So these are the first two Beyblade Burst Sparking episodes, and they're...
well... they're okay. I mean it's just your typical Burst intro episodes. Okay there's two of them, so I'm reviewing them both at the same time.
Okay I know there's more than that so let's talk about it. Starting off with Hikaru and Hyuga, I like them so far, Hikaru is a more strategic and calculated guy, he still maintains that excitement for battle, like a lot of main characters should, but he works well with Hyuga, who is a contrast, very goofy and impulsive, at least what I got from him. Hyuga may seem like a typical idiot main character, but for some reason I feel like it's done a little differently, he's a bit more hasty than the others so far. I like that they're brothers too, and I hope we see them argue or something, create some really tense moments.
There's also three friends of the main two, but they're no doubt just the useless cheerleader characters and I really don't care for them. The blonde kid really freaks me out too, his design is really creepy in my opinion.
So the two get up to watch a match between Valt, Sisco and Rantaro, to introduce their new shiny Sparking beys. Personally I wish we had a bit more time to know what they got up to during their absence but hey, we gotta advertise the toys immediately. Plus I guess we may learn in the future. Anyway the battle between the three are pretty good, nothing too special but it's just nice to see them again. And I see Satan indeed has a new driver, thank you! So glad it wasn't Yr'.
The two main characters are inspired to create their own Sparking beys and to carry on from the laughably dumb way Valt created God Valkyrie, the two have a dream about them, and had the perfect details right away. I guess I'm not expecting too much at this point, this is your usual Burst fare.
The two test out their beyblades, but at first when looking at the trailer, I thought the red Ashura belonged to Hyuga and the blue Joker belonged to Hikaru, of course, I know it makes no sense how the two would battle each others predecessors if they had new ones, but the red and blue colours of the generic beys corresponding to their primary colours so hey, could you blame me? And sadly yeah, GT beys are now just fodder, but then again this trend started since God so whatever.
The two meet the three veterans in the stadiums training centre, wanting to challenge them. Valt fights against them, one at a time. The first one is against Hyuga who got hilariously one shotted. When I saw Hyuga's reaction, I thought it would be the typical "He looks down seemingly sadly but reveals he's happy because he loves battling", but no, he actually gets frustrated which I like. Hikaru challenges Valt and it's clear Hikaru has more skills then Hyuga as he holds his own better than him, but despite doing pretty well, Valt beats him with his special move. It should be noted that Valkyrie has a rubber bound gimmick from what I can tell, the bound gimmick using the rubber to work, akin to Screw Trident. The two get tired and run into the ocean and do a jump in the air freeze frame, seemingly excited.
By the way, am I the only one who finds it hilarious that Valt once again has an unworn Evolution driver? Yeah I know it's a tighter driver, but it's pretty funny to think that Valt now has to restart haha.
So yeah, these two episodes were just average, they were an okay introduction to Sparking but even with two episodes to make a full episode, we don't really learn a lot about the new main characters so far and it feels rushed in a lot of places, favouring showing the awesome new beys over giving time for the characters. Yes, I know Beyblade is a toy commercial, but having scenes show the characters themselves more would be nice, but I guess we can expect that later, hopefully.
EDIT: Oh right, yeah, I forgot to talk about the new intro. It's alright, but it feels kinda forgettable and quieter. However, I also didn't have a first good impression of GT's intro but loved it later on so maybe it just needs time to grow on me.
My Cho-Z Reaper Deathscyther .12.Cr concept render, click below to see!
No I don't plan on doing more yet.
I should probably go back to making fan custom Zero G beyblade concepts again