Beyblade (Japanese: ãÂÂã¤ãÂÂ㋼ã BeiburÃÂdo) is a battling spinning top toyline and multimedia franchise developed by the Japanese toy company Takara. Inspired by the older beigoma, the first modern Beyblade was released in July, 1999 in Japan, along with a related manga series. It was called "Spin Dragoon" and also "Ultimate Dragoon." Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies around the world have licensed Beyblade toys for their own regions, such as Hasbro in most Western countries and Sonokong in South Korea.
In Beyblade, participants compete in battles between two or more spinning tops called "Beyblades", or Beys. A Beyblade typically consists of multiple parts, and players can combine parts to create their own combination. Battles typically take place in a bowl-like stadium (called a Beystadium), into which players release Beyblades using a handheld launcher. A player wins if their Beyblade spins for a longer period of time or if the opponent's Beyblade exits the stadium. In Beyblade Burst and Beyblade X, players may also win if their opponent's Beyblade splits apart, known as "bursting".
There are four successive series of Beyblade tops, each designed with its own component parts that are not compatible with tops of other series. Tops are designed for play only with tops of the same series, and each series has a separate media continuity. The first iteration, known simply as Beyblade and made mostly out of plastic, ran from 1999 to 2004. ' (known as Metal Fight Beyblade in Japan), was introduced in 2008 featuring metal components. Beyblade Burst introduced the "burst" mechanic and ran from 2015 to 2021. Beyblade X, the current iteration, began in 2023.
Every series of Beyblade has manga and anime series tie-ins. The original manga series was adapted into an anime series produced by Madhouse and Nippon Animedia (a partnership between Takara and Nippon Animation), and the related 2002 film '. The Beyblade: Metal Fusion anime adaptation, retroactively named Beyblade: Metal Saga, was produced by Tatsunoko Production and SynergySP for four seasons and accompanied by the 2010 action-adventure film, '. The spinoff anime BeyWheelz was released in 2012.
Both the toys and their names were inspired by the Beigoma, a traditional Japanese spinning top. The concept is similar to Battling Tops, a spinning top game developed in 1968, and to the traditional spinning top games of topac, gasing pangkah, and pambaram and the previous Japanese toy line of Spin Fighters (1993âÂÂ1997).
The toy line was introduced with an accompanying manga series of the same name in 1999. The manga ran from 1999 to 2004, while the anime only ran in 2001 with 51 total episodes. In 2002, Hasbro sold Beyblade toys internationally (under license from Takara) along with a coordinated country-by-country release of localized versions of the television show. On July 12, 2008, Takara Tomy released Metal Fight: Beyblade, the second generation of the toy. The third generation, titled Beyblade Burst, was released by Takara Tomy on July 18, 2015. The fourth generation of the toy line, Beyblade X, was released on June 2023.
Aside from informal play, the game has a set of published rules. In the official competition, at least two players engage in the game. Each participant is permitted a maximum of three Beyblades, and swapping out Beyblade parts is strictly prohibited once a match commences. Players can select any of their three available Beyblades for each battle within a game.
In Metal Fight Beyblade, a points system was introduced. In the Beyblade Burst line of toys, Hasbro releases its own rule set for its toy line. In general, the first player to 3 points for older generations or 4 points for Beyblade X will win a match.
In the event of a draw (which results if both Beyblades either exit the ring simultaneously, stop spinning simultaneously, or burst at the same time), no points are awarded to either player. The stadium's pockets and entrance are sometimes referred to as an "extended play area" as opposed to a "primary play area" since if a Beyblade gets into one of the pockets but is able to escape (known as rebounding), it will not count as a knockout. For the stadium's entrance, if a Beyblade flies there, gets caught there and goes around the stadium but doesn't fall out of the stadium, it will also not be counted as a knockout.
There are four main types of Beyblades: the Attack, Defense, Stamina, and Balance types. The first three of those types have intransitive effectiveness, with Defense generally intended to be effective against Attack, Attack against Stamina, and Stamina against Defense. However, due to the high variability of custom configurations, and individual skill of the players, this is not a hard rule.
An arena called a Beystadium is sold by both Takara Tomy and Hasbro. It is shaped like an overturned spherical dome but may have other features dependent on the purpose of the particular stadium, like the Xtreme Rail found in Beyblade X stadiums. Different stadiums were released in different markets. Takara Tomy and Sonokong produce Beystadiums similar to those featured in the manga and anime adaptations, with open sections in the walls and openings on the sides to launch into. Hasbro produces stadiums with walls that are about tall and pockets that count as a ring-out instead.
Common features of a Beystadium include a circular shallow ridge called the Tornado Ridge, which allows mobile Beyblades such as Attack Types to move around quickly without accidentally knocking themselves out. Other features may be specific to the series that the Beystadium is released in, like the rails from the Beyblade Burst Cho-Z toy system and the taller Speedstorm toy system.
A Bey Launcher is used to rapidly spin the Beyblade and eject it into the stadium. Select launchers have different levels of power depending on the gears inside of them paired with the user's own launch strength. For example, the Proto launcher (Beyblade X) only delivers a small amount of power, which is why people do not use them much. Launchers differ in size and shape, with some of them using Ripcords (long sticks of plastic with grips on the end and teeth on the sides to strike the gears of the launcher when pulled) and others using Strings (long strings with grips on the end that are connected to a gear that has a retracting mechanism to strike the gears of the launcher with slightly more power).
Launching is often accompanied by a catchphrase. In the Takara Tomy version, this would be . In the Hasbro version, it was "3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!"
These toys are designed so that the top may separate if it has sustained enough hits, which creates a "burst" due to an unlocking mechanism and a spring in the performance tip. The Burst System consists of 3 parts, the "Energy Layer", the "Forge Disc" that contains most of the weight, and the "Driver", which is the equivalent of the metal series "Performance Tip", that controls the behavior of the Beyblade.
Toys "R" Us started distributing this system in Canada in September 2016 and Hasbro started distributing the toys in the United States in January 2017.
As the longest-running Beyblade series, Burst has had considerably more subsystems than its predecessors. These are:
Beyblades were the "most sought-after toy for Christmas 2003" in the UK, and won the British Association of Toy Retailers award for "Toy of the year" in 2002. They were the top-selling battling toys in the US in 2011. By 2003, more than 5 million Beyblade tops were sold in the United States.