Blue Hour (Reboot)
is a Continuity Reboot of the Blue Hour Cardfight!! Vanguard fanfiction by Digidramon, the original author. Inspired by the V Series Continuity Reboot of the anime, it takes the characters of the original story, but dramatically changes aspects of the cards, setting and plot.
Samuel Wilson and his sister Leah arrive in the city of Winchester after moving from their home in London, meeting and bonding with Robert Macmillan and Agatha Gladstone through the game of Vanguard. As the four form a partnership to rise through the ranks of competitive Vanguard, the shadows of their pasts loom strong, and everything is not as it should be.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Dye-Job:
- One of Agatha's more striking features in the original was blue-dyed hair, but apparently in this new continuity she never dyed it and instead sticks with a presumably natural blonde.
- Alice is a second example: Black-haired in the original fic, a redhead in the reboot.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the original fic, Agatha was very much still pining for Gabriel at least at the start. In the reboot, she's clearly traumatised by and afraid of him and any notion of loving him is very much in the past tense. To a lesser extent is her initial relationship with Samuel, due to the above overhaul. In the original fic, Agatha was initially cold towards Samuel feeling he was trying to fill in the hole Gabriel left behind. In the reboot, she's more concerned over the aspect of Samuel being just like Gabriel regarding his relationship with Robert but aside from that, is relatively more civil towards him.
- In the original fic, Ruth had no special relationship with any of the main and supporting characters as she was just as a one-time bit character. Here in the reboot, she's a close friend of Agatha and Oliver and in a relationship with Richard.
- In the original fic, Kenneth had no strong feelings towards Gabriel besides knowing he was an exceptionally powerful fighter. In the reboot however, Gabriel both admires Gabriel for being the pinnacle of strength but also resents him for choosing Agatha and Richard as his students over him.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- While Samuel in the original fic brooded, he was still able to be openly supporting towards Robert and the others. Here however, he is a lot more morally ambiguous and cryptic that makes everyone, including his sister, unsure of what he is really thinking or feeling.
- In the original fic, Agatha had a happy home life and her relationship to Gabriel consisted of a crush on him that caused her to chase him. In the reboot, her home situation is closer to work-caused Parental Neglect and it's hinted that her relationship with Gabriel was far colder.
- In this rebooted universe, Seth never met Sophia (who was Adapted Out as mentioned above) and correspondingly; his anxiety and social awkwardness are even worse without her presence to help him as it was the case in Setting Sun.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- In the original fic, Leah did not appear until after the shop tournament at Card Shop Avalon to determine the four-man team for Nationals was concluded. Here in the reboot she's present from the fic's very first scene.
- Meanwhile, Seth didn't appear until Setting Sun in the original continuity, whereas here he's present from the third chapter of the reboot.
- Team Midnight Sun are mentioned offhandedly in Ride 3 as being active. As the name suggests, this team didn't appear until the fic of the same name in the original universe.
- Adaptation Name Change: What was once Card Shop Avalon in the original becomes Avalon Gaming in the reboot, due to the latter name being more in line with the naming scheme a card/gaming store would have in the Western setting.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: As a result of the V Series' more condensed card pool: Many characters have either had their card changed, or use different clans completely.
- Zigzagged with Robert. While he still uses Dimension Police as per the original, his initial deck goes from focusing on Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha (in the original) to Miracle Beauty. However he does obtain Daiyusha later on from the booster packs Samuel bought for him.
- Played straight with Oliver, who goes from running a Shadow Paladin deck to a Dark Irregulars deck.
- Leah used Oracle Think Tank in both continuities but while in the original fic, her deck focused on the Tsukuyomi ride chain, here in the reboot her deck focuses on CEO Amaterasu and Victorious Deer instead.
- In the original fic, Alice's ace card during the shop tournament was Flare Whip Dragon. In the reboot, it is Vortex Dragon instead.
- In the original fic, Kenneth used the fanmade Phoenix Colosseum clan. Here in the reboot, he uses Narukami instead.
- Charles, who used Oracle Think Tank in the original fic, instead uses Genesis in the reboot.
- Ascended Extra:
- In the original fic, Leah primarily played a cheerleader role up until Midnight Sun where she formed her own team in addition to being Promoted to Love Interest for Robert. In this fic, she is introduced as a main character right from the get-go - even becoming a member of Team Avalon with Samuel, Robert and Agatha.
- Ruth - a one-note opponent of Samuel's from an early chapter in the original fic, becomes a major supporting character, being one of the best players at Avalon Gaming and Richard's girlfriend.
- Composite Character:
- While Robert is largely the same character from the original story, his deck's strategy in the reboot is taken from Mary Prescott of Team Bright Dawn, who used a stand-focused variant of Dimension Police in the original fic and had Miracle Beauty as her ace card.
- Leah's Ascended Extra role takes several cues from Charles Bannerman - who in the original fic was the fourth protagonist and member of Team Avalon, and who likewise used an Oracle Think Tank deck with CEO Amaterasu as an ace card. Additionally the way she meets Seth by rescuing him after getting his bag back from some bullies, and resolving to be his friend is similar to that of Sophia Ayers' role from Setting Sun.
- Continuity Reboot: Outright described as one. Samuel, Leah, Robert and Agatha among others are carried over, but the plot is going to be different and
Word of God suggests many changes lie ahead. - Darker and Edgier: In the reboot, Samuel is a more morally ambiguous and mysterious character, while Agatha is outright traumatised by Gabriel rather than pining for him.
- Demoted to Extra: When Charles Bannerman shows up, he's been demoted from a protagonist to simply the leader of a rival team.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Chapters are titled "Rides".
- Invocation: In accordance with the anime, many characters perform dramatic ride chants when playing their ace cards, though Ruth lampshades it as "theatrical" and Seth sheepishly admits he doesn't actually have one for Maiden of Trailing Rose.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In Chapter 3, it's noted how often Triggers only appear in the second drive check of a Twin Drive, with Agatha wondering if it's because it's more dramatic and Richard responding that maybe they're 'just playing for an audience'.
- Misery Builds Character: Agatha says something much along these lines after Samuel justifies going all out against the Naïve Newcomer Robert because anything less would be an insult. It's later revealed that she's quoting Gabriel.Agatha: Pain makes us stronger. Only by struggling and overcoming challenges do we become more powerful.
- Mythology Gag: Since the entire purpose of the story is to reimagine the original fic, there are naturally nods to it:
- Samuel is introduced to Robert when he defeats Agatha, as in the original.
- Robert and Samuel's fight in the first chapter is essentially a direct remake of their first fight in the original Blue Hour. Samuel rides the exact same Vanguards note and wins the turn he rides to Grade 3 by using Phantom Blaster Dragon's Damned Charging Lance, just as he did in the original.
- When Samuel takes note of Robert's deck's lack of rare cards, he asks why Robert didn't get a Trial Deck. In the original story, Robert was using a Trial Deck for this particular fight.
- The way that Leah meets Seth, helping him get his bag back from a group of bullies, is exactly how Seth met Sophia in Setting Sun.
- That Oliver specifically fights Seth nods to the fact that Oliver was the only member of the Blue Hour cast to appear in person in Setting Sun.
- Seth's use of Arboros Dragon, Ratoon as his starter Vanguard is a nod to the Arboros Dragon deck he played in the original universe.
- Robert's Invocation for Super Dimension Robo, Daiyusha is a slightly altered variant of the one he used for his Signature Mon in the original fic, Enigman Cloud.
- Samuel's name for Phantom Blaster Dragon's direct damage skill is Catastrophe Pierce, a name taken from the SP Flavor Text of Revenger, Dragruler Phantom. This is a nod to how Samuel used Dragruler Phantom as his Signature Mon later in the original stories.
- Named by the Adaptation: Avalon Gaming's manager, only ever referred to as "Mr. Owens" in the original fics, is given the first name Simon.
- New Transfer Student: Samuel and Leah's situation, having recently moved from London down to Winchester.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Oliver's Dark Mask persona from Ride 12, which the entire cast sees through instantly mostly due to the fact it's a recycled Halloween costume.
- Removed from the Picture: Ride 3 reveals that Agatha had done this to someone in her picture depicting the original Team Avalon alongside herself, Richard and Oliver, the removed person undoubtedly being Gabriel.
- Shout-Out: In Ride 4, Oliver references Kamen Rider while riding King of Masks, Dantarian as his avatar, specifically saying "It's showtime", his Invocation declaring Dantarian to be "the greatest and kindest overlord", performing a flick of the wrist while saying "Now, count up your sins!", and declaring "I've got the winning formula!" before his final attack.
- In Ride 6, when Daniel's Juggernaut Maximum attacks, its exclamations are "MAXIMUM SMASH!" and "PUNY CAR!", while Gyro Slinger declares "Clobbering time!".
- Two from Ride 11: firstly, Simon's Kujikiricongo taunts Leah's Vanguard by saying "Hesitation is defeat.", and Agatha turns out to be a fan of Blackadder, specifically having "the dictionary one" cited as her favorite.
- On top of a veritable storm of Kamen Rider references in Ride 12, there's also Dark Mask declaring "enough expository banter!" and Gwynn the Ripper repeatedly shouting "USELESS!" for Punctuated Pounding.
- Ride 13 features the glorious return of Team Cosmo Nova, complete with Char and Harry Ord cosplays and all the associated Gundam references.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Samuel is more reserved, neutral and cold while Leah is outgoing and constantly smiling.
