Season 1, Episode 7: Thirteen Candles

The regional finals are here, and it's time for Tyson to battle against Kai.

My Review

This is a cornerstone episode of the series and one that I remember thoroughly enjoying as a kid. It marks the beginning of the Bladebreakers as a team and is where the Japan-based arc of the story draws to an end. Don’t be too sad about that though, because it’s about to get a whole lot better. Well, not so much for the next two episodes actually… Hang in there guys!

Interestingly, all the matches in this episode are cage matches – the bladers are physically fenced in to prevent them from leaving the dish area. Presumably this was done to add a sense of intensity to the episode. It works in wrestling because the wrestlers are meant to be attacking each other. It makes a lot less sense in the context of a beyblade battle because neither blader is in a great deal of danger themselves. All it’s really serving to do here is make it slightly harder for the spectators to see what’s going on.

In the English dub, this episode marks the day Tyson turns 13 – which he forgets because he’s so focused on the battles ahead. I think of this moment as the first little slice of Tyson’s character development as he starts taking everything more seriously. Just a little.

On the flip side this is also very much the beginning of the running gag where Tyson eats far too much food to everyone else’s disgust.

This is a solid episode and it feels like a really fitting way to cap off the little story arc that I referred to as the “tutorial” arc not too long ago. I’m left excited for the adventures to come with the newly-formed Bladebreakers team.

What I Liked

The battle scenes themselves are brilliant in this episode, not only are they interesting, but they’re also incredibly well-animated.

My Favourite Quote

Kenny: “Your beyblade now has perfect balance within three microns of deviation.”
Tyson: “Way to go Kenny!”
Max: “Just think, it has more microns and stuff.”
Tyson: “Yeah, and Kai’s just got the regular amount of microns!”

Trivia

• This is the episode where almost everyone besides Dizzi and Kenny pronounce “Dranzer” wrong. Even Kai himself pronounces the ‘a’ like the ‘a’ in ‘apple’. I can only assume this episode was dubbed before the others, because everyone has their pronunciation correct in previous episodes.
• It’s not Tyson’s birthday in the Japanese version, merely a ‘good luck’ party.
• Tyson is also nominated as the team leader the Japanese version.

Favourite Screenshots