A commercial for the next month's issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine has starred Yonaga Tsubasa in the role of Sendou Aichi, awakened from his sleep in the ongoing chapters of Itou Akira's Cardfight!! Vanguard manga. The current story thread concerns Aichi having been turned into a PSY Qualia zombie after losing a fight against another zombified character in a previous issue. PSY Qualia zombies approximately equate to the Link Joker chapter of the anime's Яeverse cardfighters, but originate from Ibuki Kouji and a partner antagonist "Cold Walker" rather than Void. Unlike Яeversed fighters, zombies are endowed with the PSY Qualia ability to see the future of a fight. The original commercial, along with a transcript and translation of Aichi's lines, is provided below.
While the anime presented a hypothetical scenario of Aichi being Яeversed in episode 144, this was never realized during the course of the Link Joker chapter's run. Previously Itou stated through Twitter that he first proposed the Яeverse concept to the anime staff; it's likely that he took influence from the anime's unrealized scenario. The Monthly Bushiroad commercial below provides a quick view of the upcoming chapters of both Cardfight!! Vanguard and Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as well as the issue's PR♥ISM-Duo promotional cards.
月刊ブシロード。 Monthly Bushiroad.
さあ、ファイトしましょうよ。僕と…ふふ。 Now, will you all fight? Against me...Haha.
新世代の彼だって僕を止められない。 Even the new generation cannot stop me.
聞こえる、白と黒のハーモニー。もう限界などないのです。 I can hear it, the Harmony of white and black. Soon, there will be no more limits!
イメージしてください。その先に見える、新たな世界を。 Please picture it. That which you saw before, a new world.
月刊ブシロード七月号。六月四日発売！ Monthly Bushiroad, July issue. On sale June 8th!
Less than an hour ago professional voice actor and singer Yonaga "Wing" Tsubasa, the man behind the voice of Sendou Aichi, announced his marriage to actress Nishigaki Yuka on Twitter. The announcement surprised many, attracting over fifty thousand retweets within a forty minute period. Just last week Yonaga had been attending the 2015 Great Vanguard Festival.
Nishigaki Yuka
Nishigaki is not a Vanguard-related actress, and has primarily
voiced supporting and background characters since 2004; readers may
remember her as Kazemaru Ichirouta in Inazuma Eleven. Both actors currently work for Ken Productions. Japanese and international fans alike are congratulating Yonaga on his marriage.
Otomedia, a Japanese magazine primarily directed at women 18-40, is bringing its readers a surprise in its June issue. A poster insert features Vanguard's three leading men dolled up in tuxedos and holding the series' trademark lilies. The artwork has drawn much attention on tumblr, where the fanservice is driving the magazine's audience wild.
The inclusion may seem unusual for a girl's anime magazine--Otomedia is not the type to normally showcase hobby anime. However, other information suggests that this can be seen as a response to Vanguard's actual viewership.
At the Big Vanguard Fest this May, bracelets, hair scrunchies and T-shirts designed for women were sold; Yonaga Tsubasa and Satou Takuya featured them on their night-time radio program, Tachigare! Bokura no Vanguard, a general-audiences Vanguard talk show.
Yonaga and Satou are Aichi and Kai's voice actors respectively, and are known to go out of their way for their female fanbase, breaking out during certain parts of the program with in-character lines like "You're the one I want!" and "I'll protect you!" (They also designed the joke cards, Takugal and Eternal Wing, based off of themselves. Takugal gains a special power boost from being boosted by EW.)
Supporting these recent developments, several women's-only double-elimination tournaments are being launched in Japan, with the most recent one currently reaching across 14 of Japan's 47 prefectures. As this is coming about in the wake of female pros like Kakuhara Misaki and Asano Ami rising to prominence in regional events, the push to expand Vanguard's target demographics is likely no coincidence.
