As a follower of the Vanguard animated series from its beginnings, it is sad to say that despite the graphics and effects being much better in this new season, the card game aspect of the show is lost in its entirety. No doubt everything looks much smoother and impressive, the move away from a game narration has kicked it down in the ranks of my mind of card game animation.
To be fair, I'm comparing Vanguard G to its past seasons, Yu-Gi-Oh (which I watch every now and then), Buddyfight and Duel Masters (which I sparsely peek into).
Yu-Gi-Oh has been a very odd game to watch because everyone seems to have their own very specific cards (that look very sidelined for most random characters) and the cards that show up in the main characters' decks have very odd conditional effects (that do not make sense generally, given their incredibly deep cardpool). I do not particularly enjoy their side character duels but it can be quite interesting when they have their big important games. I do not play the game so I can't really guess how some of what they do translate to real life (like how Stardust Dragon became its next form) or how Action cards from the current season work.
Across the seasons, I am not a fan of random powerful cards being pulled out of thin air where no one (even the user) knows what is being played and there has always been a good number of it.
I recall an episode where Yuma had a card which the opponent had a card that directly opposed the card he had (the rank up magic) and he just changed it to an altogether different card and used it on the spot. That's outright cheating.
Still, as a cardgame narration animation, it is one of the best there is,
Duel Masters, is a different ball game altogether with its direction all the while being targeted at a very different crowd with its very rough, inelegant style.
The current season is rather crude visually but it does bring out what the game is in its narration.
I couldn't really bring myself to follow it because what I understand of the game in its impressions is that it is much more explosive than what the show portrays it to be and it falls below that expectations and the show itself does not appeal to me.
Then, there is Buddyfight which came after Vanguard which was probably Bushiroad's attempt to make a better game that is more like MTG while using its prior experiences from its other games.
The game itself is good to play with it being between MTG and VG in terms of gameplay and the show is very simple to understand when they do actually go through the full motion of everything.
The only things I dislike about the game is the name itself and the actual mechanics of a buddy which simply adds a life. I would have thought that it would be like a commander - being able to call out at least once from where it sits but it is only there to make you obtain a 5th copy, a design space that I feel is utterly wasted.
The story is decent enough to want to carry on watching and there is enough weight in the various worlds that no one is outright the loser (although there is one obvious winner in terms of support).
As much as I do not actively have the desire to chase it because of a lack of a draw towards it, it is honestly a good show which translates the actual game well.
And after a full circle, I will talk about Vanguard,
The previous seasons were ok with a very skewed representation of the flagship card, Blaster Blade which the show made to be the most awesome card in its universe with its uber rareness which I cannot really comprehend. (This probably ended up killing Aichi as the main character once they figured that there was no way they could keep up eternally with there only being 1x Blaster Blade in the entire series)
Other than that, the animation showcased the various clans in a fine pace, probably only really bogged down by the actual card design of the clans which was not done well through its infant stages and the clans were easily bashed by plot armor to skew the actual allure of the clans. Comparatively, Buddyfight does much better at maintaining power and the allure of each clan, probably because of how it could learn from its predecessor.
I had very little respect for the dinosaur clan or the spike brothers to the point where when I saw those in the DS game, I would have some form of disgust if I had lost to them versus the other more respectable clans whereby I would just be plain annoyed.
Story-wise, Vanguard does a pretty bad job.
I can't say anything about the introduction of the cheaty psyqualia (which is indeed a very true way to play a high level game - by knowing what matters and having an sculpted image of how to win the critical points of the game).
But its true "badness" comes from how the story flows to the next season.
From MLB being changed to a Gold Paladin starter with no one actually remembering the "old clans" to the Legion season where the world resets yet again, I think this show is by far the most accepted far-fetchedness I have ever seen where nothing truly makes sense if you would look back and think about it. It has gone through a lot of gimmicks like going around Asia and the whole Reverse arc but other than the occasional "show card and create an explosion", it was generally successful in bringing out the next set and generating hype for the game.
From a gameplay standpoint, it does a decent job in terms of showing what happens and this is not easy since there could technically be 6 different things in play and they can't really describe each of them.
Now there is Vanguard G, the newest iteration of the series which makes zero effort to let you understand the game. The general story is ok, as with most card game animations, with schooling kids going through their daily lives being a decent way to get through.
The graphics are a big improvement to the previous seasons.
However, the card game narration is totally lost in the midst of the smoothness of the animation.
If I had wanted to watch plain action, I would watch Gundam Tri Fighters which does a better job.
I can't stomach watching a card game animation with no name drops, no ability explanation whatsoever and the characters not attempting to play the game properly (Chrono had G3s and did not attempt to stride in the last episode? What's up with that?!? Chronojet dragon doesn't even do anything like that.). Episode 1, we see the introductions and we don't get much information as to what the cards do and one stride unit does 3 damage off the bat to close the game. Episode 2, we see some male Oracle Think Tank units, no names, no abilities, game ends. Episode 3, we only see the new legion unit from the other side killing 2 RGs and no other real explanation of anything other than a few name drops and kagero retire skills.
If they go on like this, I will really hate this season.
No doubt I would watch it because I follow the game now but I am truly unsatisfied with it as it is.
I don't know why they are doing it like this, if only to tease you perhaps, but it does not generate any hype for the upcoming sets whatsoever and it does not even help anyone watching to understand what is going on in the game. For its purpose of being a card game animation, I'd rank it dead bottom.
Rant over. I hope they really get their act together.
.JPG)
