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

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

-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. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...

first released in 1996 in the wake of the CCG boom created by the popularity of '' Magic: The Gathering''. 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 that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

) and published by

Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK) is a Privately held company, private company primarily known for producing trading cards. It was founded in 1988. Its headquarters are in Carls ...

, 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, published in 1997, was based entirely on the long-running ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') 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'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

''.

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. That set was released in 1997 and it was the last set in the game. 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 (linguistics), com ...

well. If you were to print out all the card

errata An erratum or corrigendum (: errata, corrigenda) (comes from ) is a correction of a published text. Generally, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing process) and a corrigendum for an a ...

, 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 Company, Upper Deck Entertainment (UDE). In the game, players build and play a deck of Vs. System cards in an ...

, 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 world and the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Black L ...

Universal Fighting System The ''Universal Fighting System'' (''UFS''), released in 2006 and rebranded as ''UniVersus'' in 2021, is a collectible card game published by UVS Games. Games of ''UFS'' represent a fight between two characters in hand-to-hand combat. Characte ...

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, Donruss Playoff LP fam ...

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 1987-1991 Japanese cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by Anime International Company, AIC and Artmic. The series involves the adventures of the Knight Sabers, an all-female group of Mercenar ...

'', ''

El-Hazard is a Japanese anime franchise written by Ryoe Tsukimura and directed by Hiroki Hayashi. The series was animated by AIC and produced by Pioneer LDC. There is also a manga adaptation, which is published in English by Viz Media. The seri ...

'', ''

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 in 38 volumes by Shogakukan. The story revolves a ...

'', ''

Tenchi Muyo! is a Japanese anime, light novel and manga franchise. The original series began with a six-episode Original video animation, OVA called . This original series was created by Masaki Kajishima and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, and it was rel ...

'' *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 manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, with its ...

'', ''

Phantom Quest Corp. is a comedy horror anime produced by Madhouse and Pioneer LDC. It was originally released as a four-episode original video animation (OVA) in Japan between August 25, 1994 and February 25, 1995. An English-dubbed version was released in ...

'', ''

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese animated science fiction action comedy film. The film focuses on 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl A-ko, who defends her best friend C-ko, as they face off against their classmate and rival B-ko while the Earth faces the threa ...

'' *Set 2: ''

References

External links

Ani-Mayhem Online
{{Upper Deck Card games introduced in 1996 Discontinued collectible card games Upper Deck Company games Products and services discontinued in 1997

History

Card Sets

See also

References

External links