Beyblade, Volume 1 [DVD] [2002]

Description

Product Description Contains the first 3 exciting episodes + BONUS EPISODE! Episode 1: The Blade Raider A challenge is made to Tyson from the smart-mouthed Carlos, a member of the notorious Blade Sharks. And the winner gets to keep everything! Only Kenny and Dizzi can help Tyson and save his collection... Episode 2: Day of the Dragoon Tyson finds himself up against Kai, the owner of a powerful blade in a battle he quickly loses. A return match is going to take all his skill, support from his friends Andrew and Kenny, and the power of the Bit Beast Dragoon... Episode 3: Take it to the Max! In a moment of heroism, Max, the new Beyblader in town, shows Tyson that with the proper skill and training, there is nothing that can't be achieved. The two soon become fast friends, leaving Kenny feeling left out... Episode 4: The Qualifier Begins Who can beat reigning champion Kai in the Beyblade Regional Qualifying Tournament? Everyone's trying, from Kenny and Max through to Ray and Kenny, but it'll take skill, luck and the best Beyblade to win through... .co.uk Review Beyblade is an animé tie-in to the high-tech spinning top toys. It has some of the standard faults of the cheaper Japanese animations--such as static backgrounds and overly perky facial design--but it makes inventive use of the idea that the competitions of the Beybladers are the outward manifestation of more occult conflicts in another realm. Young Tyson is a keen and inventive Beyblader--in the first episode, he works out a way of quadrupling the speed and force of his top--but it helps that his Beyblade is inhabited by the spirit of an ancestral dragon. Thus equipped, he moves through one round after another of an international competition, sometimes in alliance with the haughty Kai and his gang and sometimes opposing them, and always helped by Kenny and Dizzi, the spirit beast that inhabits Kenny's laptop. How much of this you want to watch will ultimately depend on how many duels between spinning tops you are going to be interested in, but the byplay between physical and spirit realms, and the conflict of characters is moderately interesting as well. On the DVD: Beyblade, Volume 1 comes with stereo sound and a visual aspect ratio of 4:3. The special features are limited to promotional material for the Beyblade tops, including quizzes and guides to customising. --Roz Kaveney