Season 1, Episode 10: Battle in the Sky

The Bladebreakers arrive in Mainland China to kick off the Asian Tournament

My Review

The last two episodes obviously ground to a halt, so you’ll be pleased to know this one is action-heavy. It’s a real palate-cleanser and there’s plenty of quirky and unique beyblades, launchers and strategies to sink your teeth into.

The area itself is an extravagant marvel of engineering; the stadiums for each stage of the tournament are suspended from the sides of a thin column-like mountain, with the final one resting at the top. In the English dub it’s actually suggested that some of the city is up there too. The characters display some degree of intrigue at this, but I think everyone’s reaction really should’ve been “how have I never heard about this insane structure before?”.

The Bladebreakers are to face off against The Tall Boys – the team representing Thailand – in this first match. It seems like this would be as good a place as any to point out that when Beyblade shows characters from other countries – especially rival teams – the portrayal can be a little stereotypical to say the least. The Tall Boys are a prime example of this.

The battles kick off right away with a trick dish – designed to resemble the mountains of China. First up is Ray and Andre, and what a weird looking beyblade Andre has. It’s twice the height of a normal beyblade, has horn-like protrusions coming from it and is all backed up by a yak bit beast. This battle is the first real chance we get to see Ray competing and actually taking it seriously, which Tyson is clearly wowed by.

One of the Tall Boys, Waylan – who is inexplicably given a stereotypical Mexican accent – has the ability to convert the rotational speed of his beyblade into incredible heat. This causes Max to nearly pass out, but it’s hardly a focussed attack. It’s putting out so much heat that people in the crowds are feeling the effects. Talk about wasted energy. This ends up being exactly what costs Waylan the match as his beyblade runs out of speed. Cool party trick though.

Next up is Tyson vs Tommy, and we’re greeted with the second super-gimmicky launcher of the series: a kickboxing launcher! I’m sure some people find these things cheesy but I absolutely love the idea of a launcher that caters to the sport the person is most familiar with. He literally launches his beyblade by kicking it into the dish.

Overall I enjoyed this episode. It was more battle-heavy than I’d normally like, but it was needed after the last two episodes mostly taking place in an alleyway. The arena from the outside looks incredible, I’ve included a picture below of the pan-shot stitched together into a panorama. It’s well worth a moment to appreciate the artist’s work.

What I Liked

The endlessly quote-able dialogue. “If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the bey-stadium”.

My Favourite Quote

Kevin (to Tyson): “You totally look like the weakest link…”
Kevin (taunting chant): “Weakest link! Weakest link!”
Tyson (being held back): “Yeah? Well you look like the missing link!”

Trivia

While never explicitly mentioned in this dub, The Tall Boys are meant to be the representatives of Thailand in the Asian Tournament.
In the English dub, The White Tigers are seen taunting the Bladebreakers that they’ll have to face off against each other eventually. In the Japanese dub, the White Tigers are warning the Bladebreakers that they’d better make it to the finals so they get to face off against each other.
In the English dub it’s suggested that the various parts of the tower are the actual city where residents live, and the arena is just on the top floor. In the Japanese dub, each floor is a new arena - with the finals taking place on the top floor.