''Ani-Mayhem'' is an out-of-print

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

-based

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

first released in 1996 in the wake of the CCG boom created by the popularity of ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

''. Produced by the merchandising arm of Pioneer Animation (now known as

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

) and published by

Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United Stat ...

, Ani-Mayhem's cards featured images from a variety of anime series and movies. The first two sets were composed of multiple productions and the third and final set was based entirely on the long-running ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...

''.

History

Ani-Mayhem was created in the post-''Magic'' boom. When the first set, commonly known as Set 0, was published, its rulebook was considered uninformative and incomplete. Later printings of the game attempted to fix this by including a more detailed rulebook that fundamentally altered the way the game played. The ''Dragon Ball Z'' expansion, which came in starter decks just as the original set did, included a rule set that rewrote the game for a second time. The idea of the game was to allow an open-ended system that would allow all characters from all anime to interact with one another in the same card game. The result was a game that did not manage its

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wor ...

well. If you were to print out all the card

errata An erratum or corrigendum (plurals: errata, corrigenda) (comes from la, errata corrige) is a correction of a published text. As a general rule, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing pro ...

, it would be at least three-to-four times as long as the game's rulebook. Another problem that hurt the game came in the wake of the ''Dragon Ball Z'' expansion. The cards in this set were typically much more powerful than the average cards present in Sets 0 and 1, leading to serious imbalance that was further compounded by the vast number of rules changes that the expansion introduced. Critics say the Ani-Mayhem card stock is relatively high quality.

tried this multi-property approach again five years later, creating the

VS System Vs. System (short for Versus System), also written as VS System and abbreviated as VS, is a collectible card game designed by Upper Deck Entertainment (UDE). In the game, players build and play a deck of Vs. System cards in an attempt to win a ga ...

, which proved to be more successful. Other multi-property games include

Sabertooth Games BL Publishing was a division of Games Workshop, and was split into three sections: * The Black Library publishes novels, art books, background books and graphic novels set in the Warhammer Fantasy (setting), Warhammer Fantasy world and the Warham ...

Universal Fighting System The ''Universal Fighting System'' (''UFS'') is a collectible card game designed by Jasco Games. Games of ''UFS'' represent a fight between two characters in hand-to-hand combat. Characters are drawn from original properties as well as a number of ...

and

Score Entertainment Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of ...

Epic Battles ''Epic Battles'' is an out-of-print collectible card game produced by Score Entertainment that was released in September 2005. Gameplay attempts to emulate a traditional fighting game experience and features characters and attacks from several ...

. Decipher, Inc. similarly reused the game engine from the

Star Wars CCG ''Star Wars: Customizable Card Game'' (''SW:CCG'') is an out-of-print customizable card game based on the ''Star Wars'' fictional universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produced the ''Star Trek Customizable Card Game'' and ''The ...

in its WARS Trading Card Game.

Card Sets

*Set 0: ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by Anime International Company, AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involv ...

'', '' El-Hazard'', ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The st ...

'', ''

Tenchi Muyo! is a Japanese anime, light novel and manga franchise. The original series began with a six-episode OVA called created by Masaki Kajishima and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, and released in Japan on September 25, 1992. The series was relea ...

'' *Set 1: ''

Armitage III is a 1995 cyberpunk original video animation series. It centers on Naomi Armitage, a highly advanced "Type-III" android. In 1996, the series was edited into a film called . The series was followed up in 2002 with a sequel, set some years ...

'', '' Dominion: Tank Police'', ''

Oh My Goddess! , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, ...

'', '' Phantom Quest Corp.'', ''

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese action comedy science fiction anime film that had several sequels and a spin-off. This film focuses on a happy-go-lucky 16-year-old red-haired, sailor-suited teenage schoolgirl, A-ko Magami, who goes on her magical adventure ...

'' *Set 2: ''

References

External links

Ani-Mayhem Online
{{Upper Deck Card games introduced in 1996 Collectible card games Upper Deck Company games

History

Card Sets

See also

References

External links