Cardfight!! Vanguard

Cardfight!! Vanguard

Promotional image of Cardfight!! Vanguard
カードファイト!! ヴァンガード
(Kādofaito!! Vangādo)
Genre Game, Action, Supernatural fiction, Science fantasy
Anime television series
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by Takayuki Negishi
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X, Cartoon Network Korea
English network
Original run January 8, 2011 – March 31, 2012
Episodes 65[1]
Manga
Written by Akira Itō
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher Vertical
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Kerokero Ace, Monthly Bushiroad
Original run March 26, 2011 – August 26, 2014
Volumes 8
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by Takayuki Negishi
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
English network
Original run April 8, 2012 – January 2, 2013
Episodes 39
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by Takayuki Negishi
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
English network
Original run January 13, 2013 – March 2, 2014
Episodes 59
Manga
Mini Vanguard
Written by Quily
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Kerokero Ace, Monthly Bushiroad
Original run September 2013 – present
Volumes 3
Anime television series
Studio DLE
Original run April 6, 2013 – December 14, 2013
Episodes 37
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard: Legion Mate
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by Takayuki Negishi
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run March 9, 2014 – October 19, 2014
Episodes 33
Anime film
Cardfight!! Vanguard: The Movie
Directed by Takashi Motoki (live-action)
Shin Itagaki (animation)
Written by Mayori Sekijima
Studio Ultra Super Pictures/Liden Films (animation)
Ace Crew Entertainment (live action)
Licensed by Shockiku
Released September 13, 2014 (2014-09-13)
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard G
Directed by Yui Umemoto
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Kiyoko Yoshimura
Music by Mamoru Mori
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run October 26, 2014 – October 4, 2015
Episodes 48
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard G: GIRS Crisis
Directed by Yui Umemoto
Produced by Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei
Written by Kiyoko Yoshimura
Music by Mamoru Mori
Studio TMS Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run October 11, 2015 – April 10, 2016
Episodes 26
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Stride Gate
Studio TMS Entertainment
Original run April 17, 2016 – present
Episodes 3 (ongoing)

Cardfight!! Vanguard (Japanese: カードファイト!! ヴァンガード Hepburn: Kādofaito!! Vangādo) is a Japanese media franchise created in collaboration among Akira Itō (Yu-Gi-Oh! R), Satoshi Nakamura (Duel Masters), and Bushiroad president Takāki Kidani. An anime television series was produced by TMS Entertainment and aired in Japan on TV Tokyo starting on January 8, 2011. An official trading card game by Bushiroad began releasing in Japan on February 26, 2011, in Singapore on May 5, 2011, and internationally on May 12, 2011. A manga series was also announced and began publishing in Kerokero Ace magazine on March 26, 2011.

The series continued for thee additional seasons: Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード アジアサーキット編 Kādofaito!! Vangādo Ajia Sākito Hen, lit. Cardfight!! Vanguard Asia Circuit Chapter), which began airing on April 8, 2012; Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード リンクジョーカー編 Kādofaito!! Vangādo Rinku Jōkā Hen, lit. Cardfight!! Vanguard Link Joker Chapter) on January 13, 2013;[2] and Legion Mate (レギオンメイト編 Region Meito Hen, lit. Legion Mate Chapter) on March 9, 2014.[3] An anime/live action film was released on September 13, 2014 in Japan.[4]

Cardfight!! Vanguard G ran from October 26, 2014 to October 5, 2015.[5] It was followed by Cardfight!! Vanguard G GIRS Crisis on October 11, 2015.[6] Cardfight!! Vanguard G Stride Gate started airing on April 17, 2016.[7]

Anime

In July 2010, an anime television series was green-lit by TMS Entertainment[8] under the directorial supervision of Hatsuki Tsuji. Music is composed by Takayuki Negishi while Mari Tominaga provided the character designs. The series began airing in Japan on TV Aichi beginning on January 8, 2011 and rebroadcast by AT-X, TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Setouchi systems. The media-streaming website Crunchyroll simulcasted the first season to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.[9] Crunchyroll began streaming the second season to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on June 30, 2012[10] and continues to stream the series. It was announced on November 17, 2013 that Hanabee Entertainment has licensed the anime[11] and will release it on March 5, 2014 in Australia and New Zealand.[12]

A common theme among Bushiroad franchises are crossover cameo appearances of characters from other series. The four main characters (Sherlock, Nero, Hercule, and Cordelia) of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes appear in various episodes and during the credit sequences of the fifth opening and ending themes. Certain Cardfight!! Vanguard characters make special cameo appearances in episode 4 of the Future Card Buddyfight anime.[13] Misaki Tokura (who is voiced by Izumi Kitta in Japanese and Carol-Anne Day in English (both of whom also voice roles in the Japanese and English versions of Buddyfight)) is the only one who has a spoken line.

Episodes 83[14] and 119 of the anime feature actor/musician Daigo playing a caricature of himself. Daigo is a major contributor to the Cardfight!! Vanguard franchise as he stars in the live-action drama Stand Up! Vanguard and many live-action Vanguard commercials. He also features as a performer the fifth and seventh opening theme songs and sometimes appears at certain official Vanguard events. In the English dub, Daigo's voice is provided by Phil Fulton.

English dub

An English dub co-produced by Ocean Productions (recorded at Blue Water Studios) began airing on Singapore's Okto channel from October 16, 2011,[15] on Animax Asia from January 22, 2012, and on Malaysia's RTM-TV2 channel from November 18, 2012. Dubbed episodes also began being released on YouTube from May 29, 2012.[16] The series can be seen officially on a dedicated channel for it created by Bushiroad, and as of June 25 is available for viewing in most countries without "geo-blocking". An English dub of the fifth season G began airing on YouTube on January 3, 2015, thus skipping over the fourth season Legion Mate. Hulu began hosting the English-dubbed version on August 26, 2013 in partnership with Aniplex of America.[17]

While there are a few changes, the English dub adaption is mostly faithful to the original Japanese version. However, the most notable change in the English dub is that four opening themes and four ending themes are used. The only openings are English versions of the first opening theme "Vanguard" (from eps. 1-65), the third opening theme "Limit Break" (from eps. 66-104), the fourth opening theme "Vanguard Fight" (from eps. 105-163), and the ninth opening theme "Break It" (from eps. 197 onwards), all of which are still performed by their original respective artists. The first ending theme used in the dub is an English version of the third ending theme "Dream Shooter" (from eps. 1-65) while the second ending theme is a unique song titled "Way To Victory" (from eps. 66-104), both of which are performed by Sea☆A. The ending credit sequence for this exclusive theme is the one used for the original sixth ending theme "Jōnetsu-ism". The third ending theme used in the dub is an English version of the original ninth ending song "Endless☆Fighter" (from eps. 105-163), which is performed only by Aimi Terakawa in the dub. The fourth ending theme used is an English version of the original fifteenth ending theme "Cheering On for You" (from eps. 197 onward). Similarly, the Ultra Rare insert songs are performed in English by Suzuko Mimori, Yoshino Nanjō, and Aimi Terakawa (the original Japanese voice actresses of Kourin, Rekka, and Suiko). There are currently no plans for the show to be aired on television in western countries.

Plot

Season 1

Aichi Sendou is a timid young boy in his third year of junior high school. The one thing that keeps him going is his trading card Blaster Blade from Cardfight!! Vanguard, a trading card game that takes place on a different planet called "Cray" and is popular throughout the world. When Aichi's Blaster Blade is stolen by his classmate Katsumi Morikawa, he chases him to a local card shop named Card Capital. There, Aichi has his first cardfight with Toshiki Kai, an aloof and cold-hearted high schooler who has outstanding abilities and who originally gave Aichi his Blaster Blade when Aichi was little. Aichi wins the fight, reclaiming Blaster Blade, and begins to enjoy a fulfilling life as he delves deeper into Vanguard. Aichi's primary goal throughout the series is to become a stronger fighter, so he can once again battle Kai and have him recognize his worth. Aichi eventually places high enough at a local tournament to join with Kai, Misaki Tokura, and Kamui Katsuragi to form Team Quadrifoglio ("Q4" for short). Together, they enter regional and national tournaments to test their skills against fighters from all over Japan. Aichi's principal rival becomes Ren Suzugamori, a powerful but despicable cardfighter who is the leader of the reigning national champion team. Ren eventually makes Aichi awaken a power that Ren also possesses: Psyqualia, a psychic-like ability that lets its user foresee victory in cardfights. However, Aichi’s usage of Psyqualia slowly distorts him into becoming a dark person like Ren. Thanks to Kai’s efforts, Aichi decides to no longer use Psyqualia and reverts to his normal self. When Aichi battles Ren at the finals of the national championships, it is revealed that Cray is real, and Psyqualia is the power given to those who will determine Cray's future. Aichi manages to reconcile his good-natured personality with his dark desires to become stronger. Simultaneously on Cray, the Royal Paladin characters depicted in Aichi's cards resolve their conflict with Ren's Shadow Paladins. Aichi defeats Ren, and Team Q4 becomes the national champions of Japan. The season concludes with Aichi's Psyqualia mysteriously vanishing and Kai fulfilling Aichi's wish to cardfight him again.

Season 2: Asia Circuit

Shortly after Q4 wins the national tournament, a strange phenomenon occurs when Aichi meets a young boy named Takuto Tatsunagi. The Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, and Kagero clans of Vanguard have been wiped from existence, and due to this, Aichi’s Royal Paladin deck has been changed to Gold Paladin. Aichi reunites with Q4 (excluding Kai) and travels across Asia to participate in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, an invitational multi-stage tournament featuring the world’s best cardfighters, for the opportunity to meet and seek answers from the sponsor, Takuto. Throughout the circuit, Aichi, whose Psyqualia has reactivated, encounters a mix of familiar friends and new rivals. One noteworthy rival is Team Dreadnought’s Leon Soryu, a man possessing Psyqualia who is on a mission to lead the second coming of both his family and the long-lost Aqua Force clan. After losing at the Singapore, Seoul, and Hong Kong Stages of the VF Circuit, Q4 finally manages to win the Japan Stage and meet with Takuto, who reveals that a dark entity known as Void is currently threatening the planet Cray. Furthermore, Leon is exposed as having made an alliance with Void, allowing the three clans to be sealed away in exchange for Void's promise to return Aqua Force to power. In a final confrontation, Aichi defeats Leon, who had absorbed Void’s power. With a reformed Leon’s help, Aichi uses his Gold Paladins to drive Void out of Cray and subsequently free the captured clans. The VF Circuit concludes with Q4 crowned as the winning team. Afterward, life returns to normal, except that Aichi now has a new deck featuring his signature Royal Paladin units as Gold Paladins.

Season 3: Link Joker

Months have passed after the VF Circuit, and the members of Team Q4 have drifted apart. Aichi enters his first year of high school at Miyaji Academy, where the instructors and students focus on looking towards the future and studying. Aichi thinks Vanguard can be a future that people can believe in, and he tries to establish a Cardfight Club on campus. Despite the interference of the Student Council, he manages to recruit the requisite five members for the club: Kourin Tatsunagi, Naoki Ishida, Shingo Komoi, and Misaki, who is also a Miyaji Academy student but was reluctant to join the club. During Aichi's inaugural appearance at the VF High School Championship, his team defeats Kai's team but loses to Ren's team. Kai remarks on how much stronger both Aichi and Ren have become. The second major story arc of the season revolves around an extraterrestrial entity called "Link Joker", the clan which is the avatar of Void. Various fighters become corrupted by Void's power and turn into "Reversed" fighters driven to seek out stronger opponents and bring them under Void's influence. Kai visits Takuto to seek answers, and in a moment of weakness while cardfighting the Reversed Takuto, he allows himself to become Reversed in exchange for additional power. More and more cardfighters around the world become Reversed, including several of Aichi's friends. Although Ren and Leon manage to fend off and free their respective comrades from Reverse, Aichi is unaware of what is happening until he sees Reversed Takuto announcing the end of the world. At first hesitant to face his Reversed friends, especially Kai, Aichi eventually resolves himself to fight them to save the world. After many battles, Aichi and his friends emerge victorious over Link Joker, but at the cost of losing the original Takuto. Moreover, Aichi faces Kai in one last fight to decide the strongest fighter. In the end, Aichi wins after Kai realizes what a true friend Aichi has been for him.

Season 4: Legion Mate

Several days after the mortal battle against Link Joker, life seems to have returned to normal. However, Aichi Sendou, the hero who saved the earth from the invasion of Link Joker and Void, has disappeared, and Kai, his closest friend ("mate"), seems to be the only person who remembers him. After receiving a Royal Paladin deck containing a new version of Aichi's avatar card Blaster Blade, Kai sets out not only to remind everyone about Aichi but also find him. Kai manages to gather other comrades who remember Aichi: Naoki, Misaki, his classmate Miwa, and Kamui. However, Kai realizes that Kourin is also missing. His investigation leads to the discovery of four magically-gifted cardfighters called the Quatre Knights: Olivier Gaillard, Phillip Neve, Rati Curti, and Raul Serra, who intend to stop anyone finding Aichi. Ren gives Kai a tip to Aichi's location where he discovers that Kourin is allied with the Quatre Knights, and Aichi was behind both the memory loss and the Quatre Knights. Kourin defeats Kai using her Link Joker deck and takes Blaster Blade. During training with Leon, Kai gains new resolve and returns to using a Kagero deck.

Naoki spies Serra's butler Morris entering a portal leading to a sanctuary on the moon where Aichi is located. Kai and his friends are confronted by Serra when they enter the sanctuary. They learn that in order to awaken Aichi they must defeat the four Quatre knights to break the four seals, but if they lose in the sanctuary they lose their memories of Aichi. Naoki defeats Serra, but Misaki, Kamui, and Miwa all lose to the three other Knights. With only Kai and Naoki remaining, Kai battles Gaillard, who blames Kai for the Link Joker incident and will not allow him to free Aichi because of it. Despite this, Kai defeats Gaillard, releasing the second seal. Suddenly, Serra arrives and uses his ice magic to imprison Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard. It is then that Gaillard reveals the truth; a Link Joker "seed" was implanted inside Aichi's body after he defeated Reversed Takuto. To contain the seed, Aichi now wants to seal himself away in the sanctuary with the Quatre Knights as his guardians. However, Serra reveals that his plan all along was to use Kai and his friends to weaken the seals, release the seed within Aichi, and obtain its power all for himself. Ren and Leon arrive and free Kai, Gaillard, and Naoki, but not before Serra has Neve fight Aichi while he battles Rati, releasing the remaining seals. Having discovered the meaning of "mates" thanks to Kai and Aichi, Gaillard finds new resolve and defeats Serra, stripping him of his powers and banishing him from the sanctuary. With Serra gone, Gaillard resets his sights towards Kai and fights him again. Kai defeats Gaillard again and then faces Aichi for a final battle. After Kai makes Aichi realize that sealing himself away was wrong, Kai defeats him. The Link Joker seed then tries to implant itself into Kai's body but is then broken apart by Blaster Blade. Nevertheless, the shattered pieces of the seed enter the bodies of each of Aichi's friends and will grow benign over time. Afterwards, Aichi, Kai, and the rest of their friends return to their normal lives. Aichi and Kai face each other in one last shop tournament, and despite the different paths they will take in the future, they know they will meet again as long as they keep playing Vanguard.

G Season 1

Set 3 years later, the story now follows Chrono Shindou, an apathetic teenager who finds a Vanguard deck and a map in his school locker one day. Following the map, he is led to Card Capital 2, a card shop where he meets an older Kamui Katsuragi who works part-time there. After being taught how to play Vanguard and winning his first fight against Kamui, Chrono begins his ventures in the world of Vanguard.

Theme music

Cardfight Vanguard!! Songs

Opening themes
  1. "Vanguard" by JAM Project (eps. 1-33) (eps. 1-65 in English dub)
  2. "Believe In My Existence" by JAM Project (eps. 34-65)
  3. "Limit Break" by JAM Project (eps. 66-104)
  4. "Vanguard Fight" by Psychic Lover (eps. 105-128)
  5. "Infinite∞REBIRTH" (無限∞REBIRTH Mugen∞RIBĀSU) by DAIGO (eps. 129-148)
  6. "Break your spell" by Psychic Lover (eps. 149-163)
  7. "V-ROAD" by BUSHI★7 (Daigo, Psychic Lover, Suzuko Mimori, Izumi Kitta, Suara, and Shūta Morishima) (eps. 164-179)
  8. "KNOCK ON YOUR GATE!" by Masatoshi Ono (eps. 180-196)
Ending themes
  1. "Diamond Stars☆" (ダイヤモンドスター☆ "Daiyamondo Sutā☆") by Natsuko Aso (eps. 1-15)
  2. "Smash Up!!" by Shīna Hekīru (eps. 16-25)
  3. "Dream Shooter" by Sea☆A (eps. 25-38) (eps. 1-65 in English dub)
  4. "Starting Again" by Sayaka Sasaki (eps. 39-52)
  5. "Nakimushi Treasures" (泣き虫 TREASURES) by Saori Kodama featuring Milky Holmes (Suzuko Mimori, Izumi Kitta, Sora Tokui, and Mikoi Sasaki) (eps. 53-65)
  6. "Jōnetsu-ism" (情熱イズム Jōnetsu-izumu) by Rin (eps. 66-78)
  7. "Fighting Growing Diary" by Natsuko Aso (eps. 79-91)
  8. "Entry!" by Sea☆A (eps. 92-104)
  9. "Endless☆Fighter" by Suzuko Mimori, Yoshino Nanjō, and Aimi Terakawa (eps. 105-119)
  10. "Yume Yume Express" by Milky Holmes (Suzuko Mimori, Izumi Kitta, Sora Tokui, and Mikoi Sasaki) (eps. 120-138)
  11. "Ride on fight!" by (Izumi Kitta and Suzuko Mimori) (eps. 139-150)
  12. "Fly away -Ōzora e-" (Fly away -大空へ-, Fly away -To the Great Sky-) by Suara (eps. 151-163)
  13. "Get Up" by FAKY (eps. 164-179)
  14. "Get back yourself" by CERASUS (eps. 180-196)
Insert songs
  1. "Miracle Trigger ~Tomorrow Will Be Ultra Rare!~" (ミラクルトリガー ~きっと明日はウルトラレア!~) by Ultra Rare (Mimori, Nanjō, and Terakawa) (eps. 18, 26, and 115; simply known as "Miracle Trigger" in English dub)
  2. "Stand Up! DREAM" (スタンドアップ! DREAM) by Ultra Rare (Mimori, Nanjō, and Terakawa) (eps. 39, 115, and 118)
English dub ending theme
  1. "Way To Victory" by Sea☆A (eps. 66-104 in English dub)

Cardfight Vanguard!! G Songs

Opening themes
  1. "BREAK IT!" by (Mamoru Miyano) (eps. 1-26)
  2. "Generation!" by JAM Project (eps. 27-48)
  3. "YAIBA" by BREAKERZ (eps. 49-74)
  4. "SHOUT" by Mamoru Miyano (eps.75-current)
Ending themes
  1. "Cheering On for You" (だから元気 for YOU "Dakara Genki For YOU") by Izumi Kitta (eps. 1-13)
  2. "NEXT PHASE" by Emi Nitta (eps. 14-26)
  3. "flower" by Ayako Nanakomori (eps. 27-36)
  4. "Dazzling Bravery!" (メクルメク勇気! "Mekurumeku Yūki!") by Starmarie (eps. 37-48)
  5. "Don't Look Back" by Rummy Labyrinth (eps. 49-74)
  6. "High-Touch☆Memory" by Yui Ogura (eps.75-current)

Trading card game

An official card game by Bushiroad was released on February 26, 2011. An English version of the game is produced in Singapore, first released in that region on May 5, 2011. It has also been released internationally, starting on May 12, 2011.

Gameplay

The basic premise of the trading card game, as explained in the anime, is that the two players represent astral spirits dueling on the fictional planet Cray. The cards in players' decks, called "Units", represent characters from Cray that players can "Call" to the field to fight for them. Players alternate turns calling, attacking, and defending with units. When one player reaches six damage, or there are no more cards in his or her deck, that player loses the game.

Each unit has a Name, Clan, Power Level, Critical Value, and "Grade", which ranges from 0 to 4. Grades 0 to 2 have a shield value, and most units have one or more skills, with exceptions. Overall strength of units increases with grade, but a unit can only be called if the player's vanguard is of that grade or higher. A deck must contain exactly fifty cards, including exactly sixteen "Trigger Units." There can be no more than four copies of the same card, no more than four total Heal Triggers, and no more than four cards with the keyword Sentinel (守護者 Senchineru) in a deck. There is otherwise no restriction on how many cards of a certain clan or grade must be used. There may also be an extra eight cards, but they all have to be G-units, and they do not count in your deck. They are placed in a separate place called the Generation Zone located above the damage.

The game begins when the players place a grade 0 unit, the Starting "Vanguard", face-down in the Vanguard Circle the center of their playing area, and each draw five cards. Each player is allowed one "Redraw" by shuffling any number of cards from the starting hand into the deck and drawing the same number of cards. Players randomly decide who goes first and reveal their starting Vanguards; the player who goes first cannot attack during the first turn. To use a unit to attack or activate certain skills, the player must rotate it from its normal position ("Standing") to 90 degrees clockwise ("Resting"). At the beginning of a player's turn, during the Stand Phase, that player stands all his or her rested units, so they can be used again. During the Draw Phase, the player draws a card. Then, during the G-Assist Phase, the player can reveal their hand, look at the top 5 cards of their deck, then "Ride" on to a card from them. If they do, they then put two "G units" and two cards from their hand in to the out of the play area (can be known as the "Bind" zone). However, to G-assist, the player can not have any cards with a higher grade by one in his hand. Next, during the Ride Phase, the player can choose a unit from the hand that is either the same grade or one grade higher than the current vanguard, which rides over top of the former vanguard(the card stack underneath the Vanguard is called the "Soul"). If there was a G-assist and you successfully rode earlier, this phase is skipped. Afterwards is the Stride Step in which the player can put cards in a discard pile called the "Drop Zone" whose grades sum up to three or higher, choose a G-unit from the Generation Zone, and put in on top of the current vanguard, the previous vanguard considered a "heart." The strided card gets the hearts' name and power and adds it to its own. During the Main Phase, the player can call "Rear-Guard" units to five additional spaces: one each to the left and right of the vanguard, and three to the back row. The player can move rear-guards between the front and back row in that column and can "Retire" a rear-guard to call a new one in that space. Retired units are put into the discard pile ("Drop Zone").

The next part of the turn is the Battle Phase. The player can conduct any number of battles in sequence, and can attack with the same unit more than once as long as it is standing when the attack is declared. A battle is conducted by resting a front-row unit and choosing an opposing front-row unit to be attacked. If there is a standing grade 0 or 1 unit behind the attacker, it can "Boost" by resting, which adds its power to the attacker's. Then, the defending player has the chance to either take the attack or "Guard" with units from his or her hand and/or to "Intercept" by guarding with grade 2 rear-guards in the front row. Guarding units add their shield value to the defender's power, but are retired immediately when the battle ends. After guards are declared, if the attacker is a vanguard, the attacking player performs a "Drive Trigger Check": the player reveals the top card of his or her deck in the "Trigger Zone" and then adds it to his or her hand. Attacking grade 3 vanguards have the "Twin Drive!!" skill, which causes an additional drive check to occur after the first check is completed. G-units have a Triple Drive!!!" skill, causing three drive checks. If a trigger unit that matches the clan of one of the checking player's units is revealed during a Drive Check, one of that player's units gains +5000 power, and one of four possible effects may occur:

The power boost and additional trigger effect can either be given to one unit or divided amongst two units.

When the attacker's power is equal to or greater than the defender's, the attack hits; otherwise, nothing happens. If a rear-guard unit is hit by the attack, it is retired. If a vanguard is hit, however, it remains in play and the defending player makes a number of "Damage Trigger Checks" equal to the attacker's critical value. The process works exactly like a Drive Check, but the revealed card is put into the "Damage Zone" instead of the hand. After the attacking player has finished conducting battles, the turn enters the End Phase, where certain effects may happen, and the stridden unit (if the player strode) goes back to the Generation zone face up (Face-up G-units cannot be used to stride), before going on the next player's turn.

Card Types

These are the 4 different type of cards in the game.

Symbols

Some parts of effect text are symbolized. These are the things you will need to know.

Costs

Certain abilities have costs to pay. This is a list of the most common costs to pay. Other costs with be shown in text in the cost part of the effect. Note that a number next to a cost show how many you have to pay.

Other Symbols

These are other symbols that appear very often.

Nations and Clans

Units in Vanguard are organized in Nations and Clans. Nations are the different countries that Planet Cray is divided in, with a total of six nations. Each nation is subsequently subdivided in clans, which are groups of units that band together to form an alliance. Each clan usually has its own unique aesthetic, and bases its play style around a certain skill.

Product information

Vanguard cards are sold in Booster Sets, Extra Boosters, and Trial Decks, each containing a selection of new cards and sometimes reprints of older cards. A typical booster pack contains five cards: four common (C) cards and one rare (R) card. Sometimes, the rare card will be replaced by a double rare (RR), triple rare (RRR), or Special Parallel (SP). SP cards are alternate versions of lower-rarity cards in the same set, but have different flavor text and sometimes artwork. Cards of R rarity or higher also have special holographic foiling patterns, which vary depending on set and rarity.

Most common are Booster Sets, which are sold in boxes of 30 randomized booster packs. Booster sets contain support for 6 or more clans.

List of Booster Sets

List of G Booster Sets

Extra Boosters are sold in boxes of 15 booster packs and contain a lower number of cards to collect. Extra boosters contain support for only a few clans, and often only for one clan.

List of Extra Boosters

List of G Extra Boosters

Trial Decks are 50-card decks designed as an introduction to the game. They contain a fixed selection of cards, including one RR and two R cards. At the start of each season, a pair of Trial Decks is released which introduce that season's signature mechanic to the game. Season 2 introduced "Limit Break," which gives a vanguard extra effects when the player is at 4 or more damage. Season 3 introduced "Break Ride", which gives bonus effects for riding one Grade 3 vanguard on top of another one. Season 4 introduced "Legion", which allows two cards to combine into a single vanguard.

Starting from the "G" series, Trial Decks contain 52 cards, including four RRR cards and two "G Unit" cards which begin the game in the "Generation Zone." These cards can only enter play by "Striding" them over a grade 3 vanguard until end of turn. The G Unit retains the name and power of the previous vanguard, known as the "Heart".

List of Trial Decks

List of G Trial Decks

Legend Decks are pre-constructed decks contains 54 cards, including fifteen RRR cards (one of each unique card type) and four "G-Unit" cards. All Legend Decks focus on a single character from the anime and the units strongly associated with them. The units have been retrained, given skills and abilities found in Vanguard G.

List of G Legend Decks

List of Special Sets

List of G Special Sets

Other media

Manga

A manga series written and illustrated by Akira Itō was announced along with the anime.[8] The first chapter was published on March 26, 2011 in Kerokero Ace magazine. With Kerokero Ace ceasing publication with its September 2013 issue, new chapters of the manga continued starting with the first issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine.[18] While the manga shares the same characters as the anime, it follows an original storyline and contains many differences from the anime version. Vertical has licensed the manga series and began releasing it in North America on April 29, 2014.[19][20]

A sidestory referred as Episode 0 was released on May 23, 2013. It is also illustrated by Itō. Its storyline follows Toshiki Kai's childhood.[21]

Spin-offs

A spin-off manga series titled Mini Vanguard, also known as Mini Van (みにヴぁん), began publishing in Kerokero Ace alongside the original manga. The first chapter of the spinoff was released with the sixth chapter of the main manga series. Mini Vanguard is a short yonkoma comedy manga by Quily featuring all of the characters as super deformed. Like the original manga series, Mini Vanguard continued in the first issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine after the final September 2013 issue of Kerokero Ace magazine.[22] Mini Vanguard was adapted into a flash anime series produced by DLE.[23] It aired from April 6, 2013 to December 14, 2013. The ending theme song of this series is "Mirai Sketch" by Ultra Rare (Suzuko Mimori, Yoshino Nanjō, and Aimi Terakawa).

Another spin-off manga series titled Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden: Swordsman of Light (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード外伝　光の剣士 Kādofaito!! Vangādo Gaiden Hikari no Kenshi) began publishing in Monthly Bushiroad magazine. It is supervised by Akira Itō and illustrated by Makoto Kishimizu. Its story focuses on the lore of the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game.[24]

Radio show

A talk radio show titled Stand Up Our Vanguard (立ち上がれ僕らのヴァンガード Tachiagare Bokura no Vangādo), also known as TachiVan, began airing in 2011 on Hibiki Radio.[25] It is currently split into two shows: the main show which changes its subtitle to coincide with the current anime season and airs on Saturdays, and TachiVan Sunday. It is hosted by Tsubasa Yonaga and Takuya Satō, the voice actors of Aichi and Kai respectively, with occasional guest appearances by various other Japanese voice actors and actresses from the anime series.

Novel

A 224-page novel based on the anime series was released in Japan on May 15, 2013. It is written by Bandana Aoi, and the internal illustrations are done by Yōsuke Adachi. The story follows Aichi reaching out to a lonely young boy named Hiro Hamane (浜音ヒロ Hamane Hiro).[26][27]

Video games

A mobile app game titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Cray Wars (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード 惑星大戦 Kādofaito!! Vangādo Wakusei Taisen, lit. Cardfight!! Vanguard Planet Wars)[28] was released on March 12, 2013. It is a strategy role-playing game and is region-locked to prevent devices outside Japan from installing it. The game introduces an original character named Navica, who acts as the player's guide in the world of Cray and explains the game mechanics. The game's storyline is based around the Virtual Vanguard System (VVS), which generates a virtual space in which people experience the world of Cray, an earthlike planet where magic and science have progressed hand in hand. Each continent of Cray is dominated by one of six prospering nations. Through the VVS, the player's avatar dives into this dreamlike world and fights daily battles for one of these nations. However, a sudden abnormality upsets this scenario. Players move their avatars about the world map of Cray using a six-sided die, accepting and completing quests to receive items and gold to advance the storyline. Two types of deck are composed for use within the game: one to be used in battle and one with which to besiege dungeons. Each deck has six cards; skills are triggered in the battle deck based on the position of cards in relation to one another, while the dungeon deck makes use of skills related to manipulating dice and avoiding traps. In addition to the player's avatar having a level, individual cards have levels. Increasing the cards' levels enhances skills. Leveling up and skill synthesis allows cards to be customized so that two players may have the same card but different abilities.[29]

A Nintendo 3DS video game adaption titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Ride to Victory!! (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード ライド トゥ ビクトリー!! Kādofaito!! Vangādo Raido tu Bikutorī!!)[30][31] was released in Japan on April 11, 2013.[21] It was developed by FuRyu. The game features an original story which stars a new cardfighter protagonist who is aiming to win at a national tournament. Players choose one of six possible original characters to play as, one male and one female each of three personality types: hot-blooded (熱血系), cool (クール), and dark (ダーク). The game features appearances by at least 30 characters from the anime such as Aichi Sendou, Toshiki Kai, Ren Suzugamori, Misaki Tokura, and Shin Nitta. There is a tutorial mode for those who are new to playing the TCG. The main story takes the player through a series of fights against rivals, ending with the national tournament championship. There are also optional missions, which challenge the player to win with a predetermined set of cards, and free play, where the player can duel against any opponent previously encountered in the story. Winning a fight earns the player points, which can then be spent at the Card Capital shop to purchase booster packs to build a stronger deck. The game also features wireless online play.[32]

A second 3DS game adaption titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Lock on Victory!! (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード ロック オン ビクトリー!! Kādofaito!! Vangādo Roku On Bikutorī!!)[33] was released in Japan on June 5, 2014. It was also developed by FuRyu. This game's story is based on the Link Joker arc of the anime series. Similar to the first game, players will choose to play as one of the previous game's six original characters (albeit older) plus four more original characters[34] and will attend one of the high schools depicted in the anime. The game's wireless battle mode will be greatly expanded. For example, the game's AI will continue an online match if a disconnection occurs. The game will support a wireless link-up method similar to Nintendogs.[3]

A downloadable game for Microsoft Windows titled Cardfight!! Online will be released in early 2016.[35] It is developed by DELiGHTWORKS and CrossGames. The game will be free-to-play with in-game transactions. Cardfight!! Vanguard G series and later cards will be available. Older cards will be added later. Cardfight!! Online will feature unranked matches, ranked matches, and tournaments. There will also be tutorials for new players. New cards can be obtained from the in-game shop or from crafting. A closed beta will be available to select players before the game's public release.

Live-action drama

A live-action 90-minute drama titled Stand Up! Vanguard was aired on May 3, 2012.[36] It is directed by Takashi Motoki, who describes this project as the "first-ever live-action card-game program". It stars Daigo, Shinta Sōma, Haruki Uchiyama, Suzuko Mimori, Nao Nagasawa, Kazuki Namioka, and Kazuhiko Kanayama. Two of Breakerz's songs, "Climber x Climber" and "Nonai Survivor", are used as background music for this drama as well as some live-action Cardfight!! Vanguard commercials. Much like in the anime, this drama features cameo appearances of the main characters of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. In this case, three girls cosplay as Nero, Cordelia, and Hercule as one of the teams in the Vanguard team tournament.

Daigo is a wanderer who claims to be a genius and strongly believes in justice. One day, at a playground, he sees Hiroki Miura being bullied by other kids, including his classmate Teru Minamihara. Daigo attempts to save the day, but he gets beaten up in Hiroki's place. The kids' homeroom teacher, Maria Kagami, arrives to the scene and scares the bullies away. As Hiroki walks back home, Maria explains to Daigo about how Hiroki is a timid boy who never speaks his mind, which has warranted him to be picked on. To help Hiroki (and win Maria's affection), Daigo gets a job as a special teacher at the school. As Daigo tries to get closer to Hiroki, he learns that while Hiroki may be reserved, he is actually passionate about and confident in himself when it comes to playing the game of Cardfight!! Vanguard. Little by little, as Daigo has Hiroki teach him more about the game, he opens up Hiroki's heart while teaching him to have courage. However, he also learns that several factors all inhibit Hiroki from coming out of his shell: Hiroki havs a fear of losing, Hiroki's busy working father Shigehiro looks down on his hobby, and Hiroki's mother Kumiko, who got him into playing Vanguard, is deceased. Eventually, Daigo convinces Hiroki to play against Teru in a cardfight. However, Teru wins and insults Hiroki, causing him to lock himself in his room out of frustration. Daigo tries to have a match with Teru but instead finds himself challenging Teru's supremacist home tutor and a greater genius, Eiji Satomi. He ends up losing to Eiji multiple times, with Hiroki secretly watching. Hiroki asks Daigo why he tries so hard, to which Daigo answers "losing is frustrating, but what comes after is most important."

Hiroki declares to Teru that he will get his revenge at a city-wide Vanguard team tournament. The tournament commences with Hiroki, Daigo, and Maria teaming up. Defeating many colorful teams along the way, both Hiroki's and Teru's teams advance to the finals, which are to be held the next day. However, the night before the tournament finals, Maria gets hit by a car and is hospitalized as a result. With no one else to turn to, Daigo asks Shigehiro to be Maria's replacement, but he refuses due to his work. The next day, despite Hiroki not believing his father would come, Shigehiro does in fact make it in time before Hiroki's team gets disqualified. The finals begin with Shigehiro using his deceased wife Kumiko's deck against one of Teru's team members. Although Shigehiro ends up losing, he remembers the last conversation he had with Kumiko before she died. After the fight, he apologizes to Hiroki for all the mean things he said and gives him Kumiko's necklace, telling him to have courage. With Teru's team leading 1-0, the next fight between Daigo and Eiji starts. Despite Eiji's genius-level play, Daigo refuses to give up. He miraculously defeats Eiji, who runs away crying. With the score now 1-1, it comes down to the last match between Hiroki and Teru. Although Hiroki tries his absolute best and never gives up, Teru ultimately wins. Hiroki, Shigehiro, and Daigo all cry in frustration, but during the awards ceremony, Teru recognizes Hiroki and gives him his respect and friendship. Afterwards, when Daigo goes to the hospital to give flowers to the injured Maria, he unfortunately sees her with another man, assuming that he is Maria's significant other. Believing that his love for Maria is over before it started, he runs off. In the end, Hiroki is now more confident in himself and has many friends. Daigo decides to go back to being a wanderer, but not before he and Hiroki have one last cardfight.

Live-action/anime film

A hybrid live-action/anime film was released on September 13, 2014.[4] The live-action segment, A Game of Three (３つのゲーム Mitsu no Gēmu), was directed by Takashi Motoki at Ace Crew Entertainment, and stars Daigo, Suzuko Mimori, Taizō Shīna, Takuma Sueno, and others. The anime portion, Neon Messiah (ネオンメサイア Neon Mesaia), was directed by Shin Itagaki at Ultra Super Pictures, and screenplay was made by Mayori Sekijima.[3] It features the animated debut of the character Kouji Ibuki (voiced by Mamoru Miyano).[37] Neon Messiah made its US premiere on July 4, 2015 at Anime Expo.[38]

Reception

In its Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide, the staff of Anime News Network had a poor impression of the anime series. Carl Kimlinger complained about the crass commercialism of the trading card game shows and was glad that the series (in his view) flopped.[39] Carlo Santos and Bamboo Dong gave equally scathing reviews.[40][41] Chris Beveridge of Mania.com compares the series with other trading card game based shows such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and states that, while he sees lots of kids using the series to take notes and getting their game plan, he feels the series still needs to work on being engaging and entertaining.[42]

As for the trading card game, it has received praise for its marketing through the animated television show and various media, which has caused its popularity to rise immensely. On December 14, 2012, the company Interface in Design created a survey for which trading card game had the most fulfilling playing experience for the "Trading Card Game Award of 2012". Cardfight!! Vanguard was bestowed awards for the most excellent game in both Elementary School and General categories. It also received honorable mentions under the Junior High School, High School, and Adult categories. These awards were bestowed to Cardfight!! Vanguard due to the high praise the game received for its tournament events and ease of access to important updates in the Vanguard culture through magazines and websites. The ease of learning the game for new players was also an incredibly appealing aspect of the game.[43]

References

  1. ↑ "Cardfight!! Vanguard / Tms Entertainment, Ltd". Tms-e.com. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  2. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2012/12/news-bushiroads-december-5th-press.html
  3. 1 2 3 "Cardfight!! Vanguard Gets Live-Action/Anime Film & 4th Anime Show - News". Anime News Network. 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  4. 1 2 "Cardfight!! Vanguard Film's Teaser, Making-of Video Posted". Anime News Network. 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  5. ↑ "New Cardfight!! Vanguard G Card Game Anime Unveiled". Anime News Network. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
  6. ↑ https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-08-24/cardfight-vanguard-g-starts-gears-crisis-hen-anime-series-in-october-with-breakerz-theme/.92043
  7. ↑ "Cardfight!! Vanguard G Stride Gate-hen April anime announced with theme song artists". Anime News Network. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Cardfight!! Vanguard Gets TV Anime, Manga Green-Lit". Anime News Network. July 15, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Crunchyroll to Simulcast Cardfight!! Vanguard TV Anime". Anime News Network. January 4, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Crunchyroll to Stream Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit - News". Anime News Network. 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  11. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-11-17/australia-hanabee-licenses-cardfight-vanguard-anime
  12. ↑ http://bushiroad.fm/post/en/3116/Cardfight+Vanguard+DVD+Release+in+Australia+and+New+Zealand.html
  13. ↑ "Familiar Faces in TV Animation Future Card Buddyfight Episode 4". Bushiroad. 2014-01-24. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  14. ↑ "Singer Daigo to Play Version of Himself in Vanguard Anime - Interest". Anime News Network. 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  15. ↑ "Singapore to Air English-Dubbed Cardfight!! Vanguard Anime - News". Anime News Network. 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  16. ↑ "Cardfight!! Vanguard Anime Streamed with English Dub on YouTube - News". Anime News Network. 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  17. ↑ http://cf-vanguard.com/en/information/press-releases/hulu/
  18. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-07-25/kadokawa-ends-publication-of-kerokero-ace-magazine
  19. ↑ http://vertical-inc.tumblr.com/post/67415509980/okay-so-here-is-one-of-our-new-licenses
  20. ↑ http://bushiroad.fm/post/en/3234/Cardfight+Vanguard+Volume+1+manga+North+American+release.html
  21. 1 2 http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2012/12/news-ride-to-victory-release-date-and.html
  22. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-07-25/bushiroad-to-launch-magazine-starting-in-september
  23. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-05/cardfight-vanguard-4-panel-manga-gets-flash-anime
  24. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2013/07/news-bushiroad-to-launch-new-vanguard.html
  25. ↑ http://hibiki-radio.jp/
  26. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2012/04/news-cardfight-vanguard-novel-announced.html
  27. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2012/04/official-novel-to-retail-for-10.html
  28. ↑ http://vgcw.bushimo.jp/
  29. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2013/03/news-cray-wars-mobile-app-goes-online.html
  30. ↑ http://www.cs.furyu.jp/vanguard-rtv/
  31. ↑ http://www.famitsu.com/news/201209/20021309.html
  32. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2012/11/news-first-look-at-ride-to-victorys.html
  33. ↑ http://www.cs.furyu.jp/vanguard-lov/
  34. ↑ http://vanguardus.blogspot.com/2014/02/news-lock-on-victory-to-introduce-new.html
  35. ↑ http://cardfight-online.com/
  36. ↑ "Cardfight!! Vanguard Game Gets Live-Action Show with DAIGO (Updated) - Interest". Anime News Network. 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  37. ↑ "Mamoru Miyano Voices Character in Cardfight Vanguard Film". Anime News Network. 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
  38. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-06-12/anime-expo-to-premiere-english-sailor-moon-crystal-dub-cardfight-vanguard-film/.89214
  39. ↑ Kimlinger, Carl. "Carl Kimlinger - The Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  40. ↑ Santos, Carlo. "Carlo Santos - The Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  41. ↑ Bamboo Dong. "Bamboo Dong - The Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  42. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (January 8, 2011). "Cardfight!! Vanguard Episode #01". Mania.com. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  43. ↑ http://www.iid.co.jp/news/detail/2012/1214.html

External links

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