Beyblade, known in Japan as Explosive Shoot Beyblade is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki to promote sales of spinning tops called "Beyblades." Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from January 1999 to December 2003, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankÅbon byShogakukan. The series focuses on a group of kids who form teams with which they battle one another using Beyblades.