The big, even bigger than the previous, not exactly finale
The whole shtick with the predetermined future was pretty interesting, but I felt that its implementation into the plot was awkward. I wish we went into more specifics about the fate of the future without Beyblades, whether we think it will come to pass or not, and whether that even matters. Instead, we just ended the arc, leaving Nine and Zero's conclusions feeling super flat. I feel like there needs to be a stronger narrative conclusion for this plot point since so much of the story was made to be centered around it. I already thought that Nine's heel turn didn't mesh super well with her previous content, as Team Persona Nine's experiences didn't really leave any super lasting impact on the real Nine, and the whole betrayal thing didn't impact Nine's actual character much at all, either. Unfortunately, that didn't change, and I can only hope Nine and Zero will return so they can get some more material to work with, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
This feels even worse for Zero's character, because while he's a manipulative carp, he's apparently not completely wrong about some key aspects of his ideology, something that has remained consistent from the start, which I do like. Not even being able to see a proper conclusion regarding the future he envisioned, given that it's actually interesting being in a grey area morally, is super lame. Like, I guess they accomplished their goals in the end and walked off? Zero didn't actually succeed in grasping the future he personally desired, so I wish we got anything about that whatsoever.
One was a letdown, basically just the same old "I can't believe I was just a cog in the machine" thing, but that's what I expected from most of the siblings, so I'm not too mad about it. Now, Ekusu not being more involved thematically was super lame, especially since I feel like the time to do it would have been with his fight with One. I'm not even just talking about his super vague origins, but his parallels with Zero that, in turn, make his character out to be a bit more interesting, given that Zero's not exactly a great guy. That is some more material for Ekusu, sure, but I just need more out of him if he's gonna be such a prominent character.
Now, Bird. Bird ended up just like I feared, with his big win not moving me at all. I am definitely a Bird hater, but there is a rhyme and reason to this. The only reason Bird won here was due to outside influences related to things much bigger than his character. After 3 years, Bird finally getting a win by being handed it does not feel great. Yes, he was determined to win, but he always is; it's not like he intends to lose. The big factor here was him being given a bey that is a convenient counter pick to his opponent. He was given this bey because he's lost so much, but the losses not only don't have enough real connection to this specific plot line to be a big deal, but they just don't feel good plot-wise in general. He essentially gets super close to winning but ends up losing for some arbitrary reason decided by the plot, so his win was destined to feel dull due to how long they've been forcing him to lose.
I do feel like Beyblade X needs a shake-up if it's going to keep going after this, but given how many plot points have been resolved by now, I think it's in the cards. Leaving X City for an all-new place, with a mostly new supporting cast (except for some characters that are due a comeback), would be kinda cool. Most importantly, it would give them a chance to use the characters much better this time instead of having almost every Blader be a one-note enemy of the month. The fact that they've failed to cultivate a real cast of active side characters after 3 seasons of returning characters is ridiculous. Not too hot on the ending, but actually being hopeful for the future is pretty nice. Now, I'm off to watch Beywarriors Cyborg.
![[Image: sdACdVI.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/sdACdVI.gif)
