For some people, anime and card games go hand in hand so much it's genuinely a surprise to learn that Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! weren't actually based on the famous card games. In fact, as those who've read the manga or seen the Toei anime, Yu-Gi-Oh! wasn't even about card games at first.
Still, there are plenty of reasons why someone would be surprised by an anime being based on a card game. Sometimes, the anime is far removed from the original game. Sometimes, the card game is thought to have been made to promote the show, not the other way around. There are even cases where viewers mistake the series as a parody of the genre. Finally, in some cases, both the anime and the card game are just that obscure.
10 Aikatsu! Began As An Arcade Card Game In 2012
Also known as Aikatsu! Idol Activity, this franchise started with an arcade card game back in 2012. Taking place at Starlight Academy, girls train and audition to become pop idols. Cards help determine what players can use in the upcoming auditions.
The anime adaptation focuses on a girl named Ichigo Hoshimiya, who enrolls at the school to follow in the footsteps of her favorite idol, compete with her friends, with each season giving focus to a new group of aspiring idols.
9 Spellbound! Magical Princess Lil'Pri Got Its Start In A Player-Customizable Sega Arcade Game
In this anime, three girls who are incarnations of three classic fairy tale princesses, Cinderella, Snow White, and Kaguya-Hime, become magical pop idols to help save Fairyland. As a group, they become known as the "Little Princesses," or "Lil'Pri."
The series actually got its start in a Sega arcade game where players scanned cards to customize their own characters, called Lilpri - Yubi Puru Hime Chen.
8 Monsuno Was Created To Promote the Card Game And A Line Of Toys
A Pokemon-esque anime is Monsuno, which is also known for its graphic novel adaptation, is a Japanese-American co-production and it isn't just inspired by similar card-themed anime and manga, it was also created to promote the card game and a line of toys.
Considered as both an anime and a Western cartoon, the series revolves around the titular Monsuno, animals fused with alien DNA. The hero, Chase Suno, goes on a journey to find his missing father with his friends, encounters Monsuno, and contends with two organizations with their own plans for the Monsuno.
7 Duel Masters Is Based On Magic: The Gathering
While this series eventually got a card game all their own, which was indeed based on the cards used in the original anime, the original manga actually used cards from Magic: The Gathering.
Revolving around a card player named Shobu Kirifuda, the fact that this series was at one point based on a real game might surprise Western viewers because the anime was given a "gag dub" during its North American release, which even aired on Cartoon Network. This caused some fans to mistakenly believe it was simply a parody of other card-based anime.
6 Battle Spirits Is All About The Cards
This anime revolves around a figure known as "Rei the Number One Star", who is searching for the mysterious treasure known as the Ultimate Battle Spirits. To accomplish this goal, he has a dragon, a robot, a pair of siblings, and his amazing card game skills by his side.
At times, the anime likes to place focus on characters and the story to the point it nearly forgets that it's based on a card game, just like a majority of its viewers.
5 Weiß Survive Is Based On Weiß Schwarz, A Card Game Aimed At The Otaku Community
Weiß Schwarz, which literally means "White" and "Black," is a Japanese card game based around card battles aimed at the otaku community. Interestingly, the cards themselves often employ preexisting anime characters.
A few years after the card game was released, an anime series lasting 16 episodes came out called Weiß Survive. In the series' universe, two characters, Takeshi and Michi, find themselves trapped in another world thanks to opening a portal by playing cards.
4 Mon Colle Knights Was Inspired By Monster Collection
Inspired by the Monster Collection trading card game, this series revolves around Mondo Ooya and Rokuna Hiiragi, who can travel to the Mon World, where monsters live. Here, they need to find six monster items that can allow that world to connect with the Earth.
Unfortunately, the villains are also after the items, but with the intention of using them to take over both worlds. Along the way, they encounter a range of creatures, from winged yetis to lava lizards.
3 Ange Vierge Was A Digital Card Game
This digital card game also inspired a media franchise, with anime and manga. Magic portals opened throughout the world, which has had the added effect of magic powers awakening in young girls.
Gathering at the Seiran Academy, these girls go by the group name "Progress," calling their powers "Exceed," and fight an evil entity called Ouroboros who serves as a threat to five worlds within the series' universe.
2 Chihayafuru Draws Its Inspiration From Karuta, A Traditional Japanese Card Game
The anime known as Chihayafuru is a bit unusual in that it's actually based on a traditional Japanese card game instead of a modern, merchandise-driven set aimed at modern kids. This game is called karuta, incorporating a Japanese set of cards that has its origins in Portuguese playing cards. In its competitive version, players are often expected to memorize 100 tanka poems which are printed on the cards. This element might cause Western viewers to be surprised that this is a real game.
Chihaya Ayase is a young girl who meets a karuta player named Arata Wataya, inspiring her to become a talented player herself. Unlike most similar card-based anime, the series actually combines the sports genre with the slice-of-life and josei genres.
1 DokiDoki! PreCure Was Inspired By The Traditional French Suit Of Playing Cards
Even the traditional French suit of cards has inspired anime, including one of the Pretty Cure series.In DokiDoki! PreCure, each of the Cures is based on playing cards. Mana becomes Cure Heart, Aguri becomes Cure Ace, and Rikka becomes Cure Diamond, whose connection to cards are in their name.
More subtle are Alice, who becomes Cure Rosetta, representing clubs, and Makoto, who becomes Cure Sword, representing spades. There's even a magical Trump Kingdom, whose name is a reference to a trump playing card; its princess is also a fan of karuta. It's tempting to think that having a character named Alice might be a shout-out to Alice In Wonderland, which is also famous for having card-based characters.
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