Yes, keep on my life

"Wow. I am growing up" was what I thought when I peeled the above screenshot off of my bedroom wall.

The most observant of you would notice that I even went as far as editing away as much of the 'TV TOKYO' logo as I could. Which doesn't make much sense, considering the integral role that TV TOKYO had in broadcasting the original Beyblade series. Oh yes (unintended pun), I had hardcore issues.

This is the breakdown of what happened a few years later:

• Former Beyblade fanatic experiences a bout of nostalgia
• She re-reads an overly-coddled fanfic that she co-wrote with her cousin during simple times
• Nearly every word sickens her
• Former Beyblade fanatic becomes returning Beyblade fanatic
• A bizarre mission to purge her Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover fanfic unfurls

I do still have hardcore issues.

Since I've decided to do this, I will attack it with every creative blood cell I have in my body.

There is one looming hindrance: Every single Beyblade character is now nothing more to me than a 'Type':

Tyson Granger - The loud-mouth hero

Kenny - The brainy 'Chief'

Kai Hiwatari - The aloof rival

Max Tate - The happy hyper buddy

Ray Kong - The cool ally

Tragically two dimensional. If I am serious about this, I will have to re-watch every single episode of the original Beyblade series.

Having listened to my cousin's rant about the differences between Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! and English Yu-Gi-Oh!, I also know that the original Bakuten Shoot Beyblade is essential to bettering our fanfic.

I had a point when I listed the dubbed names of each Bladebreaker above. Those are the characters I grew up with. Kinomiya Takao, Saien Manabu, Hiwatari Kai, Mizuhara Max and Kon Rei, depending on Nelvana's views on creative license, are little more than strangers. Finally, I want to know who they really are.

But I must settle for a more distant relationship, because I'm not Japanese. I am a returning Beyblade fanatic with extensive experience in the rapid reading of English subtitles. With a Japanese-English dictionary.

I still have my batch of Zero-Positive Beyblade G Revolution fansubs. "Are there any more, now?" I wondered. My hunt did in fact unearth several rare gems, but Beyblade fans are a minority, and that minority did not have the time or resources to produce kick-ass subs. Of course it's disappointing, but I'm thankfully mature enough to know that English subtitles aren't essential to understanding the real Bakuten Shoot Beyblade characters.

The progress that I'm making through the series is steady. I watch a dubbed episode and then a Japanese episode. Because I know there are loyal fans out there who would love, more than anything, to understand the Japanese version, I thought I would post my few findings in a new blog.

Anybody can contribute by commenting on posts. The differences I don't pick up on may have been noticed by someone else. Perhaps we'll get lucky, and someone fluent in Japanese would come along and clarify a scene or two. Pfft.