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A Friendship Forged in Respect: Kenta and Ryuga

Spoiler for Beyblade Metal Fusion, Metal Masters and Metal Fury

So this is my first post on this blog. I’ve gotta do something big, something that will get people’s attention. Maybe a post about one of the Big Three, though now it’s more like the Big One and all these goddamn upstarts. Yeah, maybe I should do a post about Hero Aca or Black Clover. Something fresh, something mainstream…

The Beautiful Friendship and Ryuga and Kenta From 2010s Beyblade.

Godam it Lorelei we suck at this! Ok, whatever too late I’m already going down this path, can’t go back.  I love Trading Card Game Anime and its compatriots. Honestly, I’ve never been able to categorize shows like Beyblade or Bakugan Battle Brawler. I know they’re described as sports anime but that’s not really true. They don’t really follow the same logic or structure as most sports anime. They kind of do but in my opinion, they’re much more similar to TCG anime. So i kind of just lump them together. I really really needed to explain that because I’m going to be calling Beyblade a TCG anime in all my post, including this one. Just thought you should know.

Anyway, I love TCG anime, none of them are particularly good, even the good ones are only decent next to most other shounen anime. And don’t bring up Vanguard because it’s good but is has all the flaws that TCG anime, so live with it. I’ll deal with Vanguard another day. TCG anime basically live and die based on their characters because the premise of them all being Card Game / Child’s Toy runs our world and only it can save humanity is just impossible to take seriously. And that’s where they get me, I’m a sucker for good character writing or just really likable characters. Just find my old Boruto posts, you’ll see.

I have, to date, seen the entire 2010s Beyblade, all three series, all the way through five times. I’m not proud of that, but yeah I kind of am. This series has a weird soft spot in my heart and I genuinely like all the main cast and quite a few side characters. This could have just as easily been about Blader DJ and American DJ or King and Masamune. I can and will dedicate a whole post to Tetsuya Crabby Watarigani who is just king troll. But today, today it’s of the weakest (one of) and the most op characters chance to shine. This relationship is the pinnacle of what Beyblade has to offer as a series, it is, in my humble opinion, a distillation of what makes Beyblade not awful.

Kenta is probably one of the weakest bladers in the whole series. He’s smaller than everyone physically. His Bey is a stamina type meaning that it doesn’t pack a lot of punch. His role as a person who gets beat to show how tough someone is was taken by Hyouma, Tsubasa, Yu and Kyoya halfway through season one and he never got it back. He is right next to Benka in terms of filler comic relief. Ryuga on the other hand, is Beyblade Dio, Over Powered to the point of absurdity. He basically stole the Role of villain in parts of the second Series and was defeated by a virtual GOd in the third. He is always the strongest blader in the show and has lost a total of three or four matches across three series. He is a god amongst men and hates everyone. So what happened? How did they go from, never having spoken to here take all the powers of my Bey (arguably the strongest Bey in the series)? Well, it all started when Kenta got depressingly self-aware. 7 episodes into the 3 series, 109 episode into the entire series Kenta has a sort of revelation. He realizes how goddamn useless he is as a character outside of moral support. He also realizes not only how lame and depressing that is but also how it doesn’t really do much to solve the problem at hand. So he leaves, instead of wasting his time training hoping that a star fragment will just choose him or playing back up to Ginga, he goes to find Ryouga. Deciding that if he can’t be of any use as a blader, the least he can do is be the world’s most persistent messenger boy and convince Ryouga, an actually strong blader who does have a star fragment, to help them. Its like if Trista went to convince Kiba to help them at the beginning of the Orichalcos arc instead of just kinda being they’re being the muscle even though they didn’t need muscle and if they did Joey was there. Anyway, Kenta finds Ryouga only to be turned away and instead of giving up out of fear because Ryouga is known to literally burn his enemies with a figurative dragon, he stays. He pursues Ryouga across deserts, jungles, and oceans until he agrees to help his friends. And because of this, we get to see sides of both of these characters we haven’t before.

Ryouga has been a stone cold bastard the last two seasons. He is a crazy, manipulative fiend who has never shone any mercy. The first time we see him in season three he’s training by fighting a Volcano and he’s winning. So it is genuinely shocking when he offers Kenta food after he passes out the first time. Crazy, cold-blooded Ryouga shows a modicum of respect for Kentas effort to pursue him. He also tells him to leave but not unkindly.  He truly believes that this journey would be too much for Kenta and respects his effort enough to feed him and tell him to back down. And when Kenta refuses he lets him stay. Ryouga has been a lone wolf this entire series but decides to let Keenta travel with him because he knows he has the determination to follow up on his words. One of his biggest issues with Gingka and Kyouta earlier in the season was that they weren’t taking this new situation seriously… Neither of them had put the time in to experiment with their new Beys and really push themselves to the limit. They hadn’t put any thought or effort into training with their beys or their fight with him.  Kenta, on the other hand, is working with someone who doesn’t see him as the small friend character. While Ginga may not hold back when he battles Kenta, it always feels like a friendly battle that Kenta knows he can’t win. But Ryouga not only demands that Kenta stand on his own two feet but shows respect and pride when he does. We get to see Kenta choosing to work with Ryouga in spite of knowing what he’s done to his friends and what he’s capable of. As viewers who have only seen Kenta as this sweet kid, it’s surprising to see that he would tolerate Ryouga if it meant getting stronger and helping his friends. And as the series continues we get to see a few more of Ryoga’s kinder moments. In the end, when the chips are down ad Ryuga loses against Hades he doesn’t do what he normally would. He would normally vow revenge with his last breath, instead, he passes the torch on. For the first time, he finds in Kenta someone as determined as he is to be the best blader and to stand by their convictions. When he gives the power of El Drago to Kenta we can finally see the stories for these two characters reach a surprisingly full and complex arc. The strongest Ryoga and the weak Kenta become friends not because the plot demands it or because they’re both so nice but because they see in each other what others don’t. Kenta put his faith in Ryouga and Ryoga did the same in kind.

That’s my super long discussion of Ryuga and Kenta from Beyblade. I really like these two and they’re two of my favorites the series. Beyblade really does have some of the most likable characters in anime and I find it genuinely hard to hate the show because of it. If you have the time watch the show. I hope you enjoyed this, thanks!

Sangwoo: I’m here to see your nephew, I’m a friend of his

Bum's Uncle: My nephew has no friends

Ummm. I read this manwa for the same reason I watch criminal minds or kamisamA no iutoori or anything like that. I want go see what happens to characters and how they'll get out of situations. I'm not here for the "epic romance" or anything like that. And if some one is I personally don't think that my of your business. As long as they know it's messed up then to each their own. Also for those you throwing out the word fujoshi... I don't think it means what you think it means or at the very least you a generalizing a whole group of very diverse people. Also their are males fujoshi. Also also sonr click on a tag just becAuse it's trending, see something you have to context for then trash the fans. Seems like a bit of a dick move. And if for everyone else whose has read the manwa the way through and still agree... why? Just stop reading it... It's not for you buddy.

killing stalking has been trending once a week for the last month or so and i fucking hate it. the latest chapter was apparently the vulnerable abuse victim getting literally raped by the murderer and everyone was making jokes and memes of it or talking about how romantic it was

why do you guys hate gay men so much. why do you support media like this. why are we only palletable to you when we’re being tortured and raped

what the fuck is wrong with you

Ok ok ok, part 2

Here me out.

Sorikus kid yeah? Name Hikari ( I know it's on the nose fight me) . She's in quadratum right? Living a normal teenage girl life in Tokyo. Been having blurry dreams about her past. Then heartless start appearing and she's the only one that can see them. Eventually she has to run away and a door with a intricate designs that are Hawaiian themed appears in front and she runs through. At the same time we switch Disney castle. Whose training under Donald? Max Goof. He doesn't want to be like his dad hile wants to learn the magic. He's practicing magic and is fine at it. But he messes up a spill and disappears. Hikari run through the door and ends up at the beach from lilo and stitch. There are more heartless. She tries to fight then but doesn't know to summon a keyblade. She sees light in the sky. Who is it? Max Goof. He throws out a Blizarra and takes out the heartless. She asks who he is and how she got there. He sees her and see the door. Bam! He's like oh shit your the mixing princess of dawn, you parents are. She cuts him off. Its a mystery(not really). She says she just Hikari and doesn't know how she came here or why she's been having these dreams about people she's never met. She runs back through the door and max follows . More heartless attack. This time he's like use the keyblade! And she sees the image of one of her two keybaldes. She summons it and recs shop. Afterward she goes home and asks her parents what's going on. They explain that they found her three years ago. She had no memory of her past and no where to go. They show her a necklace she had with her . It's shaped like a crown and when she passes the center it opens revealing a magic locket. It has a picture of Sora and someone else (we don't see who) bur dearly beloved also starts playing. Max days he knows her realy parents and they miss her. She 5hinks about it and decides to learn about her past. She tries to summon the door again but can't. She remembers that she used to be able to. Finally she remembers something her dad said to her "may your heart be your guiding key". She says it the door appears. They walk through and enter the first world. He Mele no lilo starrs playing. They run into lilo and she's like hey you seem weird. Hikari is like Sora so they become fast friend . There's a surfing mini game and lilo like oh shit I have to go to dance class. Be back for part 3 maybe? I have like three worlds I'm working out because it brings me joy.

Ok can't get this our of my head, hear me out. OFMD AU where Stede Bonnet leaves his wife to open a half way house for at risk youths. The whole crew is there just de aged. He tries his best to take of their mental, emotional and physical health. And he thinks he's doing a decent job of it. He's a little worried a out this gangster they all seem to look up to tho. He tries reading about him him to get a better understanding of the type of lives he kids lived before ending up there. There's a police raid a few blocks over one night and Stede finds a mysterious man bleeding out in his back yard. He's already let him in and fixed him up when he finds out he's the infamous Blackbeard. He not sure if he should fully trust him but he seems pretty nice and the kids think he's amazing. Idk just a thought I had

Wei Wuxian, Feminism and Autonomy

The title sounds way fancier than this is going to be. So sorry for that. But this is a thought I've had for a while not and i just got double-triggered. So I'm listening to this MDZS podcast that i really like while reading mdzs fan fiction. The podcast is "Podcasts are Forbidden in the Cloud Recesses" and the fan fiction is one of those cast watching the show ones. Which is one of my favorite genres for this specific media. So I'm having a good time. But then the podcasters make the same point the fan fic does as I'm reading it and it just really pissed me off? Thats the preface for this whole long-ass rant.

So Wei Wuxian in my opinion Wei Wuxian has all the worst parts of being a heroine grafted onto his character and no one seems to care. Like I know the fandom feminizes him a lot because the author does and its part of his character. But I'm talking about like how he is written and how we are supposed to engage with him as readers.

Ok so, i don't understand people who don't understand why Wei Ying doesn't know Wanji likes him. That's it that's the whole premise. Because here's the thing it is very common in media for girls to have to tolerate shitty men and look past their flaws to love them. Its commonly expected for female characters to either fix the guy or learn to look past his flaws or change themselves in some way. Its also really common in media for the problems of dating and protective sex and dealing with sex appeal to fall on teenage girls. They are the ones who should flirt less, they should dress more modestly, and they should date less to be more appealing. And I see this same mindset with Wei Ying in the Fandom and in the novel.

Lan Xichen and Nice guys

This idea came to me one day when I was rewatching the untamed and I got to the Gauyin temple scene. The one where Xichen goes on this long-ass speech about all the things Wanji has done for Wei Ying. I'm watching this scene and I think "is this how it goes in the book? Because if so this is really fucked up." I hadn't read the book in a while so I hopped online (this is before the official novelization) and re-read the last like thirty-ish chapters for fun. And it's actually worse in the book. The entire speech is how Wanji has sacrificed so much for Wei Ying and how he hasn't been grateful and hasn't noticed his brothers feelings. How long Wanji has pined for him and how he's too selfish to notice. And its just a really gross speech to me. Because it implies that Wanji is owed Wei Yings affection because he has done these things. That Wei Ying is a bad person for not noticing Wanjis feelings and returning them. But here's the thing, Wei Ying doesn't need to return shit. Like he should be thankful for Wanjis help, that's fine. Be he is not obligated to fall in love with him cause of it. And frankly, most of the kind things Wanji did either happened out of Wei Wuxians view or after he had died. And I realized that Xichen doesn't really care about Wei Ying? Like he see's him not as a person but as a thing that will make his brother happy. He only encourages their friendship because to makes Wanji happy He doesn't take Wei Yings feelings into account at all. The moment that friendship comes with heartache for Wanji Xichen stops supporting it and caring about Wei Ying. He calls Wei Ying Wanjis biggest mistake just cause he doesn't seem to like Wanji back despite how nice he's been. To Xichen them getting together is something that has to happen and if it doesn't its because Wei Ying is the problem for not liking him faster or as much. Which brings me to:

Wanjis Trauma is not Wei Wuxians Problem

I was inspired to actually get this down because of that double hit. So here's what happened I'm listening to the podcast and they just started talking about how sad and repressed Wanji is. How he hasn't learned to express himself or learn about sex and how sad that is. That WEi Ying is being the loud annoying little brat he always is. And Wanji, baby boy just can handle it. So he lashes out and is super rude and dismissive. But ohhh he's just so horny its not his fault! And at the same time in the fan fiction, they get to the scene where Wei Wuxian flirts for some free loquats and Wanji gets jealous and looks away. In the Fan fic they have older wei wuxian apologize for flirting because she should have known better? That pisses me off. Enough to make a long a tumblr rant. So much of the fandom assumes the responsibility of putting work into the relationship on Wei Wuxian. Of course, he should feel bad about flirting in front of Wanji. He's his future husband. Even though at this point Wanji as been nothing but cold, distant, authoritative and dismissive. Wei Ying has zero reason to believe he is jealous and even if he did;t that's not his problem! The idea that Wei Ying needs to learn to be less of a flirt fort eh sake of Wanji feeling comfortable is bullshit. Wei ying doesn't owe him a damn thing. Its just so common for people and the author to rush to defend Wanji was being repressed and unable to express himself. While Wei Ying is called selfish and thoughtless for not being willing to sympathize and make concessions for him. I understand that Wanji changes after the time skip. He realises that Wei Ying isn't obligated to like him or act a certain way. But at the same time he still doesn't full give Wei Ying full autonomy in their relationship in my opinion. Because he doesn't confess first. He's so afraid of rejection or Wei Wuxian liking him out of obligation that he decides to help him but not confess. He decides that if Wei Wuxian falls for him it should be by choice (I'm assuming, its actually really unclear to me). But first of all that doesn't happen! Xichen gives that stupid nice guy speech. and second, that's still fucked up. If he actually respected Wei Ying he would be upfront and tell him and deal with the fallout after that. Instead, he just helps wei ying out and while burying his feel feelings and hopes that is enough. How could Wei Ying not feel shitty after hearing that? I don't know. I just think it's reasonable for Wei Ying to be hesitant to like Wanji based on how he's been treated. It's true that both of them have issues with communication but those issues started with Wanji. He's the one who showed that he's so blindly rigged in his ways and refused to admit out loud how he felt to start with.

Side Bits

I completely forget the scene where Xichen tells his family back story to Wei Wuxian until just now. Thats so fucked up and manipulative coming from him. It's just meant to make Wei Wuxian feel bad for leaving Wanji and explain some of his behavior. No one pulls Wanji aside and explains that Wei ying spent years on the streets and then in a toxic household where the matriarch openly hated him. So he has low self-esteem and genuinely thinks his life is worth less than others. No one was like hey he's bubbly and loud because there's no other option for him. Like in the book the only people that advocate for Wey Ying are the Wens and Sometimes Yanli.

After Fenmiin and Madam Yu die they and the land Jiang Cheng gets so mad and sad he starts to choke Wei Wuxian to death. He stops and starts crying but that's so messed up. Like Wei Wuxian also closed a second pair of parentel figures just now but his body I still used as a means for a man to let out his sadness. Like he's still just a vessel for someone else's emotions. I think this actually happens a lot with Jiang Cheng. He has a habit of blowing up at Wei Ying in a way that is implied to be deserved or not that bad. But just doesn't feel great to me based on everything else I've written about.

Wei Wuxian is only able to clear his name and live a semi decent life because he gets with Wanji. Wei Wuxian success is not based off his talent or smarts alone, it is mostly based don't he fact that Wanij is willing to vouch for him and help hide him. Like I know part of it is Huasiang helping him but he would not have gotten far without Wanji helping him. Not only that but Xichen is only willing to help them even a little in their research because of his brother. And that's just a little annoying to me.

By the end of the story Wei Wuxian has no financial autonomy. Which isn't a big deal because this is ancient Chinese vampire times so as the "wife" he wouldn't have much anyway. But still not great.

Meng Yao and Wei Wuxians mothers and meng yao and Wei Wuxian are talked about in similar terms that are interesting. So both of them are "tainted" by specifically who their mothers are. Men Yao because his mother was a sex worker and Wei ying because his mother was known to be a highly wanted and playful woman. People both assume they are going to be exactly like heir parents and treat them as such. Which affects how they actually interact with people. MEng Yao knows he can't appear greedy or even like he's ambitious because he knows that as a son of a sex worker, everyone will think he's naturally greedy and manipulative. And he is those things. But they made him this way. he had to no choice but to be a sneaky asshole because the moment he showed any ambition it was either immediately squashed because of his status or people were like I know it. He is sued by his father in the same way his mother was. Wei Wuxian on there other hand has three people in his life who treat him a certain way because of his mother. Fengmain lets him get away with a lot and is openly affectionate to seemingly make of for his relationship with his parents. He doesn't spoil Wei Wuxian as much as he doesn't really expect anything of him? He just wants to see Wei Wuxian happy doing whatever he wants. He assumes Wei Wuxian is a wild and free spirit because his mother was and thats not fully true. On the other hand, Madam yu and Qiren treat Wuxian almost like a temptress. He's just a reflection of his moms wild, playful and seduction personality to them. They both think he's someone they have to actively control and suppress lest he get all the attention and make people behave inappropriately. Its that same notion I wrote about way earlier. How girls have to be the ones to control themselves and their appearances so as to not tempt the men folk with their ankles.

In Conclusion

Fuck the Patriarchy, Learn Necromancy.

Cutest thing in existence!

thor and loki ponyo au – based off this scene [x]

I need a roses and champagne lulaw au. Where law is a doctor who just starts working in the new world. His dad Cora doesn't talk about their family much, but he does know he has some family there. Cora raised him tough and taught him how to fight but he prefers to be reasonable. He runs into Luffy one day on the way to a house visit. Luffy immediately takes interest and the plot plays out roughly the same. Luffy is running the Mafia for his grandad garp but trying to do good. If there is already a mafia au like that, please let me know. But this one should also exist. I'll write it someday.

YES! I thought I was alone in this world!

I can’t be the only one who came out of the theater shipping T’challa and Everett Ross…(his outfits looked so cute)