So, I was doing a rewatch of Beyblade Burst Anime and honestly, being a Fafnir Fan since the Evolution series, I cant help but notice how much they nerfed Free post Cho-Z. I will admit, Free has the worst character writing after Cho-Z, from the Legendary 4. And I will share my issues with Fafnir too.
SPARKING:-
FREE:- The Sparking writers did Free dirty. His whole motivation for building a new bey was to get revenge on Lain after their debut clash. But somehow, he ends up being the only major character who never actually gets to fight him. Why build up a massive revenge plotline and then completely drop the ball on the payoff? Free should have been first in line to face Lain.
The writers didnt even take inspiration from Evolution, where after being beaten badly by Lui, Free trains intensely, unlocks Super Saiyaan Mode and Nothing Break and has the highest attacking stats out of a STAMINE TYPE BEYBLADE! and this resulted in one of the most iconic matches in that season, I still remember the surprise I had when the kid me saw Fafnir do nothing break and setting the stadium on fire. What I am trying to tell is, I didnt want him to unlock super saiyaan mode again and battle lain, but atleast we should HAVE seen a re-match of him and Lain again!
His other battles, interactions with the cast and all were fine but overall in terms of how well he was written in sparking:- 3.5/10
MIRAGE FAFNIR(only the base version, no combos):- Now, the issues not only lies with Free but also with Fafnir too. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Mirage Fafnir and specially its counter mode against Left Spin Beys. But, The reason why I crashed out was, when all other Beyblades (of the TOP 4 specifically) got Dash Drivers (Unite', Destroy' etc),
I wanna know the EXACT REASON why they didn't give Fafnir a Nothing' or better, an Absorb'. Heck, imagine losing a end moment stamina battle to Longinus's Destroy' (great LAD) despite being a stamina type.
DYNAMITE BATTLE:-
FREE:- I am seriously coping with what did to Free in here. Like with the way they handled Free, it would have been better had he not appeared in DB at all.
Like- He had a match with Bell which he almost lost but he dodged Bell's attack at the very last moment, and with a slow mo burst finish, he won. And, naturally, he was really mad at himself after that match, saying he hated how he thought he was going to lose mid-battle, and that he can never forgive himself for that. It's very in-line with how his character would have reacted to in s2 and s3. Episodes later he gets defeated by Bell, and suddenly doesn't gaf anymore, says congratulations to Bell, no anger, no sadness, nothing. Like, he was raging on the thought of losing and he lost, he is chill with that?? I cant say no more.
VANISH FAFNIR (the base version, no combos):- Vanish Fafnir, I liked the Beyblade but it genuinely seems like BEYBLADE MAKERS HATE GIVING FAFNIR A GOOD DRIVERRR! Like the gimmick of the Kick Driver should be:-
I want to point out that ignoring the gimmick, what other gimmick does Fafnir have except Spin Stealing (the base gimmick of all fafnir evolutions) and High Mode shift (gimmick of all DB beys)? Yeah, it does have holes on the blade for shock absorption but with the driver it has, it rarely works.
Like in comparison with the top 4- Astral Spriggan (dual roation, metal for attacks and heck, even rubber for spin equalisation, Mode change between S/A/D) + Burst Spriggan (everything in astral but with burst lockers and Fusion'), Guilty Longinus (do I need to say?) and Ultimate Valkriye, what does Vanish Fafnir has except rubber blades that work only against right spins ones?
Like what defence does the base Vanish fafnir (no combo version) offer against a left spinning attack mode Burst Spriggan and Guilty Longinus? Specially Longinus, with metals that literally tears apart its Rubber Blades and it cant even win a survivor finish with that carp driver. It being the last DB bey for Fafnir, even if they ran out of ideas, they could have atleast implemented a remodeled gimmick of Geist Fafnir, so that its always not the rubber hitting the metal against left spin beys? NO, WE WONT. Atleast, give it Burst Stoppers? NO, WE WONT.
Honestly, as someone who watched Beyblade Burst from day 1, I am left with nothing but disappointment with how they handled My fav character and Bey.
What are your thoughts about post Cho-Z Free?
SPARKING:-
FREE:- The Sparking writers did Free dirty. His whole motivation for building a new bey was to get revenge on Lain after their debut clash. But somehow, he ends up being the only major character who never actually gets to fight him. Why build up a massive revenge plotline and then completely drop the ball on the payoff? Free should have been first in line to face Lain.
The writers didnt even take inspiration from Evolution, where after being beaten badly by Lui, Free trains intensely, unlocks Super Saiyaan Mode and Nothing Break and has the highest attacking stats out of a STAMINE TYPE BEYBLADE! and this resulted in one of the most iconic matches in that season, I still remember the surprise I had when the kid me saw Fafnir do nothing break and setting the stadium on fire. What I am trying to tell is, I didnt want him to unlock super saiyaan mode again and battle lain, but atleast we should HAVE seen a re-match of him and Lain again!
His other battles, interactions with the cast and all were fine but overall in terms of how well he was written in sparking:- 3.5/10
MIRAGE FAFNIR(only the base version, no combos):- Now, the issues not only lies with Free but also with Fafnir too. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Mirage Fafnir and specially its counter mode against Left Spin Beys. But, The reason why I crashed out was, when all other Beyblades (of the TOP 4 specifically) got Dash Drivers (Unite', Destroy' etc),
I wanna know the EXACT REASON why they didn't give Fafnir a Nothing' or better, an Absorb'. Heck, imagine losing a end moment stamina battle to Longinus's Destroy' (great LAD) despite being a stamina type.
Quote:The dash drivers feature a stronger spring lock, increasing the Driver's Burst Resistance. -Beyblade WikiIf they cant give Fafnir a dash driver, why not give it BURST STOPPERS at least?
DYNAMITE BATTLE:-
FREE:- I am seriously coping with what did to Free in here. Like with the way they handled Free, it would have been better had he not appeared in DB at all.
Like- He had a match with Bell which he almost lost but he dodged Bell's attack at the very last moment, and with a slow mo burst finish, he won. And, naturally, he was really mad at himself after that match, saying he hated how he thought he was going to lose mid-battle, and that he can never forgive himself for that. It's very in-line with how his character would have reacted to in s2 and s3. Episodes later he gets defeated by Bell, and suddenly doesn't gaf anymore, says congratulations to Bell, no anger, no sadness, nothing. Like, he was raging on the thought of losing and he lost, he is chill with that?? I cant say no more.
VANISH FAFNIR (the base version, no combos):- Vanish Fafnir, I liked the Beyblade but it genuinely seems like BEYBLADE MAKERS HATE GIVING FAFNIR A GOOD DRIVERRR! Like the gimmick of the Kick Driver should be:-
Quote:"In theory, the outer ring gimmick supports itself when hit, relying on built-in springs to re-stabilize itself." -Beyblade WikiWe have seen that cool gimmick work in the anime but in reality, it rarely freaking works. The driver just scrapes over the stadium's surface when it is attacked, further reducing the stamina and has a very bad LAD. The gimmick that should have worked, barely works and instead, hurts the beyblade.
I want to point out that ignoring the gimmick, what other gimmick does Fafnir have except Spin Stealing (the base gimmick of all fafnir evolutions) and High Mode shift (gimmick of all DB beys)? Yeah, it does have holes on the blade for shock absorption but with the driver it has, it rarely works.
Like in comparison with the top 4- Astral Spriggan (dual roation, metal for attacks and heck, even rubber for spin equalisation, Mode change between S/A/D) + Burst Spriggan (everything in astral but with burst lockers and Fusion'), Guilty Longinus (do I need to say?) and Ultimate Valkriye, what does Vanish Fafnir has except rubber blades that work only against right spins ones?
Like what defence does the base Vanish fafnir (no combo version) offer against a left spinning attack mode Burst Spriggan and Guilty Longinus? Specially Longinus, with metals that literally tears apart its Rubber Blades and it cant even win a survivor finish with that carp driver. It being the last DB bey for Fafnir, even if they ran out of ideas, they could have atleast implemented a remodeled gimmick of Geist Fafnir, so that its always not the rubber hitting the metal against left spin beys? NO, WE WONT. Atleast, give it Burst Stoppers? NO, WE WONT.
Honestly, as someone who watched Beyblade Burst from day 1, I am left with nothing but disappointment with how they handled My fav character and Bey.
What are your thoughts about post Cho-Z Free?