Takara Tomys Beyblade managers want to grow Beyblade X to a worldwide sport

There are not many children's toys out there that have survived as long as Beyblade has. For every decades long mega franchise such as Pokemon or Transformers, there are dozens of fidget spinners, Pogs, powerful Beanz and other toy members that hardly anyone remember. Beyblade is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary and is among the few who have been the test of the time.

Like Pokemon, Beyblade sees a resuscitation in the 2020s. Parents who grew up and played Beyblade are now enjoying the hobby with their own children, and thanks to improvements made in the latest generation, Beyblade X, the competition scene has more energy than ever.

At last weekend's World Cup at the World Cup in the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, I sat down with three key figures behind Beyblade on Takara Tomy: Masahiko Yamazaki, head of Beyblade Business and Global Licensing; Hisato Takaoa, Head of Beyblade; And Makoto Muraki, specialist in Beyblade Design Team and legendary figure within the Beyblade community called Master Blader. I asked them about the success of Beyblade X and why they think the franchise has succeeded for so long, and they shared their interest in growing competitive Beyblade in the West and expand Beyblade X to a global sport.

X: What does that mean?

Beyblade X, the fourth and current generation, was launched in Japan in 2023 and immediately transformed the entire game. Beyblade X offers the most exciting competition yet, with faster Beys that hits harder than ever before, creating great moments and photos treatments for each battle. Takaoa says that honey struggles to improve the “nails” was a main goal when creating Beyblade X, and the team poured a lot of ideas on designing the generation to “press all juice” and reveal what Beyblade really could.

As Muraki explains, the X-Celerator-Gimmick was the key to strengthening the intensity of Beyblade X. The design team aimed to increase the number of opportunities for powerful collisions on the arena, and the X-Celerarator railway, which encloses the arena, which gives Beys a trail to block them directly.

Skill, of course, is what makes Beyblade a competitive game. Muraki emphasizes ensuring that players can express their skill through their launch techniques is an important aspect of Beyblade X -Design. Sometimes your strategy can mean that you avoid contact with your opponent's Bey completely, so X also gives skilled players the ability to avoid.

Muraki says the design team has a database that tells them how a Beyblade will work when adjustments are made to mass, weight distribution, contact points and other functions. This tool helps them design and fine-tune Beys that fit into existing gaps in the X-line.

While X has injected a new life into the hobby, Takaoka Beyblade's life expectancy can be attributed to four elements that have remained consistent throughout its history: battle, face to face communication, adaptation and collection. Takaoa says that these elements speak to our human instincts and can help explain why Beyblade still finds new fans even after all these years. X has also been particularly successful in bringing players back to the hobby. People who played Beyblade as children are often fascinated to discover that with X is beyblade more exciting than ever.

This year's World Cup, which will contain both 12 and under and 13 and over divisions for the first time, is a demonstration of Beyblad's broad appeal. “Beyblade can cross barriers to age, gender and countries,” says Takaoa. “This year's tournament shows that by having both a child and an adult level, while gathering everyone around the world in Tokyo for the final.”

Beyblade Without Borders

While the competitive Beyblade community thrives on the United States, last weekend's World Cup at Anime Expo was the first opportunity that the players over 12 years have ever been forced to compete in an official tournament. Then this will also be the first time an open division for ages 13 and up will be shown at the World Cup. In Asia, where Beyblade has a lot of official tournament support from Takara Tomy, this open division has been around for a few years now.

With Beyblade X, Yamazaki says that the goal is to adapt the different regions so that Bladers around the world can have the same opportunities to play. “It was very important for this generation to do things in a more boundless, global way,” he says. “For Beyblade X we plan to be more justice. We must prepare the same opportunity for all Beybladers globally.”

The World Cup's mourning tournament at Anime Expo was a step in that direction for Beyblade, and an overwhelmingly positive for both players and Takara Tomy. If the turnout, which included more than 350 players who stood up overnight for a chance to compete, was Yamazaki very impressed. “We are very happy today,” he says. “This is a very good opportunity for us.” Takara Tomy is already considering another world championship, which may occur within the next two years, as the experience has been so positive.

The Beyblade team collaborates closely with the OLM team Masuda, the production company behind Anime, to develop the identity and stories for each Beyblade. Muraki says that a Bey's story is part of its design, and to develop that identity helps them find where it fits into the existing range.

While the developers see the potential for more official competition events in addition to the World Cup in the United States, Yamazaki explains that since Hasbro is the Beyblade distributor in the West, it would lead organized play in the United States. “Today's reaction has been very good,” he says.

“We have to talk to Hasbro and discuss internally on the Takara Tomy page. After that we hope to prepare the same option [that players in Japan have]. “

Build against the future with Beyblade X

Yamazaki realizes that, when Beyblade players have grown up, the story of the Beyblade brand must also develop. Developing a global competitive culture for adult Bladers is part of the long -term plan for Beyblade X. Takaoa says that their vision for Beyblade X is to grow it into a professional sport. He says that's how they intend to “broaden the gate” to an even wider audience for Beyblade X in the future.

“Look at baseball as an example,” he says. “They play in school, they play outside the school, they play at official stadiums, there are professionals; that's the kind of level I'm talking about.” This type of structure is no different with the type of level format already in Asia today, with G3 events that take place at store level, G2 is regional events and G1 serves as the highest level of international Beyblade competition. Takaoa believes that Beyblade X has the potential to be enjoyed at all levels of play, from children who blow during recesses to professional teams competing on an international stage.

Fans around the world already have a lot to look forward to with the Beyblade World Championship this fall, but now that X has proven to be the most exciting and competing generation yet, the developers are ready to shoot for the stars and see how far Beyblade X can go.