Beyblade Burst Evolution

Never have I watched a more infuriating episode of this series. Every character is acting in an absolutely stupid manner and making stupid decisions and just not using their brains. We have characters doing battles with the opposition before their official battles, which just gives more information about play styles to the others; we have characters running with a rumour that would have never started had they used their ears for half a second longer; we have the entire Beyblade Club treating Valt and Rantaro like they're the devil incarnate for literally no concrete reason - there's probably so much more on top of that. I wanted to throw myself into a fire while watching this because everyone apart from our main characters was completely insufferable. At least it wasn't boring and I do enjoy watching conflict, but I simply can't be emotionally invested in conflict when it has barely any legs to stand on. Idiots like Stan need to grow a pair and realise they're not as good as they thought they were. Can we just write him off the show already? I feel like the entire team's chemistry will be so much better if he just wasn't there.

A whole lot of ups and downs we experience this episode. Silas has a midlife crisis, the team has a midlife crisis, Ivan has a midlife crisis - honestly, who isn't having a midlife crisis with the way things are looking? After our fan favourite, Free, got kidnapped by Theo, everyone collectively appears to have let it shake them as if Free was single-handedly carrying everyone's confidence in his left pinkie. I feel like everyone's kind of forgotten that they have their own skillsets and strong suits, but the lows of this emotional conflict is what the episode focuses on more than anything. Wakiya appears briefly (we all wish it had been for longer) and seems to actually be on better terms with Silas, so I really hope the two can kind of become frenemies that respect one another down the line because they mirror one another really well. Stan also needs to shut his mouth because he's doing worse than Rantaro at Beyblading right now, and that says something. Hopefully our characters can stop rotting away next episode and make some money moves to stop the complete downfall of their beloved Bey Club.

Honestly, a pretty fun one. Not the most creative in terms of outcomes or how things go down, but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. All three of our team members had a battle (I was holding out for Silas, but alas, today was not the day) and, even though Rantaro let the side down like always, I managed to enjoy Free's and Valt's battles. Free was out here being a boss in the same way he continuously is, and Valt had to do some quick thinking and he actually managed it (shocking, I know). We got a little preview of where Shu is as of right now, and we also are reintroducing Theo who is in the process of coaxing this child to come with him - probably to a van with sweets inside, knowing how this weirdo acts - so there's no way that plot line will end well at all. No idea what the structure for the next episode could be now that we're done our mini arc, so I look forward to seeing what it is.

Wow, so, Free, I didn't know that was what you could bring to the table. If it isn't obvious, we started the match against the Germans and Free's match was one of them, and he ate down so hard that it's difficult to even explain what I watched. Regardless, we have Kusa who is seeming like an important character and happens to be part of the German team. His friendship with Valt feels very genuine even if the first half(ish) of the episode revolved round silly shenanigans Kusa got into. Other than that, not too much else happened; Kusa and Valt bonded, we got two rounds into the competition out of a maximum of five, Stan only said around three lines but still managed to annoy me, Free mogged everyone without even trying, Theo is still a strange man who likes Free a little too much, and that's sort of it. In terms of vibes, very good, with the only thing bringing it down from five stars being the sequences that (albeit fun) are kind of useless to the overarching plot, and maybe Kusa pulling out some moves that feel kind of insane while he battles.

Before we start and get into a serious review, I strongly suggest going to 31:44 of the YouTube video of the English dub of this episode and look at the background characters; there's one which gave me some of the best laughs this series has given me, and all because the poor child was melting. Anyway, speaking about the actual episode in question - drama! I love drama the most in these kind of shows but especially interpersonal drama, and we get the first real introduction of that with Wakiya and Silas - which I, in a way, foreshadowed in my review of the previous episode. Aside from that, we have the finale of the friendly battle, followed by battles to see how everyone ranks in the academy or something like that. Rantaro also happens to go from redeeming himself slightly to dropping right back to the bottom of the totem pole when talking about skill level; he's nothing if not consistently bad, honestly. I also thank the lords for the ending of the episode - we needed less of the peanut gallery and I'm so very glad that they heard my wishes and hung one out to dry. Free was as nonchalant as ever, Valt was as embarrassingly crazy and cringe as ever, and Silas... Well, Silas is stirring things up and I, for one, am sat.

Those people in the stands are ridiculously annoying; why do such nothing characters exist and get this unreasonable amount of screentime? Anyway, apart from the commentary of those that brought the episode by half a star, this was so fun. Free genuinely just shows up to flex and then dips when he's decided he's bored, all the time ragebaiting while being the most nonchalant person to ever exist. Every time the guy opens his mouth, I start laughing because he's so effortlessly hilarious and is the thing carrying the comedy right now. The couple of battles we got to watch were fun and interesting - nothing too new to discuss regarding them though, just that the opposing team are in conflict because they're all (all being Wakiya and Silas) just conflicting personality types with massive egos that can't take a backseat, but that's why they're fun to watch. I'm baffled by Free's decision at the end of the episode purely based on the track record we've seen of Rantaro in the show, but I know he'll finally maybe prove that he can do more than fail over and over.

Wakiya, the nepo baby you are. Genuinely, the things Wakiya decides to do this episode are ridiculous in the best way. Aside from that, the only other proper character centric moments are when Free just nonchalantly gives advice to Rantaro and Valt, then proceeds to lowkey fall asleep again because he just doesn't want to be there, which is so valid. Oh, and there was some suspicious man that's in love with Free - don't know what that's about but I'm sure this won't ever come up again and definitely won't create conflict in future. The battles took up the core of this episode and were very entertaining to watch, showcasing just how our main characters' Beyblades interact with one another following their evolutions. I'm glad Wakiya still retained the skills he had from the prior season, though; would feel silly if he didn't.

Immediately a much stronger start to the season than the prior series. Everything feels like it has intension right now and like there might be more to these fifty-one episodes than tournament arc after tournament arc. There's a couple characters who seem like they're going to be interesting - either soon or further down the line - so that's rather exciting since good, strong characters help me build an appreciation for the series. The general setting of this season is probably also something I'm going to enjoy if it goes down the path of being a school, and the tension that's starting to brew is very subtle but has potential as well. Overall, there's a lot of potential to be had with this series, so I'm actually excited to see how we develop it.

The shadow battles keep being silly and goofy, the best moment most definitely being the ice puns being thrown out left and right in the third set of battles. Honestly, I agree with the way the first two battles played out and the environments they were set in, but I'm struggling a little to understand the reason for the environment of the third battle. I'm also struggling to see just how/why all of this is relevant to fighting Evil Shu. I mean, I know it's to prove one's skill and what will have you, it just feels rather extravagant and convoluted for no real reason. Also, the people running the Snake Pit are literally just rich nobodies who want to see kids being tortured because why on earth would we not only completely endorse what's happening in the Snake Pit, but also actively try to get rid of the losers of the battles? It's so silly - everything is just so silly right now. The only battle that really felt like it stood out was the first one, ending in a very predictable way in terms of the result, but the way it was won was something incredibly new, so it was nice to see that at least. We got left on a little bit of a cliff-hanger, so I wonder just how that's going to work itself out.

This episode is so silly. Like, it's fun and has very fun moments, but the overall concept and the way it's executed is very silly for an adult to watch. I did enjoy it a very good amount but I can't lie about how entertaining the silly antics are. Of course I know I'm not the target audience so that's never going to be a complaint, but I'm still allowed to point these things out. The Snake Pit in of itself is actually horrifying through an adult lens though; whatever's going on in there needs to be outlawed and condemned by everyone and everything. The general concept for what's happening is interesting - both in terms of the Snake Pit and the battles we're seeing - it's just that the former is highly illegal and immoral and I hope for the salvation of all those souls, and the latter is perhaps a little on the cheap/uncreative side. Alas, this might all be a moral question of if the Bey makes the Blader or if the Blader makes the Bey.

The character we've all been waiting for - Evil Shu - finally makes an appearance. Basically, the main cast go on a little side quest to find their best friend and stumble upon Evil Shu, and still don't manage to clock that it's Shu but evil. He's going through his emo era, guys, leave him alone; it's not just a phase, he promises. We spend the whole episode with Wakiya being rich and somehow having too much money to actually do whatever he wants to do, the gang ending up in the middle of a jungle with not a single adult in sight. How these kids didn't die is a mystery we'll never know the answer to. The wacky shenanigans take up the bulk of the episode, a battle against Evil Shu closing it out with many questions being asked about just what's next in store for us. Overall, this episode was just ridiculously stupid. Funny, nonsensical, dramatic, but utterly, undeniable, unequivocally stupid. Just a good vibe honestly.

I come bearing bad news: thirteen additional foot shots for a total of twenty, and that's me being conservative with what counts as a foot shot as well. Furthermore, the worst British accent to ever exist shows up in this episode; I wish we had more of that kid because I was dying. All in all, we just focus on concluding the overall battle, everyone doing their individual battles and bonding a good amount by the end of it, the world stage now actually in their sights. However, we set up an emotional conflict for the next episode and I really have no idea what's going on in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully, though, Ghasam is very likely gone and so is the overreliance on foot shots to carry the episodes; Silas finished his personal development arc so there's not really a use for this random kid anymore, is there? The episode generally just felt like a hodge-podge of random stuff and nonsensical things left and right which left a kind of weird smell in the air for me - probably the stench of unwashed grippers polluting everyone's noses.

We're back and introducing (formally) a new character that I couldn't care any less about. He's clearly only here to be a stepping stone for Silas to power up and evolve himself and his skillset, and Ghasem is just not a compelling character. His backstory is naff, the grudge he holds against Silas is unfounded, and his Beyblade is (in real life) very illegal. The episode does a small number of actual battles with the rest sort of just focusing on the unresolved tension between Ghasem and Silas, as well as stating how Valt fits into the Beyblade team following last match. I was also terrified by the amount of feet shots we had from our new character (seven, as it stands; will continue counting in future episodes because this is ridiculous), and I kind of just want Silas to sweep the floor with him already. Still, good things come to those who wait, so I'll wait as long as I have to in order to have Ghasem kicked off the show. He's not even that bad, just boring with stupid motivations.

A predictable end to the overall game, but a fun watch nonetheless. I'll get it out of the way: best moment of the episode was Ryota and Daigo talking (no joke, I actually cried because Ryota is way too cute); worst moment of the episode was Stan's match (the outcome, I loathe as much as I loathe him). Aside from that, we saw Daigo's first moments arriving in France and meeting his Beyblade, and the rest was genuinely just predominantly Beyblading. Silas was very, very funny this episode - ragebaiting the ragebaiter is a goated tactic, truly - and Valt is still somehow managing to get ragebaited and "offended" when a friend gets their game on during a match. Like, bro, you've been through both of these things so many times; surely we recognise that it's going to keep happening and you need to learn to get over it. All in all, I'm glad we're back on track with our regularly scheduled Beyblading and we didn't keep up the vibes of the last episode, but I am a little scared we're going to go back there in the next one.

Oh, my Lordy Lord. While I, on a personal and emotional level, hate what happens this episode, I can't sit here and call it bad. Everything logically makes sense and it seems like this was probably the correct way for the series to go in order for anything of value to happen. That being said, I really, really, really don't want this to be the route we're going with Free because it means one of my favourites is, once again, going to be demoted from a main cast member and I'm going to be looking for someone to fill that emotional hole for me. Honestly, I'm glad I'm not watching any more episodes today because I need to emotionally grieve; the betrayal is real. Anyway, aside from those last couple of minutes, nothing too important happens and it's just kind of a lot of filler-esque scenes that help establish the standings of our characters in the scale of the whole show and the world; everything sort of does just happen in those last five minutes. I hope we still manage to keep the vibes high in future and this doesn't completely shift the feeling of the whole show in a way which doesn't appeal to me.

Can I just say that Stan is the most insufferable loser to ever exist within the lines of this show? Anytime he came on screen, I was wanting to jump off a cliff and absolutely beat him to a pulp because his reasonings for being such an arrogant, big-headed prick are nonsensical anyway. Aside from the worst character ruining everything whenever he opened his stupid mouth, the episode was fun. I think it was just a couple of training sequences, a match or two, and then Stan just asking to get ran off the show. Overall, the only properly important thing to happen was the introduction of how our tournament arcs are (vaguely) going to work, and that literally happened in the last thirty seconds of the show. The vibes, however, were just vibing even if Stan tried to bring them down every other second, but Valt was single-handedly carrying the happy vibe and I was clinging onto that happiness in a way I never have before. Anyway, Silas was a little bratty this episode but in a fun way; I just hope we get to see a lot more of him and he gets to be a real member of the main cast soon because that's what the general set-up seems to be.

Free is officially my favourite character, no questions asked. I already felt the vibe that he was exactly my type of character in the last episode but this one just confirmed everything. He's just so much fun to watch, is like a nonchalant version of Wakiya combined with the (rightful) arrogance of characters like Luis, except he's not nearly as awfully insufferable as the evil Labubu. Either way, in this episode, we get formally introduced to an opposing team to our main characters and there's going to be a face-off with said team, so we need to have a bunch of battles to find appropriate team members to join with us. Free ends up aurafarming a bunch, and Wakiya also shows us why he's our favourite nepo baby (he's too funny, like, actually). So, yeah, our first official proper Beyblade match comes in the next episode.

Honestly, a pretty fun opening episode. We start by skipping half a year (which isn't established explicitly in the show) and Valt is now part of some international duelling team and is leaving his friends behind to pursue this. After meeting a new character who's going to be very obviously prominent, he gets an upgraded version of Valtryek and goes for a rematch to test the waters with the new Beyblade. It just serves as a set-up for the overall environment and explaining why Valt's Beyblade looks like that, and that it's also pretty much starting from scratch and having to find out all the secrets, mysteries, evolutions, and tactics with this new variant. I rather like that because it would feel rather silly to keep giving the old model of Valtryek fifty thousand new abilities and tricks just so it keeps on pace with the new calibre of Beyblading that we're for sure going to establish. Not sure how it'll compare to the pervious season, but I'm definitely down to give it a good old try.