News: Dengeki Online Publishes Early Cardfight!! Vanguard G Screencaps

This evening Dengeki Online uploaded 21 screencaps from the first episode of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, "Shindou Chrono," which will air on TV Tokyo twenty-two hours from now. As the first proper sequel series in the franchise, G will follow three new protagonists introduced at Bushiroad's preceding press conference. According to Dengeki, the first episode is numbered 01 rather than 197, fitting its role as the introduction of the new series.

#01 "Shindou Chrono"

One day on his way to school, Shindou Chrono found a mysterious deck planted by someone in his shoe locker, alongside a map leading somewhere. After school, Chrono went to the place written on the map. That place was a card shop called "Card Capital, Location 2."

Set three years after Cardfight!! Vanguard, Chrono is a beginner in the game who receives a "Gear Chronicle" deck. Because of this clan that no one seems to know, Chrono's fate becomes entangled with that of Kijou Shion and Anjou Tokoha. The Card Capital 2 that Shindou visits bears some resemblance to Card Kingdom, the Japanese chain of card shops that Card Capital was originally based on.

Among the initial images are a cardfight between the now-10th grader Katsuragi Kamui and Tokoha's older brother, Anjou Mamoru. The fight takes visual cues from both the first season of Cardfight!! Vanguard and its sister anime Future Card Buddyfight, with cards levitating in front of the cardfighters while they imagine themselves on the planet Cray.

The artwork for the new series is notably of higher quality than its immediate predecessor Legion Mate, which was strongly criticized for its static animation and the perceived lack of effort put into cardfights. These initial screencaps of G compare favorably to the better-received first season and Link Joker arc.

Like past seasons, Cardfight!! Vanguard G will be simulcast with English subtitles through Crunchyroll, although for the time being it is listed under the fold of Legion Mate as its 197th episode. Viewers are asked to support this official release of the anime by registering a Premium account with Crunchyroll, which will also allow immediate access to the new episodes an hour after they debut, in high definition.

News: Crunchyroll to Launch New Streaming Site, Anime Sols Going Live This Year

Crunchyroll, the video sharing website responsible for Cardfight!! Vanguard's official release and the original home of English-language Cardfight, is starting up a new campaign to bring anime closer to the viewer. Operating jointly with Yomiuri Group companies on a policy of consolidating the ways that fans can support their favorite shows, the Anime Sols website will feature a host of anime new to the English-language market. Through Anime Sols, legal streams of anime will become available and viewers will be able to support the release of merchandise, allowing all varieties of fans to support their favorite programs. Information on what kinds of products these will constitute is scarce for the time being, but already the larger community of anime fans is speculating that the future may see affordable DVDs--the long-lost holy grail of the English-language anime industry--and once-difficult to track down soundtracks and figures produced to sate public demand. Specific mention given to collectors is adding fuel to the anticipation.

This is the first time that Japanese animation and related goods are going to be been distributed by a Japanese business directly to North America, eliminating middlemen like 4Kids and Viz Media, companies that throughout the 1990s and early 2000s were an essential part of the industry. Three years into the new decade, businesses like Anime Sols may cut them from the industry altogether. Anime Sols is so far confirmed to be streaming Tekkaman the Space Knight, Bander Book, and Creamy Mami, the Magical Angel as release titles. While from these titles it's clear that Anime Sols is currently geared toward providing access to older anime of the 70s and 80s that never saw a proper western release beforehand, already they have picked up the 2008 remake of Yatterman, and newer anime may follow as the platform gains momentum.

In addition to those already confirmed for distribution, the various companies involved previously did work on Space Battleship Yamato, Magic Knight Rayearth, Beelzebub, Naruto Shippūden, InuYasha and others. Many of the major players in Cardfight's development have worked on one or more of these shows. Among the animation directors are Hattori Noritomo, responsible for directing OP02: Believe in My Existence as well as the animation of Aichi and Gouki's regional championship match in ride 22, and Shishido Kumiko, responsible for directing rides 50, 56 and 62, the episodes where Phantom Blaster Dragon's now-signature animation debuted. Hattori previously directed animation for Naruto Shippūden, while Shishido did the same for Beelzebub. Shiina Hekiru, the voice actor for the lead role in Rayearth Hikaru, performed ED01: Diamond Star, one of the more popular ending themes that is still inserted in new episodes as one of Cardfight's more impacting musical themes, and Shinohara Emi, the voice of Presea in the same series is also the voice of Aichi's mother, Sendou Shizuka. Yamato meanwhile was a classic work of the 70s whose animation directors included the departed Ashida Toyoo, a veteran artist of the period whose final artwork to be completed prior to his death was BT03: Demonic Lord Invasion's Stil Vampir.

Anime Sols is stated to operate on a crowd funding model, whereby more support for a series will see new ones acquired and the production of related merchandise. Among the participating companies are Tatsunoko Productions, whom westerners are primarily familiar with through Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, a Wii-based crossover fighting game that pitted Capcom characters like MegaMan Volnutt, Viewtiful Joe, Zero and Ryu against Tatsunoko's animated properties. Notably out of the series mentioned above, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom featured the titular Tekkaman of Space Knight, and the original 1977 Yatterman-1 and Yatterman-2, who were reimagined in the 2008 remake that will air through Anime Sols.

(via Crunchyroll, The Fandom Post and Anime News Network)

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: 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.

News: Status of Asia Circuit and Crunchyroll

Alarm bells rang off this week when it appeared that the final TBA spot for Crunchyroll's Spring 2012 lineup had filled, with no second season of Vanguard in sight. This was after nearly a week's silence on the part of Bushiroad, and the airing of ride 67, the second episode of Vanguard's second season. With the license for Asia Circuit seemingly up in the air, fans have continued to petition Bushiroad for more information.

Today, the company published a statement on their official English blog, that due to conditions having changed since the first season, problems have surfaced between the involved parties. No further updates on the matter can be posted until the issues between companies have been resolved, however Bushiroad is clearly still working to make Asia Circuit available through Crunchyroll. Exactly which company is the source of the disagreement is unknown--the prime suspect forum outcry is arising against is Crunchyroll itself.

In the interim, many fans both individual and in groups are working to release their own subtitles for Asia Circuit. Fansubs, while widely known as being profitable in the long term as free advertisement for both the company and viewers, are associated with the same problems of any uncontrolled method of distribution. While it would be impossible to obscure authorship of Vanguard without the deliberate intent to do so, the short-term profits gained from ad cross-promotion tend to suffer the most where fansubs are concerned. It has been demonstrated in the past however, that unless an official alternative is provided fans will continue to create their own methods of distribution.