Introduction
Taking the world by storm, the card game Cardfight Vanguard has influenced many to integrate card games into their everyday lives. Players of the popular game are called "cardfighters," and they frequently battle each other in card shops. The game has inspired many people, one of which is the quiet and timid Aichi Sendou who is often ridiculed and bullied by his peers. Whenever he feels down, he takes a glance at Blaster Blade—a legendary rare card given to him when he was young—and gains the motivation to move on with his life.
However, one day, school bully Katsumi Morikawa notices Aichi's treasure and snatches the card away from him. After a turn of events, Aichi soon discovers that the card is now in the hands of Toshiki Kai, a cardfighter who has become the strongest in town despite having only recently arrived. To make matters worse, Kai refuses to return the card unless Aichi defeats him in a cardfight.
Much to everyone's surprise, Aichi rises up to the occasion. As he musters up his courage and pictures himself winning this decisive battle, Aichi begins to find his way into the adventurous world of Cardfight Vanguard.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Malawa
I first watched this when I was around like 10, while it was cringey it ended up being way more interesting than most kodomo anime and I prefered it to Yugioh (GX at least) tbh.
Story:
As many will say, Cardfight!! Vanguard is basically the 'grounded' counterpart to Yugioh although it veers further into supernatural and sci-fi elements over time. Season 1 revolves around underdog Aichi as he attempts to get better at the eponymous game and climb his way up from locals (characters mainly play at this LCS called 'Card Capital') to regionals to nationals. Seeems very real but keep in mind they introduce a supernatural subplot later on with the main antagonist stemming from said subplot.
Majority of the episodes will revolve around or build up to a cardfight. Cardfights are presented in a r…
Read at the sourcePhasar2022
Just a short review cus I don't like Vanguard anymore. Heck, the whole show is a so bad that this small review is enough to roast this bad anime.
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 r…
Read at the sourceGregsusernames
This might just be the first time i've seen a card game anime that isn't about saving the world from the evil thing with card game THAT YOU CAN BUY NOW GO OUT AND BEG YOUR PARENTS FOR MONEY TO BUY OUR CRAP
That said it IS still a 30 minute commercial however this time around we actually see what makes card games fun. Testing decks and strategies. building a deck that you're slowly improving as time goes on. The weird love you end up with for the most random card in your deck that makes you wanna play it in everything despite it not being all that good cough cough questing beast. Later on they do get into the SAVE THE WORLD WITH CARD GAME however this first season specifically is really nice to go back to every so often just to see the absolute wonder that grows in these characters as they…
Read at the sourcemouthpiece
This is a YuGiOh (YGO) style anime (made by the same people, has the same character archetypes, and even has a few subtle references to that show), meaning it is made just to promote a card game. At the same time it is very different that YuGiOh and in a way tries to deconstruct the formula in order to create a more realistic overall. And guess what, this is exactly what makes it so lame. Although I was never a huge fan of the older franchise but did appreciate the cool presentation. And yes, I did have the motivation to learn how to play the game thanks to the anime. Vanguard on the other hand is far from cool and quickly loses its glamour. There is no better way to explain what I mean than to keep comparing these two anime, showing where one succeeded and the other failed.
1) YGO was th…
Read at the sourceShin0a
Although I really liked the show as a kid, I was still surprised with the new adaptation, even if I didn't like it as much, it had a lot of new stuff that made certain aspects WAY more entertaining while others are worse.
For Example, the Story. I'd give the Story a 6/10. There's very little nuance and everything is very laid out for you, as well as Aichi starting as basically a god of the game after only playing a few times was very immersion-breaking. In the original series, Aichi, for the first few games, is complete ass. And that is great, because it makes it feel much more real and grounded as opposed to this now where he's kind of just at the level of a worlds winner after MAYBE a week, whereas most real worlds winners have played for years.
The art, is pretty good (8/10). There's…
Read at the sourceTakaCode
When I watched Cardfight Vanguard for the first time thanks to YouTube advertisements I absolutely loved it. I thought the story was great and well written, I adored the characters and I loved the soundtrack. Yeah, the production values were not that great but least it was tolerable. Cardfight Vanguard Season 1 is one of my favourite anime alongside with Code Geass, Clannad and Slayers. However, I was 14 years old when first watched Cardfight Vanguard and I was still developing my tastes. Fast forward 6 years later in the year 2018 where my tastes in anime had grown, I decided to re-watch Cardfight Vanguard just to see how it holds up as an anime without my late nostalgia for it. After re-watching 65 episodes of Cardfight Vanguard, I have to say this. Cardfight Vanguard Season 1 is a good…
Read at the sourceTakeshi_Fukato
Vanguard is currently a very popular card game and I can even argue that it can surpass its predecessors and the game has no one to thank but this show for introducing it to the world.
The story is nothing great but instead to me it is the characters who really make this show great.Not only are they relatable but they each have their own stories and goals.
Lets start off with the main character Aichi Sendou.As he is the main protagonist of the show he carries alot of responsibilities and I am happy to say that he does it well as he is very relatable and also in ways represent us in the world of Vanguard.He starts off as a nobody with no knowledge of the game and immediately we can relate as we are also most likely new to the game.So as the story goes on we are learning about the game wit…
Read at the sourceSasaharaKumagawa
Story
At first I enjoyed how laid back the show was. It was the first marketing vehicle anime I'd watched where card games didn't decide the fate of the world. Then that changed when the series antagonist shows up. The show doesn't suffer tremendously, even weaving in a "believe in your own power" theme, but I still want a slice of life card game anime one day.
Art
Considering how recent this show is, the art quality rather lacking. The character designs are interesting, but the animation seems rather low budget. But since the show's still airing, I suppose they had to cut corners somewhere.
Sound
The music really did its job in setting the mood. The orchestral music made the towering dragons and knights seem like legendary titans. There was also some awesome guitar music when things got…
Read at the sourceFlorete
Final turn!
It becomes obvious pretty early on with Cardfight!! Vanguard that whoever said "Don't judge a book by its cover" was...clearly not talking about this show. Yes, Cardfight is a show you can and should judge by its cover, as that judgment will determine whether or not you should watch the show. But I'll get to that later. Let's run the bases:
The story is basically thus: people play card games. Or rather, card game. Vanguard is the "big thing" in the world of Cardfight, as one might expect. For at least half the series, this basic idea is what the show runs on. It occasionally shows signs of wanting to do something more, but I have to be honest: most of it comes off as cheesy and laughable. But, well, that's only the first half of the series. Somewhere along the line, you start…
Read at the source