Naoki Minamo

Biography

Naoki Minamo is a proud, scientifically minded blader who studies opponents' data to engineer wins, willing to manipulate people and situations, such as sabotaging Shu's match and nearly getting Valt disqualified via a fake emergency phone call. After losing to Valt in a Burst finish, he reveals a lonelier, more genuine side, valuing his research but ultimately choosing honesty over further deception, only to accidentally erase all his collected data.

Naoki's light blue hair spikes up with a braid worked into it, and square white-framed glasses sit on his face. Under a lab coat he wears a turquoise, long-sleeved work shirt over a royal blue button-up vest, paired with dark grey trousers and black shoes, and he's rarely without his light blue beylogger.

Naoki comes across as proud and sharp-minded, quick to size up an opponent's abilities and plan a counter. That fascination with experimentation, though, can matter more to him than the people around him, leading him to sabotage a match between Shu Kurenai and Jin Aizawa and to risk getting Valt Aoi thrown out of the National Tournament purely to run a test. He keeps to himself almost entirely, working only with computers and robots rather than people, and it later comes out that he genuinely loves the sport; his isolation stems from struggling to connect with peers who care only about playing, not the science behind it. After Valt calls him cool, a softer side surfaces; though he nearly destroys data he secretly treasures, Valt talks him out of it, and Naoki ends up deleting it himself by accident.

Beyblades

Nepstrius Armed Zephyr (manga); Nova Nepstrius Vertical Trans (anime)

First appearance

Beyblade Burst, Episode 40

Japanese name

水面ナオキ

Romaji

Minamo Naoki

Occupation

Blader / Scientist

Gender

Male

First anime appearance

All In! Going Solo!

First manga appearance

Water God Nepstrius Engulfs!

Voice (Japanese)

Shou Nogami

Voice (English)

Riley Murdock

1. 1 Nepstrius Armed Zephyr (manga)
2. 2 Nova Nepstrius Vertical Trans (anime)

• A researcher-blader who analyzes opponents to devise winning strategies
• Sabotages Shu Kurenai's match against Jin Aizawa by manipulating Valt with false information
• Nearly gets Valt disqualified from the National Tournament with a fake phone call about his mother
• Loses to Valt in a Burst finish after Valt confronts him about being manipulated
• Reveals a lonelier side afterward, having no real friends outside his research assistants (computers and robots)
• Accidentally deletes all his collected Beyblade data after tripping
• First Burst character to break the fourth wall, commenting on Valt directly to the audience in his debut episode

• vs Valt Aoi in Episode 40 — Win (1-0)
• vs Valt Aoi in Episode 41 — Lose (1-3)
• vs Valt Aoi in Episode 42 — Lose (0-2)

From our own episode records — the cast, Beyblade and debut lists we compiled show the name here.

• Beyblade Burst episode 40: All In! Going Solo! 2017-01-09
• Beyblade Burst episode 41: Nepstrius' Trap! 2017-01-16
• Beyblade Burst episode 42: Jumbo Jormuntor! The Venomous Snake! 2017-01-23
• Beyblade Burst episode 46
• Beyblade Burst episode 50
• Beyblade Burst Evolution episode 50
• Beyblade Burst Evolution episode 51
• Beyblade Burst QuadStrike episode 26

Resolved against our own episode records, so the pointer the entry carries as text is a link you can follow.

• Beyblade Burst episode 40: All In! Going Solo! First anime appearance · 2017-01-09

Tournament reports, testing threads, rules announcements, news and fake or leak checks carrying this name. Each link opens that section with the name already searched for.

• Beyblade Burst episode 41 aired in Japan: Nepstrius' Trap! news item · 2017-01-16
• Beyblade Burst episode 40 aired in Japan: All In! Going Solo! news item · 2017-01-09