Cardfight!! Vanguard - Season 1

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Season 1

First aired: 1/8/2011 65 episodes

The protagonist of this story, Aichi Sendou, is a timid boy in his third year of middle school. He had been living his life looking backward rather than forward, trying not to stand out. However, he had one thing that kept him going, Blaster Blade, a card from a card game that was given to him when he was little. That card is the reason why he begins to engage in Card Fights, something that changes his life drastically. The name of the card game is "Vanguard." The game takes place in a different planet called "Cray," and due to a never before seen play system, it becomes popular throughout the world. Aichi, immediately attracted by Vanguard, meets friends such as Misaki Tokura and Kamui Katsuragi, along with other rivals. Through friendly rivalry with them, Aichi begins to enjoy a fulfilling life. Aichi, however, has a goal: to once again battle with a Vanguard Fighter by the name of Toshiki Kai. Kai is an aloof and cold-hearted high school student who has outstanding abilities in the world of Vanguard. He is also the reason why Aichi started playing the game. For him, Toshiki is the person who saved him from his boring life and introduced him to Vanguard. In order to get better at Vanguard, Aichi puts his soul into it every day. He wishes that someday, he'll be able to battle Toshiki and have him recognize his worth. He soon learns about a power called PSY Qualia, and another boy called Ren Suzugamori, who also has the same power...

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Episodes

Episode 20

20. Hidden Messages

Aired: 5/28/2011

In spite of Nagisa winning and her getting to marry Kamui as a result, Kamui weasels out by saying that Team Q4 as a whole hasn't lost yet, so their agreement is still pending. 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, going as far as to thinking of running away to have Misaki participate instead. As Kai walks up to play, he indirectly tells Aichi that people who run away are not worthy of fighting him. His opponent, Kaoru "Ka-boom!" Komatsubara, seems to be a formidable opponent who gloats how he's a national-tournament-level player, but Kai gains an early lead, pushing his enemy into a bad situation. Throughout the battle, Kai chooses to not defend against all except one of Kaoru's attacks, puzzling everyone about his decisions. Aichi believes that Kai is trying to tell him something through these actions; he deduces that Kai knows that he does not need to defend and will still be able to win. When both players are at five damage, Kaoru confidently declares that he will survive and claim victory, but Kai refutes that claim, loudly announcing Final Turn! He rides a new card, Blazing Flare Dragon, and uses a card skill to retire one opposing unit and increase its attack power. Kai relentlessly adds to the power by drawing two Critical Triggers in a row, thoroughly annihilating Kaoru. Seeing Kai's power, and remembering his own aspirations to reach his level, Aichi becomes motivated to win his fight!

Episode 44

44. Unexpected Visitor

Aired: 11/12/2011

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. Kourin soon challenges him to a fight, where Miwa and Jun get to sit in the middle of the action. While Kourin uses her Royal Paladin deck, Kai reveals his newly modified Kagero deck, which focuses on Amber Dragons. As each of them are dealing damage to each other, Kourin confronts Kai about how it's his fault that Aichi has fallen into the power of Psy Qualia, saying that Aichi only sought the power because he wanted to become stronger for Kai's approval. Kai agrees, and also claims that he had seen the corrupted effects of Psy Qualia before, not knowing how to prevent it from happening. He then tells Kourin that it may have been one simple thing: to exceed that power. Kourin then asks Kai if he can stop Aichi before he falls completely under the influence of Psy Qualia, to which Kai says that he can. After losing to Kai, Kourin gives him Aichi's Royal Paladin deck, and hopes that he can succeed where she had failed. Meanwhile, Aichi spends the entire night in his room, mentally preparing himself for the National Tournament. When arriving at the tournament, Aichi tells Kamui to relax as he is sure that they will win, revealing his newly acquired Shadow Paladin deck, much to the shock of his teammates.

Episode 48

48. Solitary Fight

Aired: 12/10/2011

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. While the fan girls for Brilliant Stars are cheering, Kiriya is still wondering if Aichi has really mastered the Shadow Paladin Deck, while deciding to prove his worth by beating him in front of Ren. With his Pale Moon Deck, Kiriya successfully deals damage to Aichi with his Juggler cards and calling cards from the Soul. Aichi simply takes a few damage and defends himself with a couple of cards, all while taunting Kiriya about Ren giving him the Shadow Paladin Deck because he is strong. After riding Dark Illusionist, Robert, Kiriya is able to deal three damage to Aichi, giving him almost complete control of the match. However, as Miwa states, Aichi is just playing around with Kiriya, as he rides Phantom Blaster Dragon, and calls Blaster Dark to the rear guard to help deal damage. Kiriya is able to defend himself, allowing only one damage as he eagerly calls "Final Turn" on Aichi. With Ren watching, Kiriya stands in shock as Aichi completely defends himself and takes no damage. Wondering if Kai is watching his fight, Aichi claims he will show how strong he is, calling his "Final Turn" on Kiriya. Calling two more Grade 3 units, Aichi soundly defeats Kiriya, while still muttering that he needs to be even stronger for Kai's recognition. As everyone in the stadium cheers Team Q4 for winning the elimination rounds, Ren congratulates Aichi for winning, while forgetting who Kiriya is. Meanwhile, Kai is seen walking away from watching the match, swearing to himself that he will stop Aichi.

Episode 49

49. Kai's Battle

Aired: 12/17/2011

Kai heads to the Underground area to await his fateful match with Aichi. Back at home, as Aichi reviews his Shadow Paladin deck, he receives a Psy Qualia induced summon from Ren who is waiting for him at Card Shop PSY. Aichi, led by Ren's Psy Qualia summon reaches as far as outside the Card Shop when Kourin suddenly rides up throws him a helmet & tells him to come with her. Back at the Underground area, Miwa shows up with Misaki & Kamui who both implore Kai to face Aichi in a Vanguard fight and help bring him back to normal. Just as Kai informs them that that is exactly why he is here, Kourin immediately arrives with Aichi. Miwa, Kourin, Misaki & Kamui clear the area to watch the fight from a distance. Kai upsets Aichi when tells him that he still thinks he is weak & Aichi vows to prove his strength to Kai as they get ready to begin their fierce battle. Aichi is startled when he realizes Kai is going to fight him with his former Royal Paladin deck. Kai vows to show Aichi the "true power" of the deck that he threw away which rattles Aichi even more. Aichi goes first & uses his units' skills to add Blaster Dark who he refers to as his avatar from his deck to his hand. Kai has a flashback of losing his parents 4 years ago & meeting Ren from his new school & later Tetsu (after he leaves town to live with his uncle). Tetsu loses to Kai in a Cardfight & he and Ren tell Kai of Foo Fighter. They recruit Kai & they have a love of fun until one day Ren's Psy Qualia powers awakened. He beat Tetsu repeatedly claiming that he was now the "strongest fighter" ever. Ren abandoned the idea of him, Tetsu & Kai being Team Foo Fighter & has construction begin for the new Foo Fighters Headquarters where only the best fighters would be selected. Kai realizes that Ren has become obsessed with power and refuses to go along with his new plan & quickly challenges him to a card fight. The match is fierce and as Ren announces his "Final Turn" he taunts Kai but before he can claim victory his overuse of his PSY Qualia power causes him to collapse. Kai catches him in time but Ren is still fixated on how much stronger he's become. Kai quits the team & moves back home peeved about how powerless he was to stop Ren. He reminisces on how refreshing after all of this it was to meet Aichi again and of how much fun Aichi made him remember Vanguard fights to be. He also remembers how fixated Aichi had become on "getting stronger". He vows to himself that while he couldn't stop Ren, this time will be different. With stern determination to accomplish this, Kai draws & uses his units' skills to add Blaster Blade from his deck to his hand. Kai reminds Aichi that then & now his avatar is not Blaster Dark as he claims but will always be Blaster Blade. Kai faces Aichi thinking that this time he's going to teach him what true strength is & declares that he is going to stop him!