THEY FINALLY DID IT! | Cardfight Vanguard Will+Dress Review

! If you've watched any of my previous videos, then you know that I  haven't quite been the biggest fan of Cardfight Vanguard Overdress. The first season flopped  harder than your mom diving into a swimming pool. The second season, however, definitely  improved on the first, with more card battles, more character interactions, and  higher stakes within those battles. There's even more of the characters' personality  and struggles represented by the cards wielded by the battler and how they emplo

y them. It  did a better job with character development, had fewer scenes that felt like filler, and  was a step in the right direction both in the battles themselves and the drama in between,  especially in regards to Donji, Toya, Megumi, YuYu, and the newer characters  introduced, including Lady Merae. This third season, called Overdress,  in the first episode alone, does a fantastic job setting up what's  to come and makes up for past mistakes. I'm going to focus on episode one from  this sea

son in regards to specifics, in case this season convinces you to jump right  in, but I will broadly talk about the rest. There are three new characters introduced: a  girl who has seemingly never played Cardfight Vanguard before, a student council  president from a prestigious school, and a suspicious character of some importance,  who we see a glimpse of his influence in episode one's very last scene. The girl learns how to  card fight, and in turn, that means we finally get to as well—a scene

that was heavily needed  in the first season but better late than never, I suppose, especially with how much more  prominent card fights are this season. Since she's new to card fight and being trained by  Team Blackout, her play style and reactions after the battle reflect that. It is used to contrast  with the prestigious battling style showcased at the end of the battle with the president  character. He wrecks his opponent off-screen, and although they did say that it was an  honor to battle

together before the fight, he spares no words afterwards. The  losing battler tries to laugh it off, getting insulted and told that losers  shouldn't laugh—a counter to how, regardless of the outcome, Team Blackout can  still have fun afterward and don't take it as seriously. Something that Toya had to grow  into when he joined Team Blackout last season. The green-haired guy I brought up earlier that  is "sussy Wussy" gives our heroes invitations to a card fight tournament at the end of  the ep

isode, calling them Counter Fighters for not officially competing in tournaments  but having undeniable skill regardless. He states that this tournament will have many  powerful fighters, showing silhouettes of them and giving us something to be excited  for in regards to the rest of the season. Although how he knew A's name was never explained,  especially since she never fought before, this was a big oversight in terms of writing. Literally,  they could have given her the invite without ever s

aying it was specifically for her. He could have  said it was for the strongest card fighters he could find and that he recognized her potential.  Countless ways to avoid this glaring hole in the first episode. Regardless, this was a far  better introduction than the other two seasons, with season 1's being absolutely horrible. Not  setting up how to card fight, the importance of card fighting, and focusing far too much time on  drama in regards to a crossdressing storyline. It wouldn't take any

one that didn't have a  prior interest in Cardfight Vanguard. And even if they did, the focus on unrelated things  was probably a turn-off for many of them and maybe even you as well. The second season has  a pretty good first episode focusing on the character interactions between Don and Megumi as  he makes the drastic decision to quit the very team that he has led. Team Blackout, people  rallied behind him. Meg Megumi idolized him, so seeing her tag along with him on this train,  trying to wra

p her head around his decision as they solemnly play a game that is normally  fueled by Team Blackout energy, was a great way to set up the importance of the season and  what we could expect from the emotions within it. This episode, besides being a tutorial of sorts  for us as well as a new underdog character, demonstrates an important focus on the very  thing this show is about: card fighting. It demonstrates stakes that seem smaller in obvious  regards but hints at the card fighting going to

be based on what actually matters: competition  itself, winning against all odds, or having fun beyond anything else. Testing YuYu's resolve,  his ability to battle how he believes is right, and bring others around to his beliefs in the  process, or at least understand their own. The other opponents within the tournament  include familiar faces like Toya, who leaves Team Blackout, which is kind of  hard to wrap my head around given how last season his acceptance into the team and him  proving hi

mself to them were major points of the plot. They offer a reason for his departure  and try to justify it halfway through the season, but with nothing leading up to his departure, it  feels super out of nowhere. One of the biggest flaws of this time skip. Lady Merae, who  gets some good scenes with YuYu this season, still leading her own respective team and  having some good heart-to-heart regarding that. I could talk about a few more, but honestly,  as much as I like to focus on card fighting,

they did tone down the development a bit too  much for fans of the previous seasons, at least, especially in regards to the new characters. The  writers struggle to find a balance every season, whether it's too much drama to the point of  pointless scenes or too much card fighting leading to underdeveloped characters early  on. It never hits the sweet spot in pacing, even three seasons in, with more card  fights but more being rushed as well, with us seeing the beginning and end yet again  with

little to nothing in between, which was more understandable last season since the emotions  were a bigger driving force than the fights alone. Here they struggle with the emotional weight,  making it harder to justify the outcome at first anyway. When a character is crying over their  loss, saying they almost won, had their opponent on the ropes, etc., it's hard to sympathize  whenever we never got to actually see the battle that took place. Speedrunning tournament arcs  in anime is not the best

way to do it; "The God of High School" can tell you that. We like those  arcs because we enjoy the combat, not the outcomes alone. We enjoy the character interactions,  not just what happened after the battle ends. I understand it was probably due to having limited  episodes and time within them, a limited budget, things like that. But understanding why  it had to be that way doesn't make it more enjoyable to watch. They should have  given these seasons 24 episodes to truly flesh these things o

ut. That's not saying that  development for characters is obsolete; however, they do have characterization, even if it's not  necessarily as deep. The underdog character Urara is a cardfight genius but an average student,  someone that gets ultra-focused within battle, and everything else becomes  secondary up to that point. She outwardly enjoys card battling, like any  other Team Blackout member, and even when she is focused, she continues to have fun. But  with all the tension, being a new kin

d of joy, all orchestrated when she hears the sound of a  flute. She's always had the problem with focus, however, moments where she needs to be in  tune with the environment surrounding her but gets stuck in her own head instead.  This ability to hyperfocus on herself and one specific thing can be a weakness in things  that require harmony, such as being in a band. But a strength in individual activities or  one-on-one, as we see within her card fights. The president character named Raika's  hy

perseriousness is also his defining feature, something obviously set up for him to possibly  get over the more he battles with those that are more carefree. But as we find out whether he  gets to that point or not, it just leaves him rather average of a character. I won't spoil how  it all plays out because there is some good there, just take some time before we get up to that  point. It's too similar of a character arc to Toya from the first season and Merae from  the second, without the same f

oundation of emotional weight that the latter has to keep you  invested. He also sounds a lot like young Sasuke, both in the voice acting performance for the  dub as well as what he says and how he thinks. He would rather be alone, thinks he doesn't  need anyone else, and can get strong all on his own—sound familiar? We see this character type  so often in media that you have to do something to differentiate him from the rest, something this  one fails to do for 75% of the season. Near the end,

that changes, but with his previous battles,  the ones we saw the full extent of not hinting at the change, it feels far out of left field. Not  bad in concept, but bad in execution. And yes, I know openly they acknowledge how familiar his arc  is to Toya, but that doesn't make it any better. Another new character is a guy named Tao, a guy  that has his own company but still competes in Vanguard. He takes a mentor role for some of the  characters, and out of all the new faces, he is my favorite.

His scenes outside of the card fighting  are the most engaging as well as add the most to the plot and having the most unique perspective.  There's mystery surrounding him, strength emanating from him, but it never compromises  who he is and what he prioritizes. Sadly, he was underutilized to boast other characters  up, but hopefully, we see him again next season. Given the trend of new characters just  vanishing like a kid from the previous season, it's hard to say for sure. But man, am I  hop

eful. YuYu feels a lot better this season, though. He has a far better design, gets humbled  quickly into the season, and with all the weight on his shoulders as the new leader, he represents  his team and has to learn what it really means to have that burden as well as the honor behind  that responsibility. His interactions with Lady Merae really help him out. It's the most wholesome  friendship this season and was always a joy to see on-screen. He's warming into his new role, such  as Toya did

last season, which, although their experience is different, it does add a bit of a  samey feeling as it happened so close together. We get some backstory for Zakusa that was  definitely one of the bigger highlights of the season. It's a little rushed in  specificity but is complemented by a card fight that really helps link it all together.  We get to see who he was before Team Blackout, the power he has that we haven't seen up  until now, and leaving us to wonder what else there is about him t

hat we don't  know yet. It is hurt by prior actions, however. His battle in season 1, I believe, where  the stakes were arguably higher than this one, but he never uses that power and that  ferocity then. It doesn't make any sense and isn't touched on either. So it's up  to your headcanon to make it make sense. I feel like Megumi is literally on the same  character arc every time she's on screen. Her motivations never really change. She doesn't  seem to grow over time. And if she doesn't become

her own character outside of Don's  shadow, then she's going to quickly become my least favorite main character. I've given  the girl three dead-blame seasons, just give her a break already. At least a character that  is deemed as the best within the show showed her respect and gave her constructive criticism  while complimenting one of her battles. Too bad she reacted like a child, had the chance  for real development right in front of her, and instead left her in the same state she was  when t

he series first started. What a drag. That really powerful guy, I'm not going  to say much about his personality, builds over time with mystery surrounding  what we don't see, masked by what we do. His interactions with others are best experienced  firsthand, so I'm going to leave it at that. In terms of battles, the ones that we see play  out are a lot of fun, whether it's due to the emotions in some or the combat in others. They  are all pretty solid, at the very least. The normal stellar batt

le animations that crop  up every once in a while are just as good as the prior seasons, without a noticeable  drop or rise in quality for the most part. There is also a new kind of overdress, crossover  dress that is used every time YuYu battles, besides once and not by anyone else.  While it does add possibilities for future strategies regarding it, it's weird  that he's the only one that utilizes it, especially since the card that gives him the  ability to do so was gifted by someone else. Al

though I would have written this season  differently, changed the alchemist, some battles, made different pair-ups in regards to what card  fighters are battling each other, and would have wanted more shown in regards to battles, I do  believe that this season, this third season, is the best so far. I like the new characters for  the most part. I like the development we did get regarding pre-existing characters and was glad to  see them finally explain how card fighting works. I like some of the

interactions like YuYu and Miss  Merae, Miss Merae and Urara, Zakusa and Tomari, etc. The characters felt more like real people,  had more interest outside of card fighting, ones that didn't revolve around a singular person  or event. That is the music slapped. All of it. I don't remember a single track this season that  wasn't a straight banger. Props there. The battles were more fun as well, with more animated scenes  within them and more visible turns. Still not as fleshed out as other anime

with skipping around  still occurring, but far better than before. The story itself is more of a mystery but leaves  too much to the imagination, leaving it feeling like a whole season that is just a tournament  arc, missing out on anything more captivating, which does drag it down a little bit. The humor,  on the other hand, is used more sparingly this season. And since they take themselves more  seriously, it makes the humor land more whenever it does pop up, which I actually really like that

  route. And I'm glad they went in that direction. If I recommend anyone to start this series  anywhere, it would probably be this third season. It explains how to play the game,  introduces characters, and references their relationships, providing characterization.  It works well as a soft reboot, explaining the absence of previous characters. Megumi re-explains  why she battles instead of growing from it. Some scenes won't have as many stakes without prior  knowledge, and there are references

that won't be understood as much. However, everything can  exist within a vacuum and be understood without it. The season ends by setting up the next one  but wraps itself up rather well alongside it. I hope I wasn't too hard on this season; I  wanted it to do well. For the next season to yet again improve on the one before, I  have to be honest with how I feel and how I believe they could improve. Did you like  this season? What do you want me to cover next? Let me know in the comments below. 

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