Today's Card Analysis: Soul Saver Dragon

The Japanese cards of the day for May 11th, 2018, are Soul Saver Dragon, Blaster Blade, and Dragonic Overlord. Blade and Overlord were previously revealed as the cover cards for the first Trial Decks of the Standard format, but Soul Saver Dragon is the final Triple Rare for the Royal Paladin clan out of V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4.

ACT [Vanguard Circle]: [Cost: Soulblast 5] 6 of your units get Power +15000 until end of turn.
AUTO [Vanguard Circle]: When it attacks, you may Soulcharge 1.

Soul Saver Dragon's original debut in KeroKero Ace magazine.

When Soul Saver Dragon first debuted seven years ago in Onslaught of Dragon Souls, her power was unfathomable. Nothing was on the same scale, making 21-21-26 columns that demanded an overwhelming 50k shield for a one-trigger-to-pass defense. This was at a time when trigger units carried just 10k shield as a standard, and in the new format Soul Saver's soulblast has been scaled accordingly. Instead of giving 5k to three rearguards, the new Soul Saver gives +15 to six units including herself. In practical terms that means whatever shield the opponent would have to put down to guard an attack that turn, they would need to add 30k to that--equivalent to two Critical Triggers, three grade 1s, or a grade 1 and a Heal Trigger. With the standard shield of a crit now at 15k, and heals at 20, Soul Saver Dragon's ACT forces the opponent to put down a minimum of two more guardians per attack, or perfect guard.

However, this is not taking into account the impact that Force carries on the game. Like Alfred Early and Stardrive Dragon, Soul Saver can give a Force Marker to any of her units on-ride, granting it an additional 10k power. Stacking as few as two Force Markers from your initial Alfred ride and your Soul Saver turn can quickly snowball alongside Soul Saver into a game-finishing engine of destruction whose only real obstacle is the Protect Gift.

In the above field setup you can see how the numbers play out. Every unit has 15k from Soul Saver's skill, while Jauron has another 10k from his counterblast 1 and a Force Marker granting him another 10k; Blaster Blade meanwhile has a Force Marker and Wingal has another 5k from his own skill, making this field swing 68-51-63 across. In the previous format these numbers were much rarer, often requiring extensive setup as in Bloom decks, but they mean slightly less than what they appear to at face value due to the inflated shield found on new cards. It's equivalent to a Dragabyss turn in the previous format in terms of the number of cards it takes away from the opponent and the quality of guard at their disposal.

Soul Saver's soulblast 5 isn't nearly as hard to set up as it once was. In the BT02 format cardfighters had guaranteed setup from the Barcgal-Llew superior ride mechanism, as well as additional soulcharging options from Margal and Lohengrin. Out of BT01 we already have Pongal and Funnergal's soulcharges on top of SSD's own, with Pongal being searchable by Akane. You could potentially have that soul before you ever even ride to grade 3, and if you're optimizing your strategy by reriding for multiple Gifts then you'll certainly have the setup in place. What's more is that the new Soul Saver isn't once-per-turn, so as long as you have enough soul available you can pay the cost multiple times to rack up greater power like +60 to every column, or even +90.

This is the finisher that Royal Paladin was looking for, and right now she's the primary reason to play the clan just as Dragonic Overlord is for Kagerо̄. That's not to say Soul Saver is flawless; she discourages use of Blaster Blade's retire skill, reducing him to a powerful ride target and 23k rearguard with Wingal. And while she does have an on-attack soulcharge to compensate for missing your Alfred ride, the card does virtually nothing outside of her designated role as a killing blow. That said, it's much easier to overstate SSD at the moment than to understate her, and it will likely take some time before we have a fully realistic handle on what her impact means for the game--if nothing else, Royal Paladin looks like a very solid long-term investment.

Soul Saver Dragon is designed by Itou Akira and illustrated by Aoji, who previously illustrated Spectral Blaster “Diablo” and Blaster Javelin Larousse.

The previous Japanese card of the day was Iron Killer.

V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade. V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki launched in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and will launch in English June 8th.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Bellicosity Dragon

The Japanese card of the day for April 25th, 2018, is Bellicosity Dragon. A Single Rare from V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 and one of Kai Toshiki's recurring grade 2s from the manga, veteran cardfighters will recall Bellicosity being rather infamous for his on-hit countercharge skill. Historically that version of Bellicosity contributed to the dominance of many past Kagerо̄ decks like Dragonic Overlord the End and Dragonic Nouvelle Vague.

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When your opponent's rearguard is retired during your turn, this unit gets Power +5000 until end of turn.

In the comics Bellicosity's skill was never shown directly, and this incarnation of Bellicosity is quite different form the original. Rather than a countercharge ability, he's a modern take on Chain-attack Sutherland from Booster Set 2: Onslaught of Dragon Souls. These kinds of power units have often been looked down upon over the years, as they require other cards to consistently enable them and have to be powered up again each turn. The decks that have most been able to make use of them were subclans with access to cheap forms of retire like the Eradicators or Perdition Dragons. So how can Bellicosity fit in with the new Kagerо̄'s overall image?

To get our priorities straight, Kagerо̄ has had six grade 2s revealed thus far: Dragon Knight Nehalem, Berserk Dragon, Dragon Armored Knight, Prowling Dragon Striken, Spillover Dragon, Bellicosity Dragon, and the 10k vanilla Embodiment of Shield Rahm. Of these, Nehalem and Berserk Dragon have absolute priority over all other grade 2s--these are the cheapest retires you get at grade 2 in the deck, with Berserk even having a situational draw. These are either the first 4-ofs to be considered in deckbuilding right now, or they're the first 3-ofs if you're going to run four kinds of grade 2. Bellicosity is competing against...

• Striken - For the Dragonic Overlord critical combo
• Dragon Armored Knight - For attacking
• Spillover Dragon - As another cheap retire option

In terms of units that enable his skill, Bellicosity already has the aforementioned grade 2s as well as Burj and Bahr to set him off. And like Vortex Dragon, Bellicosity's power gain can also come from units being retired as a result of battle phase attacks, so you can trigger his skill by restanding with Overlord off a rearguard hit. It's conceivable that nearly everything except Bellicosity in the deck can activate his ability--we shouldn't have any trouble managing a 2-card combo consistently.

The issue is that for just a 5k increase, Dragon Armored Knight is functionally free. Bellicosity can become more powerful for a single turn off of multiple retires, but requires more investment from multiple counterblast/soulblast costs compared to simply making sure the opponent has one less rearguard than you. Meanwhile Striken rewards holding back for a turn by multiplying the damage Overlord is capable of dealing with its restand, and Spillover brings some desirable redundancy in another retire option.

Bellicosity Dragon doesn't bring any immediate reward to the Kagerо̄ deck; his function is to exacerbate a situation in which you already have the lead by draining more shield from the opponent as a reward for setting up your combos.

Vortex is arguable in the deck because there isn't a go-to second grade 3 for Kagerо̄ just yet, though that's subject to change when Dragonic Waterfall finally rears its head. But both Vortex and Bellicosity face an issue that a 5k power boost isn't what it used to be, in part because of Trigger Units now carrying 15~20k shield inherently and the basic unit of power both for Triggers and Gift Markers being 10k.

What all this means is that there isn't room for Bellicosity in a conventional grade 2 lineup with three types of grade 2 maxed out to 4. The way you make room for this beater is by taking away space from everything else:

Grade 2
x3 Dragon Knight, Nehalem
x3 Berserk Dragon 
x3 Spillover Dragon
x3 Bellicosity Dragon 

This involves a hit to the consistency of the other three units, as on average you'll only see one copy of a unit you run three of in any given game. We can afford that hit because 9 of the grade 2s serve functionally the same purpose, with that lone Bellicosity Dragon we draw taking their field control skills and turning them aggressive. It's going to take some proving to establish whether or not this really brings something better to the table over running 4 Armored Knight, Striken, or Spillover, but it's worth experimenting with and seeing what results you can bring out.

Bellicosity Dragon is designed by manga author Itou Akira and illustrated by Maekawa Yuuichi, who also illustrated the original Bellicosity Dragon in EB01: Comic Style Vol. 1.

The previous Japanese card of the day was Giro.

V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade. V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 3rd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll. 

Today's Card Analysis: Giro

 

The Japanese card of the day for April 24th, 2018, is Giro. A Royal Paladin Common from V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4, Giro is easy to write off for being a Normal Unit grade 0 without Forerunner--no matter what he brings to a deck, he does it by reducing your overall probability to ride to grade 3 consistently. But the card is a template of things to come, and foreshadows some interesting mechanics we have yet to see from the Standard format.

CONT [Rearguard/Guardian Circles] This unit cannot be chosen by your opponent's card effects, and cannot be attacked.

At first blush this might sound like the Resist keyword from the old format, but it's slightly different.  It's true that Resist prevented cards from being chosen for effects, and in that regard Giro can't be targeted by the likes of Berserk Dragon or Nehalem, while Vortex Dragon's effect of "retire all of your opponent's rearguards" can still blow him away because it doesn't choose anything. But Giro takes this to the next level by being a unit that can't be attacked, which has some interesting applications; supposing we were going to run this for a second, putting Giro up front would limit the opponent's attack targets. Doubling up on Giro would force a Dragonic Overlord to only attack the vanguard with its higher base power, making it easier to defend and stop the restand skill.

It's likewise interesting that Giro is unaffected on the Guardian Circle because nothing actually interacts with the Guardian Circle just yet. With Dimension Police receiving support in Extra Booster 02: Champions of the Asia Circuit, it's possible we'll see a more restrained implementation of the guard break mechanics they developed in the past. What Giro's really hinting at is that there will be skills that affect guardians in Standard--potentially more than just retiring guardians, there could be cards that decrease their shield, or switch them with other units.

Rather than Giro himself though, you should be looking for when this skill starts hitting grade 1 and 2 units.

Giro is designed by manga author Itou Akira and illustrated by Tanimeso. The two are also collaborating on Machining Stag Beetle.

The previous Japanese cards of the day were Damanance Dragon and Savage Hellfire Gabiya.

V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade. V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 3rd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Miru Biru

Bumble Ray!

The Japanese card of the day is Miru Biru, a Royal Paladin Common from V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4!

CONT [Rearguard Circle]: If it is in the same column as the vanguard, this unit gets Power+5000.

Miru Biru's skill is functionally identical to another skill that we've seen, found on the Start Deck version of Wingal. The different between them is that Miru Biru's skill is continuous while Wingal's is automatic, so Wingal only gains the power boost while he is boosting, while Miru Biru is a constant 12k on both fighters' turns so long as he's behind the vanguard. Currently the two are interchangeable in Standard, but in Premium this matters because it means Miru Biru is harder to target by Nova Grappler's retire skills, which can only hit units with a base power equal to or less than the unit they just stood. (e.g. Tribrut.)

As he stands now, Miru Biru is essentially a version of Wingal that doesn't count towards the 4-card maximum, so you could run 4 copies of Trial Deck Wingal and still get the functionality of Start Deck Wingal from Miru Biru. Also of note is that Miru Biru is the first non-Start Deck grade 1 we've seen to be a 7k base, something that is demonstrably not the standard for Standard. Whether you run Miru Biru at all is largely personal preference; with the 13k base grade 3s he forms a 25k column, which is just over a desirable 23k threshold most grade 1s don't reach. With Star Drive Dragon he forms a 28k, something that can help deplete the opponent's hand over several turns even without Force active.

Both Miru Biru and Wingal are High Beasts, and so can boost High Dog Breeder Akane for 3k, making a 20k column that's just over the 18k threshold expected of rearguards. That helps compensate for his lower power base, but it's hard to advise running Miru Biru at all because of his low flexibility.

A sample grade 1 lineup would look something like this:

Grade 1
x4 Strong Knight, Runoria (Perfect Guard)
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x1 Knight Squire, Allen
x3 Wingal (TD01)
x2 Miru Biru / Wingal (SD01) 

The purpose of the tech Allen here is as deliberate redundancy to make the deck more consistent, functioning as a placeholder for a fifth Marron we can't run. Belgius and Akane are essentially the only grade 2s Miru Biru can boost in other columns, but with the corresponding grade 2 lineup looking like this...

Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade
x3 Sage of Literary and Military Arts, Jarron
x4 High Dog Breeder, Akane

...There's not really room for Belgius in the current deck. That makes Miru Biru a challenging card to fit in, if it can fit in at all.

Right now the Royal Paladin deck is still being faced with the challenge of coming up with a boss card that can stand on even footing with Dragonic Overlord, and addressing its counterblast issues. Royals currently have no way of countercharging, so in current playtesting it's shaping up as a clan that has to constantly give up one skill to use another.

Miru Biru in chapter 1 of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga.

On one final note, while the current Card of the Day profiles in Japan do not incorporate any of the card lore Vanguard is so well known for, we do have Miru Biru's lore from the classic game on hand;

Among the High Beasts, it is an officer of Royal Paladin of remarkable intelligence. It is also a mascot of the knightly order, and many knights are comforted by its lovely appearance. With is high computing power and extensive strategies, it plays a central role in logistical support.

 Miru Biru is designed by Itou Akira and illustrated by Miyoshi Norikatsu.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Spillover Dragon.

The first Booster Set of the Standard format, V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be accompanied by V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki, launching in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design. The first Extra Booster set, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and in July for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

First look at colorized Vanguard manga

Late last March it was announced that the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga is being re-serialized in Monthly Bushiroad magazine in colorized form. The series' concept creator and manga author Itou Akira is doing the color work himself, expanding on several one-shot colorizations he had done back during its original 2011-2017 run. Monthly Bushiroad tweeted several preview images of the first color chapter, which debuts in the latest issue. Chapter 1 will span 48 pages in total.

Fans will be able to purchase a pair of pins based on the manga panels at this year's Vanguard Festival in Japan. Aichi's badge will be for sale on day 1 of the event on April 29th, and Kai's badge on day 2 of the event on April 30th.

The Cardfight!! Vanguard manga's international license is currently held by Vertical Inc., who is in the process of localizing volume 12, due out July 24th. No international plans for the color edition have been announced as of yet.

The new anime series based on the manga, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll, and unlike past seasons will be in a late night to early morning timeslot. V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. he first Extra Booster set, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and in July for the English-speaking world.

Front Triggers have 15k shield, Monthly Bushiroad reveals new playmat at Vanguard Festival

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.)

Sample section of the promotional artwork.

Official Vanguard anime reboot website opens with new character designs and profiles, Kyou uses Murakumo

The official Cardfight!! Vanguard Origin anime website is now fully operational, replacing its splash page with basic character profiles and an introduction to the upcoming "Origin" series. Episodes of the rebooted anime are now known as "Images" rather than "Turns" (G) or "Rides," (original series) and the first episode will be Image 1 "Stand up, Vanguard!!" 

The new character profiles give us high-quality images of the rebooted character designs, as well as several details that put the new anime more in line with the manga it's based on. Of note is that the new character Kawanami Minami is not listed in the characters section with the other Foo Fighters.

• Morikawa is said to be a member of the Hitsue Cardfight Club advised by his teacher Mark Whiting, and that the club is in trouble because of his poor grades. This is a plot lifted directly from chapter 4 of the manga, where Alfred Early debuts.
• Yahagi Kyou uses the Murakumo clan. In the original manga Kyou used Nubatama, and his Nubatama units were later made into Murakumo cards as part of a general discontinuation of Nubatama in late 2011/early 2012. In the first anime, Kyou used Spike Brothers.
• Miwa uses Nova Grappler, much like in the manga.
• Morikawa uses Spike Brothers, "and others." In the manga he played a General Seifried deck, and was seen using Savage King in the first pages of chapter 1.
• Emi's, Shin's, and Nagisa's decks are listed as a mystery, rather than as Bermuda Triangle, Murakumo, and Nova Grappler.
• Daimonji Gouki's card shop is given as "Voyage" rather than "Handsome." Gouki is said to be second place in the Asia Circuit tournament.
• Mitsusada Kenji is also a regular at Voyage, and third place in the Asia Circuit.
• Souryuu Leon is an elementary schooler who uses Aqua Force and "dominated the Asia Circuit," but no other concrete information is given about him. Leon, Kenji, Gouki, and Nagisa are all listed under "NwO - Nagisa with Others." 
• Aichi is in his third year of middle school, Kai and Misaki in their first years of high school, and Kamui is in sixth grade. Ren is in his first year of high school, Asaka in her second, Tetsu in his third, and Kyou is also in sixth grade.

Image 1: Stand up, Vanguard!!

"A frail boy named Sendou Aichi is robbed of his most important card by his classmate Morikawa Katsumi. Aichi chases Morikawa into the card shop known as Card Capital."

NicoNico Live, NicoNico Channel, and Ani-TV will all be broadcasting the new Cardfight!! Vanguard anime series, every Thursday beginning May 10th. NNL will air the show at 8:00 PM, while NNC will air it at 8:30 PM. Ani-TV is still determining its air time.

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll, and unlike past seasons will be in a late night to early morning timeslot. Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

New character designs

Dragonic Overlord revealed in Weekly Bites stream

April 3rd, 2018. Today on the 26th episode of Weekly Bites Z, host Doctor O revealed the upcoming cover for V-Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki. As suggested yesterday in Card Gamer magazine, Dragonic Overlord has a powerful self-standing skill that can easily end the game when applied properly.

ACT [Vanguard/Rearguard Circle] Once per turn: [Soulblast 1] During this turn, this unit gets Power + 10000.
AUTO [Vanguard Circle] Once per turn: When this unit's attack hits, you may [Counterblast 1, discard 2 cards from your hand] to Stand this unit, during this turn, it gets Drive -1.

The card combines different aspects of past Overlords, primarily the original Trial Deck Overlord of seven years' past and his infamous crossride Dragonic Overlord The End. Being able to power up in any circle matches the original Overlord's dual vanguard-rearguard utility, while being able to stand regardless of whether he hits a vanguard or rearguard gives him the immense pressure of The End. Like many of Vanguard's earlier restanders, Overlord only gets 3 drive checks total instead of 4, and is a net -1 in card advantage. If used in combination with the current card of the day, Vortex Dragon, Overlord can attack a rearguard first to rob the opponent of an interceptor and power up Vortex.

Four copies of Dragonic Overlord will come in V-TD02: Kai Toshiki, which launches in Japan May 11th and in the United States June 8th. One copy per Trial Deck will be illustrated by Dragonic Overlord's original designer and illustrator Itou Akira, while the other  three will be illustrated by Daisuke Izuka, who also did Overlord's BT01/004 art from Descent of the King of Knights.

The Trial Deck will also come with a set of three Force Markers, one of which will feature Dragonic Overlord on it.

New character Kawanami Minami appearing in Cardfight!! Vanguard anime

March 30th, 2018. Leaked images from what appear to be the next issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine reveal several of the upcoming characters from the rebooted Cardfight!! Vanguard anime series, among them Foo Fighter Kawanami Minami. Voiced by Katsu Anri, Minami's clan is unstated but he is based on the Foo Fighter of the same name fought by Kai Toshiki in chapter 5 of the manga. That version of Minami was the manga's first Megacolony user, and the first character to using the Machining subclan across the whole series; his deck was built around Machining Stag Beetle.

Kawanami Minami
Voice: Katsu Anri
"A member of Foo Fighter who enjoys brutally fighting his opponents."

Also among the returning cast are Morikawa Katsumi, Izaki Yuuta, Yahagi Kyou, Nitta Shin, Miwa Taishi, Katsuragi Kamui, Tokura Misaki, in addition to Aichi, Kai, and Ren. This season is to once more portray the conflict between Team Q4 and Team Foo Fighter.

Of note is that Minami's name was never stated in the original manga, but author and illustrator Itou Akira tweeted it after the series ended, admitting that he forgot to mention the name during the series' run.


Suzugamori Ren is described in the magazine as a first-year high school student at Fukuhara High and the leader of Foo Fighter's AL4. (Apex Limited 4) He possesses the ability PSY Qualia, which allows him to hear the voices of units on planet Cray, and refers to Tetsu as "Tecchan" and Asaka as "A-chan."

Meanwhile Tokura Misaki is a first-year high school student at Miyaji Academy, while Miwa Taishi is a first-year at Hitsue High.

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll, and unlike past seasons will be in a late night to early morning timeslot. Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Images provided by 2critical.

Bushiroad bringing back Vanguard beginner's guide and manga

When Bushiroad first set out to franchise Cardfight!! Vanguard seven years ago, they began by setting up workshops and demo locations across Japan where prospective players could try the game, and walk away both with a demo deck and a chapter of the manga.

This practice carried over when they brought the game westward, and many veteran players will recall seeing the beginner's guide (and its very rough translation compared to Vertical Inc.'s final release) at regional qualifiers, and other events. International versions of the manga used key art of Sendou Aichi under the influence of PSY Qualia for the front cover, and the back cover featured an ad for the then-new Extra Booster 03: Cavalry of Black Steel.

Like many of the game's older traditions, Bushiroad is bringing the beginner's guide back for the series' 2018 reboot. The new book carries the familiar "Not for sale" stamp, and is titled Let's Start Vanguard 2018. It features the unmodified first chapter of the manga, along with an updated players guide that explains the new Gift mechanics. Thanks to the manga's loose-approximation approach to cardfights, the story translates easily to the Standard ruleset new players are learning at the workshops, as author Itou Akira didn't dwell heavily on numbers for the introductory chapter. The beginner's guide will come with the same Blaster Blade promotional card currently being handed out with Stardrive Start Decks in Japan, and is being distributed for the first time at the Anime Japan 2018 convention.

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll. Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Cardfight!! Vanguard manga to rerun in full color

March 20th, 2018. In episode 23 of the Weekly Bites Z stream series, Cardfight!! Vanguard representative Doctor O announced that the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine will rerelease the first chapter of the original Cardfight!! Vanguard manga by Itou Akira in full color. The publication will coincide with the airing of the Vanguard reboot series, which itself more closely follows the manga. As the manga ran in KeroKero Ace from 2011 to 2013, this is the first time this chapter will be run in Monthly Bushiroad.

Itou himself is doing the color work, much as he did for the manga's set of LINE messenger stamps. This issue will cover approximately the first half of chapter 1, comprising 48 pages. It's currently unclear if the color edition will proceed into the June issue.

In related news, a series of Cardfight!! Vanguard short novels acting as excerpts from the card game's lore are being compiled in a standalone tankōbon format. Cray Chronicle Notes: Beginning will be available for purchase at the Monthly Bushiroad booth as part of the 2018 Great Vanguard Festival on April 29th. More information will be found in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad.

Doctor O also announced that Bushiroad will be hosting a booth from March 24th~25th at AnimeJapan 2018 in the Tokyo Big Sight building. They will be doing a demo session of the new Standard-format game using cards from the Crested Dragon Start Deck, and will be giving out copies of the deck to participants.

Although currently only the Stardrive deck has been distributed to the participating venues as part of the March-June demo caravan for Standard format, the Crested deck will also be distributed beginning April 7th. It contains three copies of Dragon Knight Nehalem, who has been redesigned into unit that retires the opponent's cards rather than as a vanilla. A special edition version of the card with alternate artwork pulled from its original incarnation will be available in Monthly Bushiroad magazine, where it will be distributed as part of a Kagerou deck.

More than 3,000 people have already participated in the spring caravan demos in the four days since they began. Those that attend receive a free Stardrive deck with alternate versions of upcoming cards, and a promotional Blaster Blade exclusive to the event. All of these cards will be legal in the Standard game.

Doctor O also showed off the certificate fighters get for completing the demo workshop, which features art of the rebooted Kai Toshiki from the new series. The quotation on the certificate reads "So you were able to picture it. Let's begin...Now you too, are a Vanguard Fighter!"

The next episode of Weekly Bites will be air Tuesday March 27th, at 9:00 PM JST on NicoNico Live and YouTube Live. The previous special episode featured 20 questions from fans answered by Doctor O, Vanguard executive producer Shimamura Masatoshi, and original concept creator Itou Akira.