I imagine all the beybladers going to a fire festival, and Max wants to propose to Emily. He takes Rei's help. He suggests gifting her a Neko doll despite assuming she is not interested in it. However, it turns out to be the other way! She likes it so much! 😺🎎🎆
And well, I've wanted to do art for Max and Emily, so here you go!
As an Ozuma/Mariam and Max/Emily fan, I hope you'll be able to tell why we/you prefer these ships over Max/Mariam.
I hope that I can actually answer this unbiased, because I am myself is a little biased for both Ozuma/Mariam and Max/Emily.
To begin with, both are actually teammate ships, especially the former. The latter can also be called the same but not exactly because Max went back to the bladebreakers by the end of the series.
Honestly, I myself don’t know the exact reason for why I ship them, maybe because I like Ozuma and would love to see him with a girl (XD) and he hasn’t interacted with any other girl apart from Mariam. Also I want Max with a girl and I feel it would be great to see him with his mom’s apprentice, none other than Emily. Since Judy knows them well, they are capable partners.
Alright, I will take both the ships separately.
Max and Emily
I always view Max/Emily to have more potential than Max/Mariam to become canon, a major reason is both are Americans. They can have a better contact with each other, when Judy is the mother of Max and Emily is the assistant of Judy. I am not sure whether Judy retired from her post but Max still can easily contact with Emily than with Mariam, so they both can get to spend more time with each other.
Given the above situation, Emily might like a boy like Max who is very affable and cheerful. His chill attitude can compliment well with her bookworm persona.
I understand Emily behaving rude with Max at times, but so did Mariam. They both have been equally rude with him.
There were instances where Emily cared for Max and Max caring for Emily. A bond needn’t be completely smooth. There can be obstacles in them and its quite natural. The first time when Emily was rude is during the celebrity match. Right at that time, they both were new to each other and the fact that she comes from All Starz will certainly tell that they had an enmity towards the bladebreakers.
Another time was when Emily lost to Max, but I certainly wouldn’t call that rude. She was certainly upset of losing to Max as she wanted to be part of the main tag team in the world championships and just showed her frustration to Max. She was rude to him not because she hated him, she was just frustrated and showed the anger to him.
In the Japanese version, there was a scene where Michael pushed away Max and Emily was slightly laughing in a mocking light and I am sure that so many people will show that as an evidence against the ship. Again, its not only Emily. The other members (except Rick) were frustrated of that. They were mostly angry because Judy preferred a new team instead of picking the team with old members. They were still in a worse mood. I myself could actually rattle off about their rude behavior, but I will certainly tell that its because they were heavily upset for not getting selected. They showed that to Max who got selected.
However, later on they started gel well with each other. That’s all what it matters. Emily did start to be kind with Max and helped him a lot. I will show the instances when Max and Emily were soft or either one of them were soft.
1> When Max was shown defeating Pedro, Emily was seen amused and chortling a bit, indicating that she might have some feelings for Max. That too, they were enemies to the bladebreakers.
2> After Max defeated Michael, Emily and her teammates were happy for his victory.
3> When Max met his mother and her team in Russia, he was specifically seen calling “Emily” after he called his mother. He didn’t call the others by their names, indicating that Max and Emily might have a closer bond than what people could think of.
Whenever the all Starz met up, Max would take priority in talking to Emily first.
4> When Max went off to the lake to aid his teammates in his mother’s plane, Emily was worried for Max and wished him good luck.
5> Emily and Max were seen often with each other when the BBA, and PPB were working to defeat the Bio-volt corporation.
6> During their match in G-Revolution, Max allowed Emily to decide on the stadium by telling that ladies get the first priority. Max also tells that he doesn’t want any favors from her.
7> Max congratulated Emily after she got defeated by him.
8> Before PPB All Starz faced off the bladebreakers, the boys were mentioning about the pressure on Max but Emily asks them to leave him alone so that he can be calm.
9> Max says that he meditates before battles so that he can gain confidence. Emily tell that she finds confidence a charming quality in men.
10> She was also seen wishing Max before he and Rick left for the stadium.
11> During the BEGA arc, she, Hilary and Kenny were seen hiding behind a tree watching how Max mastered the hard metal beyblade.
I hope that this evidence will suffice for a shounen anime like Beyblade. Other than that, I see the potential between them as friends. In the manga, as far as I am concerned, Max and Mariam haven’t interacted. Even Max and Emily interacted neither but since the latter two have a connection through Judy, they have a great chance.
Ozuma and Mariam
This ship is not really appreciated by fans but however, they too did make sense like Max and Mariam as a couple did. Mariam always shows a respect to Ozuma. However, throughout most of the series, they never really shared anything romantic like Max and Emily did. Their major evidences lie during the Saint Shields arc (amusement park battle).
Ozuma was the one who even knocked sense into Mariam regarding their goal. He was quickly able to recognize that she was losing track and asked her to focus in a polite manner. He could have been frustrated to her on that matter, but he didn’t reflect it.
Out of all the three, he conveyed her on their goal in the most perfect way than the other two (well, Joseph is her brother so he is spared but still, Ozuma takes the cake XD)
After Mariam lost to Max, Ozuma never scolded her on that regard. However, it is mostly because of his calm attribute.
When Tyson was battling Ozuma, Mariam was thinking about Ozuma for the entire time and I think that sort of over shadowed Max/Mariam a bit. In that battle, there was so much from Mariam’s side. She was so concerned for Ozuma.
Oh no he is starting to lose it. Remember what you’re fighting for Ozuma. Stay in control. Don’t let your emotions take you over.
This line is pretty self-explanatory on how well she has understood him and how fair she wants him to fight. Instead of getting cocky about how Ozuma would obtain Dragoon, she was heavily concerned on how much Ozuma was sacrificing in that battle and asks him to be cool and calm. After these scenes, Max and Mariam didn’t have any notable hints.
There was also this scene where Mariam and Ozuma stand behind Tyson, denoting some sort of linkage.
Later on, she also understood his motive before Dunga and Joseph did.
There is only one thing on his mind now, and that’s beating Tyson. Whatever the cost even if that means flash leopard burns itself out. And that’s the price he is willing to pay.
There is nothing much and they all can be understood only if people watch them with care. A part of the thirty ninth episode showed how well Mariam understood Ozuma, telling that they were getting along well with each other in off-screen. After the battle got over, Mariam was by Ozuma’s side after he collapsed, and this just reminds us about Salima holding an exhausted Kane after losing to Tyson. It was only her (I don’t know whether I could consider this as a shipping moment but I guess this is fine for a shounen XD).
They also make a good clash- Ozuma being a cool and calm person whereas Mariam is sassy and cheerful. After the incidents of V-Force, they could have spent a lot of time with each other, as shown by the end of G-Revolution.
On-screen, Max and Mariam could have had more couple evidences, but the lesser moments for Ozuma and Mariam from the whole of the 39th episode threw huge boulders on how much Mariam understood Ozuma’s intentions and him as a person. This is a major reason why I ship them and consider them as potential partners. They have a mutual understanding and cooperation with each other.
Thus, I solely ship these couples for the potential they have. Teammates indeed have the capability of forming a potential chemistry, and I like it. Not sure whether they’ll become canon, and these ships don’t have a bigger fanbase compared to Max/Mariam, but that’s not a problem.
There are unpopular ships which have become the endgame (and they pick up popularity after becoming canon), so if there is anybody who is worried for your ship's unpopularity, don't worry there are chances for them to become canon because authors don't look at the popularity while deciding the ships.
