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blueikeproductions · 9 months

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So let’s talk Bakugan!

Boy what an odd ball of the Mon genre. I was in college when Battle Brawlers came out, but Mon Series are my jam so I’m obligated to still tune in to see what it was like.

Over the years in its so far three generations, it’s… pretty much the left over scraps of its contemporaries. G1 was Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! smooshed together, and as it went along it felt like it skewed more towards Digimon and Zatch Bell, largely abandoning the Yu-Gi-Oh! flavor in exchange for Super Robot style evil empires. (I thought it was also funny that New Vestroia seemed to copy Beyblade’s Cyber Bit-Beast concept with the Mechanical Bakugan, which comes full circle with G3 Bakugan toys mimicking Beyblade with its new weapon gimmick.) The creature designs came off as as a mix of Digimon and Yugi, but having what I can best describe is a western monster flair that I think helped it stand out a bit more, and like Digimon, leaned into an anything goes approach from mecha, knights, Sentai aliens, dinosaurs and utter nonsense creatures like Goblinball and Wontu. G2 meanwhile asks the question “What if we smooshed Pokemon and Transformers together?” (Funnily enough, RiD15 had its own Bakugan adjacent gimmick in Cyclone Mini-Cons prior to release). Its creature design felt a bit conflicted. Initially all Bakugan were designed to appear fully mechanical, with a Bayformers/Aligned flair. However as the series went along, the purely mechanical aesthetic was dropped in favor of sleeker armored looks, that felt restricted as all the Bakugan were largely just giant animal robot. You had a few unique designs like Ryerazu, Spartillion, Auratoa, and several mishmash generics, but they felt too far between in favor of stuff like giant cat or giant shark.

G3 design wise seems to instead be a hybrid of its previous generations. The Bakugan largely return to being primarily organic beings as they were in G1, but largely sticking to the giant animal motif of G2. However because they’re not hindered by the mecha style, the designs feel more fresh and nostalgic, now closer to designs like Tigrara and Preyas again. The main draw back is the Bakugan are still rendered in 3D, so the more organic designs don’t work well in that style as they did for the purely mechanical ones. Also like G2, the generic designs are also surprisingly charming, and I like them a little more than the main Bakugan like the dolphin man, ankylosaurus, a Leomon looking fellow and some assorted dinos and dragons.

Bakugan, in its three major generations, have generally followed some general blueprints: the Bakugan are divided in color coordinated factions, the main villains are either evil Bakugan and/or corrupt human(oids), with most importantly of all: the leads are almost always new iterations of Dan & Drago. This consistency of using Dan and Drago is honestly kind of impressive, even though its technically different characters each time, but it's funny to me that in an era where Ash has been (for the time being) retired, Bakugan still relies on Dan, Digimon brought back Tai and now Davis, and Yokai Watch brought back Nate after experimenting with using his future children. Whether that remains in a potential 4th generation of Bakugan remains to be seen though...

The different factions concept is both interesting and kind of frustrating about Bakugan. A big appeal for Pokemon and Digimon is having these profiles that expand on what each creature does and what its like, allowing you to pick and choose some favorites based on that if need be. Bakugan... doesn't seem to have that for whatever reason, and I never understood why. Most guidebooks are largely reliant on what a specific species of Bakugan has done in the anime, with G2 being the most egregious, as the profiles are extremely limited and incomplete due to Battle Planet not even being half way done when the book was made. I tend to suspect part of this was due to the Elemental Attribute/Factions concept, as many Bakugan are quite literally a horse of a different color in the same species, and it was probably seen as simpler not to write how a Ventus Tigrara is different from a Subterra Tigrara. Not helped are characters like Preyas and Elfin, who are depicted as chameleons, who can freely change their Attribute colors, and in Elfin's case in particular, she gains a new design to correspond to each type, despite not changing personality (at least that I recall). It might actually have been fun to see different Dragonoids similarly have different designs based on attributes, like a Ventus Drago is more bird like, an Aquos Drago's wings are more like fins, just small things.... But part of the toy lines appeal is just getting the same guy in different colors, so that probably wouldn't make sense to sculpt the toys like that.

While individual Bakugan don't really have that much lore, it is fascinating to see how Bakugan's lore has evolved in the different generations though. In G1, the Bakugan are monsters that came from another dimension, Vestroia, which was divided into different dimensional planes comprised of the different attributes. When Bakugan enter other worlds outside their own, they assume their ball forms, implying it's not something their race were capable of doing originally, as well as being only able to attack when partnered with other beings by using cards. After series villain Naga was stopped, and the Cores of Vestroia were restored, the dimension was reshaped into a proper planet called New Vestroia. On top of Bakugan coming to Earth via dimensional rifts, similar to how it works in Digimon, the Bakugan also fell to other dimensions, and bonded with the human analogs there in Vestal, Gundalia and Nethia, with it being revealed the Bakugan are descended from an ancient force in the G/N universe called Code Eve, with all Bakugan descended from primordial versions of Dragonoid and Dharak. Bakugan are divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Subterra and Darkus types, referring to fire, holy light, water, wind, earth and darkness. Bakugan don't seem to have an active government or form of civilization in this universe, and like most instances in Digimon, just seem to do whatever they like. This presumably is just to make it easier for them to partner up to humans, since that's the focus, lol. It does appear Bakugan do just adapt to Earth, Vestal, and so on's various culture anyway. Bakugan are capable of Evolution, like Pokemon and Digimon, though its not as ... impressive. Evolution mostly seems limited to a slightly modified version of the base Bakugan, and usually doesn't seem to progress beyond this secondary form. Drago is the only one that constantly evolves into multiple forms, though esoteric means typically, but possibly also due his lineage with Genesis Dragonoid. Dharak similarly seems capable of multiple Evolutions, though he's the only one to Evolve into a completely separate creature as Razinoid via other means. A form of Pseudo Evolution via Fusion in Mechtanium Surge is introduced, but it's not clear if all Bakugan are capable of doing this. While Bakugan don't appear to have their own technology, they make use of advanced Vestal and Gundalian technology to use special battle suits and vehicles suited to themselves. While primarily children are depicted as using Bakugan, older teens and adults are capable of bonding and using them no issue.

G2 meanwhile goes its own direction, but borrows fairly heavily from its predecessor.

Here, Bakugan are instead divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, and Darkus, where they're governed by the divine Golden Bakugan. Subterra was apparently retired as a faction as it wasn't considered popular, so Ventus is reworked to be more nature themed to make up for Subterra's absence. Haos is apparently still themed around holy light, but it feels a bit... forced when the Golden Bakugan are this too.

The different factions are said to have not gotten along in the past, though this mostly only comes up in Armored Alliance through the ancient, Earth bound Bakugan, as the present day Bakugan don't seem to have any beef with each other. Like G1, the planet is connected to special Cores that help keep Vestroia going. Somewhat confusingly, due to later retcons, its stated that Bakugan have a symbiotic relationship with their home planet, that requires them to constantly battle to give off the necessary energy to fuel the planet. Later on, it seems this isn't really the case anymore... Also, the Bakugan also benefit to this energy exchange, which made me think they don't require food like we do, but apparently Ventus Bakugan are the farmers, so they apparently do require food...? It's one of those world building things I never quite got. Meanwhile Bakugan naturally can assume ball form here as part of their evolution, so much so, the ancient Geogan are apparently primordial Bakugan specimens that assumed different shapes prior to the evolution to sphere forms. The series seems to be copying G1's idea that Bakugan only assume their ball forms while on other planets, but it appears to be more a form of convenience the Bakugan can control, as their giant forms aren't otherwise compatible with Earth. The aforementioned Cores were tampered with by the first antagonist, Tiko, who seems to be the stand in for Naga, creating a chain of events that see the Bakugan come to Earth similar to G1, only it results in Vestroia fusing with Earth, creating a sort of inner world concept where Bakugan can live freely within Vestroia, but through unspecified means, Bakugan will periodically be "born" on Earth, emerging in ball form via liquid sacks and bond with humans. Unlike G1, Bakugan specifically bond with children, but teenagers and adults aren't able to readily bond with Bakugan without using special Devices. It's not... really explained super well why this is that I recall, but its one of G2's most consistent ideas that lasts until the series finale. Bakugan aren't entirely welcomed by most of humanity, with several companies like AAAnimous capturing Bakugan and brainwashing them into obedience using mind control devices, though by Armored Alliance things stabilize, but Geogan Rising onward sees several wild Bakugan not happy at how humans treated them...

Bakugan are capable of Evolution here also, and like G1, it's mostly limited to a slightly modified version of the base form, with Drago and opposite Nillious being the only ones who can evolve into multiple stages at first. Evolution is apparently something not all Bakugan can accomplish and later on, Evolution was removed entirely due to Vestroia channeling the power post Tiko into special battle gear and fusion based abilities. Confusingly, Evolution returns anyway, where Bakugan can assume special speed and strength forms this time. Even more confusingly, it appears Evolution technically still happens in the five series of G2, as the main Bakugan assume different default forms in each series, with Nillious confusingly having Evolved into a robust, three headed centaur like dragon... only to revert back into his original bipedal two headed stage with no explanation after that. Evolution wasn't explained well at all here, though it was clarified only specific Bakugan are capable of fusion, and is otherwise something they can't typically do.

One detail I liked is the G2 Bakugan can apparently assume ball form to travel in space, which feels like a reference to the asteroid mode Bayverse Transformers assumed in earlier material. In this universe, Bakugan made contact with Earth in its prehistory, with some Bakugan apparently surviving long enough to interact with early man, as the present day uncovered artifacts related to the Bakugan made by humans. That said, Bakugan are apparently immortal to some extent, as fossilized Bakugan can be easily revived, while the Geogan apparently just exist in their own separate plane and can be summoned at will. Similarly, presumably to soften things for younger children at the time, villainous Bakugan don't die, when they technically should like Tiko, with Hanoj evidently being so absurdly powerful, he can't be killed or knocked into "stasis", and instead has to be sealed away in a nearby planetoid. Bakugan appear to have their own devolved civilization, something that was rather vague in G1, but here the Bakugan have various villages and cities that have a rustic RPG vibe I kinda dig. Unlike G1, where Bakugan can survive on other planets just fine, G2 era Bakugan are largely only able to survive on Earth due to their symbiotic ties to Vestroia, and once Vestroia is separated and becomes its own planet again, the Bakugan can't live on Earth anymore, and can only visit periodically in short visits. Interestingly, the ancient Bakugan on prehistoric Earth could survive just fine, but after stopping an asteroid collision, it still caused a shift in the environment that forced most Bakugan into stasis and later fossilization.

G3 is still going as of typing, but it takes the biggest departure, but replacing Elemental Factions with Clans. This instead refers to a Bakugan's species with Dragons, Beasts, Dinosaurs, Birds, Bugs and Aquatic types. Beasts seem to be the spiritual successor to Subterra, with Haos and Darkus being removed entirely. Somewhat confusingly, the Clans aren't really bound by specific colors, so Bakugan still come in Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Darkus, Subterra type colors, which makes me wonder if in some early stage of development, Bakugan were meant to still be divided into Attributes, but were segregated into Clans based on what animal they were, but the concept was dropped. Like G2, the Bakugan are space aliens again, but instead hail from the Vestroian System, which includes planets each Clan is native to: a planet of Dragons, a planet of Birds, etc. And like the South Park joke, all these different clans are stuck on Earth and forced to cohabitate. Unlike previous series, these Bakugan REALLY don't get along with each other, and largely stick with their own kind. Only the Misfit clan sees various Bakugan from other clans team up and become friends alongside their human partners.

In this version of events, the Bakugan are at war with each other, similar to the Transformers, with the opposing leaders being Dragonoid who assumes an Optimus Prime like role, while Nillious is... well he's supposed to be Megatron, but his personality and mannerisms evoke Starscream pretty heavily. Very little of Vestroian culture is seen, but the Bakugan do possess technology of their own that they use to fight each other. This being G3's version of battle gear, but this gear also doubles as a form of Evolution, with the Bakugan functionally Armor Digivolving. While Bakugan can naturally assume ball form like G2, they don't usually STAY in this form while on Earth, with the new idea being Bakugan base forms are roughly human sized, allowing them to interact with our planet better. This leads to humorous scenarios of them using public transportation and holding jobs when not with their human partners, making them more independent than they've usually been. They can still assume giant "evolved" forms, which seems to be treated as an ability Bakugan can't normally do until they partnered with humans, referencing older G1 concepts. Interestingly, Bakugan and humans are shown to synch upon meeting, with glowing eyes sealing a bond, something older series didn't do, which I find cool. G3 overall seems to be a more revised version of G2, with a slightly more engaging story, showing the Bakugan being embraced by humans, but Brawls being forced to go underground due to laws that restrict them. One company does capture and experiment on Bakugan however, but this doesn't appear to be as big of a problem this time, with humans and Bakugan getting along fine otherwise... However....

Most of Bakugan's villains tend to cycle from Evil Bakugan to Evil Human and so on. G2 largely operated on Evil Bakugan being the main villains, with humans being secondary when applicable. Usually a rival or main villain would be a teenager wearing a mask, starting with Masquerade, continuing with Spectra and later Magnus. G3's main villain revives it once more, with this teenager out for revenge against the Bakugan, as their sudden appearance caused the death of his parents. Using his parents' inventions, he created a G2 style control Device to brainwash Bakugan into a frenzy to initially frame them as a threat, but it later evolved into a desire to control them to take over the Earth in order to "set things right", due to the bad luck he perceived his family having. It's still a pretty unique take all things considered, and G3, if nothing else, has a better balance of humor and stakes, where as G2 often struggled with that post Battle Planet for some reason. Executive meddling I wager. I also adore that the Bakugan actually get to be characters in G3 again, as a major problem in G2 is most Bakugan didn't really get to talk or do much. Trox and Hydrous in particular suffered this, which to my surprise, G3 Trox not only gets proper dialogue, he has a very fun personality, sort of a eager beaver tourist Texan with nerdy interests that I really dig. Same with Nillious, though I admit I'm not sure if making him the slightly more competent Starscream works for him, but I still enjoy this direction. G3 is also interesting in that people seems to largely be on board with the anime, but the toys this time around are seen as a downgrade. The Beyblade style gimmick of the toys isn't really communicated at all in the show, with it being being questioned why it just wasn't more clip on G1 and G2 like Battle/Baku-Gear instead. The toys have a new phase coming out soon that seems to be another form of Evolution, as the package art shows Drago assuming a four legged beastial form, but how that works for the anime has yet to be seen. The toy sales of G3 aren't going so hot either, but as the series seems to have a cliffhanger atm, I hope the anime and toys aren't canceled before it gets properly resolved... Still, I'm not sure if we'll get a G4 atm unless the toy sales turn around, but I hope we get one, because the evolution of Bakugan as a series continues to fascinate me on how they spin it each time, despite still being the odd cousin of its Pokemon and Digimon relatives.

#bakugan #bakugan battle brawlers #bakugan battle planet #bakugan g3 #blueike #blueike productions

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