English Dub Review: Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress: “Night Attack on the Heavens”

Overview: Danji (Josh Meredith) takes on Tohya (Daniel Fong) in a match of epic proportions with a stunning unexpected decision made after. 

Our Take: I figured Danji’s arrival signaled various events to come, including him coming to Team Blackout’s aid and beating Tohya. However, the one thing I did not count on was Danji completely massacring Tohya, both on the battlefield (card table?) as well as verbally too. The villainous turn of edgelord is one that is tried and true in the anime space, especially with that of Shonen and/or action oriented series. To have Danji come into the fight and put Tohya and his newfound attitude in check had me laughing my ass off and grinning ear to ear in pure satisfaction from calling out that stereotypical turn of antagonists. And if that wasn’t good enough, Tohya’s continuous losses piling up was just icing on the Devil’s Food cake that was his confidence and composure shattering. It also gave me what I had wanted from the gecko in terms of fights with their battle being not only the longest to date but hands down one of if not the most visually stunning. The only aspect that continues to stick out like a sore thumb is that of the cheesy puns that competitors often yell at each other during matches that is strongly reminiscent of a late 90’s/early 00’s 4Kids dub. 

At the end of their clash, when Tohya finally manages to pull a win, they go through an abstract bonding moment through a metaphorical clash that is representative of their mentalities. It is a strong sobering lesson for Tohya and an effective storytelling device to knock some sense into him with Danji being an instructive teacher, showing him the pointless way Tohya is acting through their psychological bout. With Danji having left and also surprisingly leaving Tohya as leader of Blackout, the entire team is, seemingly, left disjointed. Hopefully, this decision is not as simple as Tohya just being accepted into that role with him having to actually win the hearts and minds of his teammates, especially if they hope to be friends. 

Even with this being the last episode, it feels far from the end as the role of the mystery woman Danji had a rendezvous with is continuously teased along with that of a cheerful little girl. But the biggest reason being it simply just ends. Especially with a simple shot of Megumi looking over the amusement park. It makes a lot of sense when taken into consideration how a whopping three more seasons have been confirmed with the second being imminent. With the team at a standstill, how Yu-yu, Megumi, Tomari, Zakusa and the rest of the C-listers come together will be a great way to hit the ground running next season and a perfect place to leave off as a startling result to an epic battle and development to the team dynamic as a whole.