Review of Black Clover

Since the serialisation of Dragon Ball Z in the late 80s, the shonen genre has risen to astronomical popularity. With the age of big, burly power fantasies such as Fist of the North Star over, a new age was ushered in. Naruto, One Piece and Hunter x Hunter firmly established a new archetype was established; a young boy, dreaming to be the best. Whether it was becoming the world's strongest shinobi or ruling the seas as pirate king, we watched eagerly as these dense yet lovable underdogs fought diabolical villains. 20 years later, with many such series coming to a close, the shonen genre is beginningto move away from this trope. We now see much darker stories, complete with more mature protagonists, dark and gruesome tones and more modern settings. However, one particular anime sticks with the old formula.

Black Clover, set in a fantasy world of wizards and magic, follows the story of Asta, a young man who wishes to become the Pirate King - wait no, sorry - the Wizard King, despite possessing no magic. He joins a magic knights squad, brimming with misfits and outcasts. Black Clover follows many conventions of the genre, with an expansive power system accompanied by high-octane fight scenes, overly-tragic backstories and many different side characters. However, it is able to execute these conventions very effectively.

Many characters are written suprisingly well, with diversified backstories and motivations, imaginative designs and lovable and interesing traits. Fights are also executed well, despite a fairly unoriginal power system (wow, this dude has fire! this dude can paint shit! this chick- dreams a lot?). Instead of taking the main-character-takes-on-villain-while-all-the-side-characters-do-nothing-but-commentate approach, or splitting up the cast in confusing switchbacks between battles, Black Clover has many dual battles, and at one point, a four versus one. While the series does not try to convey heavy political or philosiphical themes, the plot carries suprising emotional weight and intrigue at points, with certain arcs concerning themes of genocide and conspiracy.

However, Black Clover certainly has it's bad aspect. Just as it has a multitude of well-done characters, it also has many characters that aneglected or badly-executed. Especially Yuno, who, for a series deurtagonist, is extremely bland and unioriginal (hey Tabata, Kishimoto called. He wants Sasuke back!). Whilst I am not one to complain about animation, early Clover had sequences that were almost unwatchable, thankfully it improved later on. Plot armor is also a prominent issue. The lack of death or serious injury against ultra-powerful villains throughout the series has earned it the nickname "Disney Clover".

At tne end of the day, Black Clover is a solid shonen series. Despite the genius of shows such as Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen, it's nice to take a trip back in time, when it was one boy with one dream. It has just enough plot intrigue and substance without sacrificing it's charming simplicity. It's no masterpiece, but it's an endearing tribute to the genre, and a great watch.

Also, a lot of the openings are bangers.