Beyblade: Metal Fury S3 E7

## Plot

I swear, the mention of Zuko Alone in the previous episode was a joke, but it takes until the first third of the episode for Kenta to actually show up. Until he does, it's about Ryuga fighting in a tournament. Also, oh my god I need to know who animated this episode because it's gorgeous, at least whenever there's a close up of Kenta. The art bump levels are off the charts. It's like watching just Chihaya in the final scene of episode 20 in The iDOLM@STER anime series. Anyways, Ryuga came because someone claimed to have the power of the star fragment in his bey, but he was lying, and Ryuga easily defeats him in the semi-final. Before he can leave, Kenta comes up to him in a terrible disguise and tells him that he's his opponent for the final battle. He takes off his cloak for a dramatic reveal moment, but Ryuga doesn't even recognize him at first. He still wants to leave, but Kenta tells him that he could be a legendary blader. He tells Ryuga that if he wins, then he has to listen to his request, and if Ryuga wins, then he'll do whatever he asks of him. Which would be nothing, because Ryuga's not that kind of person at all. He easily defeats Kenta, and is clearly mad that he lied about being a legendary blader, and he admits that he's not one. He follows Ryuga to try and talk to him. He has a job to do. Everyone he knows is trying to help somehow. Benkei is helping Kyoya with his training, Yuki is doing research, Ginga is also training, and Madoka is analyzing and performing maintenance on their beys as usual. When she mentions helping Ginga in any way she can, he remembers what Kenta said previously, and tells him that he believes in him. Kenta begs Ryuga to battle him one more time, and if he wins, then Ryuga has to lend Ginga and the others his strength. This is all he can do now. This is the only way he can help his friends out and be useful. However, Ryuga stops him before he can even launch his bey. Despite this, he refuses to give up and keeps following Ryuga. While walking through the jungle, they come across a ferocious tiger… and Ryuga is able to scare it away with a glare. While doing insane feats that Ryuga has no trouble with, Kenta finally realizes that he chooses the more difficult paths on purpose. For him, his everyday life is part of his training to be the best. That night, Kenta tries to start a fire, but can't, and he can't sleep because he's so hungry. He thinks about taking some of Ryuga's mangoes while he's sleeping, but scolds himself. He swore that he would work hard and not rely on anyone else. He has a daydream about getting Ryuga to change his mind and join the others, but it doesn't help. He tries to take some mangoes with his bey, but Ryuga *immediately* responds and once again stops him before he can even launch Sagittario. While walking through the desert the next day, Kenta falls unconscious from the heat and the hunger, and wakes up sometime later when it rains. He's worried that he's lost track of Ryuga, but sees him leaning on a tree just a little ways away. He starts walking again, and Kenta keeps following him. I think this shows Ryuga's hidden depths. He'd probably rather die than admit it, but even though he's an anti-hero, or maybe an anti-villain, he *does* care about other people. He didn't *have* to give Tsubasa advice about overcoming the dark power, but he did. He didn't *have* to help Ginga deal with spiral force, but he did. Then again, it was his fault there was going to be a meltdown in the first place, and if he hadn't helped then Pegasus would've either been destroyed or the world would've ended, with him along with it, so… I still think there's a fifty percent chance he did it because it was the right thing to do. The other fifty percent is revenge on Ziggurat. And here, he could've easily ditched Kenta when he passed out, especially since he's clearly annoyed with him, but he doesn't. Kenta tries using his bey to catch a fish, but comedy ensues. He still can't start a fire… but Ryuga starts one for him, after returning with several fish. He eventually gives one to Kenta, but tells him to leave after he's eaten and never follow him again. Kenta starts crying. If he were a legendary blader, it would be different, and he could give his strength to his friends, the people he actually cares about. But he's a not legendary blader. He thinks he's not good enough. Kenta! Mi pobrecito tiene self-esteem issues! He deserves all the hugs in the world. Ryuga *is* a legendary blader though. He can give the others his strength if he wants. He insists that it has nothing to do with him, but Kenta says it does. He'll just keep asking him until he says yes. He'll follow Ryuga forever if he has to. He asks him why he's willing to go so far with this, and Kenta tells him that this is all he can do now, with all his might and his strength. Ryuga glares at him, but he refuses to run away. They make a deal. Kenta can challenge Ryuga anytime, and if he can force him to take him seriously, then he'll do what he says. Kenta continues to follow him, and tells the others that he'll bring Ryuga to them. So, this episode was beautiful, and Lisette St. Louis's performance as Kenta was amazing, especially during the final scene. Now that I think about it, I can't really think of many female actors receiving praise for voicing male characters. It's something I don't even do, even though I've mentioned female actors voicing male characters before, like Jeremie from Code Lyoko or Lloyd for seven seasons of Ninjago. I wonder why that is? Sure, female actors voicing young male characters doesn't happen as much as it used to, since they usually just cast kids now, but still. Now that I think about it, while I know the topic of anime and subtitles versus dubbing is a tad controversial in some circles, do the actors from a dub receive praise for what they do? It's not like there's less work involved for them. They still have to follow a script, it's just been translated and adapted from a different language. If anything, it's harder for them because they have to try and match the lip movements of their characters, characters that were animated in a different country speaking in a different language, although that's easier to do in 2D than 3D due to how polished and precise the lip movements are in 3D CGI compared to 2D animation, and changing that for a dub can be expensive. Just compare the 2001 game *Final Fantasy X* to the 2020 game *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, and hopefully you'll see what I mean. I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to animation of any kind, but I tried my best to explain it.