Cardfight Vanguard 18 – miracle trigger check

They keep coming out with new card types -- helps in selling booster packs.

The last thing I expected was another twist in episode 18, but here we have not one, but two!

Not their most challenging opponents. Okarin would be impressed, though.

Somehow Team Q4 manages to skate into the final round, without Misaki’s help. After Aichi’s surprising play in episode 16, I expected that Misaki would appear in time for the final round. She does appear in time, but then asks to sit out the rest of the tournament. Now Aichi and Misaki have only played against each other once before, so it is possible that there isn’t much difference in their skill level. Still, these was a surprising turn of events. If I were to go back and plan out this plot, keeping Aichi as the 4th member, I would have Misaki play well at first, but then have her get sick or something, and have Aichi need to step in in the final round. As it stands, I’m a bit perplexed as to what Misaki’s role was, since it seems she won’t be getting a chance to play at all.

The idol group, Ultra-Rare, performs an insert song.

After lunch, the idol group (and secretive card shop owners), Ultra-rare, perform (delighting Katsumi). This isn’t exactly surprising, but it hardly explains their presence. During the song, Aichi flashes back to the time he first met them in their mysterious card shop. Why remind us of their mysterious nature, if they are only pop idols? There must be something else they going on here. This part is so weird that it reminds me of the WTF ending to Battle Athletes Victory. Are they secretly space aliens, searching for Earth’s greatest Vanguard card-fighter?

I expected this pirate to be the final boss.

But the biggest surprise for me was that Kamui’s expected battle with Gouki, the captain of Team Handsome, won’t be happening. Gouki’s little sister, Nagisa, enraged by Kamui’s affection for Emi, is going to substitute for Gouki in the tournament. Kamui is a good player, but he might have had trouble beating Gouki. This last minute change could mean an easy win for Team Q4, or Nagisa could throw Kamui off so much that he blows the match.

So there are a couple oddities here. Most pressing is the unexpected match between Kamui and Nagisa. If we assume he blows it, then, even with Kai taking his opponent down, Aichi will be forced to play the final hand to win the tournament. According to ANN there are going to be 24 episodes. Even if each match lasts an entire episode, that only comes out to 21 episodes. Something else has to be planned. This brings us back to Ultra-Rare. Are they scouting strong players for some more mysterious purpose? Or will the series end with a national tournament?

(Note: this post was originally misidentified as related to episode 17. Doh!)