Bakugan Battle Brawlers

Did You Know?

• Spin Master sued Alpha over Screechers Wild!, Lingdong over Eonster Hunter, and both Choirock and Mattel over Turning Mecard, alleging patent breaches related to Bakugan toys.
• Spin Master and Alpha reached a settlement in which Alpha stopped selling Screechers Wild! toys in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom after January 31, 2019.
• Spin Master lost a case over Turning Mecard in Mainland China against Choirock in March 2019, but lawsuits against Mattel in Canada, the United States, and Mexico were still ongoing as of January 2019.

Plot

Dan's life changes when strange cards fall from the sky; he and his childhood friend Shun use one to invent a game called Bakugan. They form the Bakugan Battle Brawlers with friends and are drawn into fighting for the fate of Vestroia, the Bakugans' home dimension. Vestroia loses its natural balance and merges with Earth and other worlds. Naga has absorbed too much negative energy and is trapped within the Silent Core, destabilizing Vestroia; he now seeks the Infinity Core to gain absolute control over Earth and Vestroia. Three years after the Brawlers defeated Naga, Drago sacrificed his physical body to become the new Perfect Core, uniting the fractured homeworld into New Vestroia. Aliens called Vestals arrive on New Vestroia and colonize it, unaware the Bakugan are intelligent, and the Bakugan are returned to primitive ball forms. He seeks Dan's help again but leaves behind most of the Battle Brawlers except Alice and Shun for their safety; Marucho follows anyway. On New Vestroia, Dan and Marucho meet Mira, Ace, and Baron, Vestals in the Bakugan Brawlers Resistance. Shun also joins. The Resistance destroys the three Dimension Controllers that keep Bakugan in ball form, liberating New Vestroia. The Brawlers return to Earth, but reassemble six months later when King Zenoheld of Vestal attacks the Six Ancient Warriors to steal their Attribute Energies; the Ancient Warriors cannot defeat his Mechanical Bakugan, Farbros.

Media

The first episode debuted in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2007, and was rebroadcast on BS Japan six days later. Nelvana produced the English version, premiering on Teletoon in Canada on July 8, 2007, and on Cartoon Network on February 24, 2008. In March 2009, TMS and Nelvana announced a follow-up series, Bakugan Battle Brawlers: New Vestroia, consisting of 26 episodes. It began airing on Teletoon on April 12, 2009, and on Cartoon Network on May 9, 2009; due to Canadian ratings, it was extended by an additional 26 episodes. The Cartoon Network website aired a special called Maxus Unleashed summarizing the first 26 episodes. New Vestroia broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo from March 2, 2010, with opening song 'Cho! Saikyo! Warriors' by Psychic Lover and endings 'Bang! Bang! Bakugan!' by Yoshifumi Ushima and 'Communication Breakdown' by Crush Tears. A third series, Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Gundalian Invaders, premiered in Canada on May 23, 2010, and in the US on May 29, 2010; the Japanese version ran from April 3, 2011, to January 22, 2012. Its openings were 'Ready Go!' by Sissy and 'Mega・Meta' by Yu Kobayashi; endings included 'Love the Music' by Lisp, 'Tan-Kyu-Shin' by KREVA, and 'Love Go! Courage Go!' by TAKUYA. The series tied into the online game Bakugan Dimensions via heat-reveal DNA codes on new Gundalian Invaders Bakugan.

Games

Bakugan Battle Brawlers began as a physical game from Sega Toys and Spin Master, hitting shelves a full year before its anime counterpart debuted in 2006. Players use small, spring-loaded spheres that snap open when they land on special metal Gate cards, with the goal of claiming three of those cards. These toys proved extremely popular, earning industry awards and moving thousands of units annually. In 2009, IGN highlighted it as a top Nintendo DS title for kids, and the Toy Industry Association named it Property of the Year for its broad brand success. The accompanying card game uses a 56-card deck—five copies each of ranks one through ten, plus six cards with special abilities, and no suits. It plays as a trick-taking game, but the trick winner keeps only one card for their score pile and discards the rest, which can lead to hands with no clear winner. Each round starts with a die roll to set a capture target; players then take a penalty equal to the difference between that target and their actual captures. The match ends when someone hits ten points, and the player with the lowest total wins.

Merchandising and product promotions

In August 2009, Digital Blue announced a line of Hadi branded electronics for the 20–55 age group, including digital cameras and alarm clocks, released in Spring 2009. By 2009, Bakugan had generated significant toy sales; in 2010, licensed merchandise sold worldwide, and by 2010 the franchise had generated a total in merchandise sales. On June 6, 2010, Spin Master announced the online game Bakugan Dimensions, released for open Beta on June 2, 2010, but the beta shut down on June 30, 2011, after the Gundalian Invaders season finished. DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and 3, and Xbox 360 games followed the story of a player's original character with an attribute of choice, acting as an alternate plot. In 2009, Frito-Lay introduced 26 Bakugan tazos in Cheetos packages in India, with a contest running from June 10 to August 10, 2009.