Beyblade (爆転シュート ベイブレード, Bakuten Shūto Beiburēdo?, lit. "Explosive Shoot Beyblade") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki in order to promote sales of spinning tops called "Beyblades". Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 2000 to 2002, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon by Shogakukan. The series focuses on a group of kids who form teams with which they battle one another using Beyblades. The manga is licensed for English language release in North America by Viz Media. An anime adaptation, also titled Beyblade and spanning 51 episodes, aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from January 8, 2001 to December 24, 2001. The second, Beyblade V-Force, ran for another 51 episodes from January 7, 2002 until December 30, 2002. Beyblade G Revolution, the third and final adaptation, also spanned 51 episodes (the 51st was a double-length special but was split into two episodes for the Western release) and aired from ...