Cardfight!! Vanguard: overDress

To keep things short: Vanguard overDress is a breath of fresh air injected in a considerably old franchise.

As someone who watched and loved the first series back in 2011, and tried some of the subsequent ones, it was really nice to see overDress not following the same old formula. There is no first episode explaining the rules, there is no old characters making cameos, it is all new and it is all different.

The biggest difference between this and the older animes ("If" may be an exception here), is that it is not a story ABOUT Vanguard told USING Vanguard. It is a story about these ... characters and how they grow as people, and they play Vanguard in the process.
They basically take all the SoL aspects of the other animes (which are arguably the best part about these for me) and do not rush them in 10 minutes per episode so they can fit a rushed fight in the other half. It is much easier to connect and enjoy their stories beacause of this.

You are free to disagree, of course. But at least give them credit for trying. In a industry where it's really easy to just sit and repeat what made success, they took a step froward and tried to reinvent themselves.

Regarding the more technical aspects, the anime is pretty decent. With great visuals, specially in the short battle scenes with the "avatars", nice voice acting complementing fun and enjoyable characters, and a decent soundtrack.

Now we have to wait for the next season, which will probably finish the story and allow us to be able to give it a fair analysis.

I will admit that I may rate this anime too high but I really like this season of Vanguard. It's meant to go on a different direction of the previous season and it really shows. It's meant to be more character heavy and it really shows. Sure there were filler episodes and some odd stuff but it's all meant for us to know the characters and lead up to the heavy stuff that may occur in season 2.

Now for what people complain about in terms of the anime being a card game anime. I felt that they did a good job at visually showing how ... some of the decks work. Sure they are pretty fast and things can be confusing but it's a huge example of show don't tell. Like when we see Tomari take cards away from her opponent's field with a cage, it's meant to show her prison gimmick of her deck. While I understand the grievances of everybody, I thought they did a decent job.

They mostly do this because the anime is meant to appeal to a general audience. Not everyone is going to understand how the game works. While the OG series does get people learning, Overdress is meant to invite people before new fans get into the game. I mostly got a friend who was not into card game anime to watch just for that one awesome but funny moment in episode 12 or the apex of card gaming. If you seen it, you know what I am talking about. Not explaining it due to spoilers.

Now for the good stuff, the characters. The way they interact, the situations they get into, and what we learn about them is great. I especially love Danji for his Big Brother vibe while being a bit goofy which helps him be a bit dynamic. And the whole thing is pretty down to Earth with some relatable problems (to an extent). You got to give it to Overdress to not relying on the supernatural to have a story. Not only that, we do see the protagonist having to train and learn how to play the game while being a part of a community that help him out. So he's not just good on the get go and I hope to see him get better.

Overall, I felt the hate in Overdress is unwarranted and I felt most of the flaws can be expanded on in season 2 or there is a legit reason to them.

Section 1: Which audience is this show for?
It is a great show if you do not care about Vanguard the card game. As someone who does not know a single thing about Vanguard and has a very small diminishing interest in card games in general, I found the show to be amazing at times and standard in some of the weaker episodes.

It is not a show about Vanguard but about the people who play Vanguard. There's a huge distinction there and the show appropriately structures around that. In the first episode, there is simply 0 explanation about the card game itself. Though slightly ... confusing, I later realized it does not matter at all. The card game is just a dressing for some conflict and the real heart of the show is the relationships between people. This becomes even more apparent in season 2 but let's save this for the review for season 2.

Now, does understanding the mechanics of the game enhance the narrative? Yes, I would say so. However, anyone who knows and likes Vanguard probably expects the show to be more focused on the games and its not. So its a null point.

Section 2: Positive Portrayals of Femininity in Male Characters
There's something distinctly different about this show versus other card games and just shounen genre in general.

The show isn't afraid to show femininity in its male characters and I mean this in the utmost positive way. First, Yuuyu (the protagnoist) crossdresses in multiple episodes and no one acts like that's weird. Sure, his friends might tease him but no one says anything like "he shouldn't do that" or "that's weird" etc. This is a breath of fresh air. Yuuyu seems very secure in his gender and in the later seasons he doesn't really mind the cross dressing as much. There's another character that has to cross dress because plot (lol) and he doesn't even mind it that much either.

(NOTE: Some animes nowadays have something similar but the crossdressing is sort of only justified because you/characters are attracted to them and not because crossdressing itself is okay.)

Another thing that I want to note is that affection between male characters (especially between the protagonist and other male characters) is extremely heart-warming. Usually, in any media, affection between men is relegated to sort of semi-competitive, too cool to express their true feelings type of way. I quite frankly find it disturbing that we see this trope over again over again. Not being able to express affection in a direct, caring way is bad. Many find this to be masculine but I think it's very sad. The show is very direct with affection and love between all characters, regardless of gender. I adore that.

Now if this doesn't immediately convince you to watch the show, I would say skip Vanguard: overDress.


Section 3: Story
There's nothing too complicated and nothing too offensive (with the exception of the creeper that sorta touches Yuuyu inappropriately). I would say the story is majorly incomprehensible most of the time. I find it hard to follow why things are happening in the way it is but at the end of the day it does not matter. You sorta just have to go along with it. I started doing that in the first few minutes of the first episode and it has drastically improved my enjoyed of the show. Think about it like it is a slice of life show with disconnected stories all happening in an episode format. Despite not making sense most of the time, the characters really drive the show forward and you care when the emotional highs hit.

Section 4: Characters
I find this to be the best part of the show. A lot of them are really likeable and quirky in their own ways. I'm fairly bad with names but i was able to remember most of the cast by a few episodes in. Danji's the unpredictable leader with a heart of gold. Really love him and when his backstory gets told in season 2 I really started feeling for the guy.



Conclusion:
Overall, i would recommend it to people but I hope I made it clear which audience this show is for. If you fall into this demographic you will definitely love it.

I've never watched any Cardfight Vanguard series and wasn't really going into this expecting anything amazing but this surprised me a lot in various aspects.
I realized right away that the animation was familiar and after a quick search I found out that Clamp designed the characters, a big plus as a Clamp fan. The animation overall was really good, not just the character designs but the movement, facial expressions, and the backgrounds as well were amazing with the detail.

Another aspect I really liked was the score, especially later on when Danji bought a music CD and the music changed to classical lullaby. It all ... felt very natural and suited the scenes very well. Music is one thing that can make or break a show and this anime did a very good job.

Like I mentioned, I've never been interested in anime about card games so I never bothered to watch anything like Cardfight Vanguard, but this show kept my attention throughout all 12 episodes. I would say this is because it doesn't focus on just the card game, if it did then I would've probably dropped it instantly.

There are no long drawn out scenes (like in some sports anime) where the characters constantly talk to themselves about their card, their opponents cards, or what plans they have to win. Although I'm not familiar with the series, this decision felt as if it's partially for the sake of old time viewers that know about the game already. It gives the illusion that the viewer could be a veteran looking at the new generation of players trying out a fun card game. There are some introductions to the cards, and at the end of every episode a character will explain about a featured card. It doesn't go too in depth though, which I appreciate. It feels like both newbie card players and veterans alike can enjoy this anime this way.

My favorite aspect of this show is the characters. Each episode takes its time to introduce us to the characters, it shows their personality, their habits, thoughts, pasts, etc. Because I personally don't care about the whole 'card game' plot I really loved that the characters were well built. Of course I don't like every character but it's interesting learning more about them and being able to see them in a new light.

I particularly love Yuyu, he's an amazing protagonist in my opinion because of one very large reason. This is the fact that from the very beginning he was never an independent and bull-headed typical protag, but rather he's a caring person (quite the pushover actually) that treasures relationships most. I really love that his love for his friends isn't outshined by his love for playing the cardfight game. Many protags too often get too caught up in the flow, they're too obsessed with winning or being the strongest or whatever. Yuyu cares about what's really important, which is to have fun with friends, and this isn't care isn't tossed aside later in the story. He isn't forced to 'grow as a character' through hardship and by being defeated, that just makes him suffer, what makes him grow is the support he gets from the friends he made from being introduced through the card game, both through playing the game and from outside interactions.

I also love Tohru and Danji for two similar reasons, they are both older and veterans of the game (probably similar to a lot of viewers), but they both have a complicated relationship with the game itself. They both are aware that they are getting older and such a game isn't typically played by older people. One maintains his love for the game but chooses to distance himself from it, although never cutting it off fully he knows that this game isn't what he really needs in life. The other can't accept that he's playing a 'game' at such an old age and tries to twist his worldview to make the game fit into his life, ultimately leading him to make bad choices and ignore his original love for the game. They are both interesting in how they view the game and how they choose to interact with it and others through playing.
The ending was quite dramatic but I'm hoping for a second season, this anime was very enjoyable.