Black Clover (2015-2026)
Asta was lucky one captain took a chance on him. This was how close he didn't make the cut. Asta's story isn't about redemption or vengeance. It is more about being someone unusual in a world filled with magic users. He's used being an outcast for a long time. Eventually, the people of his country came to respect his incredible efforts.
He gets to face a good variety of opponents. Which does include elves and devils respectively. Elves' concept to a degree had to be inspired by The Sternritter who were quincies that went to war with the soul reapers. Both were previously thought to be wiped out.
Somehow found a way to survive to get revenge on them. There's a few major differences but it was somewhat similar. I felt Elves were done better in comparison. Most devils' appearances is strikingly similar to Ulquiorra's second Resurreccion. Up to a point, they were dealing with Diamond Kingdom.
Out of no where, Spade Kingdom ended up being worst. Which was ran by a family of siblings. All possessed by devils that wants to take over the world. A huge surprise is the Wizard King himself surprisingly related to them. This twist triggered the ending portions of the story.
Lucius was heavily inspired by Aizen but surprisingly Yhwach as well. Like Aizen, Lucius was a master strategist that wanted to become an god. He ends up becoming a rather broken magic user making him a more magical Yhwach. He deeply dislikes Asta for rather pathetic reasons.
Just like Yhwach, someone stepped in. Two right after each other unexpectedly. Forcing Lucius to get taken out by Asta and Yuno. Which mirrored how Ichigo took down Yhwach. Uryu fired an silver arrow into him. Ichigo's zanpakuto in bankai form instantly broke due to Yhwach's The Almighty.
Uryu then used his past powers to give Ichigo, an older variation of his zanpakuto to end him. Noelle was treated by her own family as the worst. A major twist, she was actually among the strongest. The true worst was two of her siblings. She is in a royal family that often struggles to control her magic.
I also liked every brigade is named after a different color as well as animal. I felt this was a clever idea. Some mess up situations comes up regarding Asta. Somehow he gets through despite things. He goes on missions for the Clover Kingdom. Yes it does explain many critical things about him.
Such as anti-magic he uses came from a devil known to be the weakest of his kind. He can't use magic due to his mother indirectly kept taking magic away. Just being near her that led to him growing up in the orphanage. Of course, this is where he met his foster brother Yuno.
Who he knew was going to be his greatest rival. A fact Yuno himself recently stated during the final battle against Lucius. Yuno is really set up to become the next Wizard King. He gets a famous wind grimoire that came with a powerful wind spirit. He was suppose to inherit a star grimoire from his royal bloodline.
Add in spiritually connected to the elves. Elves were so powerful that even captains weren't sure if they could win. Yet they pale in comparison to a devil that ultimately was the arc's true main antagonist. Basically Yuno has the potential to be insanely powerful in magic with a high adaptability rate.
The Black Bulls kept gotten more interesting as the story went on. As unusual they are as a group. They eventually became a family with a huge variety of abilities. I would even say among the worst brigade to mess with honestly. We got Charmy whose later revealed to be part dwarf. You could consider them the outcast brigade.
I should point out it's possible to have more than one magic type. Lucius easily cheated to have a ridiculous amount of them. We also have Henry whose like Asta's mom that sucks in magic. But he also can use magic to directly control the main Black Bulls building. Kinda like a magic mech or more directly an golem.
You also get to see people's true colors. It reminded me of X-Men franchise to a degree. You get to see how each side feels about each other. Some of those can get rather ugly at times. But it is fitting due to being an unique medieval style story. Asta went from barely anyone respects him to eventually everyone does.
Occasionally they face threats from other countries. Mostly two kingdoms over the course of the story. I do liked the main four kingdoms are based on the four suits in a standard deck of playing cards. Indirectly it reminds me of Resident Evil 2 both versions with those keys. There's plenty of light moments to help with some of it's darkest moments.
Black Clover has a few characters notably inspired by several Bleach characters. Yami is inspired by Kenpachi Zaraki whose also a captain in his story. Both also later gain the ability to cut dimensions. Leo is somewhat inspired by Grimmjow. In a sense having a cat theme having a rivalry with the main protagonist.
Grimmjow is a more of an panther arrancar character that later gets involved with the quincies. Leo's brigade so happened to be the Crimson Lions. Just like some divisions within the Thirteen Court Squad. Some of the brigades including the Crimson Lions has families as members. Noelle could be compared to Rukia funny enough.
It's a little weird since Byakuya originally was her brother in law. After her sister's death, he taken her in as a sister. One of Noelle's brothers so happens to be a captain. Both came from royalty with a similar personality. Notably differ powers with some similarities. Black Clover really pulled a lot from Bleach. At the same time, it worked amazingly well not being direct copies aka plagiarism.
You also be surprised a lot of former enemies came to help later on as well. For me, one of the biggest surprises was Yami came from another country clearly inspired by Japan. Another huge surprise was his second in command Nacht possessed by four devils!!! Although he's done a process with each devil to maintain control over em.
He might not be in much of the story. He ended up being a rather unique character. A particular member of the Black Bulls that's gotten my attention was Zora. He can be a prick at times with a rather shady fighting style. Deep down you can tell he does care despite things. He ended up being a very complex character that's difficult to read.
I also thought it's an interesting choice the main kingdom in the story being the Clover Kingdom. They clearly didn't go with the more obvious Spade concept with the Spade Kingdom. The famous Ace of Spades that's often used as a message you're dead. They also didn't do the four leaf clover thing either. Considering all the stuff that happened they needed a lot of those lol.
Four leaf clovers are meant to be good luck. I do expect a huge twist regarding the new Wizard King going to happen. I simply love they suddenly made knights awesome again!!! I personally felt the author delivered some impressive artwork. Especially during the bigger battles with so much going on. This is excluding seeing what's going on with other characters.
I can confirm the final battle is notably better than Bleach's final battle by far. You actually see three people's insane determination. But two of them were quickly evolving during the battle. Asta was temporary out the battle for a little while. He quickly went for Lucius after he's healed. It was more terrifying seeing two of them gotten to the point.
Despite all the insane advantages, Lucius was doomed to his foreseen defeat. Asta often needs help in the tougher battles. Which wouldn't be good if he were to face Ichigo on Death Battle. To be fair, he really tries his hardest to win. He trains harder than everyone else in the story. In vice versa, not having magic ended up being a great advantage over everyone else.
Majority of them so heavily depended on magic. They wouldn't know or handle an threat without magic. This is why Asta ended up being so dangerous in the long run. He is just like many Shonen protagonists that refuses to give up. He is constantly bettering himself for his dream becoming the Wizard King.
He could simply fight like normal when everyone's magic disabled. In a weird sense, Asta not having magic a rather critical advantage in combat. Lucius himself really tried to avoid making contact with him due to his anti-magic. This is what pulled me more into the story. You may have a lot of expected treads of a magic story.
At the same time, we have such an unusual main character for that style. The author ran with the concept in a way most of the readers couldn't imagined!!! It's safe to say Black Clover became a huge inspiration to me. Despite how recently I gotten into the manga series myself. When it gets epic it really doesn't help back.
This really was like Bleach done differently. More so than Jujutsu Kaisen that changed some aspects. I felt Bleach changed more from Yu Yu Hakusho in comparison. It's very difficult to do this review not constantly bring up Bleach because so many similarities. Black Clover started a year before Bleach manga ended the following year.
In a way you could say Tite Kubo handed Yuki Tabata the torch. Spiritually with the afterlife is part of the concept. Therefore, I officially can say that. Black Clover is more recently a story people criticized for some of the wrong reasons. There's some signs the story gotten rushed. To me, it didn't come off like later portions of several Shonen manga series.
It actually didn't negatively affected me surprisingly. Maybe I saw what most of them couldn't see. What I see is a story that despite it's flaws could be considered a gem or a surprise master piece. I know some of them would quickly discard it. Personally this is my blog they can go to hell for all I care lol. I also believe just like Bleach, Black Clover can't be copied or recreated.
You can take many homages just don't steal em coughs Jujutsu Kaisen. Black Clover took many things I loved about Bleach. Then changed them to somehow make em rather refreshing. I strongly felt this story deserves more credit than it's getting. Then again I dislike marathon readers that are too quick to judge before any arcs are finished.
To me, you aren't properly slowing down to read it. You simply wanna rush through chapters to call it a day. Which is rather disrespectful to any manga author you're doing this to. Not only that, a lot of them risk many health problems to make these chapters. Just saying be a little more considerate of that. Black Clover wasn't meant to be rushed reading to begin with.
Especially with a lot of it's very complex concepts. I highly doubt anyone of them understands half what's going in in that arc. I don't mean to get so personal about it. Just gets right under my skin especially towards the big names in the industry. Black Clover probably be a more fun time to slowly read the chapters.
I confess I quickly gotten caught up to the manga. I also took many breaks to read the chapters. Just well enough to understand majority what had happened in the story. I went out of my way to give more proper respect to the author by doing this review. I would be interested reading more of his works. Black Clover is a special one for me.
I do predict Asta going to marry Noelle in the ending. Yuno likely going to become King of the Spade Kingdom. Three of the card suite kingdoms allied together for a better future. Just curious to see who the next Wizard King going to be? A few other relationships including two captains going to happen. Black Clover somehow made magic a truly unique concept.
I also hope the author plans to write another manga series soon. Even if it's a follow up to Black Clover. Assuming it could be just that I wanna see more unique stuff than Jujutsu Kaisen: Modulo. The devils stay away from the humans following Lucius' defeat. The only uncertain aspect is the Diamond Kingdom.
I do think more countries going to come together following everything. I actually see a rather beautiful ending. A surprisingly satisfying one at that. Asta was an amazing protagonist with that concept. I really couldn't ask more of the author at this point. Black Clover really earned my respect, I absolutely loved this story.
My thoughts on the final three chapters
There's a few time skips within these chapters. Half a year is the first of them following Lucius' defeat. The country couldn't decide who should be the next Wizard King between Asta and Yuno. I was already surprised Yuno didn't get force becoming the king of the Spade Kingdom. Thankfully that gets brought up later on to clear up some confusion.
It was decided have the two rivals face off for that position. Most of two chapters worth of combat between them. Already one of the most exciting rivalry battles I ever seen in any manga series. In the end, Asta pushed a little further to earn that position. For me it was the obvious outcome. Yuno virtually played on very easy mode while Asta automatically set to the hardest difficulty a major difference.
Inevitably Asta was going to push himself harder. Yuno who relied heavily on his two powerful magic types lacked such determination. I am quite happy Asta gets his dream with everything that happens. They allowed someone this unexpected to become the next Wizard King. In a good way, his journey been a rather difficult one.
This duel goes full circle to that promise earlier in the series. One of them would become the next Wizard King. A good amount of what followed confirmed a lot of couples. To be honest, most of them weren't a surprise. The author left whose going to become Asta's wife in the air since that's going to be a duel.
Assuming if the author does an epilogue we may know who wins that duel. There's even a chance it won't happen because of Asta himself stepping in. I felt these final three chapters were well written. I already know some going to be disappointed, difficult to imagine why though. Considering the rivalry with My Hero Academia, Asta out done Deku.
Let's say the author fully does this duel to be Asta's wife. I felt Noelle should easily win that duel. Her cousin Mimosa is a powerful healer more meant as support to help prolong battles as well as saving a country. Yes her magic range can affect the entire Clover Kingdom.
Noelle has a powerful water spirit with insane magic control. She has plenty of techniques for combat. I also could argue her greatest offense going to really force Mimosa to go through magic faster. Her greatest defense simply prolongs the duel. Suddenly trying into whose magic going to run out first?
Also Noelle was much closer to Asta since they used to be in the same brigade together. Both helped Asta during the final battle in different ways. I wouldn't be surprise Asta decides to watch the duel himself. Of course if Noelle wins he expected it.
Deep down these two are perfect for each other. Now Asta being the Wizard King counts as royalty in their country making their upcoming wedding. A rather huge royalty wedding the entire country going to attend. Also he prefers a lady whose more of an actual warrior.
Let's be honest, two warriors that deeply cares for their country it just makes sense. Their bond is a truly special one. She wouldn't gotten far without him. In a way that's also true in vice versa. They always meant so much to each other. I really can't imagine a woman more perfect to be the Wizard King's wife.
Asta broke a few records while becoming the next Wizard King. He's now the youngest to earn the position in his country's history. He's also the first Wizard King to be possessed by a devil. He's also the first Wizard King despite the usual reputation of strongest magic user lacks magic altogether. I still think he's a worthy choice to be the Wizard King.
The country acknowledge Asta was the right successor to follow in previous Wizard Kings' footsteps. During the final battle, the people really wanted Asta to get back to the fight to win badly!!! Yuno didn't get that kind of reaction from the people. I also felt his efforts were more impressive in the long run. Honestly, I could not be possibly happier for him.
He went from the bottom all the way to the top. He worked harder than anyone in the country to get done tasks. I'm going to feel the same when Luffy becomes the next Pirate King in One Piece. Asta went from such ugliness from people to become such a beloved mage knight in his country. He kept improving remaining a decent person despite many things that happened is a true testament.
A legacy that's already quite huge to fill. A person majority of the country never thought become the Wizard King. Sometimes it's the underdogs that does the impossible. Asta truly deserved to become the next Wizard King. I would've been deeply disappointed if Yuno won that duel. I still wouldn't say that would ruin the story for me.
Anyone within any brigade has a shot at becoming the next Wizard King. Whose position matches the King of the country in power. Usually anyone who had the position had a rather impressive list of achievements. I do believe Asta truly belongs in there. I really felt Asta was the perfect choice to become the next Wizard King.
The last skip being two years later quickly showing a lot of characters end up with their own happy endings. A lot of couples I knew were going to be together for a good while. Honestly, this has to be one of the finest final chapters I seen in a long time. The closest thing I would want is slightly more Wizard King Asta in action that's it.
Still would've led to a better ending than Jujutsu Kaisen. Not only that, Asta ended up being such a well written protagonist. Honestly, I just wanted more following these chapters. It would be nice if we eventually get to see Wizard King Asta in a fight. I would love to come back to see that. Regardless, the author putting in extra time for a lot of later chapters ultimately paid off.
It's a surprisingly peaceful ending with a few criminals ran into Wizard King Asta. Who gets disrespected like earlier portions of the story. Asta never backs down from a fight. Honestly, this entire ending is among the best I seen in a long time. I wouldn't even change a single thing. I am just sad Black Clover ended!!!
My response to a particular Black Clover hot take
It's a shame during it's run in Shonen Jump. The author gotten rushed notably hurt the manga series' reputation. I felt since his transfer, his newer chapters been decent for the most part. Black Clover helped gotten me more interested in magic. I recently found out about the famous Black Clover hot take.
"Black Clover is just Naruto but with magic."
I felt Black Clover heavily differs from Naruto. As stated before, Black Clover more like Bleach. Asta earned becoming the Wizard King. Especially when I started to think of other possibilities that wouldn't upset or disappoint people as much. Thank god, it wasn't simply given the position as the previous leader steps down coughs Naruto.
Naruto's mom had Kurama before his dad sealed the beast inside Naruto who was a baby at the time. Kurama was the strongest of the nine tailed beasts. In comparison, Asta lacked magic because of his mother was a magic vacuum cleaner. Which also made him a perfect fit for using anti-magic through a devil.
The devil himself was classified as the weakest of his kind. Yet both worked together to defeat many powerful devils. The huge difference is Asta's insane determination led to him becoming the next Wizard King. He was the one that got things done within his story. It's also true most powerful threats he needed help to defeat especially Lucius.
Both were treated like outcast within their species. Liebe's hatred for his own kind ended up creating anti-magic. Like Asta, both had zero magic that were quickly written off. Anti-magic eventually became critical for his country to survive. These two held their own against powerful enemies. Along with Naruto ended up growing up without their parents.
Asta even had a particular situation because people feared devils tried to set him up at court. This never happened to Naruto at all!!! Asta also done a ritual to gain full control over the devil with a contract. It was a rather light contract than expected but fitting of his character. I know late into Naruto manga, Naruto gets that kind of control with Kurama.
Asta couldn't use magic while Naruto easily could do chakra techniques a massive difference. Asta had to work even harder to achieve his dream. Therefore, I have more respect for Asta as a whole for a protagonist. Here's my own hot take, Black Clover manga was way better than Naruto manga!!! I felt Naruto had a bigger decline in comparison despite it's bigger popularity.
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