Cardfight!! Vanguard


Cardfight!! Vanguard is a Japanese multimedia franchise created in collaboration among Akira Itō, Satoshi Nakamura, Mitsuhisa Tamura, and Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani. It currently consists of multiple anime television series, an official trading card game, a manga series, and an.

Anime

In July 2010, an anime television series was green-lit by TMS Entertainment under the directorial supervision of Hatsuki Tsuji. Music is composed by Takayuki Negishi with character designs provided by Mari Tominaga. The series began airing in Japan on TV Aichi beginning on January 8, 2011 and rebroadcast by AT-X, TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Setouchi systems. The media-streaming website Crunchyroll simulcasted the first season to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Crunchyroll began streaming the second season to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on June 30, 2012 and continues to stream the series. It was announced on November 17, 2013 that Hanabee Entertainment has licensed the anime and released it on March 5, 2014 in Australia and New Zealand.
The series continued for three additional seasons: Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit, which began airing on April 8, 2012; Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker on January 13, 2013; and Cardfight!! Vanguard: Legion Mate on March 9, 2014. An was released on September 13, 2014 in Japan.
Cardfight!! Vanguard G ran from October 26, 2014 to October 5, 2015. It was followed by ' on October 11, 2015. ' aired from April 17, 2016 to September 25, 2016. It was followed by ' from October 2, 2016 to October 1, 2017, which OLM, Inc. started producing the series. It was followed by ', which aired from October 8, 2017 to April 1, 2018. It is the last series in the original chronology as the next series Cardfight!! Vanguard is a reboot of the original series. The reboot started airing on May 5, 2018 and ended on May 4, 2019. It was followed by Cardfight!! Vanguard: High School Arc Cont. which aired from May 11, 2019 to August 10, 2019. A Bermuda Triangle spinoff series called Colorful Pastrale ~from Bermuda △~ which started airing from January 12, 2019 to March 30, 2019. A prequel series Cardfight!! Vanguard: Shinemon started airing on August 24, 2019. Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden if was originally scheduled to premiere on April 25, 2020. In April 2020, it was announced that the anime was delayed to May 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plot

Season 1
Aichi Sendou is a timid young boy in his third year of junior high school. The one thing that keeps him going is his trading card Blaster Blade from Cardfight!! Vanguard, a trading card game that takes place on a different planet called "Cray" and is popular throughout the world. When Aichi's Blaster Blade is stolen by his classmate Katsumi Morikawa, he chases him to a local card shop named Card Capital. There, Aichi has his first cardfight with Toshiki Kai, an aloof and cold-hearted high schooler who has outstanding abilities and who originally gave Aichi his Blaster Blade when Aichi was little. Aichi wins the fight, reclaiming Blaster Blade, and begins to enjoy a fulfilling life as he delves deeper into Vanguard. Aichi's primary goal throughout the series is to become a stronger fighter, so he can once again battle Kai and have him recognize his worth. Aichi eventually places high enough at a local tournament to join with Kai, Misaki Tokura, and Kamui Katsuragi to form Team Quadrifoglio. Together, they enter regional and national tournaments to test their skills against fighters from all over Japan. Aichi's principal rival becomes Ren Suzugamori, a powerful but despicable cardfighter who is the leader of the reigning national champion team. Ren eventually makes Aichi awaken a power that Ren also possesses: Psyqualia, a psychic-like ability that lets its user foresee victory in cardfights. However, Aichi's usage of Psyqualia slowly distorts him into becoming a dark person like Ren. Thanks to Kai's efforts, Aichi decides to no longer use Psyqualia and reverts to his normal self. When Aichi battles Ren at the finals of the national championships, it is revealed that Cray is real, and Psyqualia is the power given to those who will determine Cray's future. Aichi manages to reconcile his good-natured personality with his dark desires to become stronger. Simultaneously on Cray, the Royal Paladin characters depicted in Aichi's cards resolve their conflict with Ren's Shadow Paladins. Aichi defeats Ren, and Team Q4 becomes the national champions of Japan. The season concludes with Aichi's Psyqualia mysteriously vanishing and Kai fulfilling Aichi's wish to cardfight him again.
Season 2: Asia Circuit
Shortly after Q4 wins the national tournament, a strange phenomenon occurs when Aichi meets a young boy named Takuto Tatsunagi. The Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, and Kagero clans of Vanguard have been wiped from existence, and due to this, Aichi's Royal Paladin deck has been changed to Gold Paladin. Aichi reunites with Q4 and travels across Asia to participate in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, an invitational multi-stage tournament featuring the world's best cardfighters, for the opportunity to meet and seek answers from the sponsor, Takuto. Throughout the circuit, Aichi, whose Psyqualia has reactivated, encounters a mix of familiar friends and new rivals. One noteworthy rival is Team Dreadnought's Leon Soryu, a man possessing Psyqualia who is on a mission to lead the second coming of both his family and the long-lost Aqua Force clan. After losing at the Singapore, Seoul, and Hong Kong Stages of the VF Circuit, Q4 finally manages to win the Japan Stage and meet with Takuto, who reveals that a dark entity known as Void is currently threatening the planet Cray. Furthermore, Leon is exposed as having made an alliance with Void, allowing the three clans to be sealed away in exchange for Void's promise to return Aqua Force to power. In a final confrontation, Aichi defeats Leon, who had absorbed Void's power. With a reformed Leon's help, Aichi uses his Gold Paladins to drive Void out of Cray and subsequently free the captured clans. The VF Circuit concludes with Q4 crowned as the winning team. Afterward, life returns to normal, except that Aichi now has a new deck featuring his signature Royal Paladin units as Gold Paladins.
Season 3: Link Joker
Months have passed after the VF Circuit, and the members of Team Q4 have drifted apart. Aichi enters his first year of high school at Miyaji Academy, where the instructors and students focus on looking towards the future and studying. Aichi thinks Vanguard can be a future that people can believe in, and he tries to establish a Cardfight Club on campus. Despite the interference of the Student Council, he manages to recruit the requisite five members for the club: Kourin Tatsunagi, Naoki Ishida, Shingo Komoi, and Misaki, who is also a Miyaji Academy student but was reluctant to join the club. During Aichi's inaugural appearance at the VF High School Championship, his team defeats Kai's team but loses to Ren's team. Kai remarks on how much stronger both Aichi and Ren have become. The second major story arc of the season revolves around an extraterrestrial entity called "Link Joker", the clan which is the avatar of Void. Various fighters become corrupted by Void's power and turn into "Reversed" fighters driven to seek out stronger opponents and bring them under Void's influence. Kai visits Takuto to seek answers, and in a moment of weakness while cardfighting the Reversed Takuto, he allows himself to become Reversed in exchange for additional power. More and more cardfighters around the world become Reversed, including several of Aichi's friends. Although Ren and Leon manage to fend off and free their respective comrades from Reverse, Aichi is unaware of what is happening until he sees Reversed Takuto announcing the end of the world. At first hesitant to face his Reversed friends, especially Kai, Aichi eventually resolves himself to fight them to save the world. After many battles, Aichi and his friends emerge victorious over Link Joker, but at the cost of losing the original Takuto. Moreover, Aichi faces Kai in one last fight to decide the strongest fighter. In the end, Aichi wins after Kai realizes what a true friend Aichi has been for him.
Season 4: Legion Mate
Several days after the mortal battle against Link Joker, life seems to have returned to normal. However, Aichi Sendou, the hero who saved the earth from the invasion of Link Joker and Void, has disappeared, and Kai, his closest friend, seems to be the only person who remembers him. After receiving a Royal Paladin deck containing a new version of Aichi's avatar card Blaster Blade, Kai sets out not only to remind everyone about Aichi but also find him. Kai manages to gather other comrades who remember Aichi: Naoki, Misaki, his classmate Miwa, and Kamui. However, Kai realizes that Kourin is also missing. His investigation leads to the discovery of four magically-gifted cardfighters called the Quatre Knights: Olivier Gaillard, Phillip Neve, Rati Curti, and Raul Serra, who intend to stop anyone finding Aichi. Ren gives Kai a tip to Aichi's location where he discovers that Kourin is allied with the Quatre Knights, and Aichi was behind both the memory loss and the Quatre Knights. Kourin defeats Kai using her Link Joker deck and takes Blaster Blade. During training with Leon, Kai gains new resolve and returns to using a Kagero deck.
Naoki spies Serra's butler Morris entering a portal leading to a sanctuary on the moon where Aichi is located. Kai and his friends are confronted by Serra when they enter the sanctuary. They learn that in order to awaken Aichi they must defeat the four Quatre knights to break the four seals, but if they lose in the sanctuary they lose their memories of Aichi. Naoki defeats Serra, but Misaki, Kamui, and Miwa all lose to the three other Knights. With only Kai and Naoki remaining, Kai battles Gaillard, who blames Kai for the Link Joker incident and will not allow him to free Aichi because of it. Despite this, Kai defeats Gaillard, releasing the second seal. Suddenly, Serra arrives and uses his ice magic to imprison Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard. It is then that Gaillard reveals the truth; a Link Joker "seed" was implanted inside Aichi's body after he defeated Reversed Takuto. To contain the seed, Aichi now wants to seal himself away in the sanctuary with the Quatre Knights as his guardians. However, Serra reveals that his plan all along was to use Kai and his friends to weaken the seals, release the seed within Aichi, and obtain its power all for himself. Ren and Leon arrive and free Kai, Gaillard, and Naoki, but not before Serra has Neve fight Aichi while he battles Rati, releasing the remaining seals. Having discovered the meaning of "mates" thanks to Kai and Aichi, Gaillard finds new resolve and defeats Serra, stripping him of his powers and banishing him from the sanctuary. With Serra gone, Gaillard resets his sights towards Kai and fights him again. Kai defeats Gaillard again and then faces Aichi for a final battle. After Kai makes Aichi realize that sealing himself away was wrong, Kai defeats him. The Link Joker seed then tries to implant itself into Kai's body but is then broken apart by Blaster Blade. Nevertheless, the shattered pieces of the seed enter the bodies of each of Aichi's friends and will grow benign over time. Afterwards, Aichi, Kai, and the rest of their friends return to their normal lives. Aichi and Kai face each other in one last shop tournament, and despite the different paths they will take in the future, they know they will meet again as long as they keep playing Vanguard.
G Season 1
Set 3 years later after the events of Legion Mate, the story follows Chrono Shindou, an apathetic teenager who finds a Vanguard deck and a map in his school locker one day. Following the map, he is led to Card Capital 2, a card shop where he meets an older Kamui Katsuragi who works part-time there. After being taught how to play Vanguard and winning his first fight against Kamui, Chrono begins his ventures in the world of Vanguard. Chrono finds Vanguard enjoyable, so he decides to return to Card Capital 2, where he takes up a quest and becomes a Grade 1 fighter. Then, he meets and fights Kouji Ibuki, who reveals that Chrono is and always has been completely alone. As a result, Ibuki crushes Chrono with no difficulty and refuses to even tell Chrono his name until Chrono becomes stronger. Over the next few days, Chrono meets and befriends Shion Kiba and Tokoha Anjou. Chrono also makes an acquaintance of Mamoru Anjou, the Kagero clan leader, and Jaime Alcaraz, the Spanish ace of the European League.
FIVA is holding a national tournament, and the only one not fired up is Tokoha. Being the younger sister of Mamoru, she is tired of being forced to live up to her brother's legacy. Meanwhile, Chrono is trying to get to Grade 3 so he can enter the tournament. In the end, Chrono, Shion, and Tokoha form Team TRY3 and enter the National Tournament together.
At the regional qualifier, Team TRY3 fights Team Demise. They ultimately turn out to be a formidable foe. Chrono beats their first fighter with no problems. Unfortunately, Shion and Tokoha ultimately lose in the second two games. In the aftermath of their defeat, Chrono's aunt discovers Chrono's new hobby and reveals the truth behind the disappearance of his father. Team TRY3 visits the United Sanctuary branch, seeking a rematch with Team Demise. They find that the United Sanctuary branch is turning fighters into people obsessed with victory, and challenge the Branch leader over the management of the United Sanctuary branch.
G Season 2: GIRS Crisis
This autumn will mark the opening of a major event organised by the Federation of International Vanguard Associations, known as the "G Quest". Those who conquer the 6 Branch Quests will be honored with the title "Generation Master", and the chance to become a Clan Leader. The three members of TRY3 are all fired up by the new goal ahead of them, but behind the scenes, a massive plot that would lead to the destruction of Vanguard has been set in motion...
G Season 3: Stride Gate
Kouji Ibuki's Plan G is in effect, and they have located Ryuzu Myoujin's headquarters. It's up to Team TRY3 and their friends to stop Ryuzu's ambitions! However, Ryuzu has a defense force called the "Company", whose members include rival Shouma Shinonome and Am Chouno! What will happen to Luna Yumizuki after she was recognized as having more Stride Force than Am did? What will happen to Zodiac Time Beast if the Stride Gate will open? Will Vanguard be led to a perfect future?
The fight to save the Zodiac Time Beasts and Vanguard itself! The second part of Plan G is now in action!
G Season 4: NEXT
Five months have passed after Team TRY3's battle against the Company and the team decided to split up and go their separate ways with all three of them enrolling to different high schools. The story focuses on Chrono Shindou transferring to Tokyo Metropolitan Harumi High School. Chrono forms a new team with Taiyou Asukawa and Kazuma Shouji, a gloomy boy who attends the same school as Chrono. Shion and Tokoha have formed their own teams as well. What new challenges await Chrono in the aftermath of all these changes?
G Season 5: Z
The final season of the G Series. A group of six units from Planet Cray, called the "Apostles", have invaded Earth. Armed with the power of the six Zeroth Dragons, the Apostles aim to revive the sealed Dragon Deity of Destruction, Gyze who attempted to destroy Cray in the past. The final battle between the Vanguards and the Dragon Deity of Destruction begins.
V series Season 1:
A rerun series of the original Cardfight Vanguard with Aichi Sendou, the rest of Q4, and other old characters from the origInal series.
V series Season 2: Shinemon Arc
Starting 15 years before the first V series season, this season focuses on Shinemon Nitta, the present manager of Card Capital, attempting to save the shop from becoming a branch of Cardshop: Esuka.
V series Season 3: Extra Story -IF-
The final season of the V Series. This series is where both IF continuity world Emi Sendou and the V continuity Kouji Ibuki teams up to fight against the Jammer to save her brother, Aichi Sendou who has become the enemy.

English dub

An English dub co-produced by Ocean Productions began airing on Singapore's Okto channel from October 16, 2011, on Animax Asia from January 22, 2012, and on Malaysia's RTM-TV2 channel from November 18, 2012. Dubbed episodes also began being released on YouTube from May 29, 2012. The series can be seen officially on a dedicated channel for it created by Bushiroad, and is available for viewing in most countries without "geo-blocking". An English dub of the fifth season G began airing on YouTube on January 3, 2015, thus skipping over the fourth season Legion Mate. Hulu began hosting the English-dubbed version on August 26, 2013 in partnership with Aniplex of America.

Theme music

''Cardfight Vanguard!!''

;Opening themes
  1. "Vanguard" by JAM Project
  2. "Believe In My Existence" by JAM Project
  3. "Limit Break" by JAM Project
  4. "Vanguard Fight" by Psychic Lover
  5. "Infinite∞REBIRTH" by DAIGO
  6. "Break your spell" by Psychic Lover
  7. "V-ROAD" by BUSHI★7
  8. "KNOCK ON YOUR GATE!" by Masatoshi Ono
  9. "Legendary" by Roselia
;Ending themes
  1. "Diamond Stars☆" by Natsuko Aso
  2. "Smash Up!!" by Shīna Hekīru
  3. "Dream Shooter" by Sea☆A
  4. "Starting Again" by Sayaka Sasaki
  5. "Nakimushi Treasures" by Saori Kodama featuring Milky Holmes
  6. "Jōnetsu-ism" by Rin
  7. "Fighting Growing Diary" by Natsuko Aso
  8. "Entry!" by Sea☆A
  9. "Endless☆Fighter" by Suzuko Mimori, Yoshino Nanjō, and Aimi Terakawa
  10. "Yume Yume Express" by Milky Holmes
  11. "Ride on fight!" by
  12. "Fly away -Ōzora e-" by Suara
  13. "Get Up" by FAKY
  14. "Get back yourself" by CERASUS
;Insert songs
  1. "Miracle Trigger ~Tomorrow Will Be Ultra Rare!~" by Ultra Rare
  2. "Stand Up! DREAM" by Ultra Rare
;English dub ending theme
  1. "Way To Victory" by Sea☆A

    ''Cardfight Vanguard!! G''

;Opening themes
  1. "BREAK IT!" by Mamoru Miyano
  2. "Generation!" by JAM Project
  3. "YAIBA" by BREAKERZ
  4. "SHOUT!" by Mamoru Miyano
  5. "Hello, Mr. Wonder land" by Ayako Nanakomori
  6. "→Next Generation" by Psychic Lover
  7. "Flower of Emotion" by Kiryu
;Ending themes
  1. "Cheering On for You" by Izumi Kitta
  2. "NEXT PHASE" by Emi Nitta
  3. "flower" by Ayako Nanakomori
  4. "Dazzling Bravery!" by Starmarie
  5. "Don't Look Back" by Rummy Labyrinth
  6. "High Touch☆Memory" by Yui Ogura
  7. "Promise You!!" by YuiKaori
  8. "Wing of Image" by Rummy Labyrinth
  9. "Are you ready to FIGHT" by Raychell
  10. "Pleasure Stride" by Milky Holmes
  11. "Natsuninare" by Starmarie
  12. "Heroic Advent" by Roselia

    Trading card game

An official card game by Bushiroad was released on February 26, 2010. An English version of the game was first produced in Singapore on May 5, 2010. It has been released internationally, starting on May 12, 2010.

Gameplay

The basic premise of the trading card game, as explained in the anime, is that the two players represent astral spirits dueling on the fictional planet Cray. The cards in players' decks, called "Units", represent characters from Cray that players can "Call" to the field to fight for them. Players alternate turns calling, attacking, and defending with units. When one player reaches six damage, or there are no more cards in his or her deck, that player loses the game.
A deck must contain exactly fifty cards, including exactly sixteen "Trigger Units." There can be no more than four copies of the same card, no more than four total Heal Triggers, and no more than four cards with the keyword Sentinel in a deck. There may also be an extra Sixteen Cards, called G-units, that are placed in a separate place called the Generation Zone. In addition to the G-units, you can place other items such as Gift Markers and Tokens there.
The game begins when the players place a grade 0 unit, the Starting "Vanguard", face-down in the Vanguard Circle the center of their playing area, and each draw five cards. Each player is allowed one "Redraw" by shuffling any number of cards from the starting hand into the deck and drawing the same number of cards. Players randomly decide who goes first and reveal their starting Vanguards; the player who goes first cannot attack during the first turn. To use a unit to attack or activate certain skills, the player must rotate it from its normal position to 90 degrees clockwise. At the beginning of a player's turn, during the Stand Phase, that player stands all his or her rested units, so they can be used again. During the Draw Phase, the player draws a card. Then, during the G-Assist Phase, the player can reveal their hand, look at the top 5 cards of their deck, then choose a card from them to add to their current hand. If they do, they then put two "G units" and two cards from their hand in to the out of the play area. However, to G-assist, the player can not have any cards with a higher grade than their vanguard in their hand. Next, during the Ride Phase, the player can choose a unit from the hand that is either the same grade or one grade higher than the current vanguard, which rides over top of the former vanguard. Afterwards is the Stride Step in which the player can put cards into a discard pile called the "Drop Zone" whose grades sum up to three or higher, choose a face-down G-unit from their Generation Zone, and put in on top of the current vanguard, the previous vanguard considered a "heart." The strided card gets one of the hearts' name and power and adds it to its own. However, to stride, both players' vanguard must be grade 3 or higher. During the Main Phase, the player can call "Rear-Guard" units to five additional spaces: one each to the left and right of the vanguard, and three to the back row. The player can move rear-guards between the front and back row in that column and can "Retire" a rear-guard to call a new one in that space. Retired units are put into the discard pile.
The next part of the turn is the Battle Phase. The player can conduct any number of battles in sequence, and can attack with the same unit more than once as long as it is standing when the attack is declared. A battle is conducted by resting a front-row unit and choosing an opposing front-row unit to be attacked. If there is a standing grade 0 or 1 unit behind the attacker, it can "Boost" by resting, which adds its power to the attacker's. Then, the defending player has the chance to either take the attack or "Guard" with units from his or her hand and/or to "Intercept" by guarding with grade 2 rear-guards in the front row. The defending player may also guard using a G-Guardian from the G-Zone, after discarding a heal trigger from his or her hand. The G-Guardian is returned to the G-Zone when the battle ends. Guarding units add their shield value to the defender's power, but are retired immediately when the battle ends. After guards are declared, if the attacker is a vanguard, the attacking player performs a "Drive Trigger Check": the player reveals the top card of his or her deck in the "Trigger Zone" and then adds it to his or her hand. Attacking grade 3 vanguards have the "Twin Drive!!" skill, which causes an additional drive check to occur after the first check is completed. G-units have a Triple Drive!!!" skill, causing three drive checks. If a trigger unit that matches the clan of one of the checking player's units is revealed during a Drive Check, one of that player's units gains +5000 power with original series triggers /+10000 power with V-Series triggers, and one of five possible effects may occur:
The power boost and additional trigger effect can either be given to one unit or divided among two units.
When the attacker's power is equal to or greater than the defender's, the attack hits; otherwise, nothing happens. If a rear-guard unit is hit by the attack, it is retired. If a vanguard is hit, however, it remains in play and the defending player makes a number of "Damage Trigger Checks" equal to the attacker's critical value. The process works exactly like a Drive Check, but the revealed card is put into the "Damage Zone" instead of the hand. After the attacking player has finished conducting battles, the turn enters the End Phase, where certain effects may happen, and the stridden unit goes back to the Generation zone face up, before going on the next player's turn.
From the V Series a new element was introduced: The Imaginary Gift What you get if you ride a unit grade 3 with Gift Icon, these are a support to the clan's playing style. There are 3 types of clan gifts, and 2 sub-types associated with each gift. Each clan usually only has one gift type, excluding Bermuda Triangle which can acquire the other two through the card Heart Monopoly Anezka.
These are the 5 different types of cards in the game.
Some parts of effect text are symbolized. These are the things you will need to know.
Costs
Certain abilities have costs to pay. This is a list of the most common costs to pay. Other costs with be shown in text in the cost part of the effect. Note that a number next to a cost show how many you have to pay.
These are other symbols that appear very often.
Units in Vanguard are organized in Nations and Clans. Nations are the different countries that Planet Cray is divided in, with a total of six nations. Each nation is subsequently subdivided in clans, which are groups of units that band together to form an alliance. Each clan usually has its own unique aesthetic, and bases its play style around a certain skill.
Vanguard cards are sold in Booster Sets, Extra Boosters, and Trial Decks, each containing a selection of new cards and sometimes reprints of older cards. A typical booster pack contains five cards: four common cards and one rare card. Sometimes, the rare card will be replaced by a double rare, triple rare, or Special Parallel. SP cards are alternate versions of lower-rarity cards in the same set, but have different flavor text and sometimes artwork. Cards of R rarity or higher also have special holographic foiling patterns, which vary depending on set and rarity.
Most common are Booster Sets, which are sold in boxes of 30 randomized booster packs. Booster sets contain support for at least 6 clans. Starting from G-BT11, each display contains 16 packs, with each pack containing 7 cards.
List of Booster Sets
List of G Booster Sets
List of V Booster Sets
The V series reduced the number of packs per box to 16 and began featuring only 4-5 clans per box. Featuring less new cards per set, but adding new rarities.
Extra Boosters are sold in boxes of 15 booster packs and contain a lower number of cards to collect. Extra boosters contain support for only a few clans, and often only for one clan.
List of Extra Boosters
List of G Extra Boosters
G Clan Boosters and G Comic Boooster is an updated version of Extra Boosters, containing 40 Cards to collect. They are sold in boxes of 12 booster pack, each with 7 cards. G Clan Booster always contain support for only one clan while G Comic Booster contain support for only a few clans featured in manga version.
List of G Clan Boosters
List of G Comic Boosters
G Technical Booster Feature support for 3 clans, containing 75 Cards. They are sold in boxes of 12 booster pack, each with 7 cards.
List of G Technical Boosters
List of V Extra Boosters
Trial Decks are 50-card decks designed as an introduction to the game. They contain a fixed selection of cards, including one RR and two R cards. At the start of each season, a pair of Trial Decks is released which introduce that season's signature mechanic to the game. Season 2 introduced "Limit Break," which gives a vanguard extra effects when the player is at 4 or more damage. Season 3 introduced "Break Ride", which gives bonus effects for riding one Grade 3 vanguard on top of another one. Season 4 introduced "Legion", which allows two cards to combine into a single vanguard.
Starting from the "G" series, Trial Decks contain 52 cards, including four RRR cards and two "G Unit" cards which begin the game in the "Generation Zone." These cards can only enter play by "Striding" them over a grade 3 vanguard until end of turn. The G Unit retains the name and power of the previous vanguard, known as the "Heart".
List of Trial Decks
List of G Trial Decks
Legend Decks are pre-constructed decks contains 54 cards, including fifteen RRR cards and at least four "G-Unit" cards. All Legend Decks focus on a single character from the anime and the units strongly associated with them. The units have been retrained, given skills and abilities found in Vanguard G.
List of G Legend Decks
List of Special Sets
List of G Special Sets

Manga

A manga series written and illustrated by Akira Itō was announced along with the anime. The first chapter was published on November 26, 2010 in Kerokero Ace magazine. With Kerokero Ace ceasing publication with its September 2013 issue, new chapters of the manga continued starting with the first issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine. While the manga shares the same characters as the anime, it follows an original storyline and contains many differences from the anime version. Vertical has licensed the manga series and began releasing it in North America on April 29, 2014.
A side story referred as Episode 0 was released on May 23, 2013. It is also illustrated by Itō. Its storyline follows Toshiki Kai's childhood.

Spin-offs

A spin-off manga series titled Mini Vanguard, also known as Mini Van, began publishing in Kerokero Ace alongside the original manga. The first chapter of the spinoff was released with the sixth chapter of the main manga series. Mini Vanguard is a short yonkoma comedy manga by Quily featuring all of the characters as super deformed. Like the original manga series, Mini Vanguard continued in the first issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine after the final September 2013 issue of Kerokero Ace magazine. Mini Vanguard was adapted into a flash anime series produced by DLE. It aired from April 6, 2013 to December 14, 2013. The ending theme song of this series is "Mirai Sketch" by Ultra Rare.
Another spin-off manga series titled Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden: Swordsman of Light began publishing in Monthly Bushiroad magazine. It is supervised by Akira Itō and illustrated by Makoto Kishimizu. Its story focuses on the lore of the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game.

Radio show

A talk radio show titled Stand Up Our Vanguard, also known as TachiVan, began airing in 2011 on Hibiki Radio. It is currently split into two shows: the main show which changes its subtitle to coincide with the current anime season and airs on Saturdays, and TachiVan Sunday. It is hosted by Tsubasa Yonaga and Takuya Satō, the voice actors of Aichi and Kai respectively, with occasional guest appearances by various other Japanese voice actors and actresses from the anime series.

Novel

A 224-page novel based on the anime series was released in Japan on May 15, 2013. It is written by Bandana Aoi, and the internal illustrations are done by Yōsuke Adachi. The story follows Aichi reaching out to a lonely young boy named Hiro Hamane.

Video games

A mobile app game titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Cray Wars was released on March 12, 2013. It is a strategy role-playing game and is region-locked to prevent devices outside Japan from installing it. The game introduces an original character named Navica, who acts as the player's guide in the world of Cray and explains the game mechanics. The game's storyline is based around the Virtual Vanguard System, which generates a virtual space in which people experience the world of Cray, an earth-like planet where magic and science have progressed hand in hand. Each continent of Cray is dominated by one of six prospering nations. Through the VVS, the player's avatar dives into this dreamlike world and fights daily battles for one of these nations. However, a sudden abnormality upsets this scenario. Players move their avatars about the world map of Cray using a six-sided die, accepting and completing quests to receive items and gold to advance the storyline. Two types of deck are composed for use within the game: one to be used in battle and one with which to besiege dungeons. Each deck has six cards; skills are triggered in the battle deck based on the position of cards in relation to one another, while the dungeon deck makes use of skills related to manipulating dice and avoiding traps. In addition to the player's avatar having a level, individual cards have levels. Increasing the cards' levels enhances skills. Leveling up and skill synthesis allows cards to be customized so that two players may have the same card but different abilities.
A Nintendo 3DS video game adaption titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Ride to Victory!! was released in Japan on April 11, 2013. It was developed by FuRyu. The game features an original story which stars a new cardfighter protagonist who is aiming to win at a national tournament. Players choose one of six possible original characters to play as, one male and one female each of three personality types: hot-blooded, cool, and dark. The game features appearances by at least 30 characters from the anime such as Aichi Sendou, Toshiki Kai, Ren Suzugamori, Misaki Tokura, and Shin Nitta. There is a tutorial mode for those who are new to playing the TCG. The main story takes the player through a series of fights against rivals, ending with the national tournament championship. There are also optional missions, which challenge the player to win with a predetermined set of cards, and free play, where the player can duel against any opponent previously encountered in the story. Winning a fight earns the player points, which can then be spent at the Card Capital shop to purchase booster packs to build a stronger deck. The game also features wireless online play.
A second 3DS game adaption titled Cardfight!! Vanguard: Lock on Victory!! was released in Japan on June 5, 2014. It was also developed by FuRyu. This game's story is based on the Link Joker arc of the anime series. Similar to the first game, players will choose to play as one of the previous game's six original characters plus four more original characters and will attend one of the high schools depicted in the anime. The game's wireless battle mode will be greatly expanded. For example, the game's AI will continue an online match if a disconnection occurs. The game will support a wireless link-up method similar to Nintendogs.
A downloadable game for Microsoft Windows titled Cardfight!! Online was planned to be released in early 2016, but cancelled. It was developed by DELiGHTWORKS and CrossGames. The game would have been free-to-play with in-game transactions. Cardfight!! Vanguard G series and later cards were going to be available. Older cards would have also been added later. Cardfight!! Online would have feature unranked matches, ranked matches, and tournaments. There would have been also be tutorials for new players. New cards were going to be obtained from the in-game shop or from crafting.
A video game for Nintendo Switch was released on September 19, 2019 in Japan.
A mobile app titled was released globally on April 9, 2020. Many mechanics from the original card game have been changed in favor of fast game play over full simulation.

Live-action drama

A live-action 90-minute drama titled Stand Up! Vanguard was aired on May 3, 2012. It is directed by Takashi Motoki, who describes this project as the "first-ever live-action card-game program". It stars Daigo, Shinta Sōma, Haruki Uchiyama, Suzuko Mimori, Nao Nagasawa, Kazuki Namioka, and Kazuhiko Kanayama. Two of Breakerz's songs, "Climber x Climber" and "Nonai Survivor", are used as background music for this drama as well as some live-action Cardfight!! Vanguard commercials. Much like in the anime, this drama features cameo appearances of the main characters of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. In this case, three girls cosplay as Nero, Cordelia, and Hercule as one of the teams in the Vanguard team tournament.
Daigo is a wanderer who claims to be a genius and strongly believes in justice. One day, at a playground, he sees Hiroki Miura being bullied by other kids, including his classmate Teru Minamihara. Daigo attempts to save the day, but he gets beaten up in Hiroki's place. The kids' homeroom teacher, Maria Kagami, arrives to the scene and scares the bullies away. As Hiroki walks back home, Maria explains to Daigo about how Hiroki is a timid boy who never speaks his mind, which has warranted him to be picked on. To help Hiroki, Daigo gets a job as a special teacher at the school. As Daigo tries to get closer to Hiroki, he learns that while Hiroki may be reserved, he is actually passionate about and confident in himself when it comes to playing the game of Cardfight!! Vanguard. Little by little, as Daigo has Hiroki teach him more about the game, he opens up Hiroki's heart while teaching him to have courage. However, he also learns that several factors all inhibit Hiroki from coming out of his shell: Hiroki has a fear of losing, Hiroki's busy working father Shigehiro looks down on his hobby, and Hiroki's mother Kumiko, who got him into playing Vanguard, is deceased. Eventually, Daigo convinces Hiroki to play against Teru in a cardfight. However, Teru wins and insults Hiroki, causing him to lock himself in his room out of frustration. Daigo tries to have a match with Teru but instead finds himself challenging Teru's supremacist home tutor and a greater genius, Eiji Satomi. He ends up losing to Eiji multiple times, with Hiroki secretly watching. Hiroki asks Daigo why he tries so hard, to which Daigo answers "losing is frustrating, but what comes after is most important."
Hiroki declares to Teru that he will get his revenge at a citywide Vanguard team tournament. The tournament commences with Hiroki, Daigo, and Maria teaming up. Defeating many colorful teams along the way, both Hiroki's and Teru's teams advance to the finals, which are to be held the next day. However, the night before the tournament finals, Maria gets hit by a car and is hospitalized as a result. With no one else to turn to, Daigo asks Shigehiro to be Maria's replacement, but he refuses due to his work. The next day, despite Hiroki not believing his father would come, Shigehiro does in fact make it in time before Hiroki's team gets disqualified. The finals begin with Shigehiro using his deceased wife Kumiko's deck against one of Teru's team members. Although Shigehiro ends up losing, he remembers the last conversation he had with Kumiko before she died. After the fight, he apologizes to Hiroki for all the mean things he said and gives him Kumiko's necklace, telling him to have courage. With Teru's team leading 1–0, the next fight between Daigo and Eiji starts. Despite Eiji's genius-level play, Daigo refuses to give up. He miraculously defeats Eiji, who runs away crying. With the score now 1-1, it comes down to the last match between Hiroki and Teru. Although Hiroki tries his absolute best and never gives up, Teru ultimately wins. Hiroki, Shigehiro, and Daigo all cry in frustration, but during the awards ceremony, Teru recognizes Hiroki and gives him his respect and friendship. Afterwards, when Daigo goes to the hospital to give flowers to the injured Maria, he sees her with another man, assuming that he is Maria's significant other. Believing that his love for Maria is over before it started, he runs off. In the end, Hiroki is now more confident in himself and has many friends. Daigo decides to go back to being a wanderer, but not before he and Hiroki have one last cardfight.

Live-action/anime film

A hybrid live-action/anime film was released on September 13, 2014. The live-action segment, A Game of Three, was directed by Takashi Motoki at Ace Crew Entertainment, and stars Daigo, Suzuko Mimori, Taizō Shīna, Takuma Sueno, and others. The anime portion, Neon Messiah, was directed by Shin Itagaki at Ultra Super Pictures, and screenplay was made by Mayori Sekijima. It features the animated debut of the character Kouji Ibuki. Neon Messiah made its US premiere on July 4, 2015 at Anime Expo.

Reception

In its Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide, the staff of Anime News Network had a poor impression of the anime series. Carl Kimlinger complained about the crass commercialism of the trading card game shows and was glad that the series flopped. Carlo Santos and Bamboo Dong gave equally scathing reviews. Chris Beveridge of Mania.com compares the series with other trading card game based shows such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and states that, while he sees lots of kids using the series to take notes and getting their game plan, he feels the series still needs to work on being engaging and entertaining.
As for the trading card game, it has received praise for its marketing through the animated television show and various media, which has caused its popularity to rise immensely. On December 14, 2012, the company Interface in Design created a survey for which trading card game had the most fulfilling playing experience for the "Trading Card Game Award of 2012". Cardfight!! Vanguard was bestowed awards for the most excellent game in both Elementary School and General categories. It also received honorable mentions under the Junior High School, High School, and Adult categories. These awards were bestowed to Cardfight!! Vanguard due to the high praise the game received for its tournament events and ease of access to important updates in the Vanguard culture through magazines and websites. The ease of learning the game for new players was also an incredibly appealing aspect of the game.