryo Hagane. Gingka aims to recover the forbidden bey, Lightning L-Drago, which has been stolen by the Dark Nebula to use its powers to fulfill their wicked ambitions. Along with his bey, Storm Pegasus, Gingka must face and defeat many foes. Gingka's second biggest rival is Kyoya Tategami, formerly head of a bad blader group, called the Face Hunters. Kyoya's goal is to defeat Gingka. Gingka is the blader who believes that every blader has a blader's spirit in him/her. The Dark Nebula recruits a blader named Ryuga, who is given the Lightning L-Drago. He travels around the world, defeating and either recruiting or destroying the beyblades of other bladers. Gingka battles Ryuga many times but is always defeated. His friends are also defeated, including Kyoya. There is a tournament that the Dark Nebula has organized called Battle Bladers, and Ryuga hopes to battle Gingka in the final match. Gingka wins the match with help from his friends, Madoka, Kenta, Benkei, Hyoma, and Hikaru, along with support from his enemies, Kyoya and Phoenix, a masked, mysterious blader that appears at the best times, often saving Gingka, his friends, and his rivals. In a fierce battle with Doji, the head of the Dark Nebula, Phoenix saves Hyoma and Kenta. After Gingka arrives, the ceiling begins to collapse, and a broken piece breaks Phoenix's mask, revealing that Phoenix is Ryo, Gingka's father. Ryo explains how Storm Pegasus and the Lightning L-Drago came into existence. After this event it is Kyoya vs Ryuga, in which Kyoya starts off great but once the spirits of L-Drago enter Ryuga's body he cannot hold his ground. Ryuga then explains that it is Gingka's fault that everyone of his friend's power has been absorbed by the vicious L-Drago. It is the final battle and Ryuga seems to be using his full power against Gingka. Realizing that his friends will always be with him, he retaliates and calls for Pegasus. Before he can do that, it seems that L-Drago is trying to absorb Ryuga himself. Gingka's friends are extremely worried and confused until Ryo comes and explains that nobody had been able to control L-Drago more than Ryuga. Furthermore, Ryo explains that the Lightning L-Drago is responsible for Ryuga's misbehavior. After that Gingka realizes that he needs to save Ryuga and free him of the dark power held in Lightning L-Drago. He uses a new special move, Galaxy Nova, and defeats L-Drago. Ryuga walks away disappointed, but not because he lost, but because he could not control Lightning L-Drago. Gingka tries to pick up Pegasus but Pegasus disappears because it went past its limits numerous times. Ryo reassures Gingka that Pegasus will come back, the crew then celebrate with Hikaru, Tsubasa and Kyoya, who have just been released from hospital.

Season 2: Metal Masters

Beyblade: Metal Masters, also known in Japan as Metal Fight Explosive Beyblade (メタルファイトベイブレード爆, Metaru Faito Beiburēdo Baku), is the second season of the Metal Saga. After Storm Pegasus sacrifices itself to defeat Ryuga and Lightning L-Drago, Gingka hears from a rock which contains Galaxy Pegasus W105R²F, The legendary bey and first Galaxy Pegasus battles with a new bey named Ray Striker and the owner Masamune Kadoya. Together with Madoka, Masamune, Yu, Tsubasa, and Gingka they form a team called Gan Gan Galaxy to participate in a new beyblade world tournament called Big Bang Bladers. On the way they have to battle Team Garcias, Team Wang Hu Zhong, Team Lovushka, Team Excalibur, Team Desert Blaze, Team Chandora, Team Wild Fang and Team Starbreaker new guy Toby/Faust and a member of team Starbreaker. The matches are hard at first, and they become harder as they progress through the world tournament. Unknowingly, a man named Dr. Ziggurat attempts to use the tournament to collect data for experiments he calls the Arrangements. These devices enhance a Blader's skills in Beyblade.

Season 3: Metal Fury

Beyblade: Metal Fury, also known in Japan as Metal Fight Beyblade 4D (メタルファイトベイブレード4D, Metaru Faito Beiburēdo Fō Dī), is the third season of the Metal Saga. Taking a break from their latest triumph over Faust and the Spiral Core, Gingka and his friends 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 Gingka and his friends about the voice of the Star Fragment, and that it must not fall into the hands of evil. He witnessed the Star Fragment 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 the Nemesis, the Greek goddess of Revenge, by using the unknown power of the Star Fragment, and destroy the world. They must find the ten legendary bladers in order to prevent Nemesis from reviving. In the end, Gingka defeats the God of Destruction with a new special move, Super Cosmic Nova.

Season 4: Shogun Steel

Beyblade: Shogun Steel, also known in Japan as Metal Fight Beyblade Zero-G (メタルファイトベイブレード ZERO-G, Metaru Faito Beiburēdo Zero Jī), is the fourth season of the Metal Saga. Seven years have passed since the God of Destruction met his end at the hands of a great Blader. A new era of Beyblade has begun, bringing with it new Bladers. When Zero Kurogane witnessed the final battle with the God of Destruction, a fire began to burn within him to push forward to a new future. While Zero is the champion in his hometown, he wants to test himself. He seeks out greater opponents, heading to Gingka's hometown. When Zero arrives and discovers that Gingka is nowhere to be found, and meets Shinobu Hiryuin, Ren Kurenai, and the Unabara brothers. He also learns about Syncrome, the fusion of two beys.

Spin-off

In North America, BeyWheelz was created due to the fact that Beyblade: Metal Fury episodes were cut to thirteen minutes from the 27th episode on, to share its time-slot with Cross Fight B-Daman. International versions of Metal Fury thus consist of 39 thirty-minute episodes, with the thirteen episodes of BeyWheelz completing the 52-episode season. This anime does not follow Metal Saga and instead takes place in a completely different universe where Bladers are called Wheelers and use BeyWheelz, wheel versions of existing Beyblades.

Video games

The first video game to be released from the Beyblade: Metal Fusion series was "Metal Fight Beyblade DS", which debuted on March 26, 2009 for the Nintendo DS.^[6] The majority of the games produced so far have only been released in Japan, though Hudson Soft has localized the second Nintendo DS game and the Wii game for North America, which is called "Battle Fortress".^[7] So far, all dedicated Metal Fight Beyblade games have been developed and published by Hudson.^[8] The most recent Metal Fight Beyblade video game to be released was "Metal Fight Beyblade: Choujou Kessen! Big Bang Blader" for the DS in Japan, which was released on December 2, 2010.^[9]

Metal Saga Toyline

4D Ultimate System

The 4D System continues on from the HWS System, adding on some gimmicks to the parts:

• Face Bolt: These hold the Beyblade parts together (except the Performance Tip).
• Energy Ring: The Energy Ring is where the launcher hooks stay when connected and determines the direction the bey will spin. In three cases in this System, the Energy Ring is not used (Variares D:D, L-Drago Destructor F:S and L-Drago Guardian GB145MB).
• Spin Track: Similar to the Fusion Wheel, a 4D Wheel is the part that helps attack other Beyblades. The main difference between the two types is that the 4D Wheel is composed of three or two parts, rather than one: Metal Frame, PC Frame and the Core. By using these three components in different positions, the Bey's contact points can change.
• Performance Tip: The Performance tip is a part of the bey that makes it move and spin.

Zero-G System

The Zero-G Season introduced a reformed system:

• Stone Face: These hold the Beyblade parts together (except the Performance Tip). Smaller and Thinner than the HWS Face Bolt.
• Chrome Wheel: The Zero-G equivalent of the HWS Fusion Wheel. Generally weighing around 30-35 grams and is half as thick as a typical HWS Fusion Wheel. Two Chromium Wheels can be clipped together (one replacing the Crystal Wheel), increasing the weight of the Bey.
• Crystal Wheel: The Zero-G equivalent of the HWS Energy Ring. Decides what Element a Bey will be and changes the contact points of the Chromium Wheel.
• Spin Track: The Spin Track helps a Beyblade spin and helps its weight and speed. It also connects the Performance Tip to the rest of the Beyblade, helping construct the beyblade.
• Performance Tip: The Performance Tip is the main thing that makes the Beyblade spin, chooses its movement pattern and determines a good amount of its Attack, Defense, and Stamina. Unlike in the previous systems, the performance tips perform differently in a special stadium called a Zero-G Stadium, which sways depending on the movement of the beyblades. Stamina type tips become defense type tips and vice-versa, and attack type tips become better suited to the Zero-G Stadium made specifically for Zero-G Beyblades.

All of these toys are made by Takara Tomy in Asia, Hasbro in the USA, India, Australia and Canada, and by Sonokong in South Korea.

See also

• Beyblade (toy)

References

External links

• Official D-rights Metal Fight Beyblade website(Japanese)
• Official TV Tokyo Metal Fight Beyblade website (Japanese)
• Official Nelvana Beyblade: Metal Fusion website
• Beyblade: Metal Fusion (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia