Review of Black Clover

Very often do I see the question asked - "When Does Black Clover Get good?" Afterall it starts slow, and has a lot of issues are off putting to initial viewers. But the truth is there’s no point in which Black Clover suddenly hits a stride. It entirely depends on just how much you love shounen anime, even at its most generic, and how patient you are in waiting for that inevitable payoff to arrive. As an example of that payoff, let's take a look at the lead character Asta. Asta is notorious for screeching like a pregnant whale in the very first episode. Soirritating that it caused many to drop Black Clover immediately. Does Asta ever stop screaming? No. Even if his VA tones down the screeching to a less obnoxious levels, he’s still louder than anyone at any given time. That screaming gradually becomes more tolerable as his work ethic shines and his obsessive training produces results on the battlefield. Asta effectively earns the right to scream as his reputation and worth to the viewer increases, and his character becomes more endearing through his heroic combat efforts.

Asta is the centerpiece of what makes Black Clover a successful long running shounen. He is the quintessential underdog that has none of the privileges that his peers do - no innate magic ability, not born a noble, has no prestige. However it is through his effort and desire to achieve his dream that he is able to overcome obstacles and establish a name for himself.

What makes Asta particularly awesome, a bit different from other shounen protags, is that he doesn't have any annoying personality quirks that are unrelated to his battle acumen. He’s not a pervert. He’s not a glutton. He’s not an idiot. He’s just a hard working kid who had very little growing up, so he appreciates all the opportunities he is given as if they may never come again. He never forgets his roots, and inspires the people around him to follow him. At the risk of angering One Piece fans (of which I am one), I’d venture to say he’s as great a leader as Monkey D Luffy in terms of inspiring his companions to become better and match his own ambition levels.

There are many other good characters in Black Clover outside of Asta who shine in battle - my favorite of which being Noelle Silva. She is introduced as an unstable mage insecure about her abilities, and develops into a controlled mage that is confident in her worth on the battlefield. This progression is not sudden, it happens over the long haul, and there is a point where you look at her strength and are amazed that she was ever considered weak in this series. This is further evidence of the "payoff" that long running shounen can reward the viewer with if they are patient - many of the characters receive substantial development over the course of the show.

While it may seem from afar that Black Clover is only about magic power spam and the power of friendship, the predominant theme is about the consequences of discrimination. Above all, Black Clover wants to communicate that birthright does not dictate potential as much as attitude and efforts to improve will. Being born a noble or commoner, human or a fairy, having magic power or not, isn't a determinant for self worth. This theme is hammered over and over again throughout the show, very effectively.

The weakest area of Black Clover, bar none, is the animation. It's not that this show is without high points, but it has some remarkably bad low points during the first couple of arcs. You can tell that the production staff was struggling doing some episodes where the models became inconsistent and you're looking at glorified slideshows in a battle that had more fluidity in the manga panels. But as is a theme in Black Clover, if you are patient then the animation does improve substantially. To a point that it goes from a weakness to a relative strength; as the battles increase in stakes, so does the quality.

Full disclosure; I am guilty from dropping Black Clover when it first aired. I hated Asta’s screaming, couldn’t stand him at all. But some time later I gave it another chance, and as I watched him gradually back up his words (and then some) I became a fan. Asta was enough to motivate me to be patient with this show, and that patience was rewarded as I grew fond of the cast and the general theme of pushing against adversity. I am glad that I gave Black Clover another shot, and cannot wait for it to comeback someday.