At this year's Japanese Great Vanguard Festival from April 29th to 30th, a new set of Mini Vanguard-themed clear files will be available for purchase. Featuring ten variations in all, each of the files is designed so that the characters on them all use a clan of the same nation, and the flag of that nation is represented on the back of each file. For example, the Zoo file features Anjou Tokoha for Neo Nectar, Fajir Ali, Lee Shenlong, and Christopher Lowe for Great Nature, then Kishida Osamu, Kawana Minami, and Wakamizu Sousuke for Megacolony. (Unlike in the core anime, Minami has previously appeared in the MiniVan shorts.)
Individual files will sell for 500 yen each. The first eight designs consist of two United Sanctuary, tow Dragon Empire, one Star Gate, one Dark Zone, one Magallanica, and one Zoo file each, with the ninth being a Vanguard circle rather than a nation flag. The tenth design is being kept secret, but it will be illustrated by MiniVan author Quily.
April 4th, 2018. The latest issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine shows a special playmat that will be available at the festival for 3000 yen (approx. $28 US) based on the Cray Chronicle Notes Beginning anthology that will also be available for purchase at Vanguard Fest.
The artwork focuses on the King of Knights Alfred and Blaster Blade facing off with Dragonic Overlord, emphasizing the "beginning" focus of the anthology. There will also be a pair of clear files based on Cray Chronicle key
art available for 800 yen, and a version of the two items packaged
together.
A Q&A on Front Triggers
clarifies that only units in the front row at the time the
trigger is checked will gain the 10k power boost. If a unit is moved to
the front row from the back afterwards, or if a new unit is called to
the front row, it won't receive the power.
The sample trigger
presented is Turbo Raizer, a Front Trigger for Nova Grappler. Turbo Raizer is shown with 15000 shield, the same as what the new Critical Triggers possess in the Standard format. Previously some had speculated Front Triggers would have just 10k shield, putting them between Draw (5k) and Critical Triggers in defense value.
Another page from the magazine previews an illustration from the AKR (Akira) booth at the Vanguard Festival. Franchise creator Itou Akira created the illustration reimagining Sendou Aichi as a racecar driver and Tokura Misaki as a race queen. Itou will be the feature of a panel at the AKR booth, though the specifics of it are unstated. At past panels he's done autograph signings and drawing demonstrations.
This is far from the first time Itou has used the characters like this; in the past Bushiroad even secured an officially-licensed crossover promotion with the 2013 Ender's Game movie, and Itou drew the cast at the film's Battle School as part of it. (The full version of this illustration can be found at the beginning of volume 7 of the English Cardfight!! Vanguard manga.)
Original image and video taken by Keikan & Ruin (軽缶＆ルイン)
At this year's Great Vanguard Festival during the Tokyo Big Sight event from May 24th through the 26th, Bushiroad of Japan displayed an under-development version of the standing fight table popularized by the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime series. While holographic projection of the card game's characters is still a long ways off, the Fight Table G seeks to functionally recognize the faces of licensed Cardfight!! Vanguard trading cards in real time and display their base power, shield value, critical and other key statistics to aid in cardfighting. The system also indicates boost, increases from triggers and attack targets. Previously standing fight tables were wholly decorative electronically-lit playmats, and exclusive to Bushiroad's partner shop Card Kingdom.
Although several companies have produced toys in the likeness of similar systems from other card game franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Duel Disks, none have ever seriously attempted a professional projection system on this scale before. The G prototype has potential as a semi-portable system for avoiding human error in power and damage calculation, as well as other areas. It could one day be standardized for top 16 at major tournaments, just as the GIAS system is in the world of Cardfight!! Vanguard G. Three videos of the system in demo mode can be viewed below.
Trial decks were used for the demo displays at the Big Sight event, which attending fans could go through a trial run with under the supervision of the event staff. Use of the system requires cards to be either unsleeved or in sleeves recognizable the system. (i.e. sleeves which do not obscure the card faces.) Although the prototype system requires special electronics equipment to compute and project, and stands between both cardfighters, it also projects images of the opponent's frontrow onto each fighter's side of the field to avoid interfering with gameplay. A paper marker on either side of the center is used to indicate to the projector's targeting which of the
opponent's units each fighter is attacking, but how this will function with
units capable of attacking the backrow is unclear.
The field layout is slightly modified to accommodate the limitations of the system. Since the marker to designate attack targets is in the center where the guardian circle usually lies, the space for the deck is shifted to the right slightly, and the guardian circle moves to where the trigger zone is typically set. When performing stride, the entire field lights up with rainbow colors.
The software appears generally similar to that used in the 3DS games Ride to Victory!! and Lock on Victory!! There are still a lot of questions regarding the Fight Table G--for example, how it handles changes to power from card skills, skills that activate during the opponent's turn like those of Mandalalord and Shirayuki, and if it can keep track of the number of cards in soul. The most immediately flaw in the system at this time is that it does not support the damage zone. But if the prototype gives any indications for what the future may look like, the Fight Table G could be an exciting addition to tournament play.
