#bba team

Alright, alright, I hear you. "Terrified" is a strong word. Ralf would never use it. In fact, he doesn't really say much, and all of what he says is to show us precisely how little he actually thinks about dumb stuff like friendship, or fear of death. But.

Let's look at the situation objectively.

In episode 30, the BBA team is on a cruise ship, on their way to Russia for the final stage of the World Championship. Here, they meet Ralf Jürgens. Takao picks a fight with him, they battle, and Ralf wins. A few shenanigans later, in episode 37, Takao is inside Ralf's castle and challenges him again, to which Ralf says, "Nope." And that should be the end of it.

You see, Ralf has a rule: he doesn't fight anyone twice. You lose? You dead. Very straightforward. And yet, Ralf is faced with a bizarre situation: the BBA team is straight up refusing to leave Ralf's house. They want him to yield, to concede them a rematch.

Now, we have a few things to consider.

The BBA team is on a schedule, and we all know it. This is just a sidequest: we have won the American tournament, now we're supposed to go to the finals in Russia. And while most of the BBA team has agreed on collectively engaging in passive resistance by refusing to leave (and eating all of Ralf's food in the meantime, for good measure), we know that, realistically, all Ralf has to do is to wait them out for a couple of days. By then, Kai is bound to get absolutely fed up with this nonsense, grab Takao by the neck himself, and just drag him to Russia - there's no way the BBA team, and especially Kai, would accept to have gone through all that struggle just to end up missing the World Championship Finals for a personal squabble.

And Ralf has made pretty clear that he won't yield. Frankly, that's the whole character - he just won't yield. Never admit weakness. Never admit defeat. Ralf has drawn a line: no rematches. So, we're now in a stalemate; unstoppable force meets unmovable object, or something like that. Except that Ralf has nowhere to be, no reason to move, nothing to prove.

... or does he?

(Shout-out to Misdre for subbing all three of the Beyblade seasons! Screencaps and quotes are from her work, unless otherwise specified.)

Let's just stop for a second and reconsider what happened up until this very point.

Giancarlo and Olivier have been pretty insistent about Takao and the BBA team as a whole.

In episode 37, Ralf remarks that, based on their tales, he had high expectations.

Ralf: "[...] But what a let-down. I was looking forward to meeting a unique Blader, but to think it was just you..."

After Johnny's victory against Kai, still in episode 37, they keep insisting.

Olivier: "You may be saying that, but I feel like you understood why we brought those people here. Yes, they indeed have this special something that we don't." Giancarlo: "They gave us a hard time with that certain something." Olivier: "Are you going to send them all the way back before figuring that something out?"

Then, in episode 38, in the scene where all four are reunited in a room, they are still putting pressure on Ralf.

Olivier: "Ever since meeting them, I've been thinking about... this uncomfortable taste I get from seeing them fight. What could it be? I want to make sure of it." Giancarlo: "Ralf. How about we accept their challenge?" Johnny: "Hey, what's wrong with you guys? Are you seriously thinking of fighting those losers?" Giancarlo: "Why not? It could turn out interesting! [...] What do you think, Ralf?"

And this is the point where Ralf has to move. This is the point where Ralf actually has something to lose. And we know this, because he says so himself.

Ralf: "They're not worth even a glance. The way they fight and control their holy beasts are both third rate. You two are too engrossed with them. They're like measles. [...] But... Once you've caught measles, it needs to be treated."

Ralf finally moves, because he was forced to move. And it was not Takao's insistence that did the trick. It was not the threat of having to feed the BBA team for who knows how long. Ralf, who had already won in all the ways that mattered, who was literally safely castled, who seemed to have nothing to prove to anyone, ends up deciding to grant the BBA team a rematch. And it's literally just because he wanted to show Giancarlo and Olivier that, actually, no, Takao is not cooler than him. 

In fact, Ralf is way cooler than Takao! He is going to prove it! He'll put the question to rest for good!

And I can already hear you, "Nia, your brain is cooked. It's fried. That's not what's happening."

Well, what's happening, then?

In the very scene where he announces that the match is on, Ralf literally turns to Giancarlo and Olivier and basically says, "I'm doing this for you." In a very roundabout way, sure - he phrases it like he is helping them! - but isn't this Ralf's way of trying to maintain control of a situation that, frankly, went off the rails a while ago?

For God knows what reason, Giancarlo and Olivier are totally fascinated by this random kid. They're enthralled. They're obsessed. As Ralf was trying, and failing, to get the BBA team out of his own dining room, Giancarlo and Olivier were laughing. Absolutely delighted by the stunt. 

Ralf could just wait Takao out. Ralf could just let the BBA team have their little uprising, until they inevitably have to leave for Russia. But he doesn't. Because, if that happened, he would still be the winner, but he would lose Giancarlo and Olivier's respect.

And, apparently, Ralf cannot let this happen.

Now, let me elaborate on the implications of this little plot point.

Ralf Jürgens is the last boss before the final bosses; the Euro Arc, the last arc before the Russian arc. Stakes are high. Opponents have to be tough.

And Ralf is tough in a very specific, very human way. He's armored. Literally! ... and emotionally. And that armor, the very armor he puts on to protect himself from harm, has become the cage that's preventing him from acknowledging that he does like Giancarlo and Olivier. That he does, indeed, care. That losing their respect is an actual existential threat; something, in his own worldview, that's worth going to war for. Which is, of course, the actual point Takao was making all along.

For all intents and purposes, Takao has won the battle right in this moment.

Which makes it even more tragic when this weakness, this vulnerability, this small moment that could be otherwise be ignored, gets a pay off years later: you see, the unspoken contract that binds Giancarlo, Olivier, and Johnny to Ralf ("I am strong, and I will use my strength to save you from yourselves. But you must be loyal to me.") is the same exact contract that had implicitly bounded Rei, Max, and Kai to Takao.

And when, in G-Revolution, Rei, Max, and Kai break the contract - when they leave Takao, oppose him, fight him for the title of World Champion - Takao absolutely loses it. 

And he starts talking a bit like Ralf.

Until, of course, an annoying kid challenges him to battle, gets rekt, asks for a rematch, gets denied a rematch, places himself into Takao's home, eats Takao's food, and then, eventually, finally forces him to grant the stupid rematch... and it's only then that Takao sees the error of his ways, and manages to reconnect with his Fighting Spirit and his friends in a healthy, emotionally vulnerable way.