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The First Series

The second anime inspired by Bandai's Battle Spirits trading card game, following Battle Spirits Shonen Toppa Bashin. The series recycled certain concepts and character types from the first series, but focuses on an entirely separate cast, and has a much more serious storyline.

The protagonist, Dan Bashin, is a red-headed hero who uses the red attribute, just like Toppa of the first series. However, rather than going through a normal life, he's taken from Earth to the world of Grand Rolo, where he learns he's one of the chosen core soldiers. With the help of his friends and comrades, Zungurii, Magisa, Clackey, Mai and Suzuri, he battles to stop the evil Otherworld King.

The series was followed up by another 50-episode series, Battle Spirits Brave (named after the newest type of card at the time), wherein Dan and some of his old allies travel to the future. Because it is a direct sequel with many of the same characters, tropes for Brave are included on this page.

Nine years after Brave aired, a three-episode sequel called Battle Spirits Saga Brave was announced, taking place 10 years after the end of Brave.

Following the finale of Saga Brave, a new series called Battle Spirits: Gallett's Revolution was announced. It is set in the same universe as the previous three series, albeit farther into the future and features a new protagonist named Gallett Revolt and involving a new species called Mauve.

Also see Battle Spirits Heroes, for the 4th series in the franchise.


This show provides examples of:

  • 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Most of the spirits are rendered in CG. The Great Angelia Sophia is a notable exception, which may or may not have something to do with the fact that Clackey is in love with her.
  • Accidental Misnaming:
    • Magisa regularly calls Kenzo anything but his name, making him crazy.
    • Stella continues the trend in Brave, though this time it's more likely a case of Malicious Misnaming.
  • Action Girl: Mai. She loves to battle, and is good at it too.
    • In Brave, she becomes more of a Faux Action Girl. The fact that she can battle is mentioned several times, but she’s never seen actually playing. However, once she parted ways with Dan and the rest, returning to the mazoku capital with Barone, she regained full Action Girl status.
    • Brave also introduce Flora. She does get several battles, and has quite a powerful deck. Though she always loses, it’s more due to the sheer level of her opponents. And she’s shown to be quite good at physical combat as well.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: Galaxy, the one character to appear in both Toppa Bashin and Gekiha Dan (albeit an entirely different version of him) has blond hair in the first series, but it's white in this one.
  • Adorably Precocious Child: Kenzo. Especially in Brave, where he becomes one of the planet's most significant scientists (at the age of 11) and stops playing Battle Spirits to focus more on his work.
  • All-Loving Hero: Dan. He's willing to give everyone a chance. He'll jump to save anyone, even if he hardly knows them or they're an enemy. He even tried to take in Mother Core, which his body couldn't physically handle. And his friends adore him.
  • Aloof Ally: Suzuri. He'll help the others, but isn't interested in joining them.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: Mai gives one to Dan during their battle, afraid that he's going to die soon.
  • Art Shift: Regular anime-style to CG during battles.
  • Ascended Meme: It's been a bit of a joke on Japanese sites that Dan is near abusive of Bladra, due to regularly summoning it just to use it for cost reduction. Cue episode 13 of the unrelated Battle Spirits Heroes, which features a whack-a-mole machine with the "moles" being Bladras terrified of having their cores taken away.
  • Bait-and-Switch Credits: Dan never uses The DarkDragonEmperor Siegfried.
  • Battle Butler: Serge is one to Mai.
  • Big Bad: Otherworld King, as the King of Otherworld, who is behind everything that's gone on since the beginning.
    • In Brave Zazie is revealed to be the one manipulating all the conflict behind the scenes. While the last major opponent Dan has to face, the true final boss is in fact the earth itself, which will reset itself.
  • Big Eater: En and Fant must be bottomless vacuums when it comes to food.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Clackey and Belga are both prone to generating sparkles.
  • Biting the Handkerchief: Flora tends to do this.
  • Bittersweet Ending:
    • To Gekiha Dan. Otherworld King is defeated, but the core soldiers have to return to the real world, leaving their comrades from Otherworld behind. Also, Kajitsu is unable to be saved.
    • During Brave, it's revealed that there were even more negative side effects. In particular, mazoku remaining in the real world and reshaping the Earth, which will eventually reset itself.
    • Then there's the actual Brave ending, which is even worse. The world is saved from being reset, but Dan may not have survived.
  • Bland-Name Product: Anymate, rather than the anime retailer Animate.
  • Bloodless Carnage: When Lucretia is fatally stabbed there's no blood to be seen.
  • Blush Sticker: Kenzo's are permanent.
  • Body Double: Otherworld King used a Pantera body in place of himself to fight Yuuki and Kajitsu.
  • Brother–Sister Incest: Yuuki and Kajitsu, who are reincarnated lovers who still very much love each other. Somehow, this show airs on a Sunday morning kids block.
  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Butterflies are extremely symbolic to Kajitsu. Of course, that's because she's a reincarnation, and she dies again and is reborn as Flora.
  • Calling Your Attacks: But they’re playing a TCG, so…
  • Cat Girl: Anyone from the Mimi Tribe
  • Char Clone: Shula. Let's see: Blonde, wears red, has a mask, and is an aloof big brother to his long lost sister.
  • Cheerful Child: Zungurii. Most of the time, he's cheery and adorable.
  • Chick Magnet: Clackey. Even he had more girls than he could probably handle in the Mimi village.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Clackey. He loves to pick up girls, but he will make sure to treat them right.
  • Color-Coded Characters: Apparently, all major characters must use the type of card their hair color indicates. Exceptions include Kazan, who’s blonde but uses purple (but he wears purple), and Yuuki, who has light blue hair but uses white. Still, his is close enough.
    • Not the case at all in Brave, as Youth uses red rather than blue, Plym uses white rather than red, etc.
  • Cool Airship: The Violet and The Beautiful Sophia, among others.
  • Cool Shades: Galaxy wears them, per the mascot character he’s based on. Jin as well, who is the leader of a gang with a tough-guy appearance.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: Flora. She's prone to breaking things and making a mess.
  • Cute Ghost Girl: Mira, a one-shot character who can even play Battle Spirits despite being... well, dead.
  • Cute Monster Girl: Flora. Aside from her tail, she could pass for an adorable human girl.
  • Damsel in Distress: Kajitsu in the manga version is constantly kidnapped.
  • Darker and Edgier: Battle Spirits Shonen Gekiha Dan is significantly darker than the first series, Battle Spirits Shonen Toppa Bashin. Including elements such as major character death and Brother–Sister Incest, in a story which is much more serious.
    • Then it's sequel season Brave takes things even further, beginning with the revelation that everything the heroes did in the previous series actually screwed up the future, and now the world will be destroyed within months. On top of that, the heroes have essentially been disowned by their families and the world at large, after being put up on such a pedestal that they just failed to live up to expectations. The series has even more character death, ranging from some characters being used as human sacrifices to create a card, one person being impaled to death, and even the main character himself making a Heroic Sacrifice in the finale. There's also the main antagonist's backstory, which has been likened to child prostitution. Yes, this was a Sunday morning kids' show.
    • The sequel web series Saga Brave as well, which opens with an assassination attempt on one of the main heroes by a radical hate group. To be fair, this season wasn't aimed at kids, instead being aimed at the grown-up original audience.
    • Gallet's Revolution takes it even further with Fantastic Racism and on screen deaths.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Mai uses purple, which is themed around demons and the occult. She’s one of the main heroes.
  • Death Course: Dan and Suzuri end up in one in episode 8.
  • A Death in the Limelight: Leon. Although he doesn't actually die, once he gets his backstory explained, Otherworld King sends him back where he came from, and he's never heard from again.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Mainly with Dan and Kenzo, the latter of which quickly allied with the former after losing to him in battle.
  • Demoted to Extra: Kenzo in the manga. He's a minor villain.
  • Determinator: Dan, especially in Brave. r. Even with a doomed fate, he is going to carry out his mission until the end.
  • Distress Ball: Mai goes to take on Pantera by herself, in order to protect everyone else, with no one but Serge knowing. This leads her to getting captured and spending several episodes locked in a cage. She makes up for it as soon as possible.
  • The Dragon: Kazan (Yuuki's dragon) in the early episodes, Leon (Otherworld King's dragon) later on.
    • In Brave Duc takes this role after being brainwashed.
  • Duels Decide Everything: As expected in a card game anime, a game can decide the fate of the world, or be used for anything much more mundane.
  • Empty Shell: After losing to Otherworld King. This happens to Dan temporarily.
  • Emotionless Girl: Kajitsu at first.
  • Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: A couple times. Everyone seems to have amazing martial arts skills.
  • Evil Old Folks: The Otherworld King. Until he has his youth restored.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: In Brave, Mai has long hair, and has also changed a lot since the last time Dan saw her. She changes her hairstyle again once she decides to fight for the mazoku, and then cuts it at the end of the series, after losing Dan.
  • Expressive Mask: Zazie wears one.
  • Expy: While an alternate continuity to the original series, Gekiha Dan took a clear, deliberate effort to remake certain characters from Shonen Toppa Bashin.
    • Dan Bashin is one to Toppa Bashin. Both are red-using redheads, and chosen ones who are magnetic heroes. Even their last name is the same. However, in the sequel Brave season, Dan's personality changes sharply enough to make the two less comparable.
    • Mai Viole is to Suiren. Aside from aesthetic similarities, they're both idols, and both purple-using Action Girls with a tendency to come off as scary even to their allies.
    • Yuuki Momose is one to J Sawaragi. They are both The Rival, both use white, and both have a little sister they're protective of. Both spend some time working with the villains, but only to further their own objectives.
    • In the first episode of Brave, look-alikes of Jun and Maaya from the spin off manga, Batosupi! appear. Those two characters are already gender-bent expys of J and Bashin from the original series, respectively.
    • At first glance, Flora seemed to be an expy to Kajitsu, down to having flower motifs, a similar deck and the same seiyuu. This is actually explained when she's revealed to be so similar because she's Kajitsu's Reincarnation.
  • Eye Catch: A shot of one or two of the main characters. Dan has several. Clackey, Mai, Suzuri, Kenzo, Zungurii and Magisa have one, while Yuuki and Kajitsu share one. There’s also a group eyecatch. It changes based on who the episode’s main character is.
    • Brave is following the trend of unique character eyecatches, with Dan having the most.
  • Fanservice: Not much, but mostly courtesy of Magisa in Shounen Gekiha Dan, and Gilfam in Brave. And Barone provides a bit of fanserve for female viewers.
  • Finger-Suck Healing: Yuuki does this to Kajitsu when she cuts her finger on a thorn.
  • Flower Motifs: Roses are very significant to Yuuki and Kajitsu. And then of course, there's Flora Kajitsu’s reincarnation.
  • Glowing Eyesof Doom: Leon gets these.
  • Good Costume Switch: Yuuki and Kajitsu each get one around the time where they switch sides.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Zolder. His is a line over his eye, marking him as a good guy and a tough guy.
  • Gratuitous English: A lot during battles.
    • Also, Clackey tends to throw in bad Engrish a lot
  • Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Magisa is shown to frequent bars and gets chided for her drinking habits. Downplayed on that the show is for kids.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Kenzo, Kajitsu, Yuuki and Kazan eventually all ally with Dan in the fight against Otherworld King.
    • In Brave, Barone, Flora, Eolus and Rugain are the first Mazoku to take Dan’s side. By the end, virtually all Mazoku become allies.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: From Dan and the end of both Gekiha Dan and Brave. The first time he's saved, but the second time is left up in the air.
  • Hot-Blooded: Everyone. Especially Dan and Zolder.
  • Hot Witch: Magisa, despite the fact that she can never keep a steady boyfriend.
  • I Kiss Your Hand: Belga tends to do this.
  • In Medias Res: A few times such as episodes 25 and 39 of Gekiha Dan.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: While Clackey seems to be the official spelling, according to Sunrise's Brave website, Krakki, Kurakkii and Cracky have been seen on official sites and in the anime, and numerous other spellings of his name have popped up on assorted fansites. Fortunately, said website has released official spellings for most characters.
  • Interspecies Romance: Clackey has a harem of cat girls from Grand Rolo when he first meets Dan. Well, at least they're more humanoid than some other inhabitants.
  • Jerkass: Julian can certainly come off as one, especially in his introduction episode. It's more a facade, though.
  • Jumped at the Call: Subverted. Although Dan jumped to protect Zungurii's village in the first episode, when told of his purpose in Grand Rolo, he wasn't interested at first.
  • Kid Hero: All the main characters.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Dan is reduced to this whenever he gets a new red dragon into play. At least, in the first season.
    • Suzuri goes crazy over X-rares, even if it's his opponent using them.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: Yuuki. And his sister Kajitsu is probably a gender reversed version.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Duc gets this, erasing parts of his former identity. It’s all a part of his being Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Light Is Good: Clackey, as a yellow user. His deck is centered around angels. Also, this could apply to core's light in general.
  • Lightning Glare: Kenzo and Stella have done this during their constant arguing.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: Episode 42 involves one where Dan, Mai and Clackey are trapped, and start to forget their role, until Kajitsu interferes.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Yuuki’s entire motivation is pretty much for Kajitsu’s sake.
  • Magical Land: Grand Rolo
  • Magic Skirt: Mai’s, though it’s actually a dress. See ep. 12 and watch logic be defied.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: Both Zungurii's family and Rugain's are like this.
  • Meaningful Name: Kajitsu’s name, probably, since it means “fruit.” She’s a green card battler, and one of her signature green cards is The Fruit of Wise Tree.
    • Dan’s last name is Bashin, most likely a tribute to Toppa Bashin of the original series, as the two characters are quite similar, both in appearance and personality.
    • Magisa uses magic.
    • Barone and Duc, to sound like baron and duke.
    • Plym Machina, because she's a mechanic of course.
    • Youth, probably, because he's young and immature compared to the returning characters.
    • En and Fant, which together make enfant, are baby Mazoku.
    • Flora is associated with flowers.
    • The 'Ray' in Clackey Ray is probably a reference to rays of light.
    • Mai's name is spelled with the kanji for demon, in reference to the type of cards she uses.
    • Kenzo's name is written with the kanji for blade, in reference to The BladeKingBeast Byak-Garo, his signature spirit.
  • Merchandise-Driven: As with the entire franchise, the show was made to sell trading cards.
  • Mons: The spirits.
  • Mood Whiplash: Some episodes in this show are about Suzuri being possessed by the ghost of an onmyouji, or a monster trying to marry Magisa. Both of which were played for pure comedy. Others involve characters dying depressing deaths.
  • Morality Pet: Kajitsu to Yuuki. He treats her much kinder than he does anyone else and after realizing he had been hurting her more than helping her leaves her in the care of the Bearers of Cores Light. He later leaves Otherworld King and joins with them as well for her sake.
  • Never Mess with Granny: Magisa is thousands of years old and a very powerful witch.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Gilfam, the Mazoku Queen, tends to do this.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Zungurii, who is part of a monkey-like race and an ally to the Bearers of Cores Light
  • Non-Uniform Uniform: Mai states that she customized her battle form (including adding little devil horns) because it wasn't cute enough.
  • Official Couple: Naturally, Duc and Shima, who are married. Also, Dan/Mai, Yuuki/Kajitsu and Clackey/Angers. The latter of these are revealed to have two children in Saga Brave.

  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: Some variation of "Let's go! Attack step!"
    • When Galaxy does it, he uses "Galaxy Step."
  • Otaku: Suzuri is a card collector otaku to creepy levels.
  • Parental Substitute: Dan basically becomes this for En and Fant.
  • Pet the Dog: Barone, when he helps a human child.
  • Personality Powers: Several of the characters main attributes fit with their personalities.
  • Playing with Fire: Most red cards are fire based.
  • Portmanteau Series Nickname: Like the first series, Batosupi, and it’s used as an in-universe example for the TCG, likewise.
  • Power Gives You Wings: Dan's 2nd battle form and Otherworld King
  • Power Glows: Due to Cores Light being the main power source in this series, a radiating glow is often seen when that power activates.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: The OP animation to the first season is modified later into the series, adding Kenzo, Leon, Pantera and Otherworld King.
  • Really 700 Years Old: Magisa is really 4029 years old. Also the Mazoku as a whole age far slower than humans, making all of them far older than they appear. Even En and Fant, who still appear to be infants following the 10-year time skip.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Pantera. Dan was right in believing that there was good in him. However, the last thing he can do before Otherworld King blows him to bits is provide Dan with a new key card.
  • Red Is Heroic: The protagonist Dan is the red core soldier, and he uses red too.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dan is the red. Yuuki and Barone take the role of blue in their respective series.
  • Reincarnation: Firstly, Yuuki and Kajitsu are reincarnated royals of Otherworld. Then, in the future timeline, they're reborn again as Zolder and Flora, respectively.
  • Ret-Canon: While it continues in the same universe, due to taking place ten years later, Saga Brave incorporates most of the modern rules and mechanics from later series, such as the Soul Core.
  • The Rival: Dan vs. Yuuki.
    • Belga vs. Yuuki, in a one-sided way from Belga.
    • In Brave, it's Dan vs. Barone and more comically, Kenzo vs. Stella.
    • Youth also has a one-sided rivalry with Dan.
  • Running Gag: Magisa can never say Kenzo's name correctly.
    • Neither can Stella, who happens to have the same seiyuu as Magisa.
    • Clackey falling in love with every girl he meets probably counts.
    • Also, Suzuri obsessing whenever he sees an X-rare card.
    • En and Fant are rarely seen without food. If they are, they're usually begging for food.
  • Serial Romeo: Clackey. Most of his girls (ie: Sophia, Mira, Seiru) don't last for long.
  • Siblings in Crime: Yuuki and Kajitsu in the beginning.
  • Shipper on Deck: Clackey wants Zolder and Flora to get together.
  • Ship Tease: Dan and Mai in Brave.
    • They have a little in the first season too, but not to the same level, and there's also a bit with Mai and Serge.
    • Zolder and Flora get ship tease too.
  • The Smurfette Principle: Mai is the only female core soldier. Kajitsu isn't really the green soldier. She's a special case, actually bearing Mother Core, which the others have to protect.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Kajitsu and Geraid both live in the manga versions.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Leon. Flora's battle form has these too.
  • Spoiler Opening: Both the OP and ED show that Suzuri will join the main group. He doesn’t until episode 36.
    • Additionally, the Italian dub includes the 2nd version of the OP theme from the start of the show, which reveals That Kenzo is the green soldier, and also shows Dan's 2nd battle form, and the identity of Otherworld King.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Kousuke to Mai. He followed her all the way to Grand Lolo.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Yuuki and Kajitsu, or at least who they were in past lives.
  • Tagalong Kid: En and Fant in Brave, who are infants that ride along with the heroes in their airship
  • Take My Hand!: Happens a few times, such as Yuuki saving Kajitsu after her powers cause the ground below her to crumble.
  • Team Chef: Zungurii. He makes curry all the time.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Dan and Curry
    • Revolver and Green Curry
  • Transformation Sequence: Most characters undergo one to get into their battle form
  • True Companions: The Bearers of Cores Light and their team, made up of Dan, Zungurii, Magisa, Clackey, Mai, and eventually Kenzo, Kajitsu, Yuuki and Suzuri
  • Tsundere: Mai is type B towards Dan. At least in the first series.
    • Suzuri is a male example.
  • Unusual Ears: Most inhabitants of Grand Rolo
  • Western Zodiac: Plays a major role in Brave, where X-rares representing each sign of the zodiac have to be collected.
  • Wham Line: From Brave's final episode:
    Dan: I am the trigger. I don't have to pull anything. I become it.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: Zazie, the Big Bad in Brave.
  • Winged Humanoid: Kajitsu appears to be this, but the wings aren't real.
  • Wolverine Claws: Gilfam has them. They give her the appearance of having Femme Fatalons, but they're actually just gloves.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Otherworld King basically does this to Leon.
  • You Killed My Father: Youth has a moment like this with Geraid, who led the attack that killed both his parents. Though, he can't actually bring himself to take revenge.

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