As an ardent UNION ARENA enjoyer, I can’t deny that I’ve fantasized a little bit about different anime that would be cool to have added to the game. And while this list is not based on the realities of however it is complex licensing deals work behind the scenes (and also ignores the anime with sets already in production for the English version and Japan), I feel these anime would work really, really well if adapted to game. Also included are some ideas on how mechanics could be incorporated to reflect core themes in the shows! You’re welcome, Bandai – I did some of the legwork for you already!

Warning: might be some small spoilers from the anime below if you haven’t seen these already.

#1 Vinland Saga

The anime that comes to mind as most easily adapting itself to UNION ARENA is Vinland Saga. And that’s not just because it revolves around a bunch of my ancestors from Iceland. Vinland saga has some insane battle scenes that are based on a ton of strategy – a perfect fit for UNION ARENA.

How could the decks work?

Obviously you would need a deck based on Thorfin. This deck would probably work really well as a Purple color, and would only get stronger as the game progresses and Thorfinn’s rage and desire for revenge builds. Maybe Thorfinn’s BP could scale depending on the number of cards in the sideline – all the way up to 5000 BP where he gets Impact as well?

That would work really, really well.

A blue Askeladd deck would be very interesting to see come into fruition, too, as I feel Blue has the sort of trickery built into its mechanics that would suit the conniving antihero.

#2 Death Note

Death Note could be a very interesting show to build a UNION ARENA set on. There are some really interesting themes in this show that could translate well into a UA deck. Although it’s not exactly a fighting anime, you could totally build something around the Death Note Mechanic that would be interesting to mess with. Perhaps you could have an effect that requires Light Yagami to be in the frontline in order to sideline any character instantly, only make the Light card very vulnerable otherwise to play into the double edged sword nature of his insane ability?

Meanwhile, L would make a solid Green color deck – one that builds up to some sort of a powerful endgame much in the way L is able to do throughout the course of the show.

#3 Samurai Champloo

While it definitely would be tricky to turn Death Note into a UA deck, another show that would do so pretty easily would be Samurai Champloo. You could easily break this deck up between the two characters, and a third energy color based on the many swordsmen that Mugen and Jin have to face along their way to find the Samurai who smells of sunflowers.

Mugen feels like he would make a solid Blue deck, and you could make him have the effect that doesn’t let him be affected by BP reducing effects kind of like Kenpachi from Green Bleach. This ties in with his battle hardened nature in the show.

Meanwhile, Jin would make a solid Yellow energy deck given his reliance on tactics and cunning to defeat his foes.

#4 Naruto

Naruto’s world is so expansive it could easily be its own card game. However, that also means it would translate very well into UNION ARENA. There are so many different characters and factions in this deck that you could build sets for volume after volume. A squad seven deck would be cool – one that combos with one another much like the Yellow Demon Slayer deck. Kakashi would make an excellent two-AP character who sidelines and gains impact inline with his powerful Chidori technique.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are so many cool bad guys in Naruto that you could easily put together a Purple deck that has the likes of the Akatsuki in it. I don’t know if it’s feasible for a Naruto expansion to come to UNION ARENA. But wouldn’t it be epic if it did?

#5 Beserk

Last but not least, Beserk would be a cool anime to come to UNION ARENA. While I don’t know a ton about Beserk outside of the Golden Age Arc movies, there’s enough material there to fuel several decks. On the one hand Guts would make a solid Green red deck that hits hard without a ton of outside strategy to it. Meanwhile, Griffith feels like a solid Green combo deck – one that gets stronger based on how many Band of the Falcon you have in play.

UNION ARENA is such an interesting and dynamic game that closely ties game mechanics with the worlds its based on. Any of these anime would make for an intriguing set. So we’ll just have to wait and see if they ever get featured!

What anime do you think would make a good UA set? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

These Anime Should Get Added to UNION ARENA