News: Asia Circuit to Air on Crunchyroll

Today it was announced at Anime Expo 2012 that the second season of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Asia Circuit, will as with its preceding season, be simulcasting on Crunchyroll. Asia Circuit has already begun airing and the initial three episodes are available to all viewers, while the remaining ten are available to paying members. Available to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, remaining territories outside of these countries have yet to see the shows' doors opened to them.

Previously, the series' absence from Crunchyroll's lineup sparked a wildfire of controversy among fans, who until this evening had no access to the second season except through fanmade subtitles. Bushiroad's announcement that negotiations with Crunchyroll had ceased all but destroyed remaining hope for an official subtitled release. The appearance of an official YouTube channel led to alternative means of distribution being proposed; it appears however, that Bushiroad has settled on hiring outside translators to make the Circuit available overseas.

With Vanguard restored to its original place on Crunchyroll, hope is now spreading that the "dark age" of Cardfight is over and past.

News: BT08 to Include Special Edition OST, Dub Actors to Appear at Anime Expo 2012

Through their Japanese twitter feed, Bushiroad has announced that first print boxes of Booster Set 8: Blue Storm Armada will come packaged with two OST disks, containing the soundtrack BGM of Cardfight!! Vanguard's first and second seasons. The release date for the special edition is given as September 22, 2012.

While the soundtrack has been highly requested, and partially reconstructed by amateur artists like AkioScenro, until now Bushiroad was hesitant to release an Original SoundTrack due to the perceived low sales of BGM CDs.

In other news, the respective dub voice actors of Kai and Morikawa, Ryan Luhning and Lucas Gilbertson, will be attending Anime Expo 2012 as special guests of Bushiroad. Luhning has been heavily criticized for his portrayal of Kai, which has been perceived as deviating significantly from the source material. Gilbertson, while not highly praised for the part, has not faced any similar criticism due to his character's relatively minor role in the series.

Update: The special release of BT08 will be sold separately from the standard BT08. The soundtrack will include all BGM used from rides 1-65, and will cost 3000 yen(about $38) more than the box's regular release.

News: Bushiroad Cuts Ties with Crunchyroll, Appears at Anime Expo 2012, VGE-BT03/04 Release

Bushiroad has recently issued a statement on their official blog that the negotiations with Crunchyroll over the second season of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Asia Circuit Hen, are at an end. The producers of the anime are currently looking into alternative options to releasing season 2 to the English-speaking world; with the recent addition of Cardfight!! Vanguard's English dub to their YouTube page, digital distribution via streaming websites appears to remain the favored method. Due to its advertisement in web banners, it is possible that the dub is being used as a testbed for distribution model based in YouTube.

In other news, Bushiroad will be hosting a booth at Anime Expo 2012, with the renowned artists Foo Midori and Adachi Yousuke attending. These are just two of the mastermind artists behind Cardfight, with Adachi having illustrated a wide range of famous Royal Paladin cards like Wingal Brave, Durangal and Epona, as well as the Narukami's entire Djinn series. Foo Midori is the illustrator of CoCo, Commodore Blueblood, Player of the Holy Bow Viviane, Flame of Hope Aermo and many others. Also in attendance will be Misaki and Suiko's respective voice actors, Kitta Izumi and Terakawa Aimi. Those present at the event will be able to buy booster packs, and get a free DVD preview of Cardfight!! Vanguard, as well as the first English chapter of the manga. An art gallery will be hosted as well.

In a reply on the official Cardfight!! Vanguard facebook page, Bushiroad suggested the possibility of a surprise announcement concerning VGE-BT03 and VGE-BT04, "Demonic Lord Invasion," and "Eclipse of Illusionary Shadows." When asked about an English release of these sets, Bushiroad stated that there may be an announcement with "dark tidings." This has set off speculation that these two sets will see an English release in the near future--the "dark" being taken as a reference to Blaster Dark of BT04, and the Dark Zone nations that BT03 supports.