Review of Black Clover

I don't make a habit of watching shows longer than 100 episodes if they aren't worth it, and although Black Clover wasn't convincing from the get-go, I say without any regrets that it was worth it. STORY: 9 Basic shounen premise of underdog wants to become the best, but y'know, it's about the ~ j o u r n e y ~ so I don't really care. I generally enjoyed most of the arcs building up to the first climax of lore in the show, and I really liked how the plot was built up to that point slowly, and then just escalated crazy fast, the stakesfelt super high because of it. The reason this isn't a 10 is because of the "anime canon' 20-ish episodes that bring nothing to the table but apparently aren't categorised as filler, which is stupid. But after that dry spell it went back to being awesome again, so I can live with that. Anywho, my fav part of the show is the lore and world-building behind all of the arcs, I just think it's fantastically done and I absolutely loved it all.

ART: 10
After watched 170 episodes I can confidently say that I fell in love with this art style, especially towards the end it looked so stunning like wow. The character designs are also amazing, I think it's really cool that the mages that don't use their physicality in battle aren't buff like Asta is, I love that detail. The animation isn't 100% all the time but that's ok, because the big battles don't let me take my eyes off the screen. Once again towards the end the details in the animation were awesome, like Asta just holding his sword and staring towards the camera and just shaking with adrenaline really got me into the spirit of the fight.

SOUND: 10
I have a big thing for opening themes and WOW I can't stop listening to these. Like, all of them. My favourites are 3, 10 and 13, but they're all so good. They just capture the mood of the arc and lead directly back to the show fully hyped and ready to continue watching. The ost is a good standard, but I especially like how they use the first opening theme in the climax of the biggest battles, feels like going back to the roots and it's super invigorating.

CHARACTER: 8
So this is probably the worst aspect of Black Clover but that doesn't mean that the characterisation is weak overall, it's mostly just the side cast that are boring, recycled and waaay to gimmicky. However, the main characters who get more attention and development, such as Asta, Noelle and Yami, pretty make up for the generally lacking cast. Now, the Black Bulls (Asta's magic knights squad) are definitely pretty well written, I'd say especially Gauche, Finral and Vanessa, but it's beyond infuriating that after an arc that develops their characters they just either revert to their original stale gimmicks, or slightly alter the gimmick to one just as annoying. For example, Finral is obsessed with flirting with girls, but after he swears to be loyal to one woman, now he flirts with every girl he sees but feels immediately guilty.... wowwww that's so creative and totally not repetitive at alllll. Anyway, as I mentioned before, Asta, Noelle and Yami honestly are so good that they balance it all out for me. Asta is LOUD but resilient and kind-hearted. Typical, and the 'NEVER GIVING UP' thing is also very repetitive, but what I love is that it's not all talk. He does improve, and he works really really fucking hard and we see him doing it, and we see the results. It's a funny gimmick that his free time is spent just working out, and then there's a timeskip and he's RIPPED, because duh of course he is. He's endearing and hilarious and I love when he's on screen. (Just gonna take a quick moment to shit on his rival, Yuno, who's character is boring and overpowered and everything he has is served to him on a golden platter and the author seriously just does nothing with him smh) When it comes to Noelle, she's a pure tsundere, clearly in love with Asta and doesn't shut up about how she's royalty. Yet, her weakness stems from her insecurity that she can't control the immense power she has from being royalty, and that has ostracised her from her family. Noelle overcompensates her confidence because of how weak and alone she felt, and her development, not only power-wise, but personally with her siblings, was so extremely touching and she's an amazing character. But of course the best character of all time is captain Yami, the King, the Legend, my Favourite. No but seriously, not only does Yami have the best lines and comedic timing by far, but he's the awe-inspiring mentor for all of the Black Bulls, and you kinda don't evem realise it until they're in the peak of battle. Yami's relationship with his squad is heartwarming and beautiful and he's just such a dad to them all; I love it. Also he's the most badass character and it's awesome. Anyway, basically, the good characters outweigh the bad ones because they're so damn good.

ENJOYMENT: 10
I binged this in a week. Shit was fire, I loved it. I watched it in dub which I would 100% recommend to anyone wanting to watch it, because the english voice acting makes the comedy so much more funny, and also the voices are generally just good better fits in my opinion (especially Yami, like holy shit I can't watch the japanese version after hearing Christopher Sabat's voice on him, it's too perfect). The fights are really well done and the shenanigans are generally hilarious. And the comedic timing is just so on-point. It was such a blast lol

Overall: 9
This would be a 10 if the majority of the characters were less stale and if those 20 'anime canon' episodes didn't exist. But with all that considered, I had such a great time learning about the world and lore of Black Clover, and connecting with the characters, laughing at their jokes and feeling the pain of when a sword goes straight through one of the best side characters. I wish the stakes were a bit higher, but what's a shounen without some plot armour, right? Nah, but overall, this was a great show, go for it if you can make it past Asta's screaming in the first 10 episodes lol