#takao also has mom energy in s1 but only in very specific situations

[seventeenlovesthree]

So I've been discussing the idea of "having a hard time" diving back into old shows - particularly those I was obsessive about in the past.

One of those shows - was Bakuten Shoot Beyblade. I believe I've mentioned it a few times before, but from approximately 2003 to 2009, this was my absolute JAM. After Digimon Tamers, it was the very first anime I was "active" about in German forums, I wrote RPGs, I wrote fanfiction, I drew fanart... You name it. And while I thought I had the main cast down to a T, I am pretty sure that, after being out of the series for so long, I would analyze them a little bit differently today. Heck, I think even my preferred shipping choices have changed somewhat from how they were back then... (To be fair, I have always liked every single combination between the main four, but I would definitely say that some of those are more dear to me than others.)

I think I'd really like to write some character analysis for them at some point. I always enjoyed taking apart their respective tropes and see how their traumas unfolded. And, looking at how even modern depictions of them go, I seem to not have been that far off after all!

To keep it as shortly as possible:

Takao may, at first glance, strike you as your typical shounen protagonist who loves to eat a lot and believes in the power of friendship to succeed - and while these aspects about him are certainly true, it's interesting to watch how it all unfolds between the first and third season. There is a fine line between his genuinely good heart, a passion for what he loves and an ego he has to overcome sometimes. I would even argue that he is one of the most misunderstood characters out there; because due to his family background, he does have severe abandonment issues, fearing to be left behind and thus he doesn't react well to situations like that - either he turns into a wounded puppy or covers it up with a mask of cockiness. He can be brash and hotheaded - but he genuinely loves his friends and believes in the good in people (and thus he really gives me magical girl vibes). He knows how to pull others with him, has an incredibly charming and attractive energy and other people feel naturally drawn to him... It's beautiful.

The stereotype Max has always been dealing with was that of the "sugar high ray of sunshine" - and I am delighted to see how wide-spread the idea has become that, while he absolutely IS a positive, open and physical person, he is also masking a lot of his own insecurities and abandonment issues with cocky phrases and a never-ending smile. Because he feels like he has to - to keep the band together, to not lose the sense of togetherness and to not be abandoned and replaced again. Just like with Takao, family-related trauma is at play here. His defensively smart Blading style is oftentimes ridiculed and overlooked, thus kinda playing into him trying to overcome his own inferiority complexes. Both him and Takao adore their newly found family to the core and it's no surprise that they easily click with one another - and that Max seems to have an easy time getting through to almost everyone in the team as well.

Rei - oh my Lord, I will try to keep this one short as well, because he was definitely my fave back in the day. And what's not to love about human-cat-hybrid (good old Neko-Jin days, how I miss thee) with a yin/yang theme going on who has a hard time choosing between his mind and his heart, traditions and freedom, and continuously gets himself into trouble because of that? One may also argue that he's getting the shortest end of the stick because of his inner and outer conflicts A LOT... And despite that, he is just as prone to cockiness, probably also trying to mask his own attachment issues by doing that. The burden of expectations that are constantly thrown at him drives him to the need to find his own path - so he tends to run away and changes direction a lot. Like a true cat does... Man, I love that absolute disaster child, always torn between his values and needs, who, even though loyalty absolutely does play a role for his character, has an even harder time conveying how much his found family means to him. In that regard, he is only topped by one particular character (no pun intended...).

Kai, oh Kai. Edgelord of the century, or, like we used to call him, mister ice cube. Essays upon essays have been written about his character - the cold exterior that was formed by years and years of child abuse (at least in the anime, the manga is an entirely different beast to cover, but even there, the subject of abandonment issues is present again). A cold and cruel mask, a brilliant Blader with an aura of, dare I say it, sadistic fun when it comes to destroying his opponents... And yet, there is that other side of him. The side that is incredibly protective and, in his very own way, supportive. Giving advice through harsh words, claiming that he only has his own interests in mind... But is that really the case? Isn't he, deep down inside, just as smitten by these dorks he is "stuck with"? Obsessed with beating those he claims to be his rivals until his very last breath... A twisted sense of love he probably hasn't fully understood himself yet... Or has he?

Long story short - they are all cocky teenage boys with a passion for spinning tops that play off of each other incredibly well and actually love each other a lot and are probably all bisexual disasters to different degrees, but I will get deeper into sexuality headcanons later.