Vanguard rant because I love this dumb cardgame show too much
It’s really interesting how the Legion Mate arc parallels not only the Link Joker arc but also the Psyqualia arc.
HECK All the major arcs draw really interesting parallels to each other.
Like one of the central themes of Vanguard is about Kai and Aichi’s encounter and friendship and how it changes both them and the people around them. That’s literally what the show is about plus dramatic card games.
The most obvious parallels are between the Psyqualia arc versus the Link Joker arc.
- Aichi loses himself to power offered by external force because he feels inadequate and incapable of keeping up with Kai and Ren in Vanguard. Also external force actively manipulates his insecurities to push him to that point.
- Ren being pretty much gone in Psyqualia drunk madness because the only thing he cared about was winning. He determined people’s worth by whether they win or lost.
- team Q4 being a hot mess of a team. Like i love them but god lord they were a terrible match back then.
- Kai being the cause of Aichi sinking into Psyqualia madness and also the one who saves him from it. The arc acknowledging that it’s also Aichi’s own greed to win that’s responsible and Kai saving Aichi from himself.
- Kourin who’s supposed to be a neutral entity actively helping these kids save Aichi because she’s too kind and is the kind of person who wants to protect what’s the right thing.
Just reverse everything in the above points and you have Link Joker. Seriously.
- - Kai loses himself to power offered by external force because he feels inadequate and incapable of keeping up with Aichi and Ren in Vanguard. Also external force actively manipulates his insecurities to push him to that point.
- Ren actively having his own arc and rejecting both external power and Psyqualia because in this arc, he’s not fighting to win, he’s fighting to save the people important to him. And that right there is the biggest example of how much he’s changed from season 1. The parallel of the conversation between him and Suiko especially with the reveal that she was the one who introduced Psyqualia to him (in the reboot but there’s hints that’s what happened in the original too).
- Aichi’s club actively working together to save people/protect each other. Just the huge emphasis on being there for each other and proper communication in this arc OOF
- Aichi being the motivation of Kai accepting the Link Joker and also the one who saves him from it. The arc very explicitly stating that it’s Kai’s own greed consuming him and his self destructive tendencies. Aichi saving Kai from himself.
- Kourin actively siding with the antagonist and doing what she knows is wrong and it almost tearing her apart because she doesn’t want to lose the people important to her.
- epic Kai vs Ren match pt 2: bonus the match also parallels their match from season one.
There’s like a few other parallels but these are just the ones off the top of my head.
Now Link Joker vs Legion Mate:
Where do I even begin omg. THERE’S so many not to mention Legion Mate itself is a big parallel to the rest of the series.
- first, switching the protag from Aichi to Kai.
- SWITCHING THE ANTAGONIST BETWEEN THE TWO
- Link Joker being the cause in both cases, but one voluntarily, the other involuntarily. One out of selfishness, one out of selflessness.
- SKSKS i could probably write a whole essay on the symbolic parallels of their relationship in link Joker vs Legion Mate
- the reverse zombies vs the Quatre Knights parallels
- the fucking parallels of Gaillard vs Kai vs Naoki omg.
- especially Kai vs Gaillard because this needs to be reiterated. Kai, takes up Aichi’s royal paladins vs Gaillard using Aichi’s gold paladins. Then later fighting with Kai’s Kagero vs Gaillard’s own deck. The way they both think of Aichi.
- funnily enough, Serra’s parallel to Kourin in Link joker.
- Kourin’s parallel to herself in Link Joker. ;; Poor girl really doesn’t get a break. Another parallel of selfishness versus selflessness. But honestly it’s so heartbreaking when you think of Kourin having to watch Aichi be slowly consumed by Link Joker and know she indirectly had a hand in it and just hhhhh im gonna cry
- MISAKI AND KOURIN’S RELATIONSHIP PARALLELS
- Aichi and Kourin’s relationship parallels. In Link Joker, he’s the one trying to save her. In Legion Mate, she can’t save him no matter how much she wants to and instead does her damn best to support him.
- the parallel of having an alien entity as the antagonist that uses human insecurities to take over versus Serra who used their faith against them.
- that fucking end Kai vs Aichi fight in both seasons. One is about teaching Kai to depend on others who are there for him and the other is to teach the same.
There’s a bunch more but you get the gist.
Psyqualia arc vs Legion Mate arc:
this one is super self explanatory tbh.
-Aichi at the start vs Aichi at the end.
- Kai at the start vs Kai at the end
- team Q4 at the start vs team Q4 at the end
- Kourin being a helpful outsider to being one of their important friends to save.
- misaki who wanted nothing to do with them and vanguard, teaching the importance of friends to someone else.
- the running theme of selfishness versus selflessness and how it’s not a matter of which is the right answer but a balance of both.
- kai and Kamui’s argument from their time as Q4 came back to bite Kai in the ass hard lol
- REN BEING SAVED BY AICHI AND REN REFUSING TO HELP AICHI BECAUSE HE DOESN’T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT AICHI
- Kai and Aichi’s relationship obviously.
- Miwa and Kai’s relationship for that matter.
You get the general gist.
Now we come to Asia Circuit vs Legion Mate:
- LEON LEON LEON LEON LEON LEON
- Aichi’s ability to touch lives and people and change them.
- Aichi having to fight void possessed Leon vs Aichi becoming slowly possessed by the link seed.
- “next time, can you show me the way?” Screech why are they always in a constant ping pong of saving each other from each other’s darkness these dumb card game nerds.
- how absent kai is this season vs the explicit absence of Aichi in Legion Mate
- kai and ren’s relationship lol
- i feel like the biggest parallel was definitely Kai though. Just the difference in how he handled things in Legion Mate compared to how he behaved in Asia Circuit says so much about his growth. But also about the growth of his friends who don’t take his lone wolf bs anymore haha
- the massive Beatdowns handed down to the squad in both arcs in cardfights. Also the increased seriousness in Legion Mate with greater stakes.
- wow can you believe the same Kai who more or less told Aichi to figure it out on his own why both their clans got erased, ran around in Legion Mate willing to get burned as many times as it took to get him back.
- AICHI’S SELF CONFIDENCE GROWING LEAPS AND BOUNDS
- Aichi growing into himself
- Aichi being pulled around by Takuto’s strings vs Aichi actively manipulating the whole magical moon sanctuary coma plan
- Aichi saving people versus the people he saved coming to save him
- “how about i beat you, take the seed and you become my Quatre Knight?” SkSKSKS this is so far from the Kai in Asia Circuit who just threw vague advice and encouragement at Aichi im crying guys their relationship is so beautiful.
- throwback to starry night date on the cliff because thanks Bushiroad that’s what my heart needed.
- Kai’s improved communication skills lol
Seriously i know i joke about the ridiculousness of the background setup of Legion Mate a lot and how nonsensical it is, but storytelling wise it’s definitely my favourite next to the Psyqualia. Because everything came around in a full circle in the most beautiful way and that’s so satisfying tbh.
Like it pulls together the overall plot in a really nice way, character development wise.
Honestly I dunno what I’m trying to say. All the arcs parallel each other in really interesting ways and allude to each other and hence the character development is one of my favourite things in Vanguard because its progression is understandable but not overly simplified.
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