Bushiroad announced the Bushiroad on the Road 2022 tour in March of this year. The year-long event is a series of booths at major anime conventions across the country. I was given the opportunity to explore Bushiroad’s booths at Anime Expo and ask a few questions about the tour and what the company hopes to achieve. 

Bushiroad’s presence at Anime Expo consisted of two booths: one at the Exhibit Hall, and one at the Entertainment Hall. The Exhibit Hall had merchandise from several Bushiroad properties for sale, including Weiss Schwartz, D4DJ, BanG Dream!, and some Revue Starlight. There were card game supplies, blind boxes, clothes, and items exclusive to the Bushiroad on the Road tour for sale. 

Circling in a counterclockwise direction revealed the BanG Dream! Display. Cutouts of the lead singers from all seven bands were on display, dressed in new cheerleading outfits.

In addition to being a pop-up shop, the Exhibit Hall booth had several interactive, exhibits. First was the BanG Dream! demo, where visitors could play the mobile game and roll the gacha. Right next to this display was a series of activities for the D4DJ multimedia project. An iPad was attached to a television, and guests could try playing the game. 

Encouraging the players — albeit silently — was Nyochio, a small cat plush that has become a sort of mascot for the game. It is the only Nyochio plush in the world, and his presence at the neighboring DJ table was much appreciated by fans of the game and anime. Around the corner from Nyochio and the game demo was a prize stall and stamp rally station. If an attendee had D4DJ downloaded on their phone, they could turn the wheel and get a prize. I got the consolation prize: a set of stickers. 

The stamp rally took participants to both the Exhibit Hall and Entertainment Hall, requiring social media follows and taking part in one of the card game demos in order to get an exclusive promo card.

The Entertainment Hall was more dedicated to card games. About a third of the space was dedicated to displays of recent Weiss Schwartz and Cardfight! Vanguard sets, showcasing full sets of premium foils. In addition to the displays, the Entertainment Hall booth had a play area where attendees could learn to play one of the art games from a staff member. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, and they easily walked me through some of the newer Cardfight! Vanguard mechanics. This play demo was also part of the stamp rally that started in the Exhibit Hall. 

The goal of the booth is to showcase all the properties that Bushiroad owns and expose fans of one franchise to the rest of the Bushiroad catalog. There are a lot of fans of BanG Dream!, Revue Starlight, or D4DJ as individual multimedia projects, and there is also a substantial card game player base, but not all of these fans and players are aware that these different properties are under one umbrella. 

Plans for Bushiroad on the Road were in the works for several years, but the tour was postponed until 2022 due to the pandemic postponing or canceling most major conventions. The jury is still out on if Bushiroad on the Road will continue next year, so check it out if you have the chance to visit any of the future booths! 

To learn more about Bushiroad on the Road 2022, check out the official website: https://bushiroad-on-the-road-2022.com/