Disney Gets Exclusive Rights To Long-Running Anime Franchise’s Next Series
It was recently revealed that Beyblade X, the first season of Beyblade’s X series anime, will land on Disney XD in the United States starting July 13. Later this year, you’ll also be able to stream the anime on Disney+ and Hulu in multiple languages. The anime first aired in Japan in October of last year, and, along with its US release, is also set to air in Canada on Cartoon Network Canada and in Australia on 9Go!.
The Start Of A New Era
While Beyblade X is the first season of the new X series, it’s the fifteenth season overall of the long-running Beyblade anime franchise. This series follows Blader Robin Kazami, who finds himself in need of a new team after facing defeat. This leads him to cross paths with former champion Jaxon Cross, and the two decide to team up.
The Champs Of The X
Jaxon Cross has the goal of climbing back to his former rank of champion under an alias so he can battle his old teammate and current champion, Khrome Ryugu. Meanwhile, they bring on the popular influencer Multi NANA-iro to round out their team and form Team Persona, with the goal of becoming the champs of The X. Takara Tomy, the company behind the franchise, describes Beyblade X as the fourth generation of Beyblade shows following the original series, the Metal Fusion series, and the Burst series.
Adapting The Manga
Beyblade X stars Soma Saito (Japanese) and AJ Beckles (English) as Jaxon Cross/Blader X, Shuichiro Umeda (Japanese) and Caleb Yen (English) as Robin Kazami, and Ruriko Noguchi (Japanese) and Anairis Quinones (English) as Multi NANA-iro. Katsuhito Akiyama is on board as chief director, while Sotsu Terada is the director at the OLM animation studio. Homura Kawamoto and Hikaru Muno co-wrote the manga the series is based on, while Posuka Demizu illustrated and created the original character designs.
A Multimedia Success
The Beyblade X manga launched in Shogakukan’s Monthly Coro Coro Comics magazine on May 15 and has two volumes so far. Meanwhile, the anime series has 39 episodes to date, so we should presumably see all of these episodes hitting Disney+ and Hulu at the same time. There is also a video game on the way, titled Beyblade X: XONE for Nintendo Switch and PC, that is set to launch in Japan on November 14.
Where To Stream The Franchise
Beyblade X landing on Disney XD, Hulu, and Disney+ continues Disney’s relationship with the long-running anime series after the most recent season of Beyblade Burst Quadstrike hit the channel and streaming services last year. For those wanting to keep up with the Beyblade anime in the US, it seems like Hulu and Disney will continue to be the streaming service to have. The franchise continues to be immensely popular with its anime, manga, and toy line, which continue to attract millions of fans around the world.
There were also talks of a live-action Beyblade film in 2015, with the latest update about the film coming in 2022. A 2022 report from Deadline said that Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean) would be producing a Beyblade film for Paramount. It remains to be seen if that project ends up panning out, but you can check out Beyblade X on Disney XD this July.
Source: Anime News Network
