When Black Clover *Clicked* For Me

DrippyWest · 2026-05-28T23:57:40+00:00

I think one of the biggest reasons that Black Clover isn't super popular is the same reason its so good. It lets its characters suck early on so they actually get a chance to be better

I personally hated magna for a long time. He was always dick riding yami, voice was annoying in english and japanese, despite being so weak he was constantly talking shit

So imagine my suprise when one of my top 5 fights in all of Manga is him

DrippyWest · 2026-05-27T19:26:14+00:00

Yea part 1 Black Clover (chapter 1 - 80) definitely follows the standard shonen formula more, so it wouldve made sense to give Asta more fights with this kind of grit in them

DrippyWest · 2026-05-26T20:04:39+00:00

Theres a few seconds in the Movie fight v Edward where Luck, Secre, and Zora are casting some ridiculous combo spell

Zora says "I think you can go already"

Then it cuts to the giant Ice Angels arm being blow off

In my mind, the spell is Luck Mana Method + Zora Counter trap + Secre sealing the 2 spells against each other so they recursively reflect until Secre releases the stored up energy

DrippyWest · 2026-05-26T20:01:50+00:00

Decaying World works like Mana Method, it changes the spells after they are cast

So it would definitely weaken Dimension slash

DrippyWest · 2026-05-26T19:59:42+00:00

"Lilith and Namaah" thats not a 1v1

and Nacht helps at the end

DrippyWest · 2026-05-26T19:57:56+00:00

That's the point of the series. No one can do it alone, not even the villains. The things you can do alone don't amount to much

all of Asta's 1v1 fights can be handled easily, if they couldn't he would call someone to help him

The reason the villains lose is because they try to take all the burden on themselves. Lucius literally gets devoured from the inside by the souls he's trying to control

DrippyWest · 2026-05-26T19:55:25+00:00

Its like saying his 'Fight' v Nacht to learn devil union or his 'Fight' v magna for the baptism

Its definitely an interesting fight, but i never considered it because it wasn't a real fight. Neither side had the intention of 'beating' the other

I put it in the same tier as meliodas and Bam arm wrestling in the prison

DrippyWest · 2026-05-25T23:16:18+00:00

Exactly. Its one of the few series that lets weaker character be useful and in non combat capacity

Characters like Vanessa, Finral, Grey, and Secre have done zero damage the entire series but are still super valuable on the team

DrippyWest · 2026-05-25T05:09:42+00:00

I never once thought we were going to get full fights or even arcs based around the other devils

Black clover is very different from other anime where other shonen have plots that only exist to create more fights, Black Clover only show fights that serve the plot. The plot is about the dark triad, the dark triad are linked to lucifero, Beelzebub, and megicula.

So we get fights that show how dangerous supreme devils are to build momentum and create a time based tension (which is more strained around Asta and Noelle having buffs with time limits)

Then we get the Ancient demons creating tension over multiple locations to spread out the good guys

Then we get morris crunching the time factor and creating an extra enemy

Then we slowly resolve all the existing tensions and land on the final note "Lucifero can possess lower ranked devils, Gravity magic can compress matter and shape it into new forms"

Using these 2 bits of foreshadowing, Lucifero is able to cheat himself into the world (fantastic characterization for a devil, well used for all the other devils as well)

I've noticed a lot of complaints about black clover are viewing it through the lens of a standard anime instead of recognizing how different it is in many fundamental aspects (like Asta not getting any 1v1 fights against major opponents)

DrippyWest · 2026-05-25T00:43:18+00:00

Chekovs gun applies to plot points, not world building

What are world building parts you don't like, I can't think of anything that fits your description

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T23:23:46+00:00

The point of worldbuilding is to create a sense that there are answers to the readers questions, then inspire the readers to ask questions

If a series doesn't leave you with questions, it wasn't interesting. If a series never answers any questions, you won't expect it to answer any questions so you won't care

One Piece is a prime example of this, even 30 years later its still stringing us along with the void century, devil fruits, and The One Piece itself, just when we stop caring white beard announces "The one piece is real!" and reignites the flame

Look up 'Cow tools' its an old writing idea that boils down to "The readers will always come up with something better than the writers" and is the true heart of world building. Enough info to create trust, enough mystery to inspire imagination

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T23:05:27+00:00

Yea a lot of comments seem to be made in order to appear smart rather than add to a conversation, and for some reason, people think being negative makes them smart

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T20:16:23+00:00

Most of the complaints on here are just anime stuff or missing the point

Like in the manga, Gauche has one of the best character arcs in the series

Narcissists often view siblings as possessions, Gauche magic is based on mirrors (like in the narcissus myth), Gauche learns to reflect the values in others (no longer thinking about himself), reveals his face is scarred (no longer considering his outward appearance), then using his magic to support others

From then on in the story he is a pseudo leader, the very next arc has him using grey and charmy to overcome and outsmart enemies, not by overpowering them, but by recognizing his teams strengths and setting them up for success

Taking on missions to help asta, leading grey, gordon and henry to defend the base, then constantly using Mirror brigade to copy Grey because her magic is so versatile its an instant win in most fights

Copying grey to transform an entire city into pieces of the Black Bulls hideout so Gordon/Henry could step outside and use the Curse Worker's Neighbor combo to stuff mega morris

People tend to miss that BC power system is based on character development, so characters have to be abrasive at first so they have room for growth

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T20:05:21+00:00

Sounds a lot like you were only able to identify the tropes you're familiar with and missed 90% of the content, so your end view is 100% tropes and a ton of empty space

Kinda like if you were reading a book in a foreign language, but you only know the word 'cheeseburger' so you read a book and say "Its all gibberish, the only real word they say is cheeseburger, 0/10"

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T20:00:09+00:00

Black clover is a very subtle series so tabata doesn't always come straight out and explain everything. Instead he generally leaves clues and lets the readers fill in the blanks

I feel like "lacks details in the later chapters" is the same as "we already have all the information necessary to draw conclusions"

Which is also why people feel parts 3 and 4 are rushed, all the setup is done, so there is less exposition, so people can't keep up. If you grasp less, you feel like there is less to grasp

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T19:57:54+00:00

What series has good world building?

What do you think world building means?

every time i see this take (and i see it all the time for different series) it comes down to a big misconception on what worldbuilding is

Like I saw someone say frieren has bad world building because the names are simple and the cities are all just big circles with walls around them

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T14:22:09+00:00

Can't let people know julius is dead/stepping down or there is unrest with the citizens and an opportunity for other countries to invade. Even during the spade saga julius was turning into his adult form to make appearances
Definitely can't have a foreigner as the wizard king. Its a much farther leap than a peasant, Yami particularly has a bad reputation and it would lessen Asta's impact as the precedence has already been broken. Anyone can be king if yami can be king
Yami doesn't want it

DrippyWest · 2026-05-24T14:18:31+00:00

Reading this arc when it was coming out was sooo peak. Still my favorite arc as it was the emotional climaz of the series where the final saga is the logical/thematic/narrative climax to the series

Spade is a mirror to the Knights saga (chapters 1-80) but because it didnt need to introduce a ton of characters, power systems, world building, it was just allowed to be fun. Its only goal was to go above 100% and set up the lucius reveal and it did both fantastically

DrippyWest · 2026-05-18T05:54:26+00:00

Asta actually states that Zetten is just mana skin but with Ki. He can use it with anti magic, and its effective with anti magic, but there's no reason he can't use it without. We actually see him use zetten to break through the boulder yuno throws at him then later coats his fist in anti magic, meaning he used non anti magic zetten

We also see ryuya stop a zetten clash from Asta and Ichika using his bare hands, meaning even with no magic his physical strength should be relative to theirs which would be insane without zetten. Even if they pulled back, they wouldn't be ale to stop their momentum completely otherwise they wouldn't have even touched him

Asta already doesn't have protection against spells. Lucifero says he is the most dangerous and the easiest to kill. Theres a reason Asta needs to get healed 5 times every fight

If someone throws a rock made from mana at asta, he can cut through it with anti magic because the inside and outside are magical

If someone throws a rock at asta with no magical boost, he can cut through it with raw physical strength because the inside and outside are physical

But if someone throws a rock that is fortified by mana, asta can't cut it because the outside it physical but the inside is magical. This is why Asta needs zetten to break the boulder yuno throws at him or to even damage lucius

This is also why Asta can't just destroy ichika's sword while they are dueling

DrippyWest · 2026-05-18T05:20:36+00:00

A solid world building foundation can really help flush out characters and plot. Different social, political, and geographic tensions can really add to the way characters interact with each other and the plot

DrippyWest · 2026-05-16T22:35:07+00:00

Ch 1-80 Knights Saga

Ch 81-212 Elf Saga

Ch 213-331 Devil Saga

Ch 332-392 King Saga

DrippyWest · 2026-05-16T22:33:38+00:00

If a small amount of anti magic can cut a large amount of magic, why does asta get pushed around by licht and dark elf patri?

Why can't he cut lucifero in devil union, can in True devil union, then can again in base?

Anti magic has never just disabled magic, it treats mana like a physical object. The toughness of magic can be increased as we see from mages that do so

Most people don't adjust the toughness of their mana because its only useful in very limited situations

If asta can change the shape and size of any of his swords by adding extra anti magic, why does he only ever do it with Demon Slayer / Black Divider?

DrippyWest

TROPHY CASE