Cardfight!! Vanguard

Cardfight!! Vanguard
File:Cardfight!! Vanguard promo.jpg Promotional image of Cardfight!! Vanguard
カードファイト!! ヴァンガード (Kādofaito!! Vangādo)
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
Original network	TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run	January 8, 2011 – March 31, 2012
Episodes	65
Anime television series
Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit Hen
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
Original network	TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run	April 8, 2012 – present
Manga
Written by	Akira Itō
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Kerokero Ace
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	March 2011 – present
Volumes	4

Cardfight!! Vanguard (カードファイト!! ヴァンガード, Kādofaito!! Vangādo) is a Japanese trading card game created in collaboration between Akira Itō (Yu-Gi-Oh! R), Satoshi Nakamura (Duel Masters), and Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani. A 2011 anime television series based on the game was produced by TMS Entertainment and aired in Japan on TV Tokyo starting on January 8, 2011. In addition to the anime, a manga series was also announced. A second season for the anime began airing on April 8, 2012.

Plot

The protagonist of this story, Aichi Sendou, is a timid young boy in his third year of middle school. He had been living his life looking backward rather than forward, trying not to stand out. However, he had one thing that kept him going - the Blaster Blade, a card from a card game that was given to him when he was little. That card is the reason why he begins to engage in cardfights, something that changes his life drastically. The name of the card game is Vanguard. The game takes place in a different planet called "Cray", and due to a never-before-seen play system, it becomes popular throughout the world.

Aichi, immediately attracted by Vanguard, meets friends such as Misaki Tokura and Kamui Katsuragi, along with other rivals. Through friendly rivalry with them, Aichi begins to enjoy a fulfilling life. Aichi, however, has a goal: to once again battle with a cardfighter by the name of Toshiki Kai, an aloof and cold-hearted high schooler who has outstanding abilities in the world of Vanguard. He is also the reason why Aichi started playing the game. For him, Kai is the person who introduced him to Vanguard and saved him from his boring life. In order to get better at the game, Aichi puts his heart into it every day. He wishes that someday, he'll be able to battle Kai and have him recognize his worth.

Characters

Main Characters

Team Q4 (Quadrifoglio)

Aichi Sendou (先導 アイチ, Sendō Aichi)

Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga (Japanese); James Beach (English)

The main protagonist of the series. When he was younger, Aichi was a very shy and lonely boy who is frequently bullied at school. After receiving the rare card Blaster Blade from Toshiki Kai one day, he begins to come out of his shell. He eventually meets Kai once more and is persuaded to become a Vanguard player, slowly learning the rules and improving his skills as the series progresses. He battles using a Royal Paladin Deck, with his aces being Blaster Blade, King of Knights, Alfred, Soul Saver Dragon, Alfred Early, and Majesty Lord Blaster.

Later in the series, Aichi awakens the power of PSY Qualia, a rare psychic ability that gives him the power of precognition during Vanguard battles. However, using PSY Qualia corrodes the user's personality, turning Aichi into a cold-blooded, overconfident opponent. Under the manipulation of Ren, a fellow PSY Qualia user, Aichi embraces PSY Qualia to gain the strength he believes he needs to surpass Kai. Symbolic of this, he abandons his Royal Paladin deck in exchange for a Shadow Paladin Deck and begins to use Kai's "Final Turn" catchphrase when he foresees victory.

Aichi is convinced to abandon PSY Qualia after a match with Kai, in which he surrenders after realizing his true wish of fighting Kai on equal terms, without reliance on a supernatural advantage. However, Aichi cannot rid himself of his desire to use PSY Qualia. He eventually embraces both sides of himself - the part that embraces PSY Qualia and the part that rejects it - and symbolically takes up both Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark as his avatars, going on to defeat Ren.

In the second season, his Royal Paladin deck was taken away by Takuto Tatsunagi and was switched to a Gold Paladin deck, with his new key card being Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel. There is also an increase of players in the second season who are able to use PSY Qualia aside from Ren and Takuto. So it is unclear if Aichi's PSY Qualia is really gone or just laying dormant. It's also noted that Aichi's memory of anything PSY Qualia related in the 1st season may have been removed/altered by Takuto as well.

Toshiki Kai (櫂 トシキ, Kai Toshiki)

Voiced by: Takuya Satou (Japanese); Ryan Luhning (English)

One of the main protagonists, and a powerful Vanguard player. Kai only likes to battle strong players, and dislikes those who run away or cannot back up their boasts with skill. He battles with a Kagero deck with his ace cards being Dragonic Overlord and later Dragonic Overlord The End. He has a few trademark quirks when fighting, such as adding "the" to his move declarations (e.g. - "Stand Up! THE Vanguard" and "Check THE Drive Trigger!") and declaring "Final Turn" when he is confident he will win by the end of the current turn.

Although he has a cold personality, Kai is shown to be concerned with Aichi's development, especially after Aichi awakens the power of PSY Qualia. Having previously witnessed the corrosive effects of PSY Qualia on his former friend Ren, Kai attempts to dissuade Aichi from using PSY Qualia by telling him he lacks true strength, and quitting the team. However, his words have the opposite effect intended, making Aichi grow more reliant on PSY Qualia for strength. It is later revealed that Kai's true purpose for leaving the team was to train alone and grow strong enough to defeat Aichi, saving him from PSY Qualia's influence.

In the second season, his Kagero deck was also switched to Narukami as his first deck was sealed away; his new key card is Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion and he has joined Team New AL4.

Misaki Tokura (戸倉 ミサキ, Tokura Misaki)

Voiced by: Izumi Kitta (Japanese); Carol-Anne Day (English)

The cashier for the Card Capital shop and another Vanguard player. She is not as "enthusiastic" as some players are when it comes to the game, but she enjoys it all the same. Normally, Misaki is calm and quiet, but she can become quite stern when she wants to, scaring almost everybody. She is the first person to beat Aichi in a game of Vanguard using her Oracle Think Tank deck that her uncle and Card Capital's manager, Shin Nitta, made for her. It is revealed later she lost both parents when she was little and hasn't played Vanguard ever since until recently. After the events of episode 25, Misaki starts wearing around her neck the key to a box that contained a deck that her deceased parents made for her when she was a child. Misaki's strategy involves using her cards' skills to learn what cards are at the top of both players' decks and in the opponent's hands so that she can confidently make her moves. She is also shown to have a great memory to the point that she can memorize anything after seeing it only once. Her aces are CEO Amaterasu and Goddess Of The Full Moon, Tsukuyomi.

Kamui Katsuragi (葛木 カムイ, Katsuragi Kamui)

Voiced by: Shizuka Ishikawa (Japanese); Melissa Dorsey (English)

A grade schooler with a big mouth and the skill to back it up. He's very enthusiastic and energetic about Vanguard and doesn't care who his opponent is so long as they are not weak in his eyes. He hates being looked down upon because of his size and age. But being a young kid, he has a habit of messing up the phrasing of his words, often having to be corrected by someone else. He also has a crush on Aichi's little sister, Emi, and constantly vies for her attention, even going as far as to refer to Aichi as his older brother. Ironically, another girl, Nagisa Daimonji, has a huge crush on Kamui and wants to marry him as soon as possible, but he does not feel the same way about her.

Kamui is almost always accompanied by two other kids, Reiji Uno and Eiji Saga. Reiji, the one wearing glasses, would make a comment, whereas Eiji, the one with the topknot hair, would abbreviate what was just said and end most of his sentences with "-ssu!" In the English dub, Eiji speaks like a hipster and speaks full sentences, ending most of them with "yo!" Kamui is the second person to defeat Aichi in a game of Vanguard. Kamui battles using a Nova Grappler Deck, and his ace cards include Asura Kaiser, Mr. Invincible, and Stern Blaukruger. He later uses Beast Deity, Azure Dragon as one of his ace cards in season 2. His strategy is usually just plain brute force while being supported with various card skills such as re-standing units for multiple attacks.

Team Asteroid (Foo Fighter Apex Limited 4)

Ren Suzugamori (雀ヶ森 レン, Suzugamori Ren)

Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (Japanese); Roger Rhodes (English)

Primary antagonist of the first season and leader and co-founder of Team Asteroid (originally "Team Foo Fighter AL4 (Apex Limited 4)" in the Japanese version), which consists of about 500 members branched off in different teams. Ren is a powerful cardfighter who has a very sadistic personality in which he enjoys mentally tormenting his opponents. He looks down on anyone he faces, claiming that there is no point in trying to beat him since his victory is assured. Ren is also one of the first people revealed to have PSY Qualia, which allows him to foresee his victory in his fights. As seen in flashbacks, Ren was an innocent and polite albeit absent-minded guy who used to be on the same team with Kai, until his PSY Qualia awakened and soon corrupted him into who he is now. Along with Kai, Ren also adds "the" to his move declarations and announces "Final Turn" when he is about to deal the finishing blow on his opponents. He also seems to know when another person has PSY Qualia, noted when he meets Aichi at the PSY card shop to give him the Shadow Paladin deck, which he also uses. The deck, as shown in Aichi's fight with Kourin, acts as the polar opposite of the Royal Paladin deck, which sacrifices allies to gain power instead of working together. Ren's, and Aichi's for a certain time, ace cards are Blaster Dark and Phantom Blaster Dragon. He later gains Phantom Blaster Overlord.

Ren returns in the second season as the leader of Team New Asteroid. He also uses a Gold Paladin deck like Aichi but with a different trump card, Spectral Duke Dragon. Ren's personality has reverted to his former kind and innocent self in spite of Takuto appearing and reawakening Ren's PSY Qualia during his and Aichi's fight during the Seoul stage of the Vanguard Fight Circuit.

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); William Scott (English)

The "General" and the other co-founder of Team Asteroid, Tetsu is a childhood friend of Ren and Kai. While Kai chose to leave Ren after he started using PSY Qualia, Tetsu faithfully stayed as Ren's right-hand man and friend throughout the years, despite being aware of Ren's frightening PSY Qualia power. Tetsu is a serious and ruthless man who will do whatever it takes for Ren's benefit. So, although Tetsu acknowledged that Ren's usage of PSY Qualia had gained power for both him and Team Asteroid, he also secretly hoped for someone, specifically Kai and eventually Aichi, to defeat Ren in a cardfight to snap him out of his PSY Qualia addiction. Tetsu utilizes a Dark Irregulars deck; his ace cards are Stiyl Vampire and Dark Lord of Abyss in season 2. He appears again in the second season as the coach of Team New Asteroid instead of an active member.

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese); Laura Rushfeldt (English)

The "Assassin" and only female member of Team Asteroid. Ever since being invited to join Asteroid, she has developed an admiration towards Ren to the point that she has romantic feelings for him. Those feelings have motivated her to work her way up the ranks to eventually become a proper member of Team Asteroid. Although Ren does not show mutual romantic feelings for her, Asaka nonetheless tries her hardest to earn more of Ren's attention and his heart. She also acts as the antagonistic rival for Misaki, defeating her in their first match against each other at the national tournament. Asaka uses a Pale Moon deck; she dubs her deck the Pale Moon Circus, to which she acts as the ringleader. Her ace cards include Crimson Beast Tamer, Barking Manticore, and Mistress Hurricane.

In season 2, despite being fired from Team Asteroid because she lost to Misaki at the following national tournament, Asaka returns as a member of Team New Asteroid.

Secondary Characters

Katsumi Morikawa (森川 カツミ, Morikawa Katsumi)

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama (Japanese); Lucas Gilbertson (English)

A classmate of Aichi's and a Vanguard player. In the beginning of the series, Morikawa was viewed as a bully as he stole Aichi's Blaster Blade card from him. However, after Aichi defeats Kai in episode 2, he and Aichi become friends. Morikawa likes to think he is a strong player because of his huge beliefs in saturating his deck with as many powerful grade 3 units from various clans as he can. However, as a result, his deck is heavily imbalanced, making him unable to ever win. Due to all of his losses, some characters, especially Kamui, change the first part of his name "Katsu" (meaning "win" in Japanese) and calling him "Makemi" ("make" meaning "lose") much to his chagrin in the Japanese version. (In the English dub, he is straightforwardly called a "loser".) He constantly blames his bad luck as the reason for his losses. Since meeting Ninja Master M, Morikawa has developed a fascination for ninjas. He is given the mantle of Ninja Master M from Mr. Mark and calls himself "Second Generation Ninja Master M" before entering the second Card Capital tournament, where he lost in the first match of the final round to Misaki.

Although viewed by many to be a weak player, Morikawa is actually shown to be a strong cardfighter when he has a well-structured and balanced deck. In episodes 51-52, when Morikawa receives the Golden Mechanical Soldier Structure Deck, he proceeds to beat all of his opponents, including Aichi, and winning the senior division of the tournament. His ace card in his first deck is Juggernaut Maximum while the ace of the structure deck he used in episodes 51-52 is Gold Rutile, until he messed up his structure deck by putting in too many grade 3 cards. Morikawa is also a huge fan of Kourin from Ultra Rare; he's a member of the Ultra Rare fan club, he quickly buys Kourin merchandise, and he loudly cheers for her at events, dragging his friends into being part of his cheering squad much to their dismay. He also gets agitated whenever he sees another guy get close to her.

Yuta Izaki (井崎 ユウタ, Izaki Yūta)

Voiced by: Takayuki Yamaguchi (Japanese); Jeff Watson (English)

Aichi and Katsumi's classmate. Like Morikawa, he was viewed as a bully in the beginning of the series, but he soon becomes Aichi's friend. His deck is a mix of the Tachikaze and Kagero clans. Unlike Morikawa, he is actually decent at Vanguard. His ace is the Tyrant, Deathrex.

Taishi Miwa (三和 タイシ, Miwa Taishi)

Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese); Jonathan Lachlan-Stewart (English)

A wise-cracking high-school student who attends the same school as Kai. He is one of the few people on friendly terms with Kai as they also went to the same elementary school together. It is revealed in episode 38 that he also have a Kagero deck as well as being Kai's training partner in the past. In season 2, whenever Shin and Team Q4 go overseas to participate in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, Miwa is put in charge of managing Card Capital in Shin's place.

Emi Sendou (先導 エミ, Sendō Emi)

Voiced by: Atsuko Enomoto (Japanese); Wendy Morrison (English)

Aichi's little sister and a prep-school student. She is very caring for her older brother. When he gets into Vanguard, she starts to feel a bit neglected, but is nonetheless happy to see Aichi becoming passionate about something. Emi eventually gets interested in playing Vanguard herself; her first fight is in episode 15 in which she borrows Misaki's Oracle Think Tank deck against Morikawa and beating him. Her liking of cute things plays a part when she makes her own deck; it was at first a mix of Oracle Think Tank and Bermuda Triangle clans, and it eventually becomes a pure Bermuda Triangle deck. She even gets her classmate Mai into playing Vanguard, with Mai using a Neo Nectar deck. She won the Card Capital Junior Division for having the most wins within the tournament's time limit. Although Kamui has an obvious crush on her, Emi remains innocently oblivious to Kamui's affection for her.

Shin Nitta (新田 シン, Nitta Shin)

Voiced by: Shūta Morishima (Japanese); Scott Roberts (English)

The Manager of Card Capital and Misaki's uncle. Card Capital was originally run by Misaki's parents, but after they passed away, Shin took it upon himself to continue managing the shop in their stead. He enjoys it when people are having a good time in his card shop. He refers his pet cat as the Sub-Manager ("Assista-cat" in the English dub) and even gets it to do certain tasks for him, though sometimes the cat seems to be the one in control. He comes up with the name for Aichi, Kai, Kamui, and Misaki's team as "Quadrifoglio" (abbreviated as Q4), which is Italian for "four-leaf clover". To his chagrin, Misaki will often refer to Shin by his name, even after he tells her to refer to him by a more formal title such as "Manager" in the card shop or "Coach" while at tournaments.

Mark Whiting (マーク・ホワイティング, Māku Hōwitingu)

Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (Japanese); Jonathan Lowe (English)

A teacher at Aichi's school, a foreigner, and a Vanguard player. Despite not being Japanese, he teaches Japanese history as he is a huge fan of the Sengoku period. Mr. Mark has a secret identity: Ninja Master M, in which he wears a ninja outfit, a tie, and a samurai helmet with a vizor that masks his eyes. In the Japanese version, in addition to all of that, as Ninja Master M, he speaks in a feudal Japanese accent (e.g. he ends most of his sentences with "-degozaru"). He assumes this disguise at the first Card Capital Shop Tournament, where he faces Aichi in the second round. While playing Vanguard, he declares his moves as if they are ninja techniques. Although Morikawa genuinely believes he is a real ninja, it does not take long for Aichi to see through his disguise. Nonetheless, Mark denies that he is Ninja Master M, even though it's fairly obvious to everyone except Morikawa. He decided to pass down his mantle as Ninja Master M to Morikawa sometime before the second qualifier tournament. Mark's deck consists of units mostly from the Nubatama ninja clan, focusing on having card advantage over the opponent (i.e. forcing the opponent to discard cards from his/her hand). His ace is Stealth Dragon, Voidmaster.

Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Sakamaki (Japanese); Roger Rhodes (English)

The square-glasses-wearing master of ceremonies and match commentator of the regional and national tournaments in season 1 and the Vanguard Fight Circuit in season 2. Though he may be the MC of these events, he often gets upstaged whenever Ultra Rare appears. In addition to having a habit of sticking his pinky finger out when holding a microphone, MC Mya tends to adopt certain characters' speech patterns, especially his co-commentator Doctor O's emphasis on long "O" sounds in the Japanese version.

Voiced by: The Mash (real name: Nobuhisa Nakamoto) (Japanese); Brendan Hunter (English)

Doctor O is a dedicated and knowledgeable man in the Vanguard community. Always wearing white and a graduation cap, Doctor O provides insightful color commentary for tournament matches next to MC Mya. In the Japanese version, he likes to emphasize the long "O" sounds of his sentences (e.g. "D-o-kidoki desu ne!", which means "It's s-o exciting!") and form the letter "O" with his hands. The character is based on Takuya Ōkouchi, a Japanese producer and businessman closely involved with the Cardfight!! Vanguard franchise, and he is also known by the nickname Doctor O.

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese); Cole Howard (English)

Nicknamed the "Crusher" and a former member of Team Asteroid, Kyou is a cocky Vanguard player who mostly cares about himself, always hoping to surpass Ren and become the best player one day. He sometimes refers to himself in the third-person perspective as "The Great Kyou". As a result of him losing to Kai in the national tournament, Kyou was kicked off of Team Asteroid, leaving him bitter for revenge. At the following regional tournament, Kyou returns with his own group called Team Avengers to exact his revenge on Kai. Kyou uses a Spike Brothers deck; his ace cards are Sky Diver, General Seifried, and Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor in season 2.

Ultra Rare

Kourin (コーリン, Kōrin)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Stevie Forzani] (English)

The blonde member of Ultra Rare, a group of three girls who act as popular idols for the card game Vanguard. Publicly, she and the other members are cheerful and smiling idols, but when she's not on stage, Kourin is a no-nonsense and all-business woman. One of the true objectives of Ultra Rare is to find people who have the power of PSY Qualia. The reasons for finding these people are still unknown. She is a skilled player who utilizes a Royal Paladin deck, the same clan that Aichi uses but with different units. Although she denies that she cares about Aichi, it is subtly hinted that she is somewhat interested in him as seen in episode 70 when she gives Aichi his new key card Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel.

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjou (Japanese); Michelle Molineux (English)

The red-headed and youngest member of Ultra Rare, she is also the most childish of the group because of her tendency of patronize others in a conceited tone. One example is how she frequently teases Kourin about how she actually is interested in Aichi, to which Kourin would reply that she does not care much for him in a tsundere fashion. In episodes 64-65, Rekka gets possessed by a mysterious being from the planet Cray who informs Kourin and Suiko of a great calamity that is happening to Cray and also explains what PSY Qualia really is. Rekka does not play in a cardfight in season 1, but in season 2, she uses an Angel Feather deck.

Voiced by: Aimi Terakawa (Japanese); Nikkita Bradette (English)

The blue-haired and most mature member of Ultra Rare, Suiko is the most mysterious of the group and the manager of the card shop PSY. She is the one who gives Aichi some of his key cards, especially King of Knights, Alfred and Majesty Lord Blaster in season 1.

Media

Trading card game

A card game based on the anime was released sometime after the anime hit Japan. An English version of the game is produced in Singapore and has also been released internationally to some hobby stores.

The basic premise of the trading card game, as explained in the anime, is that the two players represent astral spirits dueling on the planet Cray. The cards in players' decks, called "units", represent characters from Cray that players can summon. Each unit has a name, clan, power level, shield value, one or more skills, and "grade", which ranges from 0 to 3. Overall strength of units increases with grade, but a unit can only be summoned if the player's vanguard is of that grade or higher. A deck must contain exactly 50 cards and 16 trigger units. There is otherwise no restriction on how many cards of a certain clan or grade must be used.

The game begins when the players place a grade 0 unit, the titular "vanguard", face-down in the center of their playing area, and each draw five cards. Before the game begins, each player is allowed one time to shuffle as many cards as they like from their starting hands back into the deck and redraw the same number of cards. Players randomly decide who goes first; the player who goes first cannot attack during the first turn. To use a unit to attack, players 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. Next, during the Ride Phase, the player can perform one "ride": he or she chooses a unit from the hand that is either the same grade or one grade higher than the current vanguard, which is placed over top of the former vanguard and replaces it. During the Main Phase, the player can "call" units to the left and right of the vanguard,pineapple and to the back row; up to five such units, collectively called the "rear-guards", can be in play at one time. The player can move rear-guards between the front and back row 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 final 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 power of the boosted unit. Then the defending player has the chance to "guard" with units from his or her hand, and 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 after the battle ends. After guards are declared, if the attacker is a vanguard, the attacking player reveals the top card of his or her deck and adds it to his or her hand; this is called a "drive trigger check". Attacking grade 3 vanguards make two drive checks instead of one. If a trigger unit that matches the clan of one of the checking player's units is revealed during this process, one of that player's units gains 5000 power until the turn ends, and one of four possible effects may occur. At the player's discretion, the power boost and additional trigger effect can either be given to one unit or divided amongst other units. The four triggers and their effects are the following:

• Critical triggers (Yellow) let a unit be able to deal one extra point of damage.
• Stand triggers (Blue) allow a rested rear-guard unit to stand.
• Draw triggers (Red) let the player draw one more card from the deck.
• Heal triggers (Green) allow the player to take a card from the damage zone and put it in the drop zone, thus "healing" the player. This only works when the player who draws the heal trigger has either more than or the same amount of cards in his/her damage zone as the opponent.

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. When a vanguard is hit, however, it remains in play and the defending player makes a "damage trigger check". Similar to a drive check, the player reveals the top card of his or her deck and resolves any trigger abilities, but the revealed card is put into the "damage zone" instead of the hand. Once a player has six cards in the damage zone, or when there are no more cards in his or her deck, he or she loses the game.

Anime

Main article: List of Cardfight!! Vanguard episodes

On July 2010, an anime television series based on the game was green-lit by TMS Entertainment 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. Crunchyroll began streaming the second season to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on June 30, 2012. Ten pieces of theme music are used for the series—three opening themes and seven closing themes. The three opening themes, all sung by JAM Project, are "Vanguard" (from episodes 1-33), "Believe In My Existence" (from episodes 34-65), and "Limit Break" (from episode 66 onward). The first closing theme is "Daiyamondo Sutā☆" (ダイヤモンドスター☆, "Diamond Stars☆") by Natsuko Aso (from episodes 1-15). The second ending theme is "Smash Up!!" by Shiina Hekiiru (from episodes 16-25). The third ending theme is "Dream Shooter" by Sea☆A (from episodes 25-38). The fourth ending theme is "Starting Again" by Sayaka Sasaki (from episodes 39-52). The fifth ending theme is "Nakimushi Treasures" by the four Japanese voice actresses who star in fellow Bushiroad anime series Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (from episodes 53-65). The sixth ending theme is "Jounetsu-ism" (情熱イズム) by Rin (from episodes 66-78). The seventh ending theme is "Fighting Growing Diary" by Natsuko Aso (from episode 79 onward). The anime also features two insert songs performed by Ultra Rare (i.e. the Japanese voice actresses of Kourin, Rekka, and Suiko). The two songs are "Miracle Trigger" (used in episodes 18 and 26) and "Stand Up Dream" (used in episode 39).

In various episodes, there are cameo appearances by the four main characters (Sherlock, Nero, Hercule, and Cordelia) of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. They also appear during the ending credit sequence of the fifth ending theme.

Daigo Naitō from the band Breakerz, who stars in the live-action drama Stand Up! Vanguard and many live-action Cardfight!! Vanguard commercials, is set to play a caricature of himself in the August 5th 2012 episode of the anime.

An English dub co-produced by Ocean Productions began airing on Singapore's Okto channel from October 16, 2011 and on Animax Asia from January 22, 2012. Dubbed episodes also began being released on YouTube from May 29, 2012, and as of June 25 is available for viewing in most countries without "geo-blocking". The English dub is faithful to the original Japanese version for the most part. Characters retain their original names (although some cards/terms have been renamed), Japanese text and the original card artwork are kept, dialogue is nearly consistent with the Japanese version (although some jokes are added/rewritten to make sense for the English-speaking audience), scenes are not cut/re-edited because of content, and both the original sound effects and background music remain intact (including snippets of the theme songs that ended up not being used for the dub). The most notable change in the English dub is that only one opening theme and one ending theme are used; the only opening is an English version of the first opening theme "Vanguard" sung by JAM Project, and the only ending used is an English version of the third ending theme "Dream Shooter", still sung by Sea☆A. Likewise, the Ultra Rare insert songs are performed in English by 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.

Manga

Along with the anime television series, a manga series was also announced.

Stand Up! Vanguard

A live-action 90-minute drama titled Stand Up! Vanguard was aired on May 3, 2012. It is directed by Takashi Motoki, who describes this project as the "first-ever live-action card-game program". It stars Daigo Naitō, 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 played in the background of this drama as well as some live-action Cardfight!! Vanguard commercials.

The story of this drama follows Daigo Naitō as a wanderer who claims to be a genius and strongly believes in justice. One day, at a playground, he sees a boy, 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. Then, 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, Daigo uses a fake diploma to get a job as a special teacher at his school (although Daigo also has the ulterior motive of wanting to win Maria's affection). 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 such as Hiroki having a fear of losing, Hiroki's mother Kumiko who got him into play Vanguard being deceased, and Hiroki's busy working father Shigehiro looking down on his hobby all inhibit Hiroki from coming out of his shell. 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. While Hiroki stays at home, 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. He asks Daigo why does he try so hard, to which Daigo answers "losing is frustrating, but what comes after is most important."

Later, a city-wide Vanguard team tournament comes around, with Hiroki declaring to Teru that he'll get his revenge there. 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 is to be held tomorrow. 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. And so, 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.

Some of the cardfights in this drama end in the same ways as some of the fights in the anime series For example, Daigo's last fight against Eiji ending with Majesty Lord Blaster making the final attack is the same as when Aichi defeats Ren in the season 1 finale of the anime. Another example is Hiroki's last fight with Teru; Hiroki is on the verge of winning with Dragonic Overlord The End until Teru makes a comeback with Phantom Blaster Overlord. This is reminiscent to the ending of Kai's cardfight with Ren in episodes 59.

Also, just like in the anime, this drama features cameo appearances of the main characters of the anime Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. In this case, three girls cosplay as Nero, Cordelia, and Hercule (no Sherlock) as one of the teams in the Vanguard team tournament.

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 flopped. Carlo Santos and Bamboo Dong gave equally scathing reviews. Chris Beveridge of Mania.com compares the series with other trading card game based shows and states that, while he sees lots of kids using the series to take notes and getting their game plan, the series still needs to work on being engaging and entertaining.

External links

• Official website
• Official US Distribution Site
• Cardfight!! Vanguard at TV Aichi
• Cardfight!! Vanguard Season 2 at TV Tokyo
• Cardfight!! Vanguard (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia