There aren𒆙’t many children’s toys out there that have survived as long as has. For every decades-long mega franchise like or , there are dozens of fidget spinners, Pogs, Mighty Beanz, and other toy fads hardly anyone remembers. Currently celebratinꦰg its 25th anniversary, Beyblade is among the few that have stood the test of time.

Much like Pokemon, Beyblade is seeing a resurgence in the 2020s. Parents who grew up playing Beyblade are now enjoying the hobby with their own kids, and thanks to improvements made in the newest generation, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Beyblade X, the competitive🌳 scene has more energy than ever.

At last weekend’s World Championship US Qualifier at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, I sat dow♎n with three key figures behind Beyblade at Takara Tomy: Masahiko Yamazaki, head of Beyblade business and global licensing; Hisato Takaoka, general manager of Beyblade; and Makoto Muraki, specialist of Beyblade design team and legendary figure within the Beyblade community known as Master Blader. I asked themꦗ about the success of Beyblade X and why they believe the franchise has succeeded for so long, and they shared their interest in growing competitive Beyblade in the West and expanding Beyblade X into a global sport.

X: What Does It Mean?

Beyblade X, the fourth and current generation, laun🌸ched in Japan in 2023 and instantly transformed the entire game. Beyblade X offers the most exciting competition yet, with faster Beys that hit harder than ever before, creating big moments and photo finishes for every battle. Takaoka says honing battles to improve the “spikes” was a main goal when creating Beyblade X, and the team poured a lot of ideas into designing the generation to “s♍queeze all of the juice” and uncover what Beyblade was truly capable of.

As Muraki explains, the X-celerator gimmick was key to amping up the intensity of Beyblade X. The design team aimed to increase the number of opportunities for powerful collisions in the ꦍarena, and the X-celerator rail, which encircles the arena, giving Beys a track to latch onto that shoots them directly down the middle of the arena at accelerated speeds, accompl🎐ishes exactly that.

Skill is what makꦰes Beyblade a competitive game, of course. Muraki emphasizes that ensuring players can express their skill through their launch techniques is an important facet of Beyblade X design. Sometimes your strategy may involve avoiding contact with your opponent’s bey completely, so X giv𒀰es skilled players the ability to dodge as well.

Muraki says the design team maintains a database that tells them how a Beyblade will perform🦩 when adjustments are made to mass, weight distribution, contact points, and other features. This tool helps them design and fine-tune beys that fit into🐲 existing gaps in the X line.

While X has injected new life into the hobby, Takaoka believes Beyblade’s longevity can be attributed to four elements that have remained consistent throughout its entire history: battle, face to face communication, customization, and collecting. Takaoka says these elements speak to our human instinc🥀ts and can help explain why Beyblade is still finding new fans even after all these years. X has also been particularly successful at bringing players back to the hobby. People who played Beyblade as kids are often intrigued to discover that with X, Bꦏeyblade is more exciting than ever.

This year’s World Championship, which will feature both 12 and under and 13 and over divisions for the first time, is a demonstration of Beyblade’s broad appeal. “Beyblade can 𝔍cross the barriers of age, gender, and countries,” Takaoka says. “This year’s tournament shows that by having both a kids and adult level, while gathering everyone around the world in Tokyo for the finals.”

Beyblade Without Borders

While the competitive Beyblade community is thriving across the US, Last weekend’s World Championship qualifier at Anime Expo was the first opportunity players over the age of 12 have ever had to compete in an official tournament. Subsequently, 🦩this will also be the first time an open division for ages 13 and up will be featured at the World Championship. In Asia, where Beyblade has a lot of official tournament support from Takara Tomy, this open division has existed for a few years now.

With Beyblade X, Yamazaki says the goal is to align the different regions so that bladers around th🧸e world can have the s💃ame opportunities to play. “It was very important for this generation to do things in a more borderless, global way,” he says. “For Beyblade X, we are planning to be more fair. We need to prepare the same opportunity for all Beybladers globally.”

The World Championship qualifier tournament at Anime Expo was a step in that direction for Beyblade, and an overwhelmingly positive one for both players and Takara Tomy. About the turnout, which included more than 350 players who lined up overnight for a chance to compete, Yamazaki was very impressed. “We are very hap⛦py today,” he says. “This is a very good opportunity for us.” Takara Tomy is already considering another World Championship, which may occur within the next two years, because the experience has been so positive.

The Beyblade te༺am collaborates closely with the OLM Team Masuda, the production company behind the anime, to develop the identity and storylines for each Beyblade. Muraki says a bey’s story is part of its design, and deꦜveloping that identity helps them find where it fits in within the existing lineup.

While the developers see the potential for more official competitive events beyond the World Championship in the US, Yamazaki explains that as Hasbro🌜 is the Beyblade distributor in the West, it would lead organized play in the US. “Today’s reaction has been very good,” he says.

“We need to talk to Hasbro and discuss internally on the Takara To൲my side. After that,🌼 we hope to prepare the same options [that players in Japan have].”

Building Towards The Future With Beyblade X

Yamazaki recognizes that, as Beyblade players have grown up, the story of the Beyblade brand need👍s to evolve too. Developing a global competitive cultur🌟e for adult bladers is part of the long-term plan for Beyblade X. Takaoka says their vision for Beyblade X is to grow it to a level of a professional sport. He says this is how they intend to “widen the gate” to an even broader audience for Beyblade X in the future.

“Look at basebal𓂃l as an example,” he says. “They play in school, they play outside of school, they play in official stadiums, there are pro teams; that’s the kind of level I’m talking about.” This kind of structure is not dissimilar to the kind of tiered format that already exists in Asia today, with G3 events taking place at the store level, G2 being regional events, and G1 serving as the highest level of international Beyblade competition. Takaoka believes Beyblade X has the potential to be enjoyed at all levels of play, from kids blading during recess to professional teams competing on an international stage.

Fans around the world already have a lot to look forward to with the Beyblade World Championship this fall, but now that X has proven itsel🌞f to be the most exciting and competitive generation yet, the developers are ready to shoot for the stars and see how far Beyblade X can go.