Season 1 - Episode Guide

The main character is a third year middle school student who is a slight coward named Aichi Sendou. The days pass by, and because of that part of his personality, he doesn`t make many friends. But Aichi has one thing which supports him. A single card he got when he was little named "Blaster Blade". It`s actually a very valuable card from the card game that is sweeping the world in popularity named "Vanguard". But one day, a loud and violent classmate of his named Morikawa steals the card from him by force...

In order to take back his precious card "Blaster Blade", Aichi continues his fight with Kai. Even as he explains the rules while he fights, Aichi can sense Kai`s overwhelming strength. Aichi fights back with all his strength, and during their fierce back and forth their surprising history together is revealed.

Aichi`s little sister, Emi, finds it strange that Aichi seems to be having more fun lately, as he usually lives out his life being bored... One day, on her way home from school, Emi sees some bad-looking guys taking Achi away somewhere. Worried, Emi follows them, and arrives at a store named "Card Capital".

Aichi wishes he could fight once again with Kai, who he looks up to. But the manager of Card Capital, Shin Nitta, stops him. He says that he`s got a better idea, and has Aichi fight with his niece, Misaki. Misaki knows the rules, but has never had a Vanguard fight before herself. What could Shin`s real aim be?

One day, when Aichi pops his head into Card Capital, Morikawa is fighting a kid he`s never seen before. The kid is so powerful, Morikawa can`t even scratch him. His name is Kamui Katsuragi, and he`s a famous grade-school fighter in the area.

Aichi, Morikawa, and Izaki go into the city to a card shop. Aichi is all excited about his first time in another card shop than Card Capital. It`s then that Morikawa gets lost, and they can`t find the shop. Right when they`re about to give up, before Aichi`s eyes there appears an extremely mysterious card shop...

Shin gets a brand new "Standing Fight" table for his shop, and so to test it out, Morikawa and Kamui have a fight. Afterwards, Aichi and Kamui notice Kai walking about town, and decide to follow him to see where he lives now. Kai notices, and Kamui challenges him to a fight. Kai senses a strong opponent, and agrees to the challenge, but does Kamui really know what he`s getting into?

Aichi is trying to decide whether to enter Card Capital`s upcoming Shop Tournament, but is worried that he isn`t good enough to compete. He finds himself coming to the shop anyway, and there`s only two spots left! Just then, Kai walks in, and submits his entry form. Knowing that he might get to fight Kai if he enters, Aichi leaps at the chance, but just before he enters, another person sneaks in their application at the same time! There`s only one spot left in the tournament, so there`s only one way to settle this: An on-the-spot fight! Aichi is full of motivation, but can he defeat an opponent who seems to have accounted for everything?

Aichi is participating in the Shop Tournament held at Card Capital. The usual gang is there, plus a bunch of unusual folks... But Aichi`s gaze is focused only on one place...

With the first round over, the Shop Tournament is really starting to heat up! There`s a fight that`s drawing everyone`s attention, between a middle schooler and an adult dressed as a ninja who is trying to defeat him!

Aichi continues getting his hands dirty in a fight with the mysterious Ninja Master in the second round of the Shop Tournament. Using the skills of his "Nubatama" deck, the ninja backs Aichi into a corner!

It`s already the semi-finals of the Shop Tournament and standing up against Aichi is none other than Kamui! As the fight begins Aichi and Kamui don`t hold back one bit, going at each other with full force! With that invigorating tension, they battle on!

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.

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.

Emi starts taking an interest in Vanguard because of Aichi. One day while visiting Card Capital, Shin gets Emi to participate in a Vanguard fight for the first time!

The Regional Tournament is finally starting! Aichi and the gang get in Shin`s van and head to the tournament hall. When they reach it, Aichi is amazed at the size and starts to feel the pressure bearing down...

It`s the first round of the regional tournament and Aichi, who has never been in one before, is completely taken in by the atmosphere and can`t play to his normal level. Then, "Three Blacks" swoop in to stand in his way!

The regional tournament is heating up even more after the winners of the first round are decided! Unique and quirky teams all stand up before Team Q4 to fight and win!

Kamui wants to show Gouki, the guiding star of the Vanguard world, how strong he`s gotten. But first up for "Team Handsom" is...!?

The curtain falls on the first showdown, and the middle fight of the finals begins! Up for Team Q4 is Toshiki Kai, and up for Team Handsome is Kaoru. It dawns on Aichi that the result of his fight will mean the difference between victory and defeat!

Aichi`s fight with Gouki begins with the tournament on the line! Aichi stands up to Gouki, fighting for his team and to avenge his previous loss!

The final fight of the regional tournament reaches its pulse-pounding conclusion! If Aichi wins, Team Q4 will go to Nationals! But if he`s beaten by the swashbuckling captain of Team Handsome, Aichi`s team not only loses, but Kamui will apparently be forced to wed Nagisa! And what is the weird sensation that comes over Aichi at the climax of the fight?!

After getting through to the National Tournament, Aichi and the others head to the mysterious card shop PSY that they once visited in order to polish their skills. But what awaits them there...

Continuing to train in preparation for the national tournament, Aichi and the others notice Misaki`s incredible memory. Aichi and Kamui are all excited to learn how to have such great memory ability, but...

Aichi and the others are scrambling, at a loss, not knowing the reason Misaki suddenly tells them "I can no longer fight together with you". Worried about her brother, Emi visits Card Capital and...

Finally, the curtain rises on the Vanguard National Championship Tournament! Team Q4 had come together as one, but faced with their dream competition and the huge odds against them, cracks start forming between them...

In the qualifying leagues of the national tournament, Team Q4`s first match is decided to be against a team called the "Jurassic Army". Who will be standing against Aichi, nervous in his lead-off position?

The first match of the preliminaries is heating up, with offense and defense continuing for Aichi vs. Ryudou Genji. Genji`s "Tachikaze" deck specializes in a fearsome power where you can sacrifice your allies to eliminate your opponents...

The second matchup for Team Q4 in the preliminary rounds of the National Tournament is Team Muscle Brain who uses Nova Grappler decks. The tough battles continue... What is the path to victory?

It`s the final match-up in the qualifying league, and the third opponent to face off against Team Q4. But it`s none other than last year`s champion team, and the ones favored to win it all this year too, Team AL4!

The first battle with Team AL4 is over, and the fight moves into the middle round, between Team Q4`s Misaki and Team AL4`s Asaka. How skilled really is Asaka, known as the "Assassin"?

The final fight with Team AL4 is here at last. Aichi is pitted against Tetsu Shinjou, a fearsome opponent nicknamed the "General". Aichi brings all of his accumulated experience to the fore, but is it enough against a fighter who boasts overwhelming strength?

It`s the last match of the National Vanguard Championship Finals! The long-awaited Ren Suzugamori of Team AL4 arrives on the scene and in his fight, unleases a unit that no one`s ever seen before!

Team Q4 and friends have a Vanguard training camp at a beach, but they`re surprised to meet the powerful team that actually invited them. Will Aichi and his teammates actually learn and improve, or be distracted by fun-in-the-sun beach activities?!

Kamui subjects Aichi and the others to a rigorous "special training" regimen at camp, but it doesn`t do anything to help Aichi prepare a "winning deck". For that, Aichi seems to get a hand... from the cards themselves?!

Dissatisfied with the training camp, Kai goes to the wrong side of the tracks for an edgier kind of Cardfight. Kai gets what he wants and then some, going up against the King of Underground Fights, with Miwa as a hostage!

Card Capital is hosting another tournament, this time for teams. Team Q4 makes short work of the other players, but then they go up against Team Overthrow. The players are familiar and seem to be pushovers, but Overthrow has a couple of secret weapons up its sleeve!

The members of Q4 aim to get another shot at the national championship, but it looks like their hopes will be dashed at the Card Capital Shop Tournament, when Aichi fights Miwa, Kai`s old fighting partner. This one match will decide which team goes to regionals, Q4 or the upstart Team Overthrow!

The reigning regional champions, Team Q4, return to the tournament that propelled them to nationals. The bar is higher than before, with strong new teams poised to take the crown and Team Handsome determined to win it back!

In the first round of the regional tournament, Q4 fights Perfume, the team that can smell their every move!

To get revenge against Ren and AL4 for kicking them off the team, Crusher Kyou and his Avengers first have to beat Team Q4 at regionals! But Aichi, cocky for the first time, tells Kyou in no uncertain terms that that isn`t going to happen!

In the last round of the regional championship, Aichi`s battle with Kyou rages on! But his friends and teammates begin to get concerned, as it seems something strange has gotten into Aichi...

Ren Suzugamori gives Aichi a Shadow Paladin deck, saying it will make him stronger. But Kourin challenges him with a Royal Paladin deck of her own, to prove that no deck can make a Fighter stronger. Will Aichi be taught a lesson or will the new deck bring out his dark side even more?

After her defeat at the hands of a power-mad Aichi, Kourin seeks out Kai on the eve of the national tournament. She finds him playing Vanguard in a back alley and challenges him to a fight. But what does Kourin really want from Kai and why is she so angry?

The next Vanguard National Championship begins here! Spurred on by Ren, Team Foo Fighter Brilliant Stars has targeted Aichi -- but first, the one-time mild-mannered fighter has to survive his encounter with the Jurassic Army, who he lost against last time around!

With Aichi laid up in the infirmary after his latest post-game spell, it`s up to Kamui and Misaki to get through the elimination round. But their first effort as a duo is against Spyder, the team that knows all about them, including their Achilles Heel!

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.

It`s Dark Paladin Aichi versus Bidou, the candidate for the open position of AL4! Will Aichi finally be knocked off his high horse by a fighter who`s even stronger than Crusher Kyou?!

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?

Card Capital is holding a casual shop tournament, and Aichi, Kamui, and Morikawa enter in the senior division, while Emi competes in the junior division. Unfortunately, Morikawa has left his super-strong deck at home. Shin lends Morikawa an unmodified trial deck to use, but to his dismay it contains only one Grade 3. Can Golden Rutile go the distance?

The shop tournament continues, with Morikawa having a seemingly unstoppable series of victories and Emi's Bermuda Triangle deck dominating the junior division. Though he doesn't win, Aichi realizes that he plays Vanguard because it's fun.

The tournament finals begin and Ren delivers an egotistical speech at the beginning that angers the other teams. Team Q4 battles through the first two rounds, but coming up next is their "rivals", Team Caesar.

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! While Aichi is on the ropes, Ren tries to bring him back to the side of Psyqualia and a guaranteed win. Can Aichi stick to his guns, even if it means losing the match and a chance to fight Ren?!

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. Can he do the same for Ren... or is it too late?!

Kai`s desperate battle with Ren continues! Kai has brought out his ultimate card, Dragonic Overlord The End, but Ren also has an ace in the hole!

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. Will Kamui be able to earn the attention, respect, and maybe even victory from AL4`s number two fighter?!

Can Kamui break through the wall of Team AL4`s General?! He has skill, a great deck, and teammates who are behind him all the way, but is it enough? What if Kamui breaks his promise to Emi and loses?!

The rematch between Asaka`s fearsome Pale Moon circus and Misaki`s Oracle Think Tank rages on, and it`s a fight that neither of them can afford to lose. Meanwhile, Asaka`s backstory is finally revealed, from her very first day at Foo Fighter and first meeting with Ren!

It`s the "final act" of the battle between Asaka with her Pale Moon Circus and Misaki! The last time they fought, Asaka was two steps ahead of Misaki`s game, but what about now? If Misaki doesn`t avenge herself here, AL4 wins the championship yet again!

The decisive battle between Aichi and Ren is here at last! Both of them have the power of Psyqualia, but Aichi refuses to use his because he doesn`t want to lose himself again. Is Aichi strong enough to even last long against Ren, who has no such qualms about using the power? Or will Aichi give in to Psyqualia`s siren call...?

The final battle for the national championship continues between Aichi and Ren! What happens when they use Psyqualia at the same time?! Can Aichi be saved a second time or will his darker side take control for good?! Also, learn the true purpose of Psyqualia and the role of those who wield it!

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!