Anime of the Childhood #09: Battle B-Daman (2025)

I’m Cory Roberts (better known by the art name Samurai Cory) and this post pays tribute to Philece Sampler, who left us a couple of years ago. You may have read about my experiences watching the Digimon anime when I came home from school or woke up on a Saturday morning. This post on Medium will be dedicated to her memory. What if Arc System Works would have Anne Yatco become Taokaka’s new voice actress from BlazBlue? We don’t even know, unfortunately…

The anime adaption of Battle B-Daman was released in January 2004. It premiered in the United States (and Canada) in April 2005 as it aired on the now-defunct Jetix (first ABC Family in 2005, then to Toon Disney in 2009) and the still-active YTV (including the now-defunct Candian French-language channel Télétoon) in Canada. It is the first show of the B-Daman series to be dubbed into English. Before the anime adaption, there was a Japanese manga series by Eiji Inuki which ran in CoroCoro Comic by Shogakukan from 2002 to 2005. We are only going with the first season. Wikipedia describes the anime adaption’s first season:

The show is about Yamato Delgado (Daiwa in the Japanese version), who gets the legendary Cobalt Blade. He and his friends use the sport of B-Daman to fight the Shadow Alliance (who wants to take over the world). This show takes place in the B-Da World, a Post-Apocalyptic wasteland where its inhabitants are humans, anthropomorphic animals, and robots. Using the legendary B-Daman, Yamato enters the Winners tournament organized by a group (the JBA in the Japanese version and the IBA (International B-Daman Association) in English version) to become the B-Da Champion. However, he also ends up in fights against the Shadow Alliance.

• Yamato Daiwa (Yamato Delgado in the dub) is the 11-year-old main protagonist. Raised by cats until the age of 5, his foster mother did not allow him to own a B-Daman until Cobalt Blade appeared to him one fateful night. Cobalt Blade, supposedly the best B-Daman ever made. But it gets heavily damaged by Cain McDonnell, one of Yamato’s enemies. Following its near destruction, Cobalt Blade is rebuilt as Cobalt Saber, the first B-Daman to use the newly developed Blaster Core (also known as Delta core) system by Armada. This new system allowed the very core of the B-Daman to be modified. Yamato’s special attack is Cobalt Power Blast, a powerful attack that utilizes the friction of the battlefield. Yamato somehow looks like a cat. He is most likely named after the powerful Japanese battleship Yamato. He is voiced by Reiko Takagi (Japanese) and Brian Beacock (English).
• Gray Michael Vincent is Yamato’s friend and is a tough guy. He was a member of the Shadow Alliance because he was trying to save his sister Liena from them. He uses the B-Daman, Chrome Zephyr which is later upgraded to Chrome Raven then Chrome Raven Cyclone, Chrome Harrier and then Chrome Windrush Harrier (Chrome Lancer). He is 12 years old. His Strike Shot is the Speed Shot. He is voiced by Yuki Tai (Japanese, who is also the dub voice of Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls) and Dave Wittenberg (English).
• Bull Borgnine has three personalities: The calm and naive side, the confident side, and the wild side that appears when he presents his B-Daman. This dark side remains until the end of a B-DaBattle and can enter a berserker state where he’s practically invincible. He uses the B-Daman, Helio Breaker which later gets destroyed and he decides to be a B-Daman mechanic. Later on, he creates Helio Berserker and Helio Flyer which is either from the Delta Core or the Roller Core. Bull started appearing in season 1. He is 11 years old. He is voiced by Kurumi Mamiya (Japanese) and Mona Marshall (English).
• Tsubame Tsubakura (Terry McScotty in the dub) is Yamato’s fellow friend under Armada. He has a Scottish accent and uses the B-Daman, Wing Ninja which was later recreated into Wing Sword and Wing Eagle. Terry started appearing in season 1. He is 10 years old. In Season 2, Terry and Joe decide to enter the Winners Tournament together but along the way, Terry finds a Strike Shot, Random Shot. Joe deems that Terry will not improve with him along so he leaves, only to find Terry following him, not wanting him to go. However, Haja hears of this Strike Shot and attacks Terry for it. The two enter into battle and Haja pretends to admit defeat. Falling for his trick, Haja snatches the Strike Shot from Terry and he shoots. It is originally aimed towards Terry but Joe steps in to protect his brother/pupil. Terry has his blaster destroyed and then gets a new one named HudoFudoMaru and his Strike Shot is the Split Shot. He is voiced by Tomoko Kaneda (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English, original until episode 6), and Barbara Goodson (English, from episodes 7–52).
• Mie Daiwa (Mie Delgado in the dub) is Yamato’s foster mother, she adopted him at the age of five. She is 22 years old. She runs a restaurant called Mie’s Café, later on, changed to Mie’s Cat Cafe. For she is just only one to run her Cafe, she asked Liena, Armada, and all the others to help her run her Café. Then one day, she’s suddenly somewhat feared by Armada because Armada always escapes his chores. And when he does that, Mie is getting almost furious. She thought that was the way in making Armada responsible! She is voiced by Naoko Takano (Japanese) and Philece Sampler (English, deceased).
• Wen Yong Fa is the older of the Yong Fa brothers. He joined the Shadow Alliance at a young age to become a stronger B-DaPlayer. Wen is often blunt and stubborn but also open-hearted and loyal to those he cares about. He and Li first appeared to fight Yamato in a B-DaBattle following Battle Crow’s defeat. He uses the B-Daman, Bakuso which was later upgraded to King Bakuso by Bull, then finally to Suiseiryu by Bears and Armada. He changed his ways and left the Shadow Alliance after Yamato helped him in a battle against Enjyu. After Wen left, he continued to help Yamato and the gang, often under Armada’s direction. He is voiced by Tomo Shigematsu (Japanese) and Brad MacDonald (English).
• Li Yong Fa is the younger brother of Wen, he uses seal papers as his calling card. He uses the B-Daman, Rekuso which was later upgraded to King Rekuso, then to Ryuseiryu by Armada and Bears. Li and Wen first appeared to fight Yamato in a B-DaBattle following Battle Crow’s defeat. He and his older brother have been helping Yamato after they left the Shadow Alliance. Later in the series, Enjyu begged Li to help him defeat Marda B. Like Enjyu, Li pretended to work for the Neo Shadow Alliance in order to find Marda B.’s weakness. But certain members did not trust Li’s loyalties towards the Neo Shadow Alliance so Marda B. claimed Li’s mind, giving Li the third eye and erasing all his past memories. Later, Wen tried to save his brother through a B-Dabattle. Luckily, Wen won and returned Li to his normal self. He is voiced by Miyako Ito (Japanese) and Derek Stephen Prince (English).

• Marda B. is the main villain of the 1st season who established the Shadow Alliance and Neo Shadow Alliance. Marda B. was a mysterious being who was the greatest B-DaPlayer. He was the first B-DaMaster. He was a good person, but also very competitive. When he asked for an eternal life to remain undefeated forever, he was punished by being turned into a spirit. His competitive side separated from him and became an evil spirit wanting to conquer the B-DaWorld. He is voiced by Makoto “Mugihito” Terada (Japanese) and Paul St. Peter (English).
• Ababa is an evil cat who worked for Marda B with the ability to brainwash people. He even managed to brainwash Bull. Ababa was the leader of the Shadow Alliance, which consisted of major characters like Gray, Enjyu, Wen, and Li. When depowered by Marda B, he is turned back into his original form, a purple cat with long hair. He is voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama (Japanese) and Steve Blum (English).

I remembered watching the anime before I went to school… or did I? Yup. It’s sadly not available on streaming services except there are episodes of the English dub on YouTube. Like Dinozaurs, this anime adaption is now considered a lost media. Anyway, rest peacefully, see you next Anime of the Childhood, and don’t forget to watch the final episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys on Netflix!

Cory out.