#mfb episode 18

[sky-of-dusk]

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

[mrcompass]

Fun Facts about Gingka Hagane

1. Gingka Hagane is the main protagonist of the Metal Saga for the first three seasons and the second main protagonist of the Beyblade franchise overall. The first being Takao Takao Kinomiya.

2. That said, he is the first to have a successor in his own universe—Zyro Kurogane who takes the spot of main character for Zero-G.

3. Fittingly, he gave Zyro his Samurai Ifrit in the anime, but in the manga, this was done by Gingka's father, Ryusei.

4. Both Zyro and Gingka use the Samurai element wheel.

5. Beyblade X seemingly paid homage to this with Samurai Saber, whose holder, Tenka Shiroboshi (whose name translate to "white star"), has special moves/Extreme Dash with the word star in it. Her Samurai Saber is even associated to a shooting star.

6. Gingka means Galaxy, and Hagane means Steel, so his name roughly translates to Steel Galaxy, which is fitting considering the Metal Saga named Beys after constellations and celestial bodies. Also them having metal was the main "gimmick" of the series.

7. Gingka’s design encompasses all the possible colors of stars (yellow, red, orange, white, blue, etc.).

8. His scarf is similar to that of Kai Hiwatari, possibly as a tribute to him. It might also be a direct reference to the wings of Pegasus.

10. Additionally, Ryusei Hagane, Gingka’s father, also wears a similar scarf and used a Phoenix/Firebird Bey, just like Kai.

11. Gingka and Takao Kinomiya (the main protagonist of the first generation of beyblade) both had a relative who tested them while wearing a mask and using a different identity. In Gingka's case it was his father.

12. Gingka is the first main protagonist to use only right-spin Beyblades, as well as a blue Bey with three blades—something later protagonists like Valt Aoi in Beyblade Burst and Ekusu Kurosu in Beyblade X also share.

13. His hairstyle resembles orange leaves associated with autumn, and he is the Legendary Blader of Autumn.

14. His voice actress’s given name is Aki, which is the Japanese word for Autumn.

15. In Shogun Steel, his hairstyle resembles Phoenix’s.

16. Gingka is the first character to own a Pegasus Bey in MFB by order of appearence, but not the first in the Beyblade franchise—he is technically the fifth. The first was Amo Karou, a blader who only appeared in the video games. The second and third were Julia and Raul Fernandez, while the fourth was Ryo Hagane (the original owner of Storm Pegasus).

17. Other notable Pegasus beyblade includes Sora's Cyber Pegasus, Heaven Pegasus of Beyblade Burst owned by Pheng Hope and Aero Pegasus from Beyblade X.

18. Aero Pegasus is a direct hommage to Gingka's Pegasus Beys. And it is the first hommage of a Metal Figth Bey. As a result a diamond can be seen on the background of the motif which pay tribute the MFB's facebolts.

19. All of Gingka’s main opponents are direct opposites of him—they are ruthless and arrogant, while Gingka is sympathetic and has a sense of humility. They use others to gain power, while Gingka is strong thanks to his talent and the support of his friends.

20. He is the first character to defeat a left-spinning Beyblade and the first to beat Ryuga.

21. In all of the final battles, Gingka ends up riding Pegasus’s avatar, making him the first person to interact with a Bey Beast in such a way.

22. He is also the first character to defeat a Bey representing the creator of his Bey’s avatar—not just once, but twice—since he defeated both Reiji and Julian’s versions of Medusa.

23. He had three different auras in the shows. Gingka’s red aura of anger only appears in one episode. He temporarily gains a golden aura when receiving the power of the entire world. And he usually has a sky blue aura.

24. Like some shonen protagonists, Gingka is presented as a Christ-like, messianic figure—he is wise and sometimes spiritual, he has a positive influence on people, and through his victories, he is able to perform miraculous acts (such as freeing everyone’s soul from L-Drago). He is associated with the divine, was resurrected in the manga, and his enemies are tied to hell, darkness, and demons.

25. Gingka also shares similarities with Son Goku from Dragon Ball—both are the main protagonists of their respective series, have unique hairstyles, are avid eaters, lead their respective groups, and are extremely powerful. They both have a close rival who wishes to surpass them (Kyoya and Vegeta, respectively). They both defeated an evil entity of destruction (Majin Buu and Nemesis) by receiving power/life energy from others.

26. Though Gingka had many enemies, his most consistent opponent was Daidoji, as he was the only one who wasn’t redeemed (like Ryuga) or permanently defeated (like Damian and Rago) before the end of the series. Ironically, Daidoji and Gingka were the only two characters to battle in Zero-G who previously appeared in the show.

27. Gingka had the most battles with Kyoya, and his last battle in the original trilogy—which wasn’t shown—was also against him.

28. The first major character Gingka battled was Benkei, and the second was Kyoya.

29. However, the first major character using a non-generic Bey that he fought was Kyoya, as Benkei didn’t have Dark Bull yet.

30. In the anime, Gingka used the highest number of Beys:

Storm Pegasus

Galaxy Pegasus

Big Bang Pegasus

Samurai Pegasus

31. He is the first character whose name is referenced in one of his Beys—Galaxy in Galaxy Pegasus.

32. Galaxy Pegasus is also the only Bey he owned that had paint on the fusion wheel.

33. The W105R²F combo was used twice—for both Galaxy Pegasus and Samurai Pegasus.

34. While the energy rings of Pegasus are generally dark blue (safe for Galaxy), the spirit itself is sky blue, almost white.

35. Though Storm Pegasus and Galaxy Pegasus are two different Beyblades, it seems they contain the same spirit, as seen in Gingka’s reaction when he reunites with Pegasus and the fact that Galaxy Pegasus was completely different after Gingka received it.

36. It is implied that Samurai Pegasus is an evolution of Big Bang Pegasus, since Kira and Daidoji said it had the power of the Star Fragment.

37. Although all Pegasus Beys are depicted as powerfull in the anime, their competitive viability is debatable—the most useful part is often the tip/driver.

38. His special moves mainly reference storm, stars and galaxies.

39. Gingka used all the different types of launchers Takara Tomy commercialized for MFB.

40. He is the only character that appeared as an active blader in every seasons.

41. His first defeat was against Tetsuya, who cheated, which left Gingka in shock (albeit in a comedic way). His second defeat—and first fair loss—was against Ryuga, which greatly impacted him.

42. When Gingka and Ryuga partnered to stop the Spiral Force, they adopted roles that would typically belong to the other—Pegasus absorbed the energy while L-Drago stopped the turbine, despite L-Drago being famous for its ability to absorb.

43. When releasing the energy, Gingka created a new light, unintentionally fulfilling King Hades' prophecy.

44. Gingka is the strongest Blader in Japan, having won Battle Bladers.

45. He is also the leader of the strongest team in the world, Gan GanGalaxy, which is partially named after him.

46. He is the only member of his team who battled in each stage of the world championship, as Masamune and Tsubasa didn’t fight against the Russian team, and Yu didn’t participate in the battle against Wang Hu Zhong.

47. Gingka awakened his Star Fragment and evolved his Bey at the same time as Kyoya.

48. He was the first character to change Beyblade and the only one who did so while retaining the same avatar without an evolution.

49. Like other protagonists (except Zyro), Gingka’s silhouette was seen among the people who defeated Quinn Manju in Beyblade X.

50. Beyblade X will release an adapted version of Storm Pegasus along with the Beys of the other protagonists.

51. However, this is only the second (technically third) MFB Bey to receive this treatment—the first was Lightning L-Drago, which was released in both of its modes.

52. Though Gingka mostly fought alone, his main partners in team battles were Masamune and Yuki.

53. According to Takafumi Adachi, the series' creator, Gingka’s parents are separated.

54. He is the second character whose parent is seen on-screen, the first being Hikaru.

55. Storm Pegasus is said to be a legendary Bey, though other Beys use the Storm fusion wheel, such as Storm Capricorn.

56. Gingka has battled almost every zodiac-themed Beyblade except for Scorpio and Gemios, though he encountered Busujima, Lera, Damure, and the Sodo Twins.

57. Gingka changed his headband between Metal Masters and Fury. In the manga, it was explained that his new headband originally belonged to his father, who gave it to him during the final battle of the World Championship.

58. His Pegasus Beys are always the first Beys to be featured in the title card for every season. Galaxy and Big Bang Pegasus are also the only (first and second) bey to have a silhouette featured.

[fatoomie2801]

metal fight beyblade is that thing for me that comes back every 4-5 years and clings for dear life every time and I LOVE IT (10, 13, 18, 22)

and the older i get the more emotional i get over it so i will literally cry at ANYTHINGGGGGG like i'll see gingka and masamune interact in the first few episodes of masters and i'll get so giddy and excited and i smile so hard and then my eyes water and then i wanna cry because i just love it all so much

but yes!! me 🤝🏾 being a yoyo stan since day 1

i always thought it started when 10 year old me saw him in fury but my diary entries from 2014 prove me wrong because it was at the end of masters that it started

beyblade was all over my schoolwork in my final year of primary school and i still have the written pieces and also the times i gushed about the characters in my diary entries and i will NEVER THROW THEM AWAY HAHA

so yeah brainrot started at 10 mfb was in fact actually my first ever and longest running hyper fixation so coming back to it feels like returning to my roots i feel like my life truly began at this age LMAO

anyways enough about that

KIARA my sweet sweet girl

i ship her with kyoya there's a whole unfinished fic about it that follows the plot of the anime so it's lowkey a little boring to read LMAO and also super cringe cause i wrote it when i was 18 and wrote it more like an essay than a fic with how descriptive i got 💀 i used to post about it on here back in 2021 actually but they're probably buried under the pile of posts i've uploaded since i came back on here in march

if you wanna read it i can share the link with you!! otherwise i'm totally fine to just info dump and spoil it all LMAO i highly doubt i'll finish writing it

i published all of fusion and half of masters

the other half of masters (the best half) was never published but it's all written up and i've been thinking about just publishing it all because after the masters arc there's a 2 chapter long winter break arc that i wrote and it WARMS MY HEART EVERY TIME I GO BACK AND READ IT

fury was drafted but never properly written up so i've got bullet points but that's the point in the story when the entire plot sort of came together and we had this huge ass reveal and it got super crazy and to this day idk why i did all that but it was fun to do and I'D LOVE TO TALK ABOUT IT HAHA

ALSO YOUR OC IS SO PRETTY OMG i saw your pfp and she's GORGEOUS i would LOVE to do an oc interaction!!!!

i'm such a yapper omg this is so long it in fact could have been longer LMAO IM SO SORRY

don't mind me, just that your profile sparks a lot of joy. Your oc Kiara is so interesting and cool, would love to see her more often. Also you being such a Kyouya enjoyer is contagious (<- says as if they've not been one for over a decade themselves already) :D

omg this is the sweetest thing ever you're so kind 🥹🥹🥹 i'm so glad to know that you find joy in my profile since beyblade is really what makes me the happiest ☺️ thank you so much!!!!!! <3

ALSO KIARA YES i will try and draw her more often i am MORE THAN HAPPY TO YAP ABOUT HER please ask i will tell you whatever you want to know 🙏🏾

and kyoya ah yes i've been a kyoya stan since i was 10 and i fear it'll never leave me he's the reason why lions are my favourite animal he is quite literally for life

the more people i can convert to kyoyaism the better 😈 though i don't think i need to do much work everybody loves him

but thank you for this sweet sweet message this really made me so happy to see >O<

[johannepetereric]

https://www.wco.tv/wild-kratts-episode-41-bad-hair-day

I revisited my childhood for the Lion episode as if the MFB gang are reacting to it

TIL:

Lions actually ARE social creatures

Male lions patrol the Pride or do hunting

Lioness moms can’t hunt until their cubs are full-grown

Lion naps can be up to 18 hours (this can make you not take Kyoya as seriously, but it’s Fluff Fodder!)

Lions at 5 years old are pretty aged, mature

[mach-speed-spin]

Ranking all Beyblade EDs

Let’s face it. We’re probably not getting a new ED until Burst ends since they’ve switched to the 10 minute format (which is strange because zero g had an ED). So I’m celebrating the EDs we have gotten so far by ranking them all. I’ll use the full/ extended versions when possible. Visuals aren’t as important but if they are exceptionally good I’ll mention it. So without further ado, here is my ranking of the Beyblade EDs

20. Urban Love (2002/V-Force ending 1): Possibly unpopular opinion but I never liked Urban Love as an ending. Maybe it’s because I’ve always seen Beyblade as more action oriented but it just feels like it doesn’t fit. In a vacuum however, this is a good song

19. Porporo (original series movie): Something is off with it. I can’t lay my finger on it but it feels off. Listen to it and tell me what you find. It kinda sucks that something I don’t even know drags an otherwise great ED down

18. Bey-Pop (Cho-Z/Turbo ending 1): Unpopular opinion but Bey-Pop was not a good ED. The art style isn’t bad. And the song isn’t either. It’s the severe mood whiplash it gives you. It’s really fun but it’s jarring and not in a good way

17. Bey-Pop Swing (Cho-Z/Turbo ending 2): Bey-Pop but even more fun and less mood whiplash. It’s not a massive upgrade but it still is an upgrade

16. A Better Place (Beywheelz): Less extreme version of Urban Love. Good song, just doesn’t seem to quite fit Beyblade

15. Hold Tight (Beywarriors Cyborg): Same as A Better Place, but slightly better

14. Oh Yes (G-Revolution ending 1): Here is where all the EDs are good. Oh Yes is good, it’s just against really strong competition. There is nothing about it I dislike it’s just the others I like more

13. Come Around (Beywarriors Beyraiderz): Unlike Urban Love, A Better Place, and Hold Tight, this one functions because of Beyraiderz’s pacing. Raiderz is a far slower season than Wheelz or even V-Force. It doesn’t cause any mood whiplash and the line “the battle is over, it’s time to move on” hits different after the last episode (although it doesn’t make much sense in other episodes)

12. What’s the Answer (2002/V-Force ending 2): Let’s get up, get up and stand up. It’s laid back enough to serve as an ED and upbeat enough to avoide mood whiplash with Beyblade’s intense action. I like it

11. Oozora Wo Koete Yuke (Explosion/Masters): Same as What’s the Answer but slightly better. Perfect balance between relaxing and upbeat

10. Cheer Song (2000): I don’t know why but I love it. Is it the beat? The vocals? I don’t know but it’s a great song

9. Believe (Burst): It fits the laid back mood of the first Burst season. Believe works really well here. If it was another season, like Metal Fury, it probably wouldn’t rank as high, but because it goes so well with the episodes it’s in, it’s in the top 10

8. Spinning the World (MFB movie): This has the benefit of being used only once, and so it has virtually no issues with not fitting the movie. Plus it’s a banger, even in a vaccum

7. To the Radiant Tomorrow (Fusion): Positions 7-5 are mostly interchanegable. To the Radiant Tomorrow, much like Spinning the World, it’s a banger that fits the series perfectly

6. Looking Up Similing (Zero-G/Shogun Steel): More relaxing that To the Radiant Tomorrow, it’s still a banger. And like Believe, it fits the more laid back mood of Shogun Steel (at least the first half)

5. Kaze No Fuku Basho (G-Revolution ending 2): It’s just a banger. And it fits the mood of the part of G-Revolution that it is used in

4. Destiny (Fury/4d): This is on my playlist. Even is it weren’t an ED, I’d still love it. And the name goes perfectly with the themes of Metal Fury

3. Sign of Wish (G-Revolution ending 3): This ending would normally be worthy of being number 1 on the list. It’s incredible. I absolutely adore the guitar and the vocals are perfect. It’s only at number 3 because postitions 1 and 2 transcend all concepts of “good” and “bad”

2. Beyxercise 2 (Evolution/ God ending 2): I know what you’re thinking. But let me explain. Bey-Pop and Urban Love all suffer from massive mood whiplash. Beyxercise 2 should be the same, but even worse. But Beyxercise 2′s mood whiplash is so extreme that the only proper respone is to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it. 2 guys, dressed like a Nintendo Switch, doing a beyblade dance with some surprisingly good greenscreen effects. It’s also catchy as hell

1. Beyxercie (Evolution/ God ending 1): Everything I’ve said about beyxercise 2 but even better. I may or may not have done the Beyxercise dance multiple times

[a-bored-writer]

Where are Hikaru, Kenta, Tsubasa, Madoka, and Ryo in their work?

What’s going on in Shogun Steel with the original MFB cast? Madoka is apparently 17-18 in that show and that fact makes me a little uncomfortable.

She has a full-time job (seemingly), and a part-time job at the B-Pit. She works for Tsubasa, who’s also wayyyy too young for the job he’s got. Ryo was easily in his thirties when he was the WBBA director, if not his forties. Kenta was shown at the end of the series to be in an office with someone who looked like Hikaru, and Ryo was also in that frame.

Ryo is still in the WBBA, so why is Tsubasa the director? Did he ask to take on the role? Is Ryo preparing to retire? There’s so much happening that doesn’t make sense.

Also, Hikaru is still there, so why is Madoka taking on her old role?

The only explanation I have for that is that Hikaru is training Kenta, who’s most likely an intern being that in the B.S. canon timeline of this series (it makes no sense, but I’ve addressed that before. Benkei went from a 15 y/o to a full adult but Kenta looks like he’s barely aged three years despite being in a time of his life where growing is kinda the point), he’s apparently 15-16 in Shogun Steel and there’s no way he has experience in an office setting.

Ryo preparing to retire makes sense, so that’s the explanation we’ll roll with here for why he’s no longer the director.

Madoka has always been shown to be a very hardworking character since her introduction episode. That being said, her working two jobs isn’t really that far fetched. What is far fetched is that she gave up on traveling with her friends and being a mechanic in order to work a standard job like a tech advisor (what does that even entail for a beyblade organization? Is she just an IT person to fix computers? There’s so many questions about her role and some of her lines were kinda confusing when analyzed).

And with this information, it only makes sense that Ryo would pass the role of director into Tsubasa, and with the logic of the series, nobody stopped him because....beyblade reasons. Benkei is the same age as Tsubasa and he opened a successful business, so the age factor seems pretty nonexistent in this discussion.

[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