News: Fighter's Collection 2015 Units, Neon Messiah DVD & Blu-ray for May

Caption: "Stride for every clan!" CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD G FIGHTER'S COLLECTION 2015

Yesterday Duel Portal dropped the first promotional materials for VG-G-FC01: Fighter's Collection 2015, quickly followed by an update to the Japanese portal site. FC2015 promises to introduce stride support for all 25 main clans sans Etranger, and the early promotions have so far revealed such cards for Gold Paladin, Angel Feather and Dark Irregulars. Concept images for the set show what appear to be Bermuda △ and Granblue strides. Furthermore, a Nicodouga broadcast from Bushiroad teased a poster for the upcoming Legend Deck 01: The Dark “Ren Suzugamori,” to be released this April.

The same broadcast also gave a Japanese release date for the DVD and Blu-ray prints of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime film, Neon Messiah. The movie recently debuted in theaters in Singapore, subtitled in English, but there has been no word on other international releases either in the United States or in Europe. This has proven problematic for fans, as the currently airing season of Cardfight!! Vanguard G features the film's principle antagonist Ibuki Kouji, and presumes the viewers have previously seen Neon Messiah. The home video edition of Neon Messiah will hit Japanese shelves on May 2nd, and will retail for 3800 yen on DVD (approx. $32 US) and 6800 yen on Blu-ray (approx. $57 US.) The Blu-ray edition also contains the live action film The Three Games. While these prices will likely appear exorbitant to western fans, but are par for the course in Japan where DVD and Blu-ray sales are typically low and appeal to a niche audience.

Out of FC2015 Gold Paladin is receiving Purgation Lion King, Mithril Ezel (浄罪の獅子王 Jouzai no Shishiou "Sin-cleansing Lion King") a support card for the Ezel subclan previously expanded in BT06, BT09 and BT13. Like his preceding grade 3 incarnation Ezel Scissors, Mithril is a field unlocking unit that counters Link Joker decks. However, he also takes elements from his original debut as Blond Ezel, superior calling and gaining power from a rearguard.

ACT (Vanguard circle): [Counterblast 1, Choose a face down card named “Purgation Lion King, Mithril Ezel” in your generation zone, turn it face up] If your heart has "Ezel" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, unlock all of your locked cards, look at 5 cards from the top of your deck, choose 1 card, call it to a rearguard circle, shuffle that deck, during this turn, increase both that unit and this unit's Power. The number increased is the original Power of the unit called by this ability.

Unlike other stride units, because of his heart restrictions Mithril Ezel is specific to the Ezel subclan and will not work outside of an Ezel deck.

This is a running theme for the FC2015 cards, as Holy Celestial, Michael (聖霊守護天使ミカエル Seirei Shugotenshi Mikaeru "Guardian Angel of the Holy Spirit, Michael" with the forced reading of "Holy Celestial") is also specific to one subclan. Her skill is designed to build field advantage similar to Kiriel from years past, but also carries on the Celestial-specific mechanic of gaining power bonuses based on having a copy of the vanguard in the damage zone.

ACT (Vanguard circle): Once per turn: [Counterblast 1] If your heart has "Celestial" in its card name, put the top card of your deck into the damage zone, choose a face up card from your damage zone and call it to a rearguard circle. Then, if you have a card with the same name as your heart in your damage zone, the unit called with this ability gets Power +5000 until end of turn.

Finally, the Great Devil Soulless Demagogue (大魔神 "Great Demon God") emulates an old play style of Dark Irregulars,  conserving card skills until the moment of his stride and then mass soulcharging to gain power bonuses.

AUTO (Vanguard circle): During your main phase, when a card is put into your soul, until end of turn this unit gets "CONT (Vanguard circle.): During your turn, all units in your front row get Power +1000."

The soulcharges that Demagogue amasses are only useful on the turn that he is stridden. Like other strides, one of the best ways to use him at present is to take advantage of him receiving the name of the heart. By running Demagogue in an Amon deck, one can make use of the Hell's Draw and Hell's deal line to get off 4~6 soulcharges in one turn, stacking up instances of his continuous skill to give +6000 to the front row. After two turns of this, it leaves the soul set up for cards like Astaroth that depend on having a preexisting base of soul.

Press Release: Neon Messiah to Air in Singapore, Bushiroad Reveals Plans for First Half of 2015

Bushiroad's international branches have released a statement announcing the company's 2015 international release schedule for Cardfight!! Vanguard, which will bring the English-language trading card game within two months of synchronization with its Japanese counterpart. In addition to the previously-confirmed BT17 ver.E and G trial decks, the press release contains a timeframe for the release of G-BT01: Generation Stride on March 13, simultaneous releases of G-EB01 and TD04 on April 17, G-BT02 on May 22, G-TD05 and 06 on June 5, and Fighter's Collection 2015 on June 19.

Further, the press releases brings to light the first mentions of international release for the movie Cardfight!! Vanguard Neon Messiah, in early 2015 for Singapore. One of the crown jewels of the franchise, Neon Messiah has been the subject of strong international fan demand, and while no North American or European releases for the film have yet been announced, one may be possible depending on the film's success. Whether the Singapore debut will be dubbed or subtitled with its original Japanese audio has not been stated. The starring Japanese seiyuu Yonaga Tsubasa and Miyano Mamoru have become well-known names in the west not just for their roles as Sendou Aichi and Ibuki Kouji, but also for prominent roles in other series like Yonaga's Hazuki Nagisa (Free!) and Miyano's Yagami Light (Death Note.) In Japan Miyano's role as Ibuki proved to be a major selling point for entry-level fans, whereas in the west Ocean Group's cast of dub actors for the series are comparative unknowns with few major roles attached to them.

A first look at the English release of G-BT01: Generation Stride was tweeted by the manager of card shop Ogre, who had previously leaked information about an upcoming alternate game format, G Regulation format.

The following is a press release distributed by Bushiroad USA and may not reflect the views or opinions of Cardfight Pro or its editors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bushiroad Reveals Plans for First Half of 2015

Singapore (December 10, 2014) – Bushiroad made a major announcement on December 5 at Anime Festival Asia 2014 in Singapore on their upcoming plans for trading card games Cardfight!! Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz and Future Card Buddyfight.

New releases for the English edition of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz and Future Card Buddyfight were revealed, as well as information about upcoming TV animations and Bushiroad Spring Fest.
 
Cardfight!! Vanguard

2015 signals the end of Cardfight!! Vanguard and the release of the English edition of Cardfight!! Vanguard G. The latest expansion of Bushiroad’s most popular trading card game, Cardfight!! Vanguard G, features new cards, abilities and a new clan, Gear Chronicle. The new boosters introduce new abilities such as Stride, Generation Break and G-Assist into the game.

Apart from Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game related news, Bushiroad shared that the latest season of the Cardfight!! Vanguard TV animation, Cardfight!! Vanguard G, will be airing on Singapore’s OKTO channel from January 4, 2015. It will be aired every Sunday at 10:30am.

Bushiroad also announced that the Cardfight!! Vanguard movie, ‘Neon Messiah’, will be screening in Singapore in early 2015. Movie goers will receive limited exclusive movie promotional items, such as deck cases, postcards and bags.

News: Grade 4 Harmonics Messiah Promo Leaked, Extra Deck to be Introduced to Vanguard

Five hours ago images of the Cardfight!! Vanguard Neon Messiah film's promo card were leaked to Twitter by Japanese fans, revealing the full skills of the grade 4 unit Harmonics Messiah. The first unit in the game to make use of the new Stride mechanic, Harmonics uniquely belongs to no clan or nation, possesses a triple drive check instead of twin drive, and has a staggering 16000 base power where 13000 is the norm for grade 4 cards.

Harmonics Messiah
G Unit/Grade 4/Triple Drive/16000 Power/No Shield/Critical 1/No Clan or Nation - Messiah/
"Shining on the darkness of chaos, oh grand light of truth----!"
(This card cannot be put in your Main Deck)
STRIDE (By meeting the condition and cost, until the end of the turn you may Stride)
CONT: This card belongs to all clans and all nations.

Harmonics' unique card back.

Harmonics' skills explicitly prevent it from being placed into the deck, and in fact its card back is completely different from standard card backs. This suggests that Harmonics will remain in a separate zone until Stridden, which has been theorized to be some form of Extra Deck or a zone specifically designed for this type of unit. Interestingly, Harmonics is not a Normal Unit nor a Trigger Unit, but a "G Unit," tying into recent promotional materials for the still-unannounced fifth season of Cardfight!! Vanguard which stated "To the next "G" Stand up!! Vanguard!"

The Triple Drive ability gives Harmonics the same offensive trigger checking and card advantage buildup as Great Daikaiser, but the fact that Stride only lasts until the end of the turn suggests that it will either retire or return to the zone it was Stridden from after it is used, preventing Harmonics' 16000 power base from being manipulated as a massive bunker defense.

While the exact mechanics of how Stride will work are unclear, seeing as Harmonics can be used by any clan or deck, it serves as an equal upgrade to all of the clans. It can be expected to best support the clans which already have a strong early to midgame but are lacking in some form of endgame skillset, as using Harmonics in place of one's vanguard would mean giving up that vanguard's skills for the duration of the turn. Stride itself exists in place of an Activate, Auto or Continuous skill, and its kanji is written as 超越 Chuuetsu "Transcendence," the same form of Transcendence used in the name of Transcendence Dragon Dragonic Nouvelle Vague.

Harmonics Messiah is being distributed as a promo card to attendees of the Neon Messiah film, and will also be printed with alternate artwork as a Special Parallel-rarity card in the accompanying booster set, VG-MBT01: Neon Messiah.

News: Fourth Neon Messiah Trailer Showcases Miyano Mamoru as Voice of Ibuki Kouji

Early this morning a fourth trailer for the upcoming film Cardfight!! Vanguard Neon Messiah was put up by the Japanese theater and motion picture company Shochiku Channel. The PV provides a first look at the voice work of seiyuu Miyano Mamoru, who was previously confirmed to be voicing Ibuki. Many of the other leaks from the film's prescreening have been confirmed by the trailer and recent promotional materials, including Kai's new grade 3 Dragonic Overlord the Great, and several of the tournament matchups for the Messiah Scramble.

The trailer focuses on the motivations of antagonist Ibuki Kouji, as well as the matchups of the upcoming Messiah Scramble tournament. Ibuki's goal is the total destruction of the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, using his Deleter deck and the awakening of "the Messiah," implied to be the grade 4 Harmonics Messiah. The trailer suggests that this will allow him to erase Cray and the card game with it; while Ibuki's full reasoning is not known, he states that Vanguard "invites calamity and misfortune," painting him to be well-intentioned but unaware that Cray's destruction will also be Earth's.

Neon Messiah's fourth PV was fansubtitled and reuploaded to YouTube, and is hosted below. Western demand for the film is strong, but no announcements regarding its international release have been made as of yet. The movie will debut in theaters in Japan this Saturday.

News: Miyano Mamoru to Voice Ibuki Kouji, Neon Messiah Spoilers Leaked to Twitter

Over the 25th a prescreening of the upcoming Cardfight!! Vanguard film, Neon Messiah, was held in Japan, and spoilers for the movie were leaked through Twitter by some of those attending. According to this information, the film's key antagonist Ibuki Kouji will be voiced by celebrity voice actor Miyano Mamoru, known for his past roles as Yagami Light in Death Note and Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00.

From these same sources, the Kagerou grade 3 Dragonic Overlord is to receive a Legion remake in the film as Dragonic Overlord the Great (ドラゴニックオーバーロード・ザ・グレート Doragonikku Oobaaroodo Za Gureeto.) His mate has not been made public. Furthermore, as Neon Messiah is stated to be a general-interest film, card effects in the movie are not gone into in-depth.

Warning: Spoilers for Neon Messiah follow. The veracity of this information cannot be wholly confirmed.
The film's protagonist is said to be Sendou Aichi, returning after his long absence this past season, while the heroine is Tokura Misaki, and Kai Toshiki serves a supporting role.

According to these leaks there are at least seven fights in the film; Leon vs Gaillard (Leon's victory), Misaki vs Christopher Lo (Misaki's victory), Katsuragi Kamui vs Philip Neve (Kamui's victory), Kai Toshiki vs Mitsusada Kenji (Kai's victory), Sendou Aichi vs Ibuki Kouji (outcome unclear; Blaster Blade is deleted by Ibuki's Wokshyz but the rest of the Royal Paladins are safe), Leon and Misaki vs Ibuki (Ibuki's victory) and Aichi vs Tatsunagi Takuto. This last fight is said to be a battle to undelete Blaster Blade, involving Aichi's power of PSY Qualia. These users did not mention the apparent finale featured in the most recent trailer, where Aichi confronts Ibuki alongside Kai, nor Ren's fight with Ibuki hinted at in the same.

The return of Takuto has come as a shock to many, as fans were under the impression that Takuto would not be returning after his departure in Link Joker. The character in general has been poorly received in the past, with his status among fans comparable to Tingle of the Legend of Zelda series. The titular Messiah are said to be a pair of grade 0 and grade 4 cards, with the 0 as the Neon Messiah. The name of the grade 4 unit is Harmonics Messiah.

Aichi and Kai allegedly sit on a bed in one scene of the film; this is likely a form of fanservice in reference to the album cover of their previous duet character song, Fate Breaker. Aichi is also said to take off his shirt for one scene.

News: Neon Messiah PV Teases Seeker Alfred

Over the first day of the 86th annual Comiket, Bushiroad of Japan aired the third trailer for the upcoming pair of Cardfight!! Vanguard films The 3 Games and Neon Messiah, soon after making it available via YouTube. Both films were announced at this year's Great Vanguard Festival, with The 3 Games serving as the live action sequel to the 2012 live action drama starring Japanese musician and actor Daigo, and Neon Messiah as the followup to the currently-airing fourth season of the animated series, Legion Mate. The previous trailer showed Sendou Aichi and Kai Toshiki's return to playing the Royal Paladin and Kagerou clans, as well as several of the upcoming fights in the film. This most recent trailer focuses on Aichi's new Legion card and the debut of antagonist Ibuki Kouji, a friend from Kai's childhood bearing the powers of Link Joker and its Deleter subclan. Due for a September 13th release date that will coincide with the upcoming 2014 World Championship qualifiers, the film is to be accompanied by the special booster set Movie Booster 01: Neon Messiah and the trial deck VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter. The latter will feature Ibuki's core grade 3, Docking Deleter Graywon.

Although once stated to be set between the Link Joker and Legion Mate chapters of the anime, the most recent announcements place the film after the fourth season. Neon Messiah is to follow Aichi and Kai as they enter the Messiah Scramble, a major tournament involving many of the series' previous characters. Amid this an "annihilation crisis" is emerges, causing the units on players' cards to vanish. Of note, the fighters shown in the trailer appear to have locked vanguards at the moment that their units disappear.

As part of the Messiah Scramble, Kai and Aichi engage Ibuki in a tagfight. In succession the trailer shows Team Q4 and several background characters attending the Messiah Scramble, Ren suffering an apparent defeat, Ibuki and Docking Deleter Graywon, Aichi riding Seeker Alfred and Legioning, Kai and Aichi touching down in an arena against Ibuki, and Alfred battling Graywon.

Ibuki's key card is also shown off in several brief shots, with a partial view of its card art revealing that it has no Legion symbol. The background of the artwork matches up with previous promotional images for Malefic Deleter, identifying the card as Graywon.

Subsequent updates to Neon Messiah's merchandise page have shown that the new grade 3 does not have a limit break or mate, but that its first skill is a main phase counterblast 2 with no other activation conditions. This suggests that Graywon will return to the mechanics of the first season, being able to use its ability as soon as it has the damage to do so.

As no official transcriptions have been given as of yet, the name of the new Alfred unit is ambiguous. Aichi calls it as こうげんの探索者アルフレッドエクシブ Kougen no Shiikaa Arufureddo Ekushibu. Kougen has several associated kanji, but a likely written forms of it is 光源 "Light source." Ekushibu has been variously proposed as a corruption of Excalibur ("Exclib") or a phonetic rendition of the Roman numerals XIV "Fourteen." Some have disputed the Ekushibu transcription in favor of Ekusuemu "XM." At this time CFPro will use the placeholder translation "Light Origin Seeker, Alfred XIV."

Neon Messiah's opening theme will be an arrangement of OP07 "V-ROAD" performed by a live orchestra. This trailer uses Ultra Rare's latest single "Bravery Flame" as its theme. Neon Messiah will use a combination of hand-drawn and computer generated animation techniques for its fight sequences, blending the appearances of units across two mediums. The trailer is hosted below, with translations. Neon Messiah's PV begins at the 36 second mark.

Boy: My unit is...
Caption: Vanguard annihilation crisis!?
Aichi: Every day we share the same dream. The dream of a wish that I entrusted to Blaster Blade.
Caption: The exhibition of the "Messiah Scramble."
Ren: He has a hand in this Messiah Scramble. Please be careful. That man...
Caption: Masterminding the "Deleters."
Ren: Ibuki Kouji.
Caption: Aichi and Kai's tag match!!
Aichi: Kai-kun, let's go!
Kai: Yeah!
Aichi: Ride! Light Origin Seeker, Alfred XIV! Seek mate; Blaster Blade!
Kai: Ibuki...I will definitely never forgive you! Our bond with our vanguards are not that weak!
Caption: Ibuki Kouji's goal is...?
Aichi: We will...protect our world, protect Vanguard!

News: Link Joker Trial Deck VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter Announced, Ibuki Kouji to Appear in Neon Messiah Film

The above teaser for one of the Cardfight!! Vanguard movies' promotional sets VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter was put up on the Japanese Vanguard portal early this morning, giving an early look at the upcoming cards for the climactic movie tie-in to the ongoing fourth season. Set for a September 24th release date, the trial deck will promote the upcoming movie Neon Messiah by featuring cards used in the film by antagonist Ibuki Kouji (伊吹コウジ). Introduced more than a year ago in the Zero Starter Set chapter of the manga as a childhood friend to Kai Toshiki, Ibuki is the primary user of the Link Joker clan in the manga and a character many have waited for to be introduced to the anime series.

Unlike the Link Joker units introduced in the third season of the anime, Ibuki's Deleters in the manga each have a much more grotesque and alien slant to them, resembling monsters out of traditional science fiction rather than the Star-vaders' elaborate Cyber Dragons. Ibuki's strategy in the manga is to use the new mechanic Banish Delete (バニッシュデリート Banisshu Deriito) which sends an opponent's rearguard into the drop zone in the Locked position, in practical terms removing it from the game and preventing its use. This has so far only been demonstrated with his grade 2 Swift Deleter Geary, who retires one of Ibuki's own rearguards to retire one of the opponent's face down. Moreover, he has recently demonstrated another ability through his grade 3 Docking Deleter Gray One, "Delete End" (デリート・エンド  Deriito Endo) whereby the game is automatically won through the condition of having the opponent's vanguard face-down. Not much has been shown about how this is achieved, so the mechanic is poorly understood.

Swift Deleter, Geary/スイフトデリーター ギアリ
『ライド時に自分のリアガードを１体退却、その後、相手のリアガードを１体退却。退却させた相手のカードは裏側状態でドロップに送られる』
"When ridden, retire 1 of your own rearguards, and then retire 1 of your opponent's rearguards. Your opponent's retired card enters the drop zone face-down."

Malefic Deleter is slated to be accompanied by another movie-centric set with the same release date, VG-MBT01: Neon Messiah. Comprised of just fifty cards, MBT01 will support the Link Joker, Kagerou, Gold Paladin and Royal Paladin clans, and the cards present in the set will be compatible with those in Malefic Deleter.

News: Cardfight!! Vanguard Films "A Game of Three" and "Neon Messiah" to Screen in September, Petit Vanguard Festival Decklists

Information regarding the upcoming Cardfight!! Vanguard films has just come out of this year's ongoing Great Vanguard Festival. Previously revealed at Bushiroad's December 2013 press conference, the films are currently scheduled for dual screenings as a single movie in September 2014. The first piece, A Game of Three (３つのゲーム Mitsu no Geemu) will be filmed in live action and star musician-actor Naito Daigō, while the second movie, Neon Messiah (ネオンメサイア Neon Mesaia), will be animated by LIDENFILMS of Ultra Super Pictures and star professional seiyuu Yonaga Tsubasa as the voice of Sendou Aichi. LIDENFILMS had previously done animation work on the franchise's poorly-received second season, Asia Circuit. Neon Messiah is set to take place between the end of the Link Joker and the currently airing Legion Mate chapters of the anime series, and will explore the events leading up to Aichi's disappearance in the latter season.

Also coming out just today is news regarding the sixteenth and seventeenth Japanese trial decks, leaked by the manager of the Fukuoka-based card store G-PROJECT. VG-TD17: Blue Flames of the Sacred Court (聖裁の青き炎 Seisai no Aokihonoo alternatively translated as of the Sacred Judge) will feature the Gold Paladin units used by Quatre Knight Olivier Gaillard, but the exact nature of TD16's support is not known. TD16: Cursed Dragon of Determination (決意の呪縛竜 Ketsui no Jubakuryuu) has been widely speculated to contain support for the Link Joker clan, based on the use of the kanji 呪縛 Jubaku "curse/spell" which is also the written form of ロック Rokku Lock. Without a pronunciation guide, it's uncertain if the intended reading is Cursed Dragon or Locked Dragon; the double meaning may be intentional. According to G-PROJECT, both decks will be receiving a Beginning Set variant as with TD14 and 15, and will be released on July 11th.

In other news, the decklists from the Petit Vanguard Festival's winning team have been made public and are translated below. Captained by Sussan using a Dragonic Nouvelle Vague deck, the team also features one of the first successful Monarch Sanctuary builds of the BT15-on format; Monarch has had a generally lukewarm reception in Japan, debuting on the secondary market as a 200 yen (approx. $2) RRR, and even in the team midfielder Chris' deck Monarch himself is only played at two copies. Much of the build's newfound success comes from Balan, an improved clone of Barrier Troop Revenger Dorint that can unflip damage whenever a Blade Liberator is called to the rearguard, and from Star Rain Trumpeter, who can superior call a unit by returning Blade Liberators to the deck from the drop zone or soul. The new grade 1 Zorron is also subtly important to the new Liberators; when called to the rearguard from the deck Zorron can move into the soul to call another card from the top 3 cards, so that with the skills of Gancelot Zenith, Star Rain and Escrad all able to trigger him, the Monarch build achieves effective acceleration that can partially ignore Zorron and run a "46-card" deck while also replenishing the soul for Monarch's limit break. Chris' version of the deck also has synergy with Gancelot Zenith's emphasis on grade 2 and lower rearguards, achieved by running just 6 grade 3s.

Petit Vanguard Festival First Place Team
Foreward: Akebi/アクビ
Grade 0
x1 Vivid Rabbit (FV)
x4 Witch of Big Pots, Laurier HT
x2 Bandit Danny DT
x2 Fancy Monky DT
x4 Witch of Lemons, Limoncello CT
x4 Battle Maiden, Kukurihime CT
Grade 1
x4 Goddess of Protection, Kushinada
x4 Orange Witch, Valencia
x3 Apple Witch, Cider
x3 Ordain Owl
Grade 2
x4 Grape Witch, Grappa
x4 Witch of Ravens, Chamomile
x3 Goddess of Trees, Jupiter
Grade 3
x4 Omniscience Regalia, Minerva
x4 Regalia of Wisdom, Angelica

Midfielder: Chris/クリス
Grade 0
x1 Aspiring Liberator, Alm (FV)
x4 Flame of Victory CT
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x2 Strike Liberator CT
x2 Armed Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x3 May Rain Liberator, Bruno
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
x4 White Rainbow Liberator, Balan
x4 Physical Force Liberator, Zorron
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Liberator
x4 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
x3 Liberator, Stair Rain Trumpeter
x1 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of Bonds, Gancelot Zenith
x2 Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred

Captain: Sussan/すっさん
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe
x1 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x2 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Therese HT
x1 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x2 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x2 Blue-Ray Dracokid CT
x2 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x1 Lizard Soldier, Goraha CT
Grade 1
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x2 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x1 Dragon Dancer, Maria
x1 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x1 Dragon Monk, Gojo
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x3 Berserk Dragon
x2 Bellicosity Dragon
x1 Dragonic Burnout
x1 Demonic Dragon Berserker, Kumbhanda
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x2 Dragonic Overlord (BT15/004)
Grade 4
x3 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague

News: Ride to Victory Sequel "Lock on Victory," Fourth Season and Movies Announced for 2014

FuRyu producer Ms. Fujiwara speaks about Lock on Victory at the Special Conference.

Yesterday Bushiroad's December 16th broadcast brought with it the unveiling of Cardfight!! Vanguard's schedule going into 2014, revealing several upcoming titles including a second 3DS game, Cardfight!! Vanguard: Lock on Victory. FuRyu producer Ms. Fujiwara came to speak on the title. Based on the storyline of the Link Joker season of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Lock on Victory will feature the return of the previous game's customizable protagonists as they head into high school. The player will be able to attend Miyaji Academy, Hitsue High, or Fukuhara High School and live out their daily lives with the anime's cast. Production images showed the hotblooded-type hero from RTV in Miyaji uniform, with the cool-type hero in Hitsue clothes, and the dark-type heroine instead shown attending Fukuhara. Whether the player's school is connected to their choice of protagonist is unknown, but a versus mode image shows the female protagonist fighting in Hitsue uniform, suggesting that the player will be free to choose any school regardless of their selected character.

Images from the game's interface show the integration of Lock into gameplay, represented by black rings rotating above the face-down Locked cards. The game will also support the break ride mechanic, with new animations specific to it, as well as grade 4 units. Lock on Victory will support cards from up through VG-BT15: Infinite Rebirth, just as RTV supported up until BT09: Clash of the Knights and Dragons on release, but as with the previous game will not be released until after the set itself. LOV is scheduled for a summer release. Previously international fans had come out in strong support of Ride to Victory's international release, which had prompted Bushiroad to begin internal talks about localizing the game, but nothing has come of this as of yet. As the company has been responsive to its fans' requests, Lock on Victory may provide an opportunity for a renewed push to bring the video game series overseas.

12/17/2013 Update: LOV's official website has launched.

DAIGO's announcement prompted a flood of real-time comments from the viewers.

Viewers went wild when musical star DAIGO announced the production of a Cardfight!! Vanguard film, featuring the return of Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki, Tokura Misaki and others. Instead of being produced by Studio TMS as the core anime seasons are, the film will be produced by Ultra Super Pictures, a studio most recently involved with the production of Black Rock Shooter and Kill La Kill. More surprising still is that the anime film accounts for only half of the entire work; in addition to the anime edition, a complementary live action edition will be produced by Ace Works Entertainment. This upcoming TV drama is believed to be a successor to the 2012 film that previously brought Vanguard's musical star DAIGO to the fore as a key actor. Once again he will be joined by Mimori Suzuko, although it is unknown if she will be reprising her role from the previous film as Kagami Maria. Immediately after the Special Conference's airing an official website for the film went up, showing off a promotional image advertising the two pieces and a list of some of the actors casted. Both films are scheduled for release in 2014, with the anime film being directed by Itagaki Shin, and the live action film directed by Motoki Takashi.

Regarding the anime film, Kitta Izumi joked that she was playing the "cute heroine" as Misaki for the movie--NicoNico viewers made some humorous protests, insisting that Aichi was instead the series' heroine. She also commented that to have a film edition of Cardfight!! Vanguard being produced was "like a dream." As DAIGO pointed out, it's now been almost three years since Vanguard began; there was no small amount of sentiment for the four speakers then on stage, who had been a part of the franchise since it began in 2011. Perhaps the individual to which this meant the most however, was Itou Akira.

Known for making rare public appearances via the Vangua-Road webcast and communicating with his fans primarily via Twitter, the reclusive mangaka came on stage to describe the upcoming film as being on a larger scale. While specifics regarding the story are few, it will take place after the Link Joker chapter and feature most of the main characters. Some concerns arose that Team Q4 would be reduced to Team Q3 because of Kai's absence when the team was last active during the Asia Circuit, but these fears were alleviated when it was said that Kai would not be going anywhere for the film. Viewers took note that during the broadcast Itou was dressed "Kai-kun style"--his black blazer, scarf, high boots and the deck holder strung over his belt gave the impression of a Kai Toshiki cosplay.

Along with these announcements came news of Cardfight!! Vanguard's upcoming fourth season, dubbed "Legion Mate" chapter (レギオンメイト編 region meito hen, note that the Japanese pronunciation uses a hard G sound as in "green") which will follow Aichi and Kai's shared story after Link Joker. Images of Aichi and Kai in their Link Joker-era designs were used, prompting Kitta Izumi to comment that "Kai-kun looks a little...how should I say..." but Doctor O assured everyone that these images were recycled from BT15, as there is no key artwork ready for Legion Mate as of yet. As no final English title has been given yet, some have disputed the Legion translation in favor of "Region Mate." Those speaking at the event pronounced the レ sound as closer to L than R, but neither translation fits the Japanese rendering perfectly.

The new season's ED theme will be created by Japanese girls' pop group FAKY, while the OP "V-Road" will be created by the Bushi★7, an all-star team of artists assembled to celebrate Bushiroad's seventh year in operation. The Bushi★7 will consist of DAIGO, Psychic Lover members Yoffy and Imajo, Suara, Kitta Izumi and Mimori Suzuko, and Morishima Shuuto. The announcements drew a string of "8888" flooding the screen, which for the viewers at home substituted for clapping--the reading for 8 "hachi" sounds similar in Japanese to "pachi," an onomatopoeia for applauding.

The final announcement for the day was that 2014 will also see the release of a new extra booster set for the Bermuda Triangle clan, following up on VG-EB02: Banquet of Divas and VG-EB06: Dazzling Divas. In addition to this, another Great Vanguard Festival will be held at the Tokyo Big Sight this coming year, as has become customary for the TCG's tournament season in Japan. Doctor O closed out the Special Conference wishing well to the viewers, after which a string of new commercials for VG-BT14: Brilliant Strike and the newest Beginning Sets aired while the stage was prepared for Buddyfight's conference.

The portion of the broadcast concerned with Vanguard can be viewed in its entirety on the Cardfight Pro YouTube channel, recorded courtesy of Touya. We are looking into subtitling the broadcast, but as this will take some time to accomplish, for now only the unsubbed version is available.