Weekly Bites reveals: New Vanguard manga "MiniVan Hi!!", prototype Gift Markers

Beginning in the upcoming July issue of Monthly Bushiroad, out June 8th, a new manga by Mini Vanguard gag manga author Quily based on the new Vanguard anime will begin, MiniVan Hi!!

Prototype Gift Markers will be available as part of the Get! Treasure Campaign; one Force, Accel, and Protect Marker packaged together, exchangeable for 1 point beginning May 30th. Fighters pull points in Japanese boxes and redeem them for these prizes.

Happy Birthday Aichi!! Vanguard goods, commemorating Aichi's birthday on June 6th. Cakes, macaroons, and cupcakes.

Alternate artwork Alfred Early, being given out in Japan as part of the Vanguard Plus campaign.

Nation & MiniVan clear files on sale at Vanguard Fest April 29th-30th

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.

News: Bushiroad to Launch New Vanguard Manga, KeroKero Ace to Cease Publication, Monthly Bushiroad to Launch in September

Hosted by CEO Kidani Takaaki, Bushiroad's monthly broadcast on NicoNico Douga revealed today that the company will be circulating their own magazine starting on September 6th, Monthly Bushiroad. Following the July 26th issue, KeroKero Ace magazine will cease publication of the official Cardfight!! Vanguard manga authored by franchise creator Itou Akira that has run parallel to the anime from the beginning, and new chapters will instead be serialized in Monthly Bushiroad.

Furthermore, with the launch of the new magazine will come a sidestory manga focused on the units of the trading card game, Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden: Shining Swordsman (カードファイト！！ヴァンガード外伝　光の剣士 Kaadofaito!! Vangaado Gaiden Hikari no Kenshi) which will be overseen by Itou Akira, and illustrated by Koshimizu Makoto. Focusing on the lore of the Cardfight!! Vanguard TCG, the protagonist was stated in the broadcast to be Blaster Blade.

The early promotional benefits of buying Monthly Bushiroad's first issue include three Cardfight!! Vanguard promo cards, one copy of Storm Bring Dragon and two cards from the upcoming thirteenth booster set, VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak.

The end of KeroKero Ace is a sudden and alarming shift, as it was in this magazine that the first Cardfight!! Vanguard cards ever were distributed, and their exclusive previews of upcoming booster sets have become endeared to fans. KKA was started up six years ago by Kadokawa Shoten, having built up a sizable readership in that timeframe, with many international readers importing the magazine in addition to fans in Japan. Starting in September, the Cardfight!! Vanguard and MiniVan manga will both be transferred to Monthly Bushiroad. The monthly strategy articles that KeroKero Ace once provided will also be handled by Monthly, but with Bushiroad itself handling the writing and publication of those articles instead of providing material for an outside party to write around, it cannot be anticipated what kind of format Monthly will adopt for these. Bushiroad Monthly is tentatively slated for a 600 yen price after tax, approximately $6 US, and will be printed on B5 size paper.