English Dub Review: Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress: “Trickstar”

 

Overview: Megumi (Lily Pichu) mistakenly believes that Yu-yu (James Higuchi) and Danji (Josh Meredith) are in an intimate relationship and lets her jealousy get the better of her as she stalks the two throughout their day. Also Yu-yu develops himself as a cardplayer as he takes his first steps into building out his deck and begins to forge connections with new friends like that of Zakusa Ishigame (Hans Wackershauser) and Tomari Seto (Brianna Johnston). 

Our Take: “Trickstar” truly is a trickster of an episode with the hilarious game of deception played throughout not to mention how much it deceived me in actually giving a good follow-up to a mundane debut. 

This series is turning out to be more lighthearted than initially expected as Megumi clearly doesn’t understand the nature of Danji and Yu-yu’s relationship and, due to her own assumptions, understands it to be romantic. I found myself struggling to contain myself after every deceiving moment of Yu-yu and Danji’s day that are framed as sexual innuendos. Especially with Megumi’s horrified reactions to what we as the audience all know how she interprets it. Another running gag that was plenty enjoyable throughout was everyone thinking how pretty Yu-yu is, much to his blushing embarrassment. Besides Megumi’s misunderstanding, this entry also features Yu-yu as he takes his first steps into becoming a cardplayer with his initiation, meeting the gang at the amusement park and picking his own cards. And there’s beneath the surface of the game than I initially thought. 

I still find myself lost about how the heck the game works and strategies of the game are when the cards hit the table and a match begins. Thankfully though, my understanding gets a bit better with each battle. It still astonishes me how Cardfight has yet to give a proper introduction to the rules of the game, sidelining all the newcomers like myself who have no background knowledge on the franchise itself. There was also, unfortunately, no visually astounding fight scene whatsoever between the Vanguard card creatures like last episode which was a huge letdown considering how amazing the first one was. On the upside though, we were able to see new fiercer, more determined sides to Megumi and Yu-yu establishing they are more than meets the eye reflected by how they fight and react in battle. There is also a nice mix of strategy and heart threaded through the game and characters as reflected through Yu-yu and his seemingly weaker card choice but used strategically which was supplemented by his overwhelming trust in it as well. This is a strong element that will hopefully be present throughout the season and built upon. Lastly, characters like that of Tomari and Zakusa and their interactions with Kondo make for some good chemistry as they build a playful and friendly rapport. Here’s hoping this too is another aspect that is cultivated more so as the show develops over time. 

Vanguard overDress shocks with a quality second episode that exceeds that of its predecessor with a charmingly funny plot, along with a light shun on different sides of characters that make them more personable and great  interplay between them. It was just one stunning battle and cardfight explanation short of a home run.