Season 1, Episode 8: Bladin' in the Streets

An unexpected stopover in Hong Kong leads The Bladebreakers into some hot water.

My Review

The Asian Tournament is afoot, and it’s time for us to say goodbye to Japan for the time being and move on to the beautiful mountains of China. Well, sort of; the connecting flight at Hong Kong is delayed due to storms on the route, so Mr Dickenson announces that they’ll try again the next day – giving the team a day to explore and enjoy the city.

The first port of call is to get some food. The team enjoy an assortment of delicious-looking anime food over lively conversation. It’s not until they’re capping things off with some tea that they realize who their server is: Ray – who explains he does it to earn some extra money.

As Ray’s arc develops in the show, this may begin to stick out to you more. Without going into too much detail, Ray is not living at home. Unless he’s flying out every day, this makes it pretty clear that he’s living in Hong Kong, and possibly alone. Let’s just take a moment to remember that he’s not meant to be from Hong Kong, and he’s 14.

I enjoy the first half of this episode; it’s punchy, funny and plot-driven. The second half in the alleyway? Oh boy. It just comes grinding to a halt. This is without a doubt one of those strategically-placed episodes designed to save on the animation budget. If this irritates you, then I’m afraid you’re not going to enjoy the episode after this at all.

Unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to recommend that anybody skip this episode, because it does lay the foundations for Ray’s story arc and it makes future events more meaningful. Grit your teeth and power though this episode – you’ve got this!

What I Liked

The use of a wok as a beyblade dish.

My Favourite Quote

Mr Dickenson: “Oh let him go kids. He’s a loner but he’ll come around – he’ll begin to realize that in beyblading, just like with rice balls, it’s better to have many than to have just one.”

Trivia

Some scenes featuring English signs on stores were censored in the English dub – notably ones promoting bars.
There’s a scene on the airplane in the Japanese dub where Tyson yells at Kai, this was taken out of the English dub for some reason – along with another scene where an air stewardess angrily clears her throat to get Tyson to sit down.
The hotel the Bladebreakers are staying at is The Peninsula - a real Hong Kong hotel