#mfb 1x18

[sky-of-dusk]

Ginga and Kyouya mirroring each other in Beyblade Metal Fusion - episode 18

[sky-of-dusk]

Fun fact: Kyouya cares more geniunely about Ginga than Hyouma

The Beyblade Metal Fusion episodes taking place in Koma focus on Ginga, primarily. They show to his friends and to the spectators how he had spent his life before his quest for vengeance. But these episodes also stage a new rivalry, between Hyouma and Kyouya. What's new, with this rivalry, is that it's not about Beyblade, but about the right to be Ginga's rival. It highlights two different relationships with Ginga, because Hyouma and Kyouya don’t interact with and don’t care about Ginga the same way.

To prove what I state with the title, however, I have to go back some episodes earlier.

After Ginga succeeds to make Kyouya come to his senses, after the Wolf Canyon, Kyouya shows sign of empathy for his new friend rival :

“Something is happening to him.” (english dub)

“Just what happened to Ginga...” (japanese dub)

- episode 13, when Ginga is fighting Ryuuga

“It's no use. (...) That battle with Ryuuga was important. More important than we can possibly understand. When he lost it, then his spiritwas broken. (...) He has to deal with it on his own.” (english dub)

“It might be impossible. (...) The fight with Ryuuga probably held some great meaning to him of which we have no idea. Losing this fight is breaking his heart. (...) He has to do it himself.” (japanese dub)

- episode 14, when Ginga isn't able to launch Pegasus anymore

“So that's Ginga's story.” (english dub)

“Ginga went through all that...” (japanese dub)

- episode 15, after Kenta tells the others Ginga's past

Reaching Koma and Ginga

On their way to Koma, the gang meets Hyouma, who tries to stop them to reach the village. Kyouya is wary of him, seeing he's lying, but he doesn't expose him right away. He gives to Hyouma the benefit of the doubt, collects proofs of his treachery (showing he had already evolved since the first episodes) and only then he shows the rest of the group Hyouma is deceiving them.

Once Hyouma’s intentions are revealed, Kyouya challenges him but Kenta, and then Benkei steal his fight. When it's his turn, Hyouma chooses to ignore him (to take revenge because Kyouya was the only one to doubt him and see the truth behind his false-friendly behavior ?) and begins to present himself as Ginga's childhood friend.

In the next episode, when Ginga is facing his trial to be a blader again, Hokuto tries to prevent Ginga's new friends to catch up with him. Kenta, Madoka and Benkei hesitate, but Kyouya doesn't let Hokuto decide for him :

“We can't just stand around here doing nothing. Let's go help Ginga. (...) I don't care if it is a sacred place. That has nothing at all to do with us. I'm going.” (english dub)

“Just twidling our thumbs won't do it. Let's go after Ginga. (...) Holy ground or whatever, that doesn't concern us. Let us go.” (japanese dub)

- episode 17

This time, Hyouma sides with them. But he's shown ambiguous : it looks like he doesn't truly want them to succeed. He allows himself some contemptuous remarks, and doesn't accompagny them to meet Ginga.

With Ginga at Koma

In episode 18, we get the first moment between Ginga and Hyouma. Instead of witnessing their friendship, we see there is a gap between them:

Ginga: You never change, do you my good buddy?

Hyouma: The village have just changed completely and so of you Ginga.

Ginga: Really?

Hyouma: Well, since you're back now after such a long time, want to check out of the forest together.

- english dub

Ginga: You haven't changed a bit, have you?

Hyouma: The town has changed quite a bit, though, huh ? And so have you.

Ginga: Huh?

Hyouma: Since you came all the way back home, tomorrow, let's take a walk in the woods for old time's sake.

- japanese dub

Ginga is happy to see again his childhood friend, happy to see he's the one he remembers, but Hyouma doesn't share his feeling: he reproaches Ginga for having changed. Well, Ginga had witnessed his father being killed and had to travel alone during months to stop his murderers and their organization. How was he supposed to stay the same carefree child who was raised in Koma under these circumstances? Plus, he spent months discovering how the world was beyond their little and isolated village.

Hyouma changes the subject before Ginga has the time to register his remark. He doesn't want to take the responsability for his words and thoughts, and rather acts like nothing had changed, smiling.

He suggests a tour of the village, hoping Ginga will leave his friends to stay only with him. He's hurt when Ginga gets enthusiastic about the prospect of showing them where he used to live.

When they begin their tour of Koma, Hyouma hides what he thinks of Ginga's new friends’ presence, acting like he is pleased to be with them, but always implying he knows Ginga better than them. The first time Kyouya shows off his Beyblade skills, and the gang is acting like a fanclub (they are all: "he is so great!" xD), he gets offended.

After Ginga does the second training exercise, we’ve got this dialog:

Kyouya: So you've been training like this since you were in diapers. Hmmm. No wonder you've become strong.

Hyouma: It's one of the lucky things about growing up in Koma village. There is no real subsitute for experience, is there Kyouya?

Kyouya: ?

- english dub

Kyouya: This way you've been training naturally since you were a kid. Of course you'd be strong.

Hyouma: That's the privilege of being raised in Koma Village. There is nothing you can do about that distinction, is there?

Kyouya: ?

- japanese dub

Kyouya is beginning his I’m-having-the-cool-quotes-because-I-understand-everything attitude, playing his rival role... And Hyouma starts to provoke Kyouya, belittling him because he wasn't born in Koma (Kyouya can hardly do something about it) and implying he would never reach the level of Koma-born bladers. You can see Kyouya is shocked by Hyouma's attitude toward him.

Then, we get another dialog, showing the difference between what Hyouma says and what he thinks (the complete opposite), showing again the contempt he feels for Kyouya:

Hyouma: You never back down, do you? I see why Ginga takes you so seriously.

Ginga: You bet!

Hyouma, thinking: But no matter how hard he tries, there are some things he'll never do.

- english dub

Hyouma: Pretty competitive, isn't he? I see why you approve of them.

Ginga: Yeah!

Hyouma, thinking: But... no matter how hard he tries, there are some things he can't do.

- japanese dub

A brief aside

This is character bashing, really. As much as I enjoy the scene where Kyouya is shocked because Hyouma ignores his challenge (certainly the first time ever someone is so casual about him xD), in fact, Hyouma decided arbitrarily to dislike Kyouya. He doesn’t like Ginga’s friends, either, but he hounds Kyouya:

- he accepts Kenta’s and Benkei’s challenge, but he turns down Kyouya’s.

- he speaks little to Ginga’s friends, but he makes snide remarks to Kyouya whenever he has the opportunity to.

- he casts him contemptuous looks when no one else is watching.

Back to episode 18

When the group reaches the Green Hades, Hyouma finally drops the mask :

Hyouma: The time has come for Ginga and I to have a serious battle.

Benkei: Why are you talking about?

Hyouma: Ginga and I battled in this very stadium many times when we were little kids. Rain or shine, we'd always come here to compete so, you see, I know him better than anyone else. If I battle with Ginga here, I can tell if he has truly recovered or not. You guys have just become friends with him so you can't tell. After living together in this village for so long, I'm the only one who can tell how he is!

Everyone: ?!!!

Hyouma: Ginga, as your true rival, I will test you right know.

He confesses Ginga and his new friends what he thinks: since he's the only one who knows Ginga (though he reproached Ginga to have changed), they can't be considered as his friends, let alone as his rivals. The only point that truly annoys Kyouya is the moment where Hyouma says he's Ginga's only rival, implying Kyouya is nothing to him in Beyblade. Benkei and Kenta are annoyed too : they have accompanied Ginga during his adventures, battled him, and suddenly they aren't worthy of him? Kyouya "calms down" the game by ordering to Ginga to accept Hyouma's challenge. During the battle, he shows he believes in Ginga's victory, no matter the advantages Hyouma takes. He even reminds the others he used a similar advantage with the windy stadium, talking about his defeat. I want to stress it out : Kyouya reminds them he had LOST. Kyouya Tategami! Only to show them Ginga is able to win this duel.

Kyouya: Winning means more because it's a difficult stadium. Have you all forgotten? The windy stadium. My Leone had the advantage there because of wind but Ginga never backed down. (...) No matter what disadvantage he faces, he won't run. That's the Ginga I know. But it really bugs me that Ginga beat me but has never defeated this guy. Come on Ginga! Defeat him right here, in front of all of us.

(in japanese, he says: That's the Hagane Ginga I know. However, I don't like that he's beaten me, but hasn't won against him yet. Leave him in the dust and let me see how you win!)

Ginga: Yeah, count on it. I'm gonna show you that Pegasus and I are back in top.

However, it is shown that Kyouya is the one who, at this point of their life, knows Ginga best. He guesses when his rival is about to launch his special move (and is very happy to tell Hyouma about it xD - a little revenge for Hyouma’s attitude and for having fallen twice because of this special move). Then, at the end of the duel, Hyouma is shocked to have lost. He doesn't understand how anyone can have the idea of destroying the stadium to win. And Kyouya thinks:

“Ginga would. You gotta think outside the crater sometimes.”

But he doesn't tell it out loud. He doesn’t show to everyone he understands Ginga better. As soon as the duel ends, Kyouya considers there is no more reason to argue.

Then, Ginga is congratulated by his new friends for his victory. He’s proud and happy among them, and Hyouma says:

“I guess I'm of no further use to you anymore. Please, continue to improve with your new great friends. I'm sure you will.”

This sentence looks too much like emotional blackmail for my taste... Anyway, Hyouma takes out this idea out of the blue, like it goes without saying and everyone agreed about this before the duel. Ginga gets shocked, not understanding what Hyouma is talking about, then Kyouya comes to them.

Kyouya: He can have more than one rival, you know.

This sentence is said by Kyouya, who will go as far as Africa to be able to fight Ginga. Despite Hyouma's attitude, Kyouma wants him to resume seing himself as one of Ginga's rivals.

The Survival Battle

Then, Hyouma and Kyouya meet again during the Survival Battle. Once more, Hyouma tries to dodge fighting Kyouya but Leone's blader spots him. They have to battle and, after some struggles, Kyouya wins. Despite this, Kyouya tries to cheer up Hyouma, telling plans don't always work as expected (he knows something about it xD). And he doesn't understand why Hyouma is so dispirited.

Hyouma: I changed the performance tip and it wasn't as stable as it normally is.

Kyouya: Plans can be flawed you know.

Hyouma: But there's another cause behind my defeat.

Kyouya: Huh?

Hyouma: I have to give up the right to battle Ginga. Yeah. For today, but the next time we battle Kyouya, it won't end this way.

Kyouya: So you say. I'll battle you anytime.

At first, I thought: "This is a great moment of sportmanship". But I rewatched this scene, and thought again about it, and does Hyouma's words imply that he expected Kyouya to stop being Ginga's rival if he had lost? I know if Kyouya had lost, he wouldn’t have been allowed to resume fighting during this tournament. But Hyouma says they’ll have to face each other to decide who will have the right to face Ginga the next time. He's still in the same state of mind he was when he met Ginga’s new friends, at Koma.

Comparison of their attitude

During their stay in Koma, Hyouma spent his time pulling the blanket to him. He doesn't truly talk about Ginga, but about his place: he is Ginga's childhood friend, he lives in Koma, he is the only one who deserves to be his rival... He reproaches Ginga for having changed, doesn't give him a word of comfort for all he came through. He is jealous of the friends he makes outside Koma, instead of being relieved he wasn't completely alone all the time he was away. He tries several times to prevent them to be with Ginga, wanting to have him for himself. The duel wasn't about seeing if Ginga was all right, but about showing to everyone he is Ginga's true rival, that the others don't count and can't expect to matter. Even when Ginga wins their duel, he goes toward the group to talk about himself. He's shown as very self-centered, thinking more about himself than about his friend. He considers if Ginga is friend/rival with him, he doesn't need anyone else.

Kyouya, on the contrary, is here for Ginga. He tells and retells it. He watches how Ginga had spent his life before meeting him, doing remarks about this (but not about himself). He shows he can do what Ginga does, and he's pretty happy of himself when he gets compliments, but he doesn't try to take credit all the time (sometimes he does, of course, he’s still Kyouya Tategami and Yuu gives us a perfect sum-up of his personality at the end of Fury). Kyouya lets Ginga having most of the foreground since they are in his home. He believes in him. He doesn't bear grudges against Hyouma for his attitude and even pushes him toward Ginga twice (once when Hyouma lost against Ginga in episode 18, once when Hyouma lost against him in episode 21). He tells three episodes after the episode 18 he only cares about defeating Ginga, because they are rival, so it is certainly in his mind right then, but he doesn't utter a word about it during the Koma episodes.

Maybe what I’ll add is an extrapolation, but I think Kyouya doesn't want Ginga to lose anything more. Ginga already lost his father, quited everything he knows to chase the Dark Nebula, spent months alone (with only Pegasus for company),... so he can't lose his childhood friend too (the only person left from his past, someone who should be like family).

[sky-of-dusk]

Kyouya’s (supposed) course of thoughts in episode 18

“I’m absolutely not interested by it.”

“Great.”

“It looks very tasty!”

“Wait a minute!”

“I’m bad-ass! And cool! Bad-ass and cool people DON’T get enthusiastic about food. I certainly don’t!”

Maybe he didn’t think exactly that, but I’m certain it was pretty close xD