Press Release: Record Sales of Cardfight!! Vanguard Winter-Spring Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA (March 7, 2014) – In less than a month after the release dates, three of the most recent Cardfight!! Vanguard expansions are now sold out. These expansions, released in February, are the highly anticipated Trial Deck Vol. 10: Purgatory Revenger, Trial Deck Vol. 11: Star-vader Invasion and Booster Pack Vol. 12: Binding Force of the Black Rings.

The introduction of the new “Link Joker” narrative and the popularity of the newly-released clan, along with tie-ins to the themed Cardfight!! Vanguard Team League 2014 “Invasion” campaign resulted in an unprecedented surge of purchases from retailers across the world. Despite an increased print run for all three products, both Trial Decks and the Booster Pack sold out within two weeks of their release dates in February.

Director of Bushiroad South East Asia and Bushiroad USA, Mr. Masayuki Goto, shared, “We are very pleased with this milestone for our new expansions and we hope that players and retailers alike will enjoy our line-up of products for this season together with many big events this year.”

A second print run is scheduled to keep up with the high demand for these three expansions and Bushiroad will make every effort to ensure there is no shortage of product on the market.

Cardfight!! Vanguard was recently ranked 5^th in both the “Top 10 Hobby Channel Collectible Games” and “Top 5 Collectible Games Over-all” for Summer 2013*, and had a strong showing in the top hobby game picks of 2014**, securing 6 out of 11 spots for all titles, including Weiβ Schwarz and the newly-released Future Card Buddyfight on ICV2.

* ICV2 #83, Fall 2013 p.17

**ICV2 #83, Fall 2013 p.14

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Bushiroad Inc. consists of 6 sub-entities: Bushiroad Inc., Bushiroad South East Asia Pte Ltd, Bushiroad USA Inc., Bushiroad Media, New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd., and Hibiki Music Inc.

Bushiroad South East Asia Pte Ltd was established in Singapore on November 12, 2011 in order to expand the overseas market for Bushiroad card games such as Cardfight!! Vanguard, Weiβ Schwarz, Chaos TCG and Victory Spark.  

Bushiroad USA Inc. was established in Los Angeles, California on May 18, 2012, to better cater to the growing demand and interest in Cardfight!! Vanguard from both players and retailers in the USA.

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Cardfight!! Vanguard Website (Japanese) - http://cf-vanguard.com/

Cardfight!! Vanguard Website (English) - http://cf-vanguard.com/en/

Bushiroad (Japanese) - http://bushiroad.com/

Bushiroad (English) - http://bushiroad.com/en/

News: Fans Celebrate 12/12 "Renmas" Holiday

Originally posted by mefi_PaP.

Since December 12th yesterday Twitter and Pixiv have been flooded with Japanese fans observing 雀ヶ森レン様聖誕祭2013 "Master Suzugamori Ren's Holy Birthday 2013" (Suzugamori Ren-sama Seitansai 2013) the advent of Ren's birthday according to his official character biographies. This is the third observation of his birthday since his debut in 2011, and this year has been one of the most visibly observed among Japanese fans, owing to Suzugamori's enduring popularity.

Originally posted by rensama1212.

The tradition of observing Cardfight!! character birthdays began on Pixiv with celebratory artworks, and grew in popularity on social media until it reached a high point in 2013. Kai Toshiki's 8/28 birthday is more popular among artists, racking up 12 pages of artworks on Pixiv in 2012, but Suzugamori seems to own Twitter this year with fans going all-out for character shrines, birthday cakes and merchandise.

One of Bushiroad's official stores got in on the celebration with a portrait case full of Circuit-era Ren sleeves, framed by the trademark mountain lilies Suzugamori is associated with in the anime. You can browse through yesterday's festivities via the associated tag, #雀ヶ森レン様聖誕祭2013.

The kanji used for character birthdays are distinct from a normal birthday 誕生日 Tanjoubi and are also the one of the words used for Christmas 聖誕祭 Seitansai which has a more material slant than the religious term 降誕祭 Koutansai that's also used for saint's birthdays. (The phonetic word クリスマス Kurisumasu is more commonly used, being an approximation of the English word "Christmas." Some English words with similar usage are Christmas for Kurisumasu, X-mas for Seitansai and Christ's Mass for Koutansai.) Although rarely seen in the west unless influenced directly by Japanese fans, character birthdays are relatively popular with Japanese fandoms.

Originally posted by ammy2326.

"Renmas" has proved especially popular this year in part because it coincides with the release of VG-HS06: Beginning Set Purgatory Revenger (はじめようセット 奈落の撃退者 Hajimeyou Setto Naraku no Ribenjaa) the Beginning Set associated with Suzugamori Ren and his new Revenger cards. Sets of these kind are issued annually by Bushiroad, typically reprinting a trial deck with additional promo cards, sleeves and merchandise toward the end of one of Cardfight!! Vanguard's seasons. HS06 is being accompanied by Sendou Aichi's HS05: Beginning Set Liberator of the Sanctuary (はじめようセット 聖域の解放者 Hajimeyou Setto Seiki no Ribereitaa) and for the first time Bushiroad will also be printing additional Beginning Sets later in the month, for Kai Toshiki's TD11 and Mitsusada Kenji's TD12.

News: Blaster Dark Revenger's Skills Revealed

This morning the latest issue of KeroKero Ace hit Japan, and among the previews for the DAIGO Special Set and Fighter's Collection 2013 was an ad for TD10: Purgatory Revenger with the long awaited skills of Blaster Dark Revenger enclosed. Two years ago, Blaster Dark's original incarnation in BT04: Eclipse of Illusionary Shadows was the first Shadow Paladin to ever be shown to the public, and his Revenger print follows suit.

(Imposed text; "Blessed are those who receive the light. Shadow has but one way it must go.")

Blaster Dark Revenger
Grade 2/Power 9000/Shield 5000
Shadow Paladin/Human/United Sanctuary
AUTO [Counter Blast (2)]: When this unit is placed on V or R, if you have a vanguard with "Revenger" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row, and retire it.

On June 22nd, this will be the first pure Shadow Paladin unit to be released in twelve months. Although a copy of Blade Liberator, Dark Revenger is a marked improvement over his original incarnation as a consistent access point toward field control. The unit is not the "ultimate" Blaster Dark that some were hoping for, however; one of the defining features of the original was his vanguard defense, as he was the first grade 2 to get +1000 additional power when a specific grade 1 was in the soul, which allowed Shadow Paladin cardfighters to completely stop an attack from Blaster Blade and prevent Wingal Brave's skill from going off. The Revengers are interacting with both their Gold and Royal counterparts differently, right from the first card printed. Counterblast is also not as freely available for the Shadow Paladins as it is for the Gold Paladins, as Macha, Nemain, Vaha, Phantom Blaster and Ildona take up the entire damage zone many times over on their own. Dark Revenger's playability will ultimately be determined by the unique abilities of the remaining Revenger subgroup cards.

Among the other cards previewed in KKA are several special prints for FC2013; the original Blaster Dark and the SP print Itou Akira artwork of Phantom Blaster Dragon will both be reprinted with commemorative gold lettering over the illustration.

News: Bushiroad Sleeves Leak TD10 & 11 Cover Card Names

These sleeves are the public's first look at Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon and Revenger of the Profound Illusion, Mordred Phantom.

Today Bushiroad's newly announced sleeves, among which were two cards from TD10: Purgatory Revenger and TD11: Star-Vader Invasion, revealed the names of two new units for the Shadow Paladin and Link Joker clans. Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon and Revenger of the Profound Illusion, Mordred Phantom. Mordred Phantom in particular is drawing attention for being based on the literary Mordred, illegitimate son of King Arthur and a key antagonist in Arthurian literature. His artwork has drawn comparison to the previous two Gancelots of past trial decks, riding atop a black pegasus and wielding a sword similar to Gancelot's own.

Note that the kanji in Mordred's name 幽幻 can also be interpreted as "Dark Illusion," among many other variations. While there is no pronunciation guide as of yet, it may be read as Yuugen, which can make deliberate comparison to 幽玄 Yuugen the "Profound Darkness" or "Profound Mystery" one of the elements of Japanese aesthetic, meaning to imply more than what is before the viewer. The 幽 kanji can also mean "Secluded" and so can play off of the name of Mordred's Royal/Gold Paladin counterpart, the "Solitary" Gancelot. While the Revenger subgroup seems to be bringing a new play style to the Shadow Paladins, Mordred is providing some continuity between the old and the new, as the fourth "Phantom" unit that the clan has received.

News: TD10: Purgatory Revenger and TD11: Star-Vader Invasion Announced, New Clan "Link Joker" Unveiled

The bomb dropped this morning with the reveal of the upcoming Shadow Paladin trial deck, VG-TD10: Purgatory Revenger (奈落の撃退者 lit. Revenger of Hell, Revenger of the Abyss, Revenger of Hades et cetera.) This trial deck, which was first announced in Bushiroad's December 5th press conference and confirmed for a June 2013 release last February, will renew the Shadow Paladin strategy with a new subgroup of "Revenger" units as counterparts to the Gold Paladin "Liberator" subgroup. Promising the introduction of a Shadow Paladin break ride for further support, many hopefuls are eager to see the Shadow Paladins return to prominent competition after their celebrated victory in the amateur VGCS tournament. The anime's most prominent Shadow Paladin cardfighter, Suzugamori Ren is being used as the cover character, suggesting that he'll be getting more extended screentime for Link Joker, in contrast to his gradually-reduced role during the Asia Circuit. Blaster Dark is also featured prominently, and is speculated to undergo a reimagining similar to the Blaster Blade to Blaster Blade Liberator conversion, as "Blaster Dark Revenger."

Continuing the theme of previous Shadow Paladin boss cards Phantom Blaster Dragon and Blaster Overlord, the as of yet unnamed grade 3 for TD10 features a prominent eclipse. Artist Hagiya Kaoru, previously known for illustrating Origin Mage Ildona, Skull Witch Nemain and both Gancelots, is among the artists credited, and the unnamed card is very recognizably in his style. With veteran artists like Hagiya and Itou Akira at the new deck's helm, it's clear that a lot of attention is being put into this new deck.

Additionally, news of a new clan has sprung up along with the announcement of TD11: Star-Vader Invasion (侵略の星輝兵 Invasion of Starlightsoldiers) which will introduce the new clan, Link Joker. Like TD08, 09 and 10 before it, TD11 will introduce a break ride unit. Bearing the third season's title, the clan is being speculated by fans as the antagonist clan for the season, much as Shadow Paladin and Aqua Force served in the past; the otherwordly appearance of the two units shown thus far and the trial deck's title may imply an extraterrestrial theme, connected to Cardfight's overall focus on the planet Cray. In addition to its break ride, the trial deck will introduce a "new system" that will overturn "common sense." (This is the same "common sense/常識 joushiki" that the third season has been talking about in its early episodes.) Already it has been noted that the Link Joker clan's nation box seemingly belongs to the United Sanctuary, although US colors have been used as a placeholder in the past.

TD10: Purgatory Revenger and TD11: Star-Vader Invasion will be released in Japan on June 22, 2013. Following Bushiroad's current trial deck policies, Revenger's sealed fifty card deck will contain seventeen exclusive cards and three foil cards.