Beyblade: Metal Masters S2 E37

## Plot

This episode starts with Zeo going through an arrangement. Unlike Damian and Jack though, he's conscious during it, and it's incredibly painful, but Ziggurat tells him that because of his compatibility, his friend Toby will be saved. He has a flashback to when he first met Toby and then Masamune, Toby getting sick, and Masamune leaving for Japan against his objections, under the somewhat childish and naive belief that by becoming the number one blader, Toby would miraculously get better. Before Zeo can finish his arrangement, it becomes too much for him to take. Ziggurat instructs him to bring Ryuga back, telling him that he has until Damian finishes his arrangement. Meanwhile, Madoka has finally finished the repairs to Eagle and Libra, but she tells the others that they can't battle with them yet. The parts she repaired still need time to set. If their beys were to take a strong hit, the joints would open up again, and this time she wouldn't be able to fix them in time for the final battle. They can still race around though, and everyone heads to the East Side Sports Arena to run some tests on them. Masamune sees some HD lackeys though, and he follows them when he sees Zeo with them. Ginga sees him leaving and goes after him. They see the lackeys surrounding Ryuga, who is just annoyed at them. Zeo tells him that Ziggurat has asked him to bring him back, and he can either come along quietly, or they'll take him by force. Masamune interrupts and tells Ryuga to leave, because he and Zeo are about to have an important battle to decide who the number one blader is. However, Ginga points out that Ryuga is the one who's surrounded. He wonders who the other guys are, but Masamune doesn't care, and tells Ryuga that if he wants to fight Zeo, he'll have to go through him first. Even Ginga can tell that something's not right here. Zeo finally snaps when Masamune calls him his best friend and yells at him to stay out of it. He thinks he has a know it all attitude and always gets in his way, but he's done living in his shadow. He'll never forgive him for what he did. Masamune doesn't know what he's talking about. Damian finishes his arrangement, and Ziggurat sends him after Ryuga as well. Zeo takes aim at Masamune, and he's forced to battle him. Byxis sends Striker flying into the air in one hit, and then starts hammering into it with incredible power and speed, which is completely different from their previous battle. They wonder how Zeo's power could've increased so much in such a short amount of time. I mean, he also could've been holding back before like everyone did in the B block finals, but whatever. Ryuga notes that it must be the result of the arrangement system. Ginga overhears him and asks what an arrangement is. However, he just leaves and tells Ginga to watch out for the U.S. team. All he does is unleash his spirit to take down the lackeys. Ginga launches Pegasus to help out Masamune, but he yells at him, saying that this is a problem between him and Zeo. Ginga, in a confused tone, asks Masamune to confirm that they're friends. Zeo is mad that he has new friends. Byxis starts attacking both Pegasus and Striker. Zeo tells them that he entered HD Academy to become stronger and acquire this power in order to get back at Masamune. He uses his special move, Destiny's Needle, to control Striker and make it attack Pegasus. Masamune asks him why he's doing this, and Zeo asks him why he abandoned him and Toby. After he left, Toby got worse. His illness had become too serious for the local hospital to deal with, but he still worried about Masamune. For his sake, Zeo tried to contact him, but by then, he had already joined Japan's representative team. He thinks that Masamune only focused on becoming number one and was selfish and abandoned them. He was angry at him for "betraying" them, and that's when Ziggurat showed up. He offered to help him become stronger and make him a representative of the U.S. team to get his revenge on Masamune, and get Toby the best medical treatment in the country, but only if he showed results, cooperated fully with his research, and joined HD Academy. Zeo said yes, even if it meant becoming a test subject in his twisted blader enhancement experiments. Masamune and Ginga realize that's how he got stronger so quickly. He once again asks Masamune why he abandoned them, and blames him for everything that happened. He plans to use his Byxis to make their beys destroy each other. Damian shows up at the sports arena and attacks Yu and Tsubasa. The others see the bright light in the sky. Zeo recognizes it as Damian's Hades Kerbecs, and tells Masamune that they'll finish this in the final battle. Ginga runs to the arena to check on the others. Kenta and Madoka are okay, but Tsubasa and Yu are unconscious, and their beys have been wrecked again. Ginga remembers Ryuga's warning, and yells that the U.S. team will pay for this.

## Review

So I looked it up, and I have no idea if this information is accurate, but I learned that season 1 of this series was animated by the Japanese animation studio Tatsunoko, and seasons 2 and 3 were animated by the animation studio SynergySP. I only bring it up because I love episodes with Zeo. I love both of his designs, the way he's animated, and the way his voice actor portrays him. If there's an English dub of an anime, I will watch it. If not or if it's not available to me for whatever reason, then I watch it with subtitles. Zeo's English voice actor is Matthew Christian Heywood, known professionally as Deven Mack. In fact, I originally wrote this review on April 10, 2020, just twelve days before his 32nd birthday.