An F-Sangre thought that will ruffle some feathers....
This is going to be a long one.
As I’ve now mentioned a couple of times, I am doing a full G-Rev watch through. I haven’t sat down to do a full, in-depth re-watch before. I’ve seen episodes here and there since first having seen the series, and I’ve seen lots of clips (never mind the absurd amount of fan content I’ve consumed), but I’m now remembering why I haven’t really sat down to watch G-Rev in its entirety...
It made some weird choices.
Let me preface this with a few things:
1. I’m not done the re-watch. I’ve just reached the end of the World Championship arc.
2. This is probably a hot take, and I hope you don’t revoke my Beyblade Fandom Passport (tm).
Without further ado...
......F-Sangre made it way too far in the World Championships.....
LET ME EXPLAIN....
First things first, because I know that this is definitely going to ruffle some feathers:
- I LOVE F-Sangre.
- I LOVE Julia. Emily and Mao are strong bladers in the first season and got absolutely SHAFTED in G-Rev, so it was nice to see Julia come in and tear up the dish for the ladies. I liked that she also improved her skills over the arc. I also think she’s designed beautifully, and I think she is a great addition to the Beygirls. She’s outspoken, she’s a bright and peppy personality, and she DGAF about what people think about her. It’s great. She’s great.
- I LOVE Raul. Beyblade is chock full of over cocky dudes, so it’s nice to see Raul as a calmer presence, especially since we don’t get to hear much from those more mellow types (If they’re in the season at all. Olivier comes to mind in this regard). It’s also nice to see how he battles with his confidence issues in the dish because he has been so attached to his sister, and not like Rai and Takao’s confidence problems, which come out of no where for Rai, and are the result of multiple woes for Takao (that I’m not going to go into, because we all know that boy has a lot going on).
- I think it’s GREAT that we get to see a sibling relationship, and that their story arc is actually tied to them being siblings. We know that Mao and Rai and Mariam and Joseph are siblings, and we get some moments with them, but Julia and Raul spend their arc learning that they are stronger together, and also learning how to be stronger apart. I think that’s great, and it’s something that is lacking from the other sibling relationships on the show. We get a few moments with the other brother-sister duos, but nothing with much substance.
- I also realize that they are needed for the new format. They do tag-team battles. The tournament is a tag-team tournament. We get to see the other teams struggle with 2 on 2 while watching a 2 on 2 team struggle going solo.
SO, do not take this as an anti-F-Sangre post, but as more of a “weird plot choice” post.
The Nitty Gritty....
...You’re really going to tell me that Barthez Battalion knocks out the Majestics, and that instead of getting a hot Majestics comeback where they get to knock out Barthez and THEN get to re-match Takao DOESN’T HAPPEN? We get to see Ralf and Johnny roll up and break the whole cheating thing open, and I think it was nice that we see them interacting with the community in that way (considering that when we meet them in the first season, they want nothing to do with other bladers at all, and even sometimes nothing to do with each other), but you’re telling me that they sit back and say “Welp, that’s it, I guess”. If Takao hadn’t interrupted their confrontation with Barthez, it didn’t look like Johnny and Ralf were going to search them out and tell them what was up.
Season 1 has the Bladebreakers almost not make it to the Championship finals because of the Majestics.
They are hot on the tracks of the Majestics for what seems like 20 percent of that season because they want to prove themselves about how strong they are.
They have one of the best rivalries and arcs in that season.
And then they lose....and kind of just...tap out?
Instead, we get to see Julia and Raul knock out Barthez, with not even a cut to the Majestics getting able to watch the team that unfairly knocked them out get defeated.
And like, was the battle good? Yes.
I liked how Julia had to own up to her feelings and let Raul know how much him being with her means to him.
I liked how Raul wanted to prove to his sister that he was a strong enough partner for her because he cares about her and knows that the sport is important to her.
I liked how they realized that they are an incredible force to be reckoned with as a team, but that they are also more than capable to be dangerous on their own.
This was great not just as a tag-team arc, but as a twins arc as well!
But, this wasn’t their battle to fight, and as much as I loved the sibling love we got through the whole thing, it would have been nice to see The Majestics make a comeback and re-assert themselves as the strong team that we all know they are.
I also found it super strange that F-Sangre struggled HARD in the early tournament and seemed to get overlooked, but then at the end of the tournament, all of a sudden they were tied for second place?
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t score keeping, so I might be completely off here, but it seemed to come out of no where.
And again, I understand that they wanted to have a tag-team battle to close out a tag-team tournament, especially after Takao and Daichi struggle through the first half of the season to find that vibe.
I get it.
I truly do.
The other alternative that I think I would have preferred is if Max or Rei got their chance to fight for the second place tiebreak. I know they have to do their exhibition match before Kai and Takao’s battle....but they leave the team in the first place to get a chance to make it to the world championships, and both of their teams get knocked out in the quarter finals?
I DUNNO.
I think that my issue with this stems from the overarching problem I’ve had with G-Rev. They introduced everyone’s season 1 teams, but didn’t give them any development. They didn’t get much before, but at least the main crew was together. G-Rev gives us the main crew separated with not much story, and then a weakens their teammates them down to caricatures of the bladers they once were.
Julia and Raul get an incredible intro to the series, and I think that they have a much better story and relationship than a lot of the returning characters, but I think they tried to push them a bit too hard, and sometimes to the detriment of some of the other teams (who, lets be honest, we all watch G-Rev for the first time because we were hype to see our old faves back). I know this is a hot take.
I still love F-Sangre.
I just wish they had a slightly different role in the series.