Battle B-Daman is Medabots.
It's Yu-Gi-Oh!
It's Bakuman.
It's every other anime that was made to sell toys!
I may be being too hard on this anime since it is for kids, but the biggest problem I have with this anime is it doesn't offer anything new. It's nothing, but a collection of cliches and character tropes I have seen been used in these previously mentioned anime and more!
Now, don't get me wrong, I like anime like Yu-Gi-Oh and Beyblade and the others, but the problem with this anime is there is NOTHING that sets it apart from the others.
Story 4/10
The first problem I have with the story is B-Daman doesn't look that fun of a game. Half the battles they fight and the games they play are stuff like "who can knock over the most pins with their B-Daman" or "can you hit the target" which just isn't as exciting as when it's one player fighting another directly. Plus, I have a tough time imagining kids in real life playing B-Daman.
Also, the story could not be more simpler. What I liked about other anime like Yu-Gi-Oh and Medabots was at least there was a much more interesting and complex story arc and characters had better motivations. Here it's just "I'm evil because the script says I'm evil".
Characters 3/10
Take the most annoying parts of characters like Goku from Dragon Ball Z and Naruto from Naruto and be sure to leave out what made them cool and then you have Yamato. There isn't anything cool or funny about Yamato. He's just annoying, gives speeches about friendship, and wins all his battles with his main character deus ex machina powers.
The villain isn't much better, either. Marta-B was a generic and forgettable villain that wanted to destroy the world because...oh right, his only motivation is he's evil.
There were some characters I did like, however.
Bull, with his multiple personalities, was fun.
Yamato's mom was funny whenever she got mad.
However, neither of these characters get as much screen time as Yamato, unfortunately.
Art 6/10
The art would have to probably be the best part of this show.
It's cool how the show is set in this world where you have characters that are giant talking cats, robots, and sort of humans like Lee. What is with his eyes?! There's no white, it's just black! Is he an alien?
Also, there is a large variety of B-Daman and each one is pretty well and uniquely designed.
Overall 4/10
Battle B-Daman is pretty forgettable anime. There's nothing memorable or worthwhile about the characters. The story is about as bare bones as you can get. I'd recommend Medabots or Beyblade over this.
