Black Clover

In a world full of magic, Asta—an orphan who is overly loud and energetic—possesses none whatsoever. Despite this, he dreams of becoming the Wizard King, a title bestowed upon the strongest mage in the Clover Kingdom. Possessing the same aspiration, Asta's childhood friend and rival, Yuno, has been blessed with the ability to control powerful wind magic. Even with this overwhelming gap between them, hoping to somehow awaken his magical abilities and catch up to Yuno, Asta trains his body relentlessly every day.

In the Clover Kingdom, once a person turns 15 years old, it is time for them to receive their Grimoire, an item allowing its wielder to use their magic to its full capacity. At the ceremony, Yuno obtains a Grimoire with a legendary four-leaf clover, indicating the exceptional strength of its wielder, while Asta pointlessly waits for his. Feeling dejected, yet unwilling to give up, Asta sees Yuno caught by a mage who is trying to steal Yuno's special Grimoire. Despite being completely overpowered by Yuno's captor, Asta's will to keep fighting rewards him with his very own Grimoire—one with an unheard-of black five-leaf clover.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit
Background

Black Clover is simulpub in English as a part of VIZ Media's Weekly Shonen Jump lineup and through MANGA Plus. The publisher has been physically releasing the series under their Shonen Jump imprint since June 7, 2016. It has also been published in German by Tokyopop and in French by Kazé since September 7, 2016.

Edit

Related Entries

More characters
Characters

Asta

Main

Silva, Noelle

Main

Yuno

Main

Sukehiro, Yami

Supporting

Vermillion, Mereoleona

Supporting

Voltia, Luck

Supporting

Nero

Supporting

Novachrono, Julius

Supporting

Pappitson, Charmy

Supporting

Ideale, Zora

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 3, 2015

obSASSion

Recommended

Preliminary (105/? eps)

Seriously speaking, I have never read or watched Naruto before but seeing the reviews that this manga's getting just made me want to write my own opinions down.

So, for a person who has never read or watched Naruto before, I find this a great shounen manga. Many say it's a ripoff of Naruto but technically, there are many other mangas that seem like a ripoff of another. Aster, the main character, is able to nullify magic a.k.a. he is special. What comes to mind? Mikan from Gakuen Alice.
Personally, I find the main character extremely similar to Hinata from Haikyuu!. There are many factors of different ...

Open

Gift

Jun 3, 2019

Oriotiar

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (207/? eps)

Like so many have said before, Black Clover (from now on BC) is cliché if you've read any shounen before you will have a lot of déjà vu moment.
That said it's not as terrible as some can say or as the anime can make it seems.

Story:
Surprisingly, BC's story isn't that bad or even that cliché, it does start like your usual shounen with Asta (the MC) and Yuno (the rival) getting their power and deciding to compete to become the wizard king. Obviously, MC is an underdog and goes into the misfit team, women fall for him, he discovers that he has some super ... ultra rare totally not op power, happen to be in the middle of every big event, ... the usual.
But the author manages to develop and hint at something bigger happening in the background, which ends up making for a rather good twist.
That said after that twist everything goes down with asspull left and right.

Art:
Most of the time it’s okay, the usual quality for shounen manga but it can become really good, especially during big fights, and the character's design is good most of the time. However, the background and the world, in general, is rather bland.

Characters:
The second biggest weakness of the series, most of them are bland and cliché, and the character development is really shallow, most characters will do a 360 and resolve their problems in one fight, at worst a day or 2 with the MC.

The fight:
Surprisingly for that kind of series the fights are bad, like really bad. First, except for 1 fight (maybe 2), there's no strategy, the characters always won thanks to getting some last-minute power-up or using some asspulled never introduce before power. And I know some people will say that the character gaining new power during the fight is part of the power system, but then why does it only happen for the MC and his fried and never for the enemy, the power system does a really bad job at explaining what is, in the end, some power of friendship bs.
And speaking of the power system it's also rather bad, powers are most of the time very loosely defined, mana is never a problem except when the plot needs it, apparently, there's a system of weakness between element but since everything is won by bs power it's basically never user.
And obviously, the MC never goes down but most antagonists only need one bs new power move to be defeat.
Everybody seems to have superhuman strength and resistance without any justification, especially Asta. And speaking of Asta, the author shouldn't have given him swords if they work as a club and never cut any opponent, only inanimate objects and living being that can regenerate.

You may have noticed that the last 2 categories were rather negative, but the manga is really good on 1 thing: its pacing. The story is quick with good transitions between each event. And that alone is what let the manga be a fun quick read and not garbage, but it's also one of the reasons why character development is rather bad.

Overall it's far from being a great manga but if you like shounen and want some quick funny story then it's a good choice.

Open

Gift

Jul 26, 2015

Jistuma

Not Recommended

Preliminary (23/? eps)

Story: 3/10
Black Clover follows the action/adventure shounen manga type to the letter. It follows the style of a main protagonist and friends raising their skills in a particular art in a special group to achieve a goal. In this case, Aster (the main protagonist) and friends join the magicknights to try and become the next sorcery emperor.

I wouldn't call that premise as a cliché as it is far too used, more of a genre. The clichés come after.
1. Main protagonist (MP) seems to have no talent, but has a hidden talent that makes him the messiah.
2. MP's friend is a genius yet cares deeply ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

The Hope of Shonen✨️

by SShan

23 Entries · 3 Restacks

Best-Selling Manga (151-194)

by AveryRhodes2003

44 Entries · 48 Restacks

Long-running Shonens

by FenexXuX

50 Entries · 5 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

Second Season of 'Black Clover' Announced

The Crunchyroll Industry Panel at Anime Expo 2025 announced a second season of Black Clover on Saturday, revealing a "kick off" visual (pictured) and an a...read more

Jul 6, 10:08 AM by Vindstot | Discuss (17 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases For February

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for February. Week 1: February 1 - 7 Anime Releases Adachi to Shimamura (incl. Mini Anime) (Adachi...read more

Feb 4, 2022 9:30 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (4 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Black Clover Chapter 2 Discussion jonnjonzz - Feb 23, 2015	25 replies	by bugspapa »» Dec 10, 3:24 PM
Poll: Black Clover Chapter 303 Discussion Kuma - Aug 20, 2021	28 replies	by eliasvictor »» Dec 6, 9:48 AM
Poll: Black Clover Chapter 386 Discussion ARK-13 - Oct 28	19 replies	by Akuza »» Nov 4, 8:14 AM
Chapter 384 release date? SPIDEY_rockzzzzz - Aug 12	14 replies	by SPIDEY_rockzzzzz »» Nov 2, 3:31 PM
Poll: Black Clover Chapter 385 Discussion ARK-13 - Oct 28	13 replies	by SPIDEY_rockzzzzz »» Nov 2, 11:05 AM

Black Clover
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Black Clover Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Black Clover
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion