Cardfight!! Vanguard 1

Aichi Sendou is a timid middle school teen. He is so shy that even conversing in class is a bit of a challenge. However, one thing him going through all his struggles - Vanguard. With his ultra-rare Blaster Blade card always by his side, he knew that at least in the gaming world he had a chance to be different.

Unfortunately for Aichi, his favorite card was stolen by a vengeful classmate. Furthermore, the Blaster Blade was later lost in a winner-takes all competition to one of the best players around his community. Now to retrieve his priceless card, Aichi is going to have to break from his mold of shyness and win his property back by finally engaging someone, and in this case a local champ, in an actual Vanguard card-battle! His first battle with Toshiki Kai was an eye-opener. It was part learning experience and part coming-of-age moment. And with that first battle and that unexpected first win Aichi was now on his way towards fully immersing himself in the world of the card game!

NOTE: First only printings come with free trading card.

Akira Itou is a writer, gamer, and international best-selling comic artist. Over the last decade his work has been associated with some of the world's most popular trading card games - YuGiOh and Vanguard.

Raised in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Itou cut his teeth as an assistant for Studio Dice and YuGiOh creator Kazuki Takahashi. After working as an assistant on the original YuGiOh comic, Itoh would evnetually come to draw the YuGiOh sequel YuGiOh R. The series was a regular feature in Shonen Jump Magazine for four years and significantly expanded the brand from comic for teens to full-blown gaming narrative. After working with the YuGiOh franchise for nearly a decade, Itoh would pair up with Japanese trading card leaders BushiRoad to develop a new card game - Vanguard. Vanguard would premiere as a serialized manga in 2010 to lay the foundation for a TRPG which would debut globally February 2011. The brand has spun-off a weekly prime-time animated TV series, which is currently available globally in English on YouTube, with Itou as part of the production team.