Cardfight!! Vanguard

- Season 1

(2011)

Kids from all over town converge to play Vanguard, a card game that seems to be the biggest thing going around. Aichi Sendou, a shy and timid boy with a rare card, the Blaster Blade, who just started playing this new card game. How will a soft-spoken middle schooler stand up to a professional like Toshiki Kai?

After Aichi plays Blaster Blade, he and Kai recall their first meeting. Back then, after seeing a young Aichi beaten up, the young Kai cheered him up by giving him Blaster Blade, telling Aichi to imagine himself as a strong warrior like the card. With that in mind, Aichi got absorbed into Vanguard, creating his own deck in the hopes of playing against Kai, who had moved away.

Concerned for her brother, Aichi's Little sister, Emi, secretly follows Aichi and friends to the Card Capital. There, Emi is astounded by all the people in the shop, including Aichi, Morikawa, and Izaki, playing Vanguard. It is then that the card shop's manager, Shin Nitta, appears and introduces Emi to the world of trading card games.

After taking a look at Aichi's deck, Shin decides to show him "something nice". Shin has Aichi battle Misaki Tokura, who, despite working at the card shop, has never actually participated in a Vanguard fight before. Nonetheless, after Shin gives Misaki a special deck, she and Aichi begin their cardfight.

Aichi goes to the card shop to buy a booster pack in the hopes of getting a Grade 3 card. When he arrives, he sees a grade-school kid, Kamui Katsuragi, convincingly defeating Izaki in a cardfight. Aichi challenges Kamui, but he refuses, noticing that Aichi is not a strong player.

In the commercial center they lost they're way, but Aichi found the card shop called PSY. There, they try out the shop's special Vanguard Fight Stage. It oddly reacts to Aichi, which leads to a woman, Kourin Tatsunagi, challenging him to a cardfight. When the two begin the battle, Aichi is surprised that the stage brings the cards to life.

Shin introduces the "Standing Fight Table" to enrich the experience of a Vanguard fight, with Morikawa and Kamui being the first to play on it. After Kamui once again beats Morikawa, Aichi and his friends return to their homes but then see Kai walking back to his home. Wanting to learn where Kai lives, Aichi, Kamui, and Miwa try to follow him.

The Card Capital Shop Tournament begins soon, butAichiis hesitant to play in it, even after making a new deck. However, when he learns thatKaiwill be in the tournament, Aichi decides to enter as well.

The Card Capital Shop Tournament finally begins. In the first round, Aichi must play against Izaki while at the same time, Morikawa battles Misaki. Since this is his first time in a tournament, Aichi grows nervous. His tournament jitters get the better of him as he makes many amateur mistakes.

Kamui and Kai advance to the second round of the tournament, along with Ninja Master M, an eccentric player who dresses and acts like a ninja. He meets Aichi, who deduces that he is actually his teacher Mark Whiting, but he denies that claim .

Aichi makes a comeback by calling more units from his deck to boost the power of The King of Knights, Alfred, forcing Ninja Master M to use most of his cards to guard against his attacks. As a result, M is left with no cards to defend himself from Aichi's last attack.

It's the semifinals: Kai plays against Misaki, and Aichi once again battles Kamui. Both Aichi and Kamui want to win for their own reasons; Aichi wants to fight Kai again while Kamui hopes to gain Emi's affection upon winning the entire tournament.

The semi-finals come to a conclusion and the final match in the shop tournament is underway! Aichi challenges Kamui, trying to get revenge for his previous loss. Since their last fight, the gap in their skills has closed considerably. Aichi puts everything he's got out there in order to reach that fight with Kai he's aiming for.

Every young man must go on a journey. For Aichi, it's the scary world of other card shops. Aichi heads out on a journey to other card shops, in order to find and fight other strong Vanguard fighters and gain experience after the Shop Tournament.

As Emi continues coming to the Card Capital Card Shop, the Manager convinces her to try the game out for herself.

The regional tournament begins. Team Q4 (Aichi, Kamui, Kai and Misaki) has to face Team Three Blacks in the first round.

Aichi has difficulty pushing for victory, and his opponent gets a Critical trigger on top, bringing him to five damage. Aichi desperately needs to block the next strike, but is unwilling to leave his hand empty.

The regional tournaments continue, with Team Q4 easily plowing through their second and third opponents.

Surprisingly enough, Nagisa steps into the fray as the first fighter of Team Handsome, resulting in Kamui being in a desperate situation as she declares that Kamui has to marry her if she wins.

With one loss in their record, Team Q4 has to win both the next matches in order to advance through the regional tournament. Though everyone is certain that Kai will win, Aichi becomes increasingly desperate, as his match will be the one to decide the fate of the team.

Aichi's match against Gouki begins. Aichi remembers Gouki as a formidable opponent, and realizes that he cannot stay the same as before if he wishes to win. Using a combination of the skills of Barcgal and Future Knight, Llew, he Rides Blaster Blade from the deck, surprising Gouki.

The fight between Aichi and Gouki continues. Aichi blocks Gouki's attack, and counterattacks with Alfred, bringing Gouki to five damage.

Aichi, Kamui and Misaki visit Card Shop PSY after Suiko's invitation. They meet an aloof red-haired stranger with a peculiar attitude. However, once the Ultra Rare group arrives, they learn that he is none other than Suzugamori Ren, the winner of the previous national tournament!

To prepare for the national tournaments, Aichi and Misaki engage in a fight. However, memories of her tragic past surface in Misaki's mind, causing her to break down.

Emi visits Card Capital, worrying about the depressed Aichi. She encounters Misaki, who claims not to know anything - but the manager pushes the two into a cardfight using the new trial decks that just arrived.

Team Q4 arrives at the national tournament grounds, meeting up with Team Caesar, the last tournament's finalists and previous winners. Everything seems to be going well, but due to Kai's increasingly arrogant and insulting attitude, Kamui decides he can no longer work with him and abandons the team.

The national tournament preliminary rounds begin! Team Q4 discovers that they are in the same block as Team Asteroid. Aichi discovers that Kai knows one of Asteroid's members, and is acquainted with Suzugamori Ren. The first round begins and pits them against Team Jurassic Army, a group of militaristic cardfighters using the brutal Tachikaze clan.

Gunji brutally corners Aichi with the speed and power of his Tachikaze deck, bringing the score to 5-3 in Gunji's favor. To make a reversal, Aichi rides his new ace card, Soul Saver Dragon. Managing to get a Critical trigger, it looks like the match has been decided, but luck favors Gunji, who gets a last-minute Heal trigger and survives, winning on the next turn.

Team Q4's second match against Team Muscle Brain begins. Team Muscle brain practices brutal fighting prowess. However, when Kai steps up to the first match, he is able to annihilate his opponent easily by Superior Riding Blazing Flare Dragon. Misaki takes the second match, using a new line of cards located in the deck that was given to her by her parents before their death.

Team Q4's final fight in the preliminary rounds, begins. Kai takes the stage first, against Asteroid member Yahagi "Crusher" Kyou. Kyou uses a Spike Brothers deck potently. Kai rides Dragonic Overlord and activates its skill, but Kyou blocks it, pushing Kai on the defensive. However, Kai recovers his momentum with a heal trigger, allowing him to reclaim three unflipped damage.

Though Kai won the first match of the team battle, Misaki is challenged by Asaka Narumi, known as the "Assassin". Asaka uses a Pale Moon deck skillfully, and though Misaki tries to fight by reading her opponent's moves, Asaka plans further ahead and cripples Misaki's strategy while preparing her field.

The match between Aichi and Tetsu continues. Confronted by Nagisa, Gouki and Emi, who learned of the situation via Team Caesar, Kamui is motivated to support Aichi. Aichi begins to make a comeback by shutting down his opponent's offense and evening out the damage with a heal trigger, but Tetsu rides Demon World Marquis Amon, and with a critical trigger, pushes Aichi down to five damage.

Team Q4 gathers at Card Capital to watch the national tournament finals. Due to various delays, they only manage to catch the very last match, where Ren, leader of Team Asteroid, faces of against Koutei, leader of team Caesar. Even though Koutei appears to put up a good fight, Aichi sees right through Ren's power.

Q4 has gone to the beach in order to train at Vanguard - though a lot of its supporters, such as Morikawa, seem to have other priorities. The team meets up with Team Caesar and quickly engage in cardfights. Surprising everyone, Kai actually defeats Koutei, and the two engage in an elaborate discussion about strategies and tactics. In the meantime, Aichi loses to Yuri five times in a row.

Kai and Koutei have woken up before everyone else and are already engaged in cardfighting. They have leftover curry for breakfast, while Aichi reports the unfortunate results of his deck editing session. They go to the beach, where Aichi, Morikawa and Izaki are put under a special training regime by Kamui, which culminates in them Imaging themselves as valiant Vanguards on Cray.

Kai has begun fighting in underground fights in order to find stronger opponents. Underground card fights usually result in the loss of cards, and players do not abide by the rules that ensure fair play in a cardfight. When Miwa discovers that Kai is searching for Jun, the King of Underground Fights, he goes looking for him. Jun and Kai then have a cardfight with Miwa and Kai's freedom at stake.

A tournament is being held again at Card Capital, but is now a team fight due to the large number of participants. Team Q4 fights and moves all the way up to the final round, with Kai not participating in the team fight. Q4 discovers their opponent to be Team Degozaru which consists of Miwa, Isaki, and Morikawa. Morikawa has come dressed up as Ninja Master M.

The fight between Miwa and Aichi begins. Miwa forces Aichi into a corner by using powerful retiring strategies, and even though Aichi manages a powerful attack using two Pongal and Young Pegasus Knight, and then Solitary Knight Gancelot as well as Soul Saver Dragon, Miwa blocks his efforts, and calls Dragonic Overlord, activating its Eternal Flame.

The regionals commence once again, with Team Q4 and Team Handsome competing. Battles rage as Team Handsome advances to the next round. Team Q4's first opponent, though, is a dangerous team whose members claim to be able to sense their opponent's feelings by their smell. Aichi displays extraordinary positiveness by claiming the first spot for Q4, and proceeds to the fighting arena.

Aichi trusts the voice of his cards, though his first Counter Blast with Gancelot is thwarted by Chocolat, he tries again during the next turn, and scores an unexpected Critical trigger, winning the match. Misaki proceeds to win the second fight. Team Q4 also advances, but Aichi seems exhausted from his previous fight and collapses, unable to continue.

Kyou is back for revenge against Team Q4 - specifically Kai. Since Kyou lost his match to Kai during the Nationals, he got banished from AL4. As a former AL4, Kyou had trouble finding a new team to join because no one wants to recruit a member AL4 discarded to prevent any conflicts.

After easily blocking Kyou's quadruple attack, Aichi declares 'Final Turn'. Though it seems his plan is going to be defeated, thanks to a Stand trigger, Aichi manages to deliver the finishing blow using Young Pegasus Knight. It is determined by Suiko that Aichi possesses the ability PSYqualia, which they seek.

Kamui is concerned when Aichi stops coming to Card Capital after the tournament. Aichi continues to be haunted by Kai's words and finds himself unexpectedly at the door to the PSY Card Shop. Everyone is then surprised when Ren enters the shop. Confronting Aichi, Ren explains what has been happening to him lately and the nature of the power, PSYqualia.

After losing to Aichi, Kourin goes to Card Capital, asking for Kai. Since Miwa is the only person who knows where Kai is, he rides with Kourin to the Underground cardfight area. They find Kai, who is beating all the underground fighters to relieve his frustrations.

At the start of the tournament, Team Q4 is placed in the same block as Team Jurassic Army and Team Brilliant Stars. After having a brief conversation with Team Q4, Kiriya Bidou, leader of Brilliant Stars tells Ren that if he can take care of Aichi, then he will be allowed into AL4.

After defeating Jurassic Army, Team Q4 are now up against Team Spyder. Before the match, Kamui meets a little girl (actually just a decoy) in the hallway. The "girl" claims that someone took her puppy, Sprinkles, and begs Kamui to help find her. After this, Misaki meets a man in the hallway who tells her shocking things.

Kamui and Misaki both fight desperately against members of the Brilliant Stars, AL4's strongest "farm team". If they fail, it means Aichi has to fight, which could lead to him getting sicker as well as being engulfed further by the dark side.

As the fight between Kiriya and Aichi begins, Kai is seen watching the match in another area. Emi runs to Team Q4, worried about Aichi playing in another fight, but finds both Misaki and Kamui visibly shaken from Aichi's words.

Kai arranges a fight with the power-mad Aichi before it's too late. As the two square off in an alley, Kai recalls the last time he encountered the power of PSYqualia, years before, when he was Ren's friend and teammate!

The back-alley battle between Aichi and Kai comes to a pulse-pounding conclusion! It's the moment Aichi's been waiting for, but is this the fight he really wants?

Aichi goes to Card Capital to apologize to his teammates, only to find a shop tournament in progress. Aichi participates to get back in the swing of things, but the miracle of the day is Morikawa, whose delusions of grandeur have suddenly come true, as he beats opponent after opponent! Now that he's no longer under the sway of PSYqualia, does Aichi even stand a chance?!

At the Card Capital shop tournament, while Aichi gets back into his groove, Morikawa is still on a winning streak! Meanwhile, Kamui is in a jealous rage because Reiji is fighting his "goddess", Emi.

With the goal to defeat Team Asteroid, Team Q4 is ready for the Finals of the National Championship! Misaki and Kamui are thrilled because of the powerful teams they see there: Team Wonder Boys, Team Wild Angel, Team Suthern Wings, in fromt with Team Caesar, Team Asteroid and Team FFBS.

Team Q4 battles the powerful Team Caesar in the semifinals! First up is Kamui versus the "Gladiator", who'll do everything in his power to protect the "Emperor"! Then it's Misaki's turn against the "Empress", who's no longer playing nice!

"The epic battle between Misaki and the ""Empress"" of Team Caesar concludes here! Misaki is great at memorizing cards, but Yuri seems intent on teaching her that there's more to winning a Vanguard fight than relying on probabilities.

Aichi is in the middle of the most challenging match of his life against Kenji Mitsusada, the "Emperor", a former national Vanguard champion!

We finally learn how and why Ren received his power, PSYqualia! Then, only hours away from the final round of the national tournament, Kai challenges Ren to a desperate battle. Kai was able to bring Aichi back from the dark side of PSYqualia.

Kai's desperate battle with Ren continues! Kai has brought out his ultimate card, Dragonic Overlord The End, but Ren also has an ace up his sleeve!

The final round of the Vanguard National Championship Finals Tournament begins at last! The first match is between Kamui and Tetsu "The General" Shinjou, but Tetsu seems distracted.

The first match of final round of the Vanguard National Championship Finals Tournament continues between Kamui and Tetsu. Kamui is going to give it all his got in this match, but will it be enough for him to win against Tetsu "The General" Shinjou?

The second match of final round of the Vanguard National Championship Finals Tournament begins between Asaka and Misaki. With Tetsu's victory win against Kamui, Team Asteroid is in the lead.

The fierce battle between Asaka and Misaki continues. Asaka uses every tactics to approach victory for Team Asteroid but can Misaki's ultimate hit?

The fight between Aichi Sendou and Ren Suzugamori begins. Ren's Psyqualia continues to grow more powerful throughout the fight and he taunts Aichi for refusing to use it.

Aichi stares down a Phantom Blaster Dragon with it's skill activated, then Ren calls another Phantom Blaster Dragon which through a heavy sacrifice he manages to hold off the assault of both. Aichi seems to turn the game in his favor when he Rides Alfred Early and Calls Blaster Blade to Retire the Rear-Guard Phantom Blaster Dragon with it's Skill.

The season finale brings the conclusion to Aichi and Ren's epic Cardfight!! for them, it's a matter of which team is going to win the National Championship, but little do they know that the outcome is tied in to the fate of the real planet Cray.