Black Clover has not been getting the best press. Critiques leveled against it include unoriginality, overuse of shonen tropes, “Wizard Naruto,” the way main character Asta yells every single line with a guttural flourish at the exact same pitch, and an overall lack of some undefinable panache in animation, color palette, and so on. Some say Black Clover is bound to improve the same way the manga did and to stick with it for now, but are the first three episodes really so terrible?
I don’t think so. I think there’s lots to love in Black Clover, and if you can suspend your disbelief and buy into 500 episodes of Naruto Shippuden, filler and all, I think you should do the same with Black Clover.
Look, I love shonen anime. When I watch shonen anime, I expect tropes. The tropes are there because they work, and they make appearances in all the great shonen series for a reason. The problem isn’t with the use of familiar tropes, it’s with how creatively those tropes are used. I don’t think Black Clover is any more uncreative or hard to believe than any other shonen show, so I expect that I’ll enjoy it the same way I enjoy any other shonen show.
Black Clover tells the story of Asta, a boy without magic in a world where everyone has magic (My Hero Academia). His rival, whom he repeatedly calls out using the word “rival,” is Yuno, his best friend and a quiet genius with an abrasive personality (Naruto). Asta is energetic to the point of parody, endlessly positive and known for big grins and never giving up (Dragonball, One Piece). Asta and Yuno’s ultimate goal is to become the Wizard King (Naruto, One Piece)
During the coming-of-age ceremony, Asta is the only person not to receive a magical spellbook (or grimoire), while Yuno receives a mythical four-leaf clover grimoire. Later, a disgraced and insane villain attacks Yuno to steal his grimoire, Asta comes to the rescue, at which point he receives an even more mythical five-leaf clover grimoire that allows him to nullify opponents’ magic. With this, he and Yuno set off to join the Magic Knights as their first step towards their goals.
There are worse things than cribbing from the shonen greats in order to create your own series. I have no problem with Black Clover’s art style, which feels unique enough to me, or with its color palette, even though it does get kind of swampy-looking with all the green and grays sometimes. There are some very cool aspects of the show, such as the giant skull where Asta trains or the moment his five-leaf grimoire arrives (the fifth leaf stands for a demon! Come on, that’s cool). Yuno’s acknowledgment of Asta as his rival and the reveal of their backstory together is heartwarming, and the world has enough uses of casual magic to make its “everyone does magic” premise feel authentic.
As many have pointed out, the worst thing about Black Clover is Asta’s voice actor, and I don’t think that’s the voice actor’s fault. Unlike the love interest’s voice in Fastest Finger First, I think Asta’s constant yelling is a directorial issue. The yelling really is constant. Asta is so enthusiastic and is always spouting off “never give up! Even orphans can do anything!” with such a lack of self-consciousness that his irritating voice becomes positively grating. Asta's "marry me" joke to the nun who helped raise him is overused and offputting, too. But I like Black Clover, damnit, and I think it’s worth the watch.
Black Clover is simulcast on Crunchyroll at 12:25 a.m. EDT every Tuesday. Will you give it a chance? Let us know in the comments section below.
