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Black Clover
Manga volume 1 cover, featuring Asta and Yuno
ブラッククローバー
(Burakku Kurōbā)
GenreAdventure, fantasy[1]
Manga
Written byYūki Tabata
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runFebruary 16, 2015 – present
Volumes30 (List of volumes)
Original animation DVD
Directed byTakashi Noto
Written byTakamitsu Kōno
Music byYūya Mori
StudioXebec Zwei
ReleasedMay 2, 2017
Runtime27 minutes
Anime television series
Directed by
  • Tatsuya Yoshihara[a]
  • Ayataka Tanemura (#153–170)
Produced by
  • Maiko Isotani
  • Naomi Komatsu
  • Masahiro Sugasawa (#1–128)
  • Hatsuo Nara (#129–170)
Written by
Music byMinako Seki
StudioPierrot
Licensed by
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
Original run October 3, 2017 – March 30, 2021
Episodes170 (List of episodes)
Manga
Asta's Journey to Wizard King
Written byYūki Tabata
Illustrated bySetta Kobayashi
Published byShueisha
MagazineSaikyō Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runFebruary 2, 2018 – present
Volumes1
Video game
Black Clover: Quartet Knights
PublisherBandai Namco Entertainment
PlatformPlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
Released
  • JP: September 13, 2018
  • NA: September 14, 2018
  • EU: September 14, 2018
  • AU: September 14, 2018
Manga
Black Clover Gaiden: Quartet Knights
Written byYūki Tabata
Illustrated byYumiya Tashiro
Published byShueisha
MagazineShōnen Jump+
DemographicShōnen
Original runOctober 7, 2018 – April 12, 2020
Volumes6
Original net animation
Squishy! Black Clover
Directed byTsukasa Nishiyama
Written by
  • Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
  • Kanichi Katou
StudioDLE
Licensed byCrunchyroll
Released July 1, 2019 – August 19, 2019
Episodes8
Anime film

Black Clover (Japanese: ブラッククローバー, Hepburn: Burakku Kurōbā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata. The story follows Asta, a young boy born without any magic power. This is unknown to the world he lives in because seemingly everyone has some sort of magic power. With his fellow mages from the Black Bulls, Asta plans to become the next Wizard King. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since February 2015, with its chapters collected in 30 tankōbon volumes as of October 2021.

The manga was first adapted into an original video animation produced by Xebec Zwei, released in 2017. An anime television series adaptation produced by Pierrot aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 2017 to March 2021. An anime film has been announced.

In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Viz Media, while the anime series is licensed by Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Plot

Main article: List of Black Clover characters

The series focuses on Asta, a young orphan who is left to be raised in an orphanage alongside his fellow orphan, Yuno. While everyone is born with the ability to utilize Mana in the form of Magical Power (魔力, Maryoku), Asta with no magic, however, instead focuses on physical strength. Conversely, Yuno was born as a prodigy with immense magical power and the talent to control wind magic.

Motivated by a desire to become the next Wizard King, an authority figure second to the king of Clover Kingdom, the two youths developed a friendly rivalry. Yuno obtains a legendary four-leaf grimoire held by the kingdom's first Wizard King. The four-leaf grimoire is a rare grimoire, only given to the most immense mages. Asta, despite his lack of magic, obtained a mysterious five-leaf grimoire that contains mysterious elf swords and a bodiless member of the Devil race who utilizes rare anti-magic. Afterward, he and Yuno each join a Magic Knight squad as the first step to fulfill their ambitions.

Asta joins the Black Bulls alongside Noelle Silva while Yuno becomes a member of the Golden Dawn, embarking on various adventures while contending with an extremist group called the Eye of the Midnight Sun whose leadership is manipulated by a Devil in avenging an injustice committed against the Elves by the Clover Kingdom at the time of its founding. The Magic Knights then face the Dark Triad of the Spade Kingdom, with Asta and Yuno learning of their Devils’ influence on their lives and of the Dark Triad’s plan to fully manifest the Devils into their world.

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Black Clover chapters

Written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata, Black Clover has been serialized in Shueisha's manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump since February 16, 2015.[2][3] The manga is Tabata's second series in Weekly Shōnen Jump: his first series, Hungry Joker, ran in the magazine for 24 chapters from November 12, 2012, to May 13, 2013, before being canceled.[4][5][6] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on June 4, 2015.[7] As of October 4, 2021, thirty volumes have been released.[8]

On February 9, 2015, Viz Media announced that they would publish the first three chapters of the series in their Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine as part of their "Jump Start" program in North America.[9] On March 30, 2015, they announced that the series would join their weekly lineup, beginning with chapter 4 on April 6, and publishing at an accelerated rate until the chapters were current with Japan.[10][11] Plans to release the series in print were announced during their panel at New York Comic Con on October 9, 2015.[12] Shueisha began to simulpublish the series in English on the app and website Manga plus in February 2019.[13]

Spin-offs

On February 2, 2018, a gag manga spin-off illustrated by Setta Kobayashi titled Asta's Journey to Wizard King (アスタくん魔法帝への道, Asta-kun Mahōtei e no Michi) launched in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump.[14] The manga has been collected in one tankōbon volume.[15]

On September 30, 2018, a manga based on the video game Black Clover: Quartet Knights launched on the Shōnen Jump+ app on October 7, 2018.[16] The manga finished on April 12, 2020.[17] As of October 3, 2020, it has been collected in eight tankōbon volumes.[18]

Anime

Main article: List of Black Clover episodes

An original video animation produced by Xebec Zwei that is based on the series was shown at the 2016 Jump Festa between November 27 and December 18, 2016.[19][20][21] It was bundled with the 11th volume of the manga, which was released on May 2, 2017.[22] A second original video animation was shown at the 2018 Jump Festa.[23] It was later released on DVD releases alongside My Hero Academia and Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma bundled with the future volumes of their respective manga, as it was announced on Jump Special Anime Festa event.[24]

At the Black Clover Jump Festa event on December 18, 2016, an anime television series adaptation by Pierrot was announced.[22] It is directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu writing scripts, Itsuko Takeda doing character designs, and Minako Seki composing the music.[25] The series aired from October 3, 2017, to March 30, 2021,[26][27] with the first two seasons each consisted of 51 episodes.[28][29]

Season 3 premiered on October 1, 2019.[30] The anime has been broadcast without any major interruption until late April 2020, when it was announced that future episodes would be postponed based on studio production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The broadcasting and distribution of episode 133 onward were delayed and in its place, the first episode of the series was rebroadcast on May 5, 2020.[31] The series resumed on July 7, 2020.[32] In February 2021, it was announced that Black Clover will end its broadcast at episode 170 on March 30, 2021, followed by an "important announcement".[33][34]

Crunchyroll has simulcast the series,[35] while Funimation produced an English dub as part of its SimulDub program as it aired.[36][37] Adult Swim's Toonami programming block premiered the English dub on December 2, 2017.[38] The series was added to the Hulu streaming service.[39] Sony Pictures UK and Funimation released the first part of the series on home video in the United Kingdom and Ireland,[40] with subsequent parts released by Manga Entertainment.[41] Universal Sony classified the first part of the series for release in Australia and New Zealand, on behalf of Funimation,[42] with Madman Entertainment releasing subsequent parts.[43] The first of Black Clover became available on Netflix India with Japanese audio and English subtitles on February 23, 2021.[44]

A short original net animation titled Squishy! Black Clover (むぎゅっと！ブラッククローバー, Mugyutto! Burakku Kurōbā), produced by DLE and directed by Tsukasa Nishiyama, began airing on dTV on July 1, 2019. The opening theme song for the short is "POSSIBLE" by Gakuto Kajiwara and Nobunaga Shimazaki, under the name "Clover×Clover".[45] Crunchyroll made the short available internationally on December 31, 2019.[46]

Film

On March 28, 2021, it was announced that the series would be receiving an anime film, with details to be revealed at a later date.[47]

Video games

At Jump Festa 2017, a video game, titled Black Clover: Quartet Knights, was announced for a 2018 release on PlayStation 4 and PC.[48] It was developed by Ilinx and published by Bandai Namco.[49] It was released in Japan on September 13, 2018,[50] while the western release was on September 14, 2018.[51]

A mobile game called Black Clover: Phantom Knights (ブラッククローバー 夢幻の騎士団, Burakku Kurōbā: Mugen no Kishidan) has been announced.[52] It was released in Japan on November 14, 2018.[53] On December 6, 2019, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced that the game would be released on January 16, 2020.[54] On December 9, 2020, Bandai Namco Entertainment had closed its servers and removed the game from all IOS and Android mobile app stores worldwide.[55]

Asta is featured as a playable character in the Weekly Shōnen Jump crossover game Jump Force.[56]

Reception

Manga

Black Clover ranked #3 on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics" by the Honya Club website in 2016.[57]

Volume 1 reached 23rd place on the weekly Oricon manga charts, with 38,128 copies sold;[58] volume 2 reached 17th place, with 61,918 copies;[59] volume 3 also reached 17th place, with 80,462 copies;[60][61] volume 4 reached 13th place, with 93,866 copies;[62][63] volume 5 reached 15th place, with 108,503 copies;[64][65] and volume 6 reached 11th place, with 118,783 copies.[66][67] As of January 2019, the manga had 7 million copies in circulation,[68] and by March 2021 it had over 12 million copies in circulation.[69] As of May 2021, the manga had over 15 million copies in circulation.[70] As of July 2021, the manga had over 16 million copies in circulation.[71]

Critical reception

When reviewing the series for ComicsAlliance, Tom Speelman described the premise as "what if Harry Potter was a knight and also kinda dumb?" He recommended it for fans of Naruto and Fairy Tail, noting its similarities to the former series as well as to Bleach. He praised the author's ability to invigorate stock characters.[6] Henry Ma of Ka Leo O Hawaii praised the series' humor and art, noting that the latter was "very nice" and was similar to Fairy Tail.[72] However, not all critics were positive, with a board of comic book writers at San Diego Comic-Con listing the manga as one of the worst from 2016.[73]

Anime

In November 2019, Crunchyroll listed Black Clover in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s".[74] In January 2021, it was revealed that Black Clover was the most-watched anime series on Crunchyroll in 2020, being watched in 87 countries and territories, including North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.[75][76]

Writing for Anime News Network, Rachel Trujillo praised the anime for "the grand lessons that one can take away from the story" and ambitious animation efforts from the staff.[77] Ivy Rose from Anime Feminist praised the way the story handles its female characters, giving them narrative importance and letting them partake in battles. Rose wrote: "Black Clover has truly raised the bar for depictions of female leaders in shounen anime, and female characters in general, as these solid portrayals are not just limited to women in leadership positions."[78]

Notes

  1. ^ Credited as Chief Director (総監督) for episodes #153–170

References

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