| Cardfight!! Vanguard |
Promotional image of Cardfight!! Vanguard |
カードファイト!! ヴァンガード
(Kādofaito!! Vangādo) |
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| TV anime |
| Directed by | Hatsuki Tsuji |
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| Produced by | Atsuyuki Takada
Hayato Saga
Ryōta Katō
Shigeru Saitō
Shigeto Nihei |
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| Written by | Tatsuhiko Urahata |
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| Music by | Takayuki Negishi |
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| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
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| Network | TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, AT-X,
Nippon TV, Fuji TV |
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| Original run | January 8, 2011 – ongoing |
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| Episodes | 14 |
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| Manga |
| Anime and Manga Portal |
The protagonist of this story, Aichi Sendo, is a timid 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 Card Fights, 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.Plot
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 Vanguard Fighter by the name of Kai Toshiki, who is 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 saved him from his boring life and introduced him to Vanguard. In order to get better at Vanguard, Aichi puts his soul into it every day. He wishes that someday, he'll be able to battle Kai and have him recognize his worth.
Characters
Main Characters
- Aichi Sendō
- Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga
The main protagonist of the series. He didn't play Vanguard until he battled with Kai, telling him that the reason he was into Vanguard was because of Kai giving Blaster Blade to him. Aichi battles for the sole purpose of becoming strong so that he can have another fight with Kai at his best. Very shy and timid during his first few matches, he manages to gain a bit more confidence as a Vanguard player and enters the local card shop tournament to prove himself. He battles using a Royal Paladin Deck and his aces are Blaster Blade and later The King of Knights, Alfred.
- Toshiki Kai
- Voiced by: Takuya Satou
One of the main protagonists, and a powerful Vanguard player. Before the start of the series, he gave Aichi Blaster Blade in the hopes of battling him in the future. After losing to Aichi, he concluded that he would probably be worth battling in the future, but that he was still weak and would not improve quickly. Kai only likes battling strong players who have the skill to back up their talk and hates weak players who talk big. When Kai plays, he adds "the" whenever he declares a move (examples - "Stand up! THE Vanguard!" and "Check THE Drive Trigger!"). He battles with a Kagero Deck that is based on Dragons, and his ace is Dragonic Overlord.
- Misaki Tokura
- Voiced by: Izumi Kitta
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, based on mythology & cultures, that her uncle, Shin Nitta, the game shop's manager, made for her. Misaki's strategy involves using her cards' effects to learn what cards are at the top of both players' decks and in the opponent's hands so that she can make moves with full confidence. Her ace is CEO Amaterasu.
- Kamui Katsuragi
- Voiced by: Shizuka Ishikawa
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 is opponent is so long as they are not weak in his eyes. He hates being looked down upon because of his size and age. 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. Kamui is almost always accompanied by two other kids; the one wearing glasses would make a comment, and the one with the topknot hair would abbreviate what was just said and end most of his sentences with "-ssu!" Kamui is the second person to defeat Aichi in a game of Vanguard. Kamui has commented that he likes to take the second turn at the beginning of a game as doing so gives him the first chance to attack. Kamui battles using a Nova Grappler Deck that is based on Machines, and his ace is Asura Kaiser.
Secondary Characters
- Katsumi Morikawa
- Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama
A classmate of Aichi's and a Vanguard player. In the beginning of the series, Katsumi was viewed as a bully as he stole Aichi's Blaster Bladecard from him. However, after Aichi defeats Kai in episode 2, he and Aichi become friends. Katsumi likes to think he is a strong player, but in reality, he is terrible. He constantly blames his bad luck as the reason for his losses when it is actually because of his poor skill and imbalanced deck, which mostly consists of Grade 3 cards (but he can never use them since he barely has any Grade 2 cards to ride them).
- Yūta Izaki
- Voiced by: Takayuki Yamaguchi
Aichi and Morikawa'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 Kagero and Tachikaze clans.
- Taishi Miwa
- Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo
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, but not even he knows much about him.
- Emi Sendō
- Voiced by: Atsuko Enomoto
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 happy to see Aichi becoming passionate about something. Emi first fight was in episode 15, she used Misaki's deck temperately, she may or may not have a deck later on.
- Shin Nitta
- Voiced by: Shūta Morishima
The Manager of Card Capital and Misaki's uncle. He enjoys it when people are having a good time in his card shop. He refers his pet cat as the Sub-Manager and even gets it to do certain tasks for him.
- Mark Whiting
- Voiced by: Atsushi Abe
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. 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 mask his eyes and talks in a feudal Japanese accent (e.g. he ends most of his sentences with "-degozaru"). He assumes this disguise at the 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 Katsumi genuinely believes he's a real ninja, it does not take long for Aichi to see through his disguise. Nonetheless, Mark denies that he is Ninja Master M. His deck is comprised 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.