Review of Black Clover

Four years ago,on this very day,at 18:25 pm at JST ,this anime started to air, and it started a train in the anime community,a train of hate, and I was a part of that ripple too.Until around summer of 2018,I stopped being a part of that hate to see for myself, what I thought would be a show I would point at and laugh before dropping, turned into something that has changed my life and has helped mature me wholeheartedly as a person.. Warning this review is gonna be as long as the Nile river and as thick as Asta’s thighs, but after almost 4years of following this show, I have many thoughts I have been bottling up for this very moment.

STORY
-Good things
The pacing made the show very addictive.I think the journey was really fun,where they go from hunting boars,to having full fledged espionage missions too.
The powers and magic were nice,felt like a nice spinoff to Harry Potter or something. Calling out the names of their spells felt less cheesy because it felt like how in Harry Potter they would say a spell to make the magic work.Since they use books and stuff.
I felt a sense of stakes growing more and more,which made things more interesting.And by the end, Black Clover completely turns into its own beast entirely and that final arc was just a wonderful experience after actual years of seeing these people.

-Bad things
Some of the beginning was a bit of a slog, so it's understandable how black clover started off on the wrong foot for others.But,to be honest, there's not a lot about the story that i dislike because the elements i dislike in BC are in other shounens (ie...flashbacks, fillers, beach episodes, cliche characters, tournament arcs).So if i complain about that, might as well complain about other shows as well.There were some episodes that were just stupid, and I guess some did last longer than they should. But hey, at least there's no 20 episode filler arcs……..yes im talking about you, BLEACH

ART AND ANIMATION

-Good Things
I like the character designs, well sometimes. Bruh, Finral, wtf is that hair.Asta gets a new look at the end of the show, and wow it is something.Usually anime does that thing, where the mc is small at the beginning but grows taller or something, but with Asta, he grows muscles but is still small, so he looks like a midget on steroids. it's just so out there and avant garde,like something out of jojo.but I just couldn’t be mad at it because it feels like something only Black Clover would have the balls to do.The backgrounds are nice too.The animation,despite being rough a lot, has some stellar standout moments,some fight scenes are so epic and trippy i really don't see much animation like that in other anime
,Instead of naruto choreography or something like that, this show focuses on magic.And the animation at times for it is really abstract and visceral,like it feels earth defying.It gives me shivers especially after episodes of just off animation.Speaking of which.

-Bad Things(Aka me roasting Black Clover)
Now i love the show with my heart,but sometimes the animation is really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really harsh to get through at times,characters are out of proportion a lot, sometimes they looks like children lol, sometimes the hatching under their chins look like stitches, and looks like the character slit their throat or something,there are even weird direction decisions that focus more on the anatomy of a person,but the animators just can't pull it off because they are dying, like its biting off more than it can chew with its storyboarding.

I swear I have ordered takeout with larger budgets than some of the episodes, and even the chibi shorts the “clover clips” look better than the actual episodes at some cases.Even despite the ham and cheese budget, the anime still tries to go along with the extensive amount of fight scenes it has, and wow, i appreciate the effort,but it real rough.So rough that it's really hard to ignore about Black Clover, its jankiness has become a trait of it.the 3d looks good stylistically at times,other times,zoinks,scoob! it's just a big yikes.I know 3D and anime don't usually get along unless its houseki no kuni,but damn when you see the 3d, it blindsides you at times.It's hard to pinpoint why BC looks bad compared to its other brethren,word on the street is that it got buttfucked by the scheduling, or perriot is spending their time focusing on Boruto instead,some say they spend half the budgets on making the openings look great, and they are,but man. I really hope another studio takes BC on in the future

SOUND

-The Music
Say what you will about BC being mid at best, but you gotta admit, Black Clover has some of the best openings in all of anime. Visually, each opening has its own style to it, so i remember all of them from the top of my head, the openings and endings songs are all bangers, there isn't a single one that is bad.Black Clover does bring its A game when it comes to theme songs.The background music was fine, it wasn't too special or anything,

-The Voice Acting.
Back when the show first aired, the big meme was how Asta’s voice actor sounded like a fuckin car because of his constant screaming.And haha jokes on you I watched it all in dub lmao.Wait before you vomit yourself, hear me out.The dub was actually bearable believe it or not. It's not gonna knock a sub elitist’s socks off or anything,asta’s screaming is….still annoying but Dallas Reid along with others did a great job of bringing more personality to the Black Bulls I know in love. The other minor characters did great, the really minor ones that didn't matter were, kinda bad,but I mean its a shounen.At least they tried,you know.With this dub, instead of existing to please people who don't like reading subs,feels like it's one that is trying to add to the characters and make them more memorable.So kudos to that.

Side note though, the Japanese VA for asta sang an ending theme, and it sounds real good,so nice to see he’s doing well.

CHARACTERS.
Now this, this right here is the defining moment for why Black Clover is very effective compared to other shounens. The way it deals with its characters is just another example of why a first impression can be a kiss of death for a lot of anime.I’ll tell you now,its gonna be a little hard for some to get used to these characters. The.Black Bulls are known for being the most incompetent squad guild basically in all of the Clover Kingdom. Excluding Asta, and Noelle, the other members have these certain quirks to their personality,but in the first cour especially, these quirks come off as being basically the only part of their personality.

Magna acts cool, Luck likes to fight people,Vanessa drinks alot,Charmy eats food, Gordon literally speaks like an ASMRtist, Gauche loves his sister, so much so that it is high key creepy, Grey…..is there,Finral flirts with girls .And the big guy himself, Yami, loves to use the bathroom, a lot.LIke a lot a lot. He actually spent an entire arc on a toilet one time too.Oh and prepare to be hit over the head over and over about these people and their quirks.Its rough i tells ya.

But to be honest, its all worth it in the end,because the development all of these characters go through is just absolutely wonderful to see,its amazing to see these dingbats starting off at such a lowplace, and then start to do more and more, improving their powers,starting to actually save lives, even going into full espionage missions at times,even developing their own selves,embracing their upbrings, and pushing past their limits on multiple occasions and it pays off beautifully by the final arc.Its not beautiful in like a JJK, “oh this character is cool and thats it'' way. Its beautiful in like a way where you take your dumb kid to kindergarden, then you see them receiving their diploma as they graduate highschool.Moral of the story, these characters are basically my children.

And even when I thought some of the characters would lose me, surprisingly they really won me over.When I first saw Yuno being the best at everything, i was rolling my eyes, But actually he doesn't really get that much screen time and when he does become important, the challenges he faces really shows the human side of him more.When I saw Noelle, her royalty bullcrap drove me nuts.She may be a tsundere or whatever, but as the show went on and her power increased, her character improved too, her tsundereness got toned down a lot when other developed elements come into play,and her flexing her “royalty” actually had some weight to back it up so I didn't mind it anymore.

-When BC Gets Serious
Also one weird compliment I can give this show is how relatable it can be,usually in a lot of other shounen’s the characters are like super strong or have some hidden strength that make them the very best that no one ever was, but with Black Clover it focuses on the weaker characters more.Almost at an uncomfortably weird degree, it focuses on how discrimination and insecurity can affect a person’s potential, and even comes in with the cold hard truths that every human has their limits.Also,It even has some commentary about class shaming,discrimination, and disfunctional families.I mean its a shounen, so these themes arent the master of subtlety but they did speak to me personally at times when I didnt expect it to.And made the characters actually all feel human instead of feeling like isekai characters.
CHARACTER DYNAMICS
Also the characters have great chemistry, Not in just funny times but in actual fights.The way they fight together without making it cheesy “friendship is magic'' crap. The way they teach each other,and when their lives are on the line and their friends start dropping, you really feel the adrenaline rush and the weight of responsibility drop on them, which gives me chills.It really is a case of commitment though.
And this dynamic pays off so well in fight scenes later on, especially in one fight scene at the near end of the show with Yami and Asta.The animation was wild, not only that,but the dynamic Yami and Asta built over the years really hit me hard,i was actually contemplating giving this show a 9 just for that.But I had to be a bit objective.

-Evil People
The Villains are fine. This show does get better with villains later on.But the thing about these villains is that they feel like henchmen,and most of their reason for being evil is like “being evil is fun and i like killing people”, but their powers were cool, some were well written, others where just random people I didn't care about. The final villain in this show was just insane.

-"Asta Is More Deep Than You Think"
Alright here we go, the man of the hour, Asta. Honestly,despite being the more annoying sounding protag in an anime, he is also one I do have deep appreciation for. I know his mating calls are deafening, but the way I see his screaming is that it's sort of like a vent on frustration.This show touches on some messages such as not letting evil thoughts control yourself,and that kinda applies to asta as a character. He was put at a disadvantage from birth,being raised as an orphan in a poor town,having no magic,and being short, but his dream of becoming the wizard king is a very lofty one,not only that,but his pal Yuno is really great with magic and wants to be king too,so asta has to deal with competition.Those insecurities and fearful thoughts that Asta has are ones that he doesn’t want to bottle up,so as a result, he always yells and releases that frustration and converts it into adrenaline and motivation to pursue his goals.And he just keeps progressing despite his odds.So I can understand why he does scream a lot.Now before you say “dude why are you thinking too much into this, you're such a dork omg and asta sucks”, I only bring up these things because in the actual show, there are moments where he does give in to these insecurities and bad thoughts

Those moments are some of the defining moments for Asta, and its not just a case of an anime protagonist enacting God Mode because they got triggered by their friend getting yeeted. With Asta, its more of a case of when things go wrong for him, he gives into his insecurities and bad thoughts that only get worse since he has come so far just to lose, BUT he converts those thoughts into rage which gives him more strength even if his sanity is or isn't there.I say this because usually other MC's would just hate their opponent with a vengeance, but Asta more times than not beats himself up for not being strong enough.

You see, Asta loves to train and get stronger physically to make up for his lack of magic..And since strength is what Asta treasures over most other things to make up for his non magic, there is this subtle message about how the ones at a disadvantage in life will need to sacrifice more to achieve goals, and at times, your best won't be good enough,so other more riskier measures will have to be taken.And trust me, asta is put through hell and back again in this show.Thats why Asta did make an impression on me, I mean he isnt Shigeo Kageyama or anything, but Asta is very well written imo. Yea he is annoying but still he grew on me alot.Now I may be just looking too deep into this to defend this “trash” show,but if I see it, I will talk about it. That's the magic of anime reviews.

-ENJOYMENT
Oh man, this part will be the hardest to talk about.I will make a confession, when Black Clover first came out, the hate train was at its maximum capacity, people dunking on it left and right.Not only anime fans,but manga readers as well.And when I started watching out of curiosity and the openings, I wasn't digging it at all either, Luckily I was able to binge the first cour,or i would have dropped this show without a second thought.But the characters kept me going, the addicting pacing, the sheer goofiness and camp that made BC fun at first.It does has its boring moments, like many other shounens do,sometimes the animation was just really hard to watch at times ngl.Nevertheless,It really won me over eventually.I considered it a guilty pleasure,until some moments that were unironically great started to happen, and I started to like it more, Thus turning me into the stan I am today.

I stalk their twitter, I literally cried when their final op trended #1 on Youtube, I even followed Yuno on instagram, yep.Im not usually a stan for even shows that I love because either the fanbase is toxic or the story turns to shit and the fans just act bitter about it and harass the animators on twitterrrrrr.But why I am vocal for my love of Black Clover is because it changed my perception of popularity in the anime community and made my judgement better. There are a lot of other black clover fans as well.And we just vibe to BC together and forget the haters.And it's just a lot of fun.Catching up with the final arc of BC is hands down the most fun I had watching an anime all year. The reason why BC sticks with me personally more than a lot of other anime is complex, you're gonna think i'm on that dank shit or something but just hear me out for this.

-HOW BLACK CLOVER’S THEMES SPECTACULARLY TRANSCENDS INTO REALITY AND HOW IT IS IMPORTANT TO ME PERSONALLY.
Now I don’t know if this is accidental or not,but as I start to grow more and more into the show, my experiences with defending this show,and the themes in Black Clover start to weirdly connect with each other. And that resonates with me.It's almost scary. Black Clover touches on not letting your disadvantages stop you from still pursuing your goal.A lot of times in Black Clover, Asta outwardly gets ridiculed for being annoying and not having powers, but that doesn't stop him from improving however he can.Noelle gets criticised and bullied by her family at the beginning for not having good control with her magic,but that doesn't stop her from refining her powers.A majority of the Black Bulls have been discriminated for being incompetent,quirky,or weak.And for me as a black clover fan. I have literally been dragged for about three years now for liking Black Clover,Not just on the internet but in my real fucking life I have been judged.I havent even gotten this much flack for disliking bunny girl senpai, It was constant clowning, I can chat with my friends right now, and I bet one of them will make fun of me for saying I like it. Hell, I don't even say anything about it, yet I get dragged for liking it.And it's not like a fun joking, its like maliciously name calling and belittling.But you know what…...that didn't stop me from thinking its a good show.

It does have hurdles I know, but I am all for a redemption arc,you know. I was there for all of it. I was there when ep 63 literally caused a war online where some said the animation was great, and others said it was shit. I was there when CinnamonToastKen tweeted about that animation error in 2018.I was there when fukin Black Catcher was released, and many people creamed their pants.I was there for all of it. And I don't wanna stop. Back then I was always worried what others thought of me for liking a show not many others did, well today,I am a changed man,thanks to Black Clover, screw the haters, I just want to be the muthafukin wizard king,

Overall 8/10
;)