Bushiroad President & COO, Shunichi Taira, answers questions from sellers collected by TCGplayer about Weiss Schwarz.

Q: What is Weiss Schwarz?

A: Weiss Schwarz is a trading card game of many popular anime, games, and characters. Each player can build a deck from their favorite title, or mix cards from multiple ones that they like. The cards use illustrations of the characters or famous scenes, so you can relive the stories through the game. Besides playing the game, you can also enjoy collecting the cards, as there are cards with special finishes and some even come with a hot stamp autograph of the character voice actors.

Q: What exciting plans does Bushiroad have in store for the future of Weiss Schwarz?

A: We have recently held the Bushiroad English Conference Autumn 2021, and there we announced many exciting products and events for Weiss Schwarz, so please do check that out. 2021 has been an amazing year for Weiss Schwarz with many great titles and our first large-scale online tournament “Bushiroad Spring Fest Online,” but we think 2022 will be even more exciting!

Q: How many distributors will carry your product? Do you expect shortages or do you think you will be able to fulfill all requests?

A: You can check out this page to find a distributor in your region. We try to make the product available for stores and players as much as possible, but there may be cases where we are unable to fulfill requests due to high demand. To have the best chance of getting orders fulfilled, we encourage you to put in orders during the product pre-order period.

Q: Are there plans to partner with brick and mortar stores to hold events/tournaments with the potential for promotional cards or other merchandise to continue to bring more interest in the game?

A: We currently provide tournament and promotional support on a monthly basis to brick and mortar stores, and we would like to continue working closely together. Please contact the office in your region to receive support.

Q:  Is there a possibility that Bushiroad may look into classic anime titles for Weiss Schwarz releases in the future?

A: Yes, there are possibilities for classic anime titles to make their way into Weiss Schwarz. For example, we released a set for the classic title “Cardcaptor Sakura” when the latest series “Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card” came out.

Q:  How many different anime are in this game?

A: There have been more than 50 titles released for the English version of Weiss Schwarz!

Q. As someone who isn’t a big anime fan, what makes this game standout?

A: I feel the game is very exciting even if you are not an anime fan. The game is designed in such a way that each player always has a chance of coming back and winning. You never know who’s going to win until the very last moment, which makes every game exciting for both players. Due to this, some people say that it’s a highly luck based game, but there’s more skill to it than at first glance, such as managing your resources, remembering what cards have been revealed, and calculating your odds. We’ve also had titles that aren't traditional animes, such as “Batman Ninja” and “Adventure Time.”

Q. In the future, could you readily reprint Trial Deck+ to make them more accessible for players?

A: We also recognize the importance of Trial Decks for players to pick up a new title and for new players to try out Weiss Schwarz. We will strive to keep the Trial Decks more accessible for those players. If there is a high demand for certain products or titles, we always appreciate receiving feedback from our stores and players.

Q. Will the Japanese version of Weiss Schwarz be available in the US? 

A: The Japanese version of Weiss Schwarz is in fact available in the US. You can contact us here, and we can help to get you connected with a distributor that carries the Japanese version.

Q: Why do some sets have voice actor hot stamps and some sets do not?

A: I cannot go into the details, but some products end up not having voice actor hot stamps due to various reasons. However, we try to make our products as appealing as possible, and we do recognize that cards with hot stamps of the voice actor’s autographs are highly desired by many of our fans.

Q: What are the differences between the English and Japanese Edition?

A: There are some titles which are currently only released in the English version or only released in the Japanese version. Additionally, the product specifications such as cards per pack and packs per display box are currently different between the two versions, but that will become the same starting from “Rent-a-Girlfriend” which releases in February 2022. Besides that, there may be slight differences for specific cards, but the majority of cards and the game rules are the same.

Q: How is Bushiroad handling Weiss Schwarz set release updates due to international supply chain delays?

A: Unfortunately, we have had product delays due to COVID-19 related circumstances, and we sincerely apologize for it. We are working to release upcoming products with the least amount of delays possible.

Q:  Do you have any final comments?

A: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our players, stores, and partners for their continuous support. Weiss Schwarz is entering its 15th year in 2022, and we wouldn’t have come this far without you. If you haven’t tried Weiss Schwarz yet, I would highly recommend that you give it a try. Weiss Schwarz is one of the easiest card games to start playing. All you need to do is pick a favorite title, build a deck just from that product, and you can have an exciting game against anyone. 

Please check our official website and social media to get the latest updates. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed it!