Black Clover

Episodes 1-3

It's time for Shonen Jump to sink or swim, considering how many of their flagship titles have concluded in recent years. The magazine prides itself on immensely popular franchises that run for years on end, but when was the last time a Naruto or One Piece-sized hit really bloomed before our eyes? The internet wasn't what it is now when those series launched, nor was anime production and distribution. What'll it take to be the cool new thing that all the kids are talking about these days?

There's a lot of reasons to pick on Black Clover, whether it's an annoying main character or its reliance on well-worn clichés, but the series' popularity is going to be interesting to keep an eye on over the next year or two. People have never liked it when I compared My Hero Academia to Naruto, which I never meant as an insult because I respect the ninja knucklehead for speaking to his audience so well. I really hate the idea that something becomes a success on that level because of formulas and clichés, so I find it fascinating to compare stories like Black Clover and MHA to Naruto. What is it about one Naruto 2.0 that warrants benefit of the doubt over another?

I can't speak to what Black Clover will eventually become, because I haven't read past the first chapter. Judging by these early episodes, it's trading pretty heavily in the tropes of its genre, (is “Naruto” a sub-genre at this point?) but I want to give it a chance. This series follows the loud and rambunctious Asta, who looks to overcome his lack of magical abilities in an attempt to become the “Wizard King” ahead of his more adept rival, Yuno. Asta's design looks an awful lot like a certain ninja-themed protagonist, and Yuno looks very close to a certain angsty ninja rival. I really don't want to spend half this review talking about Naruto, but the similarities are like a potent odor following us around.

All that said, I can easily imagine somebody younger getting into this. If you turn off the part of your brain that scans for clichés, the appeal is pretty straightforward. Episode two was easily the best of the three so far, using flashbacks to get more familiar with Asta and Yuno's relationship in a way that succeeds in making Asta's bullheadedness genuinely charming, at least for a moment. And as much as Yuno looks like Sasuke, his personality sets him apart just enough. He's not an anti-hero, so Asta's rivalry with Yuno is less about trying to be better than that jerk across the street and more about living in the shadow of your own friend.

This is the first show I've reviewed that wasn't bright and colorful, so something slick and atmospheric is welcome. I love a good earthy fantasy escape, so it'll be nice to see if that side of its aesthetic can shine through the shonen pulp. That image of the big demon skull against a magic-hour sunset is a good one. The biggest visual issue so far is the abundance of CGI sprinkled throughout, but something tells me I'm just going to have to get used to that.

It'll be interesting to see where this story goes, for better or worse, because easily the most damning quality so far is an anime-specific one: that freakin' voice. Everybody's covered it already, I have very little to add, but Asta's voice really is as grating as everyone says. I honestly can't believe this is what they decided to go with. I could handle all the screaming if it was coming from a nicer voice, but this is a gnarly blemish on a show that I might already be kinder on than most. It's unbearable.

The first two episodes were a decent adaptation of the first chapter (most first chapters in Jump are extra long, so the usual chapters-per-episode measurement doesn't really apply to the start), with favor leaning toward the second as a much stronger and pathos-heavy story. If I was basing my assessment on these two episodes, I'd give the show a begrudged thumbs up for being an easy enough watch, my affection for the genre considered. But then episode three happened, and that goodwill was tarnished. There's an element to shonen pacing where an episode can be slow provided that it feels short. You'd be shocked at how quickly some nothing episodes of One Piece can go by. But we're way too early in this series to be asking anything like that of the audience. I was expecting them to get to their Magic Knight exam this week, only to realize that this whole episode was boring filler designed to acquaint us with Asta and Yuno some more. I'm willing to give these characters a chance, but we're not at that stage of the relationship yet.

There's no part of me that finds schadenfreude in watching this show. There are moments scattered throughout where I can already feel my tolerance for dumb shonen stuff being flexed, but it's not insulting the intelligence of any kids or teens who might stumble upon it, which is the most important thing to me. I really wish that third episode was more entertaining, but we all knew what we were getting into long before Black Clover's first episode even aired.

Rating: C+

Black Clover is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Sam Leach records about One Piece for The One Piece Podcast and you can find him on Twitter @LuckyChainsaw