Cardfight!! Vanguard

TV (65 eps)
2011 - 2012
Winter 2011
3.086 out of 5 from 2,485 votes
Rank #5,462

Move over, solitaire! Cardfight Vanguard is the card game that all the kids these days are playing. Using carefully prepared decks, players battle it out for fame and glory – the first to receive six damage points loses. After a bully takes Aichi's special card, the boy learns Vanguard to win it back and finds himself inexplicably drawn into the sport. Now determined to prove his skills to himself, as well as to the legendary player Toshiki Kai, Aichi climbs the ranks of Vanguard, making new friends and challenging fierce competitors along the way.

my anime:

User Stats

  • 0 watched
  • 0 watching
  • 0 want to watch
  • 0 dropped

If you like this anime, you might like...



Story: This series is of the "Card Game Battling" genre; so, the plot is fairly preditable (though there are a few interesting curveballs).  Unlike Yugioh (which goes all out with the supernatural/fantasy elements from the get go), Cardfight Vanguard actually starts off fairly grounded and realistic.  I personally like the fact that it starts off humbly and somewhat realistic and gradually works up to becoming more epic, but I can see how some people might find it boring.  This series takes awhile to really hit it's stride.  Eventually, the series begins to introduce the supernatural/fantasy elements.  I will say that Cardfight Vanguard makes the trasition from somewhat realistic to more fantasy better than some other anime (*cough* Samurai Flamenco *cough*).  I also like that unlike Yugioh (in which the main character wins almost all the time), the main character of Cardfight Vanguard does lose (especially in the begining, which makes sense since he's a beginner).  As I said, the story is fairly predictable and nothing spectacular, but it's still fairly decent and enjoyable (as long as you're not one of those people that expects epic "Yugioh-ish" stuff from the get go.  If you are, then this series may bore you). Animation: The animation is typical for this kind of anime.  It's not great, but it's not terrible either.  There are a few detail flubs here and there, but most of them are only obvious if you have an eye for detail like I do.  I like most of the character designs (especially Ren's *drools*). Sound: The first opening is pretty cheesy, but it's also pretty catchy.  The second opening is also catchy, but not as cheesy as the first one (in my opinion, at least).  The endings are pleasant to listen to, but not particularly memerable.  The background music may not be the greatest, but it gets the job done and fits the tone (especially with the more dramatic/heartwarming scenes). Characters: Aichi (the main character) starts out as a wimp who is contantly bullied and is unsure of himself, but thoughout the course of the series he does gain some more confidence.  As the series goes on, he gains the power of Psyqualia and while he starts to win more often because of it, it also causes him to briefly show a darker side to himself.  Aichi also has a bit of an obsession with his friend/rival Kai (which may creep some people out.  It didn't bother me at all, but that's because I'm a yaoi-shipper so I like that kind of thing).  Speaking of Kai, he is your sterotypical cold/loner type of character.  He does slightly lighten up later on.  Kamui can be slightly annoying at times, but he can also be funny and he does get some character development.  Misaki is a really well developed character and is arguably the best character in the series.  I really liked Aichi's sister, Emi, as well.  Ren is the hot, evil villian who uses his Psyqualia powers to not only dominate Vanguard but also wants to use them to conquor the world (somehow).  However, flashback scenes show that he wasn't always that way but was led to it due to being addicted to his Psyqualia powers (a fact that is comfirmed when Aichi gets addicted to his powers and starts behaving alot like Ren).  The only character in the series that I hate is Nagisa.  She is extremely annoying and clingy.  The only thing redeming about her is the fact that she is a pretty good card player.  There's a bunch of other characters, all with their various quirks.   Overall: If you are not into the "Card Game Battle" genre, this series will probably not change your mind.  If you like this type of anime though, then you should give it a try.  Though this series has it's flaws, it's still enjoyable for what it is.  Just keep in mind that it takes a while before the plot starts to get going.  Anyways, I heard that the sequels were better than this first season/series; so, I'll probably check them out (and possibly review them) later. Secret Santa 2014 Review


YuGiOh is an anime most of us know of, probably played a lot, and definitely will remember forever thanks to the abridged version. Card Fight Vanguard on the other hand is an anime very few of us know of, probably never played, and have no reason to remember. Why did this happen, if both of them promote a card game, were made by the same people, have the same character archetypes, and target the same audience? 1) Novelty: YGO was the first major card game promoting series and created a sensation simply by being the first. After the novelty faded (since a dumb idea can only work once) later seasons, as well as any other card game promoting anime such as Vanguard, failed to be sensational. 2) Dark Tones: YGO, and especially its first version which never left Japan, was dark and creepy. It had all sorts of occult overtones to the point many parents thought it was initiating their kids to Satanism. The producers were forced to water down the atmosphere with each new season in order to calm down the adults and to increase the age advisory, until the whole thing became just another tame kiddie show. This still doesn’t take away the fact that a huge part of the charm it had at first were the occult stuff, the demons and the satanic rituals were you sacrifice souls to summon bigger devils. The kids loved it as much as the parents hated it. Vanguard has none of that, it came out at a time when everything was neutered and dull, and thus fails to stand out by making your parents lose their shit. 3) High Stakes: YGO had a plot where defeat leads to creepy stuff. Your body would be shred to pieces, your soul would be trapped in limbo, hell would break loose on Earth, the planet would blow up, evil would rule the universe, and someone would kick a puppy. Vanguard doesn’t have that sort of looming threat, as defeat means nothing more than trying to learn from your mistakes and improving along the way. It’s no different from a sport. Later on, it does move to more dangerous stuff, but by then nobody cared, since the target audience are children who want cool stuff right away. 4) Protagonist: Both shows have a very similar weak geek as a protagonist, but the one in YGO also has a cool dark personality that was taking over his body and unleashes all sorts of awesome powers upon his enemies. In Vanguard, the geek remains a geek, with his dark personality being more like a minor side story, and he keeps it hidden away instead of letting it take over. Again, because of the target audience being children, of course and YGO has a far more interesting protagonist. 5) Variety: The players of YGO hardly use copies of the same monster in a duel, unless they need two or three of the same kind in order to do some cool strategy. In Vanguard, they summon the same monsters again and again, as if there are only a few dozen different cards in each deck. This makes it both boring as well as trashing the illusion of each monster being a special individual. This happens mostly because the first season came out when there weren’t many cards in the game, but the problem is still there. 6) Presentation: The monsters in YGO were appearing in battles through holographic projectors, and later on in the flesh. In Vanguard, you are supposed to IMAGINE them fighting. I am not joking, the show is literally telling you to imagine the battles taking place, and pretend you are in pain when they hit you. Too much make belief for little kids to appreciate in an animated series. 7) Gameplay: YGO had a very convenient Deus Ex Machina called the “Heart of the Cards”. Every time someone was about to lose, he would draw the only possible card that could save him, followed by a cool display of MY CARDS WILL NOW KICK YOUR ASS! But until that was needed by the plot, you were still given the impression that the players had control over what they could do with the cards they were using. They were setting traps which would trigger in a later round, and since they were kept hidden, you were filled with tension and excitement, wondering what their plan is or what the effect would be. In Vanguard you don’t get that feeling. You draw cards and hope you will get a trigger BY COMPLETE CHANCE! The characters are not planning ahead, they cannot use something in a later round; they are begging for a card they can use to turn the tables. Not cool, and feels random. 8 ) Depowering Realism: What eventually ruins Vanguard, is trying to feel more real, and that ends up working against it. a) It is not about winning as it is about learning from your mistakes. The protagonist is losing many times throughout the show, each time realizing something more about himself. It is hardly as cool as the SUPER AWESOME YAMI YUGI WHO NEVER LOSES but that had also to do with the fact that Yugi could not afford to lose. Defeat in YGO meant the end of the universe. In Vanguard, defeat is means to improve by trying different strategies and new cards next time. b) It also has capable female players in it. Unlike in YGO where they are used mostly as fan service and are completely useless in card games, over here you get some seriously good gals who know how to kick ass. c) It is also following the rules of the real game correctly. That is, no mambo-jumbo stuff that does not happen when you play the actual game. Let’s be honest, YGO was barely following the proper rules and was just making up stuff for the sake of coolness.d) And above all, the show is JUST about playing card games and having fun. Not about saving the world by doing silly things such as playing a children’s card game. 9) Epicness: Despite these positive characteristics, Vanguard fails because that is not what the target audience wants to see. If the protagonist loses half the time, they will think the game sucks. If they see good female players in it, they will think it’s gay; since only big boys play card games. They won’t care much if the rules are presented properly next to the battles being cool. And the battles are not cool because you are not trying to save the world with a bunch of cards. And even as a game, Vanguard doesn’t feel as epic as YGO, despite having a much bigger emphasis on strategy. - Replacing monsters is limited to your main creature. - You don’t have 8000 AWESOME LIFE POINTS, you just have 6 cards of life. - No matter how powerful your attack is, you normally inflict only 1 card worth of damage. - There are no on-going effects, just temporal buffs. - Synergy is way too important, to the point it limits your possible actions.- Buffs from triggers are impossible to control.Vanguard is worse in everything, compared to YGO. It is uncool, saturated, tame, expects from you to imagine what is going on instead of feeling it, and above all, it is modern.


Story 1/10 The story is of little to no consequence. Some kid gets bullied, gets his favorite card stolen and then uses card fighting to get it back. Suddenly the people who bullied him become his best friends and he's no longer the loser of his class. They especially note this in the second episode where they point out that before he had his card fight, he was a ridiculous loser with no friends and never talking to anyone, never being happy. Yup, worst story I've been in a long time Animation 2/10 It's your Generic card fight animation. Flashy lights when cards are used, random spirits popping up left right and center, colorful hair for no reason other than to... actually, I don't know why. I was going to say make it seem original, except every single anime does this. So colorful hair the sake of it? In short, the animation is about as Generic as it gets Sound 2/10 There's not much to say. You don't really notice the sound. It doesn't help nor hinder the anime. It's practically non-existant, which probably makes it the best component of this anime Characters 1/10 If I could, I'd give it a -10. You have your main character who's a whimpy little brat, then you have your side characters who consists of two bullies who magically become friends, a quiet mysterious shop keeper and a brooding quiet other person. Because creativity and interesting character design with depth is over-rated Overall 2/10 This is amazingly generic. Someone must have slept their way to getting this into anime form because there's not a single interesting thing about it. The characters suck. The story is non-existant, the animation is bland and generic and the entire concept is proposterous. I only watched it for four episodes because I was hoping something interesting would happen, and the first three episodes were just scene setters. I guess not.

See all reviews

Related anime

Related manga


See all characters


See all staff