Black Clover Review

Black Clover's opening stretch nearly cost it its audience. Asta, the orphan born without a drop of magic in a kingdom where everyone has some, announces his ambition to become Wizard King at a volume that became a meme, and the setup, an underdog, a gifted rival raised in the same church and a squad of misfits, reads like a checklist of every Jump hit before it.

Then it improves steadily, and by the time the Magic Knights are fighting the reincarnated elves the show has found its own voice. The Black Bulls are a strong ensemble, with Yami's deadpan leadership and Noelle's growth from spoiled royal to the squad's anchor, and Tatsuya Yoshihara's staff at Pierrot learn to stage large magical battles with genuine flair when the schedule allows.

The anti magic swords give Asta a real limitation to work around rather than a power up to wait for. The faults are the ones long weekly anime always carry: uneven drawing, recaps and filler, and a supporting cast so large that several captains are introduced and then parked. The 170 episodes stopped in 2021 just as the war with the Spade Kingdom was beginning, and the second season that continues it is due in October 2026.