Beyblade Burst Sparking is probably the most divisive season of the franchise since 4D/Metal Fury and Chouzetsu/Turbo, and it's not hard to see why. With a season that focuses on a trio of rookies taking down the legends, it's bound to be somewhat controversial with fans of the returning cast.
For me however... it's a season that definitely leaves a lot to be desired. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like but it's overall a
very flawed season to me. The issue I have with this season is that I feel there's not much of a reason to get invested into the story as we aren't really given a reason to (I'll get into that when I talk about the characters), not helping that this show has a handful of fillers which drags the show even more.
The pacing of the season can be a bit too fast, which results in a lot of moments feeling rushed. I know, it's a pretty short season (as short as Zero-G and Gachi) but it feels like the story feels almost static as things just go through the motions. Plus, any potential arcs set up for the characters, more specifically the returning cast, get dropped pretty quickly or don't have the most satisfying payoff.
- For example, what happened to Free's "revenge" against Lean? I'm not expecting Free to defeat Lean obviously (that would be silly), but when it was finally time for the two to duke it out again in episode 45 with Free and Sisco VS Lean and Shu, the battle ended up being too quick and Free never got the chance to even go near Lean as he was too busy dealing with Shu instead (with the latter quickly knocking Fafnir out).
- Another example would be Ranjiro. Whilst he did get the badass boost later on in the season, we never got to see him train and get stronger as it's all off screen so it ends up feeling more like "Hey guys, I'm back and I'm stronger than before!". I would've honestly liked to have seen a bit of his progress.
- Lui and Drum's friendship, whilst it was very cool to see them both as chums, felt underdeveloped and a bit forced. I know they were the spares out of the Legendary Bladers with dragons and therefore needed someone to pair up with, but I never really got the impression that the two could be friends in such a short time. Yes, Lui was impressed with Drum's fighting prowess in episode 25 and acknowledged him as worthy, but I'm sure he has said that about everyone he deems strong like Valt, Aiga, Free and yet doesn't really attempt to befriend them (merely seeing them as respectable rivals). To be fair, Drum is the sort of person who is centred around the theme of friendship and is good at making friends, but even he took time to truly befriend Delta in Gachi so... The friendship between Lui and Drum was still cool, but I wish we saw more of that.
To me, the Legendary Bladers felt like set-dressing and just secondary goals for the main characters to aim when their real goal was to defeat Lean.
Of course, these examples I've listed are about the returning cast and this season isn't about them, which only leaves us with the new cast who will inevitably kick their behinds and become champions. Now personally, I don't mind that the returning cast get their butts kicked by the rookies as it's inevitable anyway, just as long as these new characters are interesting or cool. That's where the season falls a bit short for me. Hyuga, Hikaru and Lean feel rather wasted as characters because whilst they have a lot of potential, there's not a lot about them that stands out and therefore makes a very bland cast of new characters. They're likeable, but lack anything that makes me want to root for them especially outside of just being the protagonists of their season. I'll only talk about the new characters, as there's not much to be said for the returning cast (besides Shu).
- Hyuga - Starting off with the "zoom zoom!" kid himself, Hyuga is another hot-blooded Burst protagonist with a fiery spirit and acts before he thinks, but with one small factor that just makes him a little bit inferior to me. He simply doesn't stand out at all nor does he have anything interesting about him as a character, outside of being the comical idiot which makes him feel very flat and boring. If you take Hikaru out of the equation and leave Hyuga as he is, what does that leave? In my opinion, a very bland protagonist with not much going for him. And yet, the show insists he's the main main protagonist of the show (above Hikaru) because he's the one with the Attack-Type. He does have his moments that show some sort of growth such as growing out of his laziness and becoming less reckless, but I could never get invested in his character because he's uninteresting to me and we're never given a reason to. I'll get more into it, once I finish talking about Hikaru.
- Hikaru - Hikaru is a bit more unique than Hyuga, because he's the first protagonist in the franchise who utilises his brain over brawn. I mean Gingka was also knowledgable himself, but Hikaru had more emphasis on his intelligence and analytical skills. There were moments where he felt insecure, especially with Hyuga possessing natural talent and growing faster as a blader compared to him, and those moments made him sympathetic. Unfortunately, he's a bit more underdeveloped as he has to share focus with Hyuga (who gets a bit more in comparison). I would've liked it if he was a standalone main character who was a nerdy fanboy of legends and therefore wanted to live up to them. But sadly, he had to sacrifice his already thinned out screen time with Hyuga, and much like his brother we're not given a reason to root for him outside of being the main character.
- Both Hyuga and Hikaru - I know that the theme that defines Hyuga and Hikaru as protagonists are that they're the first duo protagonists in Burst and their focus on teamwork, but that leads me to another point... why are we rooting for them? I've mentioned that we're not given a reason to care about the story, and that's because the show doesn't give us much of a reason to care about why Hyuga and Hikaru deserve to win against the legends, of all characters. All they've done is bicker and go "No, me first!" back and fourth whenever they want to challenge the legends. I mean don't get me wrong, they're likeable as they are and I have no problem with them defeating the legends but what is it about them that we should root for? Because they're the main characters? Why do we want them to defeat the legends? Because the show said so? There's not really an incentive to vote for them over the returning cast because we're never really given one (or at least a good one). The show never gives us a reason as to why we should cheer for them above everyone else. I mean with Valt, we cheered for him because he made a promise to Shu to make it to the finals and in the second season, he had to save Shu from himself. With Aiga, we rooted for him because he was struggling to fight the darkness within and had to stop Phi from causing terror and havoc against bladers. With Drum, he and Team Victories had to stop H.E.L.L from taking over the WBBA and to help Gwyn understand the concept of friendship, giving him a new perspective. But the Asahi brothers? I dunno, there's no goal outside of "I wanna get stronger, because I wanna get stronger". I guess they're the only ones with a big enough flare to take on Lean? No, because Valt managed to defeat him without flare. Because Lean destroyed their beys? No, because Lean also destroyed Ranjiro's bey. Because the Legendary Bladers were mean to them? No, I mean outside of Sisco and Lui, they've all been respectable towards the brothers. The only thing I can think of is to give Lean a reason to continue blading after defeating the legends, since Lean did have that temporary dilemma where he questioned what else is left for him after defeating the legends. Despite my criticisms, I like their teamwork and I enjoy moments where they feel in sync with each other during tag-team battles as they were able to come up with some interesting strategies and great joint special moves..
- Gun, Raika and Chuck - Boring superfluous characters. Next.
- Lean - A very divisive character in an already divisive season. His detractors hate him because of how easily he schooled the returning cast and accuse him of having too much "plot armor". I personally don't mind that, since he's supposed to be the powerful main antagonist with the same goals as Hyuga and Hikaru. He's supposed to be the parallel of the brothers, a rookie trained under the wing of a Legendary Blader but worked solo instead of as a duo (at least at first). However, much like Hyuga, Lean is a boring character but from the evil side. I like the concept of him being a rookie blader too who eventually was able to surpass everyone including his mentor Shu, but unfortunately it's held back my his lack of personality outside of screaming "take my flare!". He had moments that humanise him outside of that, but they were far and few between as he was mostly a one-note character who was rather flat and we didn't really learn anything interesting about him. There were flashbacks, but they don't really explain much about him as a person. There's not much to him for me. Yeah, he has Harry the Hedgehog but to be honest, I think the only reason for Harry's inclusion is to disguise Lean's lack of character by giving the illusion that he has a softer side because of his fondness of Harry, except Harry doesn't appear much at all and hardly factors into the story or Lean's character growth so... I call it a bust. He does have a bit of development, where he learns to work with Shu more as a team as the series progresses so that's a plus.
On a positive note, the battles really were pretty fun. It gave us a lot of variety, whether it was 1v1, battle royales, tag team battles and unlike other seasons, we get quite a lot of each so there's always fun to be had. There were some really cool special moves from the bladers, unique techniques from the characters and the results amongst the Legendary Bladers can be unexpected at times. It's always enjoyable to see how each blader from the highest caliber will be able to deal with each other's skills during battle, as well as how they'll coorporate with each other despite their contrasting skills. It gives us cool joint special moves like "Raging Tempest", "Twin Break Impact" and the one where Ranjiro and Aiga combined "Hyper Tornado" and "Infinte Buster". The different variety of stadiums in this season helps give us some interesting results too.
Not all of it is great though. There were some predictable or boring battles too, as a lot of the results can be extremely predictable and some battles get cut short so we don't get to enjoy the extent of what they could've been (I'm looking at you, Free and Sisco VS Lean and Shu). With that said, the battles were still good.
If there's another thing I can absolutely praise, it's the animation. The animation is some of the best this season, especially the ones in the battles. Aside from being bright, colourful and good lighting, there were always some really fluent animation from the characters whenever they do their battle calls or activate their special moves, and there were also some really good animation from the beys themselves from their fast-paced battles. The effects to make the special moves visually pop with explosive auras and flares that enhance the battles. It's always a visual treat whenever they experiment with different effects for the battles, especially the ones that have the characters create a metaphorical representation during their battles.
However, great battles and stunning animation aside, the season lacked in its story, pacing and characters as well as some wasted ideas. It's sadly the least enjoyable season of Burst for me as a result of these glaring issues. I know it's a toy commercial, but the previous seasons have been able to give us something more interesting and something to follow through. And that's why I think the season is
heavily flawed and leaves a lot to be desired. It's not horrible and younger kids might enjoy this one, but for me it's definitely a disappointing season that's mostly hit-or-miss with great ideas but lackluster execution.