Wasted Potential: The Women of Beyblade
Alright lads, itโs time we address the elephant in the room: Beyblade sucks at portraying women. I know we all try our hardest to only look at the best aspects of the show and analyse every little detail as if it were intentional, but at the end of the day, this show was made to market toys to little boys. Of course we know toys shouldnโt be gendered like this, but the show came out in the early 2010s, so if it wasnโt pink and sparkly, it had to be for boys. Itโs time to face the fact that the writers arenโt perfect, and they certainly didnโt put effort into every aspect of the show- especially the female characters.
There are exactly six prominent female characters in the entire show. Thereโs the occasional scared little girl here or a very likely dead mum there, but there are only six main girls in the entire show. Thatโs opposed to an estimated 50 male characters, all appearing in more than one episode. People have tried to come up with in-universe explanations for this, the most obvious being that Beyblade, like a lot of sports, is male dominated, and woman just donโt feel welcomed in that space (Thereโs a really good fic by TooManyTerribleCartoons that focuses on this, I cried while reading it). It would be really interesting if the show actually went in that direction and dealt with that, but of course, it doesnโt. Because the real reason is that girls just arenโt as marketable to boys as boys are.
Now donโt get me wrong, I love all six of these girls with all my heart, but maybe thatโs just because there are so little of them to love. So, to figure out whether or not I actually like these characters based on their personalities or solely because theyโre the only ones I have to represent myself in this damn show, Iโm going to break them down individually.
Letโs start with our main girl, Madoka. The first thing that you may consider a problem is that the only girl thatโs consistently there throughout the show isnโt even a blader. Some would argue she still has the โbladerโs spiritโ but thatโs not what weโre here to talk about. Madoka is the healer of the group, as girls in media tend to be. And she doesnโt just heal their beys. Whenever someone is hurt, sheโs the one they show patching them up. Now, this isnโt necessarily a bad thing on its own. Female healers are just as admirable as female fighters. The problem starts with her being the only main girl in the show, and the only healer. None of the boys seem to be able to take care of themselves without her, which raises all sorts of alarms. They treat her like sheโs their mother, and I donโt care how much of an orphan you are, a fourteen-year-old girl is not your mum. Hell, she even scolds them like sheโs their mother. When you break it down, her entire character is based on being a maternal figure to all of her male friends.
What I really want to talk about with Madoka is how sheโs usedin the show. Iโm about to drop a bomb here so get ready. Hereโs the thing: Madoka isnโt a main character, sheโs a supporting character. Yep. Because, despite being the second most present character in the show, there is no storyline that focuses on her, not even an episode. She doesnโt have an arc. She doesnโt learn anything new about herself, doesnโt change at all throughout the story. Because if she changes, who will be Gingkaโs new mummy? Sure, sheโs a part of other peopleโs arcs, but sheโs only used to further their development. Sheโs a means to an end.
Take the Survival Island arc for example. This is the only time we ever see her use a bey, so it should be a big moment for her, right? Nope. Because sheโs only furthering Kyoyaโs arc. He needs to learn that Leone has limits he shouldnโt push, and she needs to teach him that. She doesnโt learn anything from it, she was just doing what she knew she had to do.
I love Madoka dearly but when it comes down to it, her character was completely wasted on mothering the boys around her.
Hikaru is the first female blader we meet. And at first, her character actually looks promising! Sheโs a feisty, no-nonsense girl who only wants to take on the best of the best. She has a pretty good backstory (by Beyblade standards) that explains her actions well, and she even grows as a person throughout the show! Can you imagine? Of course, that just didnโt last. Once everyone leaves to collect points for Battle Bladers, sheโs pushed into obscurity. When she does occasionally show up, sheโs used as a dummy to display other bladerโs power on. Everyone else during this time gets episodes dedicated to their travels- hell, even Tetsuya gets one- but sheโs conveniently left out. Just couldnโt squeeze her into the fifty episodes of the season, could ya?
And then, we get to Battle Bladers, where sheโs immediately put up against the most powerful person and gets crushed instantly. She couldnโt put up a decent fight like Tsubasa or Kyoya because her battle was tacked onto the end of another personโs episode.
From here on, Hikaru refuses to battle without absolute necessity. Another girl who just doesnโt play. Now, I donโt mind how they handled the whole PTSD thing (sus that no one else in the show has it but okay). Hikaru was only really blading to fulfill her motherโs dreams, and she decides that she shouldnโt force herself to anymore. That would all be fine and dandy if the show had focused on that. But they didnโt. The fandom came up with that explanation. The show decided to make her a secretary because they needed someone to balance out Ryo's idiocy. One might even say sheโs mothering him. Another teenage girl forced into the responsible maternal role. And thatโs how she stays.
Nowโฆ Mei-Mei. Iโm not gonna sugar-coat this one, guys. Mei-Meiโs portrayal is blatantly sexist. She (of course) is the stupid one of her team, always mixing up her words. She blindly follows all of her male teammates with the utmost respect for all of them without getting anything in return. She never fights by herself, instead aiding someone else and taking orders. She is, once again, just a support to the real talent- the male members of the team.
This is all ignoring the most obvious โtraitโ she hasโฆ yeah, the tits. Mei-Mei has big olโ tiddies. Now Iโm not here to body shame, I know that everyone grows and develops differently. But come on. Sheโs a child. And of course, sheโs super skinny in every other aspect, itโs just her tits that have to be massive. Whoever designed her made a choice, and a bad one at that.
Mei-Mei is a dunce with big boobs thatโs only there to be stared at and laughed at. She doesnโt get a story of her own like the others do, only there to fill in the fourth spot in Wang Hu Zhong. Sure, she can mean more than that to us, but thatโs all she was intended to be.
Lera is anโฆ interesting case. She has the same aspiration as the rest of her team: to go to space. Thatโsโฆ almost like having your own goals, right? When sheโs introduced, sheโs stubborn, mouthy, and loud. Wow, thatโs a lot like Masamune! Sheโll make a great adversary for him- ah shit, heโs gone and gotten himself lost. Guess she wonโt be fighting at all in the championships. What a waste.
Oh, but there she is again! Appearing in the Destroyer Dome tournament with her team, Iโll bet she has a lot to offer this time! And she kind of does, being the one who was able to counter one of Jigsawโs special moves. This was most likely to make up for the fact that she didnโt do anything in the world championships, but hey, at least itโs something! Letโs hope she keeps this up and- ah. She got fire blasted with the rest of her team. Pity.
For my own metal health, Iโm choosing to ignore the boob window on her fucking space suit. Iโm not touching that one.
Sophie, my beloved. Her portrayal might be the one Iโd say is the least sexist, but thatโs by a very thin margin. When sheโs introduced, she gives a massive display of power and even shares her dream of being an archaeologist. A woman with her own personal goals? What a world! Of course, we never hear about this ever again, despite there being plenty of opportunities where the gang could use an archaeologist *cough cough the entirety of Metal Fury cough*.
Sophie is very mature, being older than most of the cast. Everyone on team Excalibur is, but Sophie seems a lot more polite compared to her stubborn and rude counterpart, Wales. She has to be, as the refined lady of the group. Sheโs graceful and glamorous, as a woman of high class should be *eyeroll*. Thereโs also her complete and utter devotion to Julian and only being known as one of his โTwin Jewels,โ which is justโฆ so great.
The only thing that puts Sophie above the rest in terms of representation is her power. Coming in relatively late in Masters meant that she had to be a far more powerful opponent. Granted, most of the time sheโs fighting in a duo, but sheโs still a threat on her own. And thatโs proven when *gasp* she defeats one of the main characters? On her own?! When Gan Gan Galaxy interrupts the Festival of Warriors, and Yu tries to use his special move to destroy the stadium, sheโs the one to stop him. It couldโve been Wales or Julian, but they decided Sophie should do it. And I think that works well with her character, since she seems to care the most about the cultural and historical aspect of everything. Sheโs the one who explains the importance of the festival to our main characters, sheโs the one who knows the legend of Variares in Fury, so she would be the one who wants to prevent the stadium from falling apart. Iโm glad they at least incorporated her desire to be an archaeologist into her character, though that could also just be a coincidence. Or her wanting to be tidier because sheโs a woman. But Iโm gonna pretend thatโs not it, because Iโd like to be happy for once.
Selen is the only โvillainโ of all the girls. I say โvillainโ because not wanting to starve to death definitely isnโt evil. Anyway, Selen seems to be yet another sex symbol in this childrenโs show. Despite living in poverty, she still finds time to dress in a cute crop top, tiny skirt, and skimpy leggings. Iโm all for hot girls doing hot girl shit, but again, sheโs supposed to be poor. And a fucking child.
Her battle style, much like her clothing, is very showy. Sheโs the weakest of her family (youโd think it would be the youngest, but no, itโs the girl) so she makes up for it in stamina. In other words, she distracts her opponents. The gorgeous woman distracts people in order to win. Huh. It isnโt even subtle in the show. During her world championships battle, she plays the crowd and they cheer and whistle at her. They claim to love her, even! But how can her country love her while also letting her and her family starve? Why, they love her for her body, of course! They love the performance, but her as a person? Whether or not she even lives through the night? They couldnโt care less.
Even when she returns in the Destroyer Dome, she says sheโs fine with sacrificing herself for her brothers. She uses her incredible stamina to be useful to her brothers, to wear out their opponents. The devotion is the same with all of the siblings, but none of her brothers ever sacrifice anything for the family. Itโs only the girl. The expendable one.
So thatโs all the individual girls, spread as thin as they can go. All of this is to say that all of these girls have incredible potential but are shoved off to the side for the sake of their male teammates. They couldโve had great storylines themselves. I mean, each season of this show is around fifty episodes. Youโre telling me you canโt give at least a few of them to the girls?
Iโm not surprised by any of these revelations, because honestly, Beyblade isnโt objectively a great show. Itโs a marketing scheme. I just wish at least one of the girls got the attention and detail to their character that they deserve. So many characters, even side characters like Da Xian and Zeo, have great development in their few episodes. Why couldnโt any of the girls get the same treatment?
All in all, this just makes me sad. At least I know that there are so many great content creators in this fandom who can give these girls the justice they deserve.
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