Black Clover - General Discussion

[FormerMod-a1]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Black Clover.

[Lantern7]

Okay . . . reach out with your anger. I know this isn't the best anime, but I don't want to grab Asta, pull the giant sword from his grimoire, and beat him with it. From what I understand, I may be in the minority. Also, I thought there was Engrish in the credits, but they weren't singing about "THE DEVIL." Still pretty good credits, though. Hey, at least this is a good way to kill thirty minutes before the bugfuckery of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures.

[Lantern7]

Stupid thought: maybe the anime is an intentional parody of shonen anime, only it's not all "Hey! This is parody! Laugh at this!!!" like the one with Bobobo. The protagonist is yelly and special as fuck, his rival is calm and high-and-mighty with his power, and the villains need to get the shit kicked out of them . . . mostly due to what they do, as opposed to how they do it. "Hey, I'm going to take my powerful self and three assholes to his hick town -- not as hick as where Asta comes from, mind you -- and murder everybody. Because reasons. The only people that could possibly stop me are a Gary Stu, a local thug made good, and an aristocrat with neuroses and aiming issues. But what are the odds of that happening?"

[Sandman87]

Also, the Wizard King awards the Bulls a Gold Star, and then presumably has them do finger-painting until recess. Then the excitement continues as everyone gets paid and goes shopping.

 

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

The only people that could possibly stop me are a Gary Stu, a local thug made good, and an aristocrat with neuroses and aiming issues. But what are the odds of that happening?"

Made me laugh.

[lathspel]

I liked that Asta and Magna already have a rope-a-dope move worked out.

Noelle is welcome to drown ‘em both for a while, after so much talk about being a Real Man. 

After seeing vaguely menacing bad guy with his diagram of a transmutation diagram, I feel like we can check another box.  Yay!

Edited March 2, 2018 by lathspel

[Lantern7]

Haven't seen the latest episode. I was good with the one before that in terms of showing the world. Also, to firmly establish that the Black Bulls are the Delta House of the Magical Knights, to the point where they'd have to earn thirty stars to get to zero. Seriously, don't be surprised if the Wizard King drops by, announcing that the Bulls are on Double Secret Probation.

From the Toonami thread:

On 2/5/2018 at 8:11 PM, Terrafamilia said:

He's the Boomhauer of the magic knights.

No, you could hear dang ole Boomhauer. The weird German rock/pop-looking guy is a "low talker." Dunno if that's the right term; I'm just imagining Asta getting "convinced" into wearing a puffy shirt.

[Sandman87]

Uno goes on his first mission and gets a star from the Wizard King, just like Asta. Evil noble, setup, kidnapping, blah, blah, blah.

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any non-evil nobles in the kingdom, other than the ones who've joined the knights. And I'd bet that about half of the noble knights are evil too.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Sandman87

[Lantern7]

I like this Wizard King. He's more Asta than Yuno, and he's not above snooping on the protagonists.

On 3/14/2018 at 10:36 PM, Sandman87 said:

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any non-evil nobles in the kingdom, other than the ones who've joined the knights. And I'd bet that about half of the noble knights are evil too.

I know, right? Once you leave Hage, nice people become a huge minority. And I'm guessing the Golden Dawn captain might be a dick . . . though I'm mostly getting that impression from his mask.

[Sandman87]

So the Angry Bird's name is now Naru. I'm a little curious why it's hanging around with Asta.

Asta is hand picked by the WizKing for an expedition to Escher's Dungeon. And it's full of traps. And he sent Yuno too.

3 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

And I'm guessing the Golden Dawn captain might be a dick . . . though I'm mostly getting that impression from his mask.

Yeah, I'm assuming that he's this show's version of Char until proven otherwise.

[Sandman87]

Asta's team and Uno's team meet up, and of course Asta immediately pisses off the second in command of the Golden Dawn knights (not related to the other Golden Dawn, or the other other Golden Dawn, or even the other other other Golden Dawn.)

Meanwhile, Luck finds some invaders from a neighboring country, and one of them has really bad gas.

[Sandman87]

Naruto and Sasuke Asta and Uno teach their teammates the important lesson that You Don't Abandon Your Friends. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that the original word that they translated as "friend" was nakima, which would probably be better rendered as "comrade", since I don't believe for a second that Uno thinks of his team leader as a friend.

Also, Luck has Mommy issues and a sad backstory.

[Lantern7]

I guess there is no Black Bull that is not damaged. I'm thinking the overeating cooking girl had to murder innocents in order to summon sheep to help her bake. And Incest Lad? I do not need to know his deal right away.

I'm going with the flow . . . but it would be nice if once -- just once -- an outsider doesn't immediately shit on Asta and Yuno for being raised in the sticks. Not everybody is fourth-degree royalty.

[Sandman87]

Just wondering: If Noelle were to gulp down an energy drink, would she be a noble Black Bull with a Red Bull?

[Sandman87]

Asta beats up the diamond mage after powering up his sword, and he somehow manages to borrow Noelle's power to do it. Also, Uno picks up a scroll that seems to do something to his grimoire.

[Sandman87]

Diamond Mage manages to recover enough to threaten unconscious Asta, but Uno manifests a new spell that summons up a fairy-looking creature who stops time so that he can save the day. Asta needs medical attention, and everyone has to beat a hasty retreat when the dungeon starts collapsing.

Also, Diamond Mage has a sad, sad backstory.  What a surprise.

[jbrecken]

The Flock of Seagulls siblings hate Noelle because she "killed our mother" - she's their family's Tyrion!

[Sandman87]

It's official: Ninety-nine percent of the hereditary nobles start out with "asshole" as their default setting. I'm curious which will be the first one that gets taken down a peg by Asta or Uno.

 

On 4/28/2018 at 10:31 PM, jbrecken said:

...she's their family's Tyrion!

Which would mean that they're...ew.

[Terrafamilia]

Apparently, they don't have zombie movies in the Clover Kingdom. Headshots, guys, headshots.

So, the captains of the Gotei 13 Magic Knights like to show off their reiatsu mana to intimidate others.

[Sandman87]

Is anyone surprised that a minor fight broke out around the banquet table?

I find it hard to believe that the people in the Clover Kingdom have absolutely no literary or folk tradition of any kind of walking corpses. That's been a universal thing in every culture forever.

 

I liked this exchange:

"The kingdom is under attack!"

"What do you mean?"

So not only are the nobles obnoxious, they're apparently dumber than a bag of hammers too. I'm pretty sure he meant that the kingdom was under attack.

[Terrafamilia]

Since everyone, except Asta, has some degree of magical ability I would have thought there would have been at least some on display among the general populace when confronted by the zombies, even if it was just some basic bindings or barriers while running away. Not to mention those with water based magic combating the fires. Heck, magic sand or dirt could smother the flames and magic flame control could halt or redirect the advance. But they are in the "noble" region of the Clover Kingdom so I suppose they are waiting for the servants to come out and do that stuff.

[Sandman87]

They were all too terrified to resist? Other than that I've got nothing.

[Lantern7]

Toonami doesn't have One Piece, but they are doing One Note. Seriously, there has never be a mere commoner that became a halfway decent mage? And, as usual, the nobles are complete pricks about Asta and Noelle. At least they tried to get their shit together against the walking dead. I think the only fun ones from that bunch were the ladies . . . the serious captain, and the suborinate that never calls her "captain."

I think Asta would be easy to beat. Just don't attack him head-on. Go indirect, beat him, tell him that the huge fuck-off sword can only get him so far, then ream everybody who disrespected him.

Hey, Glutton Chef sneaked into the banquet! I'm good with most of the Black Bulls, so I'm okay with her.

[Sandman87]

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Hey, Glutton Chef sneaked into the banquet!

I bet I know what's coming; the town is half-destroyed by zombies, there's little food to be had, then she whips out her Magic Sheep Cookery spell and feeds 50,000 people with it.

[Lantern7]

Well, the impossible happened. No, not that the Knights prevailed. One captain -- who wasn't Yami -- saw Asta in action, and was not immediately horrified that a common boy . . . . WITH NO FUCKING MAGICAL ABILITY . . . was picked as a Magic Knight. He was also impressed that Yami saw talent in him, while the other captains took a pass.  He did tell Asta to calm down a few times, which . . . . don't we all want that?

Down side: the king of the Clover Kingdom is a prick. I'm hoping his ignorance is a front, but I'm really not expecting that from this anime.

[Sandman87]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Down side: the king of the Clover Kingdom is a prick.

And apparently an idiot too. I hope he's just a figurehead.

Maybe Asta would settle for becoming the Regular King instead, and then Uno can be Wizard King. Kings all around!

[Sandman87]

The big zombie attack is delt with, but turns out to just have been a ruse to maneuver all the magic knights into positions where the mysterious real bad guy could use teleporting powers to get them all out of the way and kidnap the captain with the fire powers.

Also, Uno faces off against a youth-obsessed mage who steals people's lives to keep herself young.

[Terrafamilia]

The old manna sucking hag learned why you shouldn't get between cotton-magic girl (Majin Baaaa?) and her food.

[jbrecken]

How does cotton magic manifest as sheep?  Is that a translation error?

[Lantern7]

Charmy = Majin Baa. That is cute, @Terrafamilia. Heart for you.

Kinda hoping Asta gets hit with tranquilizing magic, but that wouldn't slow him much. "I WILL BECOME!!!! Uggggggghhhh, what whas I gon do? Marry the nun, win respeck . . . oh, yeah. Wizard King. I WILL BECOME THE WIZARD KING!!!!!"

[Sandman87]

"I w'lll be...become th'...LIZARD KING! Uh....WIZARD LIZARD! Or something..."

So the big flaming captain is missing an arm now, and he knew whoever it was that did it. I'm trying to decide whether or not the mystery villain is anyone we've met yet.

[Sandman87]

Asta attends a mixer without even knowing what a mixer is. Hilarity ensues.

[Lantern7]

That wasn’t a bad ep, filler or not. Of course Asta still has his heart set on Sister Lily, and the misunderstandings are out in force. Still cute, though. Nice to learn more about the Black Bulls. Looks like Klaus von Lowtalker wants to be more social. Is he the Shino of the team? And “The Dreavy Hinker”? Inspired. Probably not the “actual” name, but since we’re dealing with a fictional foreign language, who cares?

Also: new credits. 1. Does the evil girl with glasses remind anyone else of Hange over on AoT? 2. Hey, looks like Yami will be doing stuff soon!!

[Terrafamilia]

A clip show, yaaaaaay! We do see that Asta has a very special friend, indeed. Double yaaaaay. And back in Hage village Father Orgi has invested in more pot potatoes instead of a larger variety of veggies or even just upgrading to cannabis potatoes.

[Sandman87]

On 7/8/2018 at 2:43 PM, Terrafamilia said:

...cannabis potatoes.

They'd be even more popular than tomaccos! And probably less lethal.

Turns out that Simon (my nickname for the mumbley guy) likes him some "naked time" with teen Asta, and writes about him in his journal. A lot. Nothing at all creepy about that...

[Terrafamilia]

Sheep Girl/Majin Baa adores pot potatoes! At least they are a step up from weed potatoes.

We get further evidence that Asta is a chick magnet.

Gauche is berated by a penquin for his filthy mouth and bad attitude.

And in the actual plot a pied piper sort draws the children away from the town while blanketing it in snow.

[Sandman87]

"Yay, we got paid today! Let's spend our money on the same useless crap we always do!"

Gauche is about one bad day away from being a serial killer. And he's all of the creepy big brother cliches rolled into one.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Sandman87

[lathspel]

I’m amazed that Marie even exists at all.  I figured she would be his split personality or something.  

I love the literal flying nun - reminds me of grade school.

[Sandman87]

3 hours ago, lathspel said:

I love the literal flying nun - reminds me of grade school.

She reminds me a little bit of Sister Yolanda from Black Lagoon's Church of Violence. But with a facial scar instead of an eyepatch.

[Lantern7]

Gross episode, between the assholes kidnapping kids and stealing their magic, and Gauche. Just Gauche. Ew. I’d want Asta to question why the Black Bulls has a sister-focused mister (I’m trying to keep it clean here), only for someone (I’m thinking Yami) to point out Asta carries a torch for a friggin’ nun.

Oh, and Sekka? Still sucks.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Lantern7

[Sandman87]

Gauche doesn't get any better once you get to know him.  No wonder the Bulls have such a bad reputation.

[Sandman87]

Gauche finally stops being an assmonkey. Yay.

I'm getting burned out on the crazy researcher woman who appears to be wearing a frilly bathing suit under her robe.

[Sandman87]

Yami vs. the Light Mage! Pure action! And Yami manages to work in a little training for Asta during the fight, showing him how to detect an enemy's moves using non-magical Qi.

[Lantern7]

On 8/9/2018 at 12:51 AM, Sandman87 said:

I'm getting burned out on the crazy researcher woman who appears to be wearing a frilly bathing suit under her robe.

I still think of Hange over on Attack in Titan. Is there a trope for four-eyed girls who get too obsessed about weird stuff?

[lathspel]

I’m not liking how the light mage just reused Scar’s backstory, but it’s not the least original thing about this series.  At least Yami got some good exposition. 

[Lantern7]

@lathspel: The Lion King or Fullmetal Alchemist? I did like Yami's straightforward origin story.

[Lantern7]

Anybody still keeping up? Basically, it's the Clover Kingdom vs. the bad guys, as both sides add to their small armies . . .including three Squad Captains to save Yami's ass and give him shit about not defeating his opponents. The Green Mantises are lead by a tongue-waggling sadist named Jack the Ripper . . . and now, I'm feeling bad for Sekka. I never would've thought it possible. Also, Gauche is still nose-bleedy for his sister, and he's never going to not be creepy.

[Sandman87]

I'm still watching, it is reasonably diverting, but it's all so derivative that it's hard to come up with anything interesting to say about it.

Am I imagining things, or are the members of the latest bad guy group all based on the seven deadly sins?

The creepy Mantis captain reminds me of creepy Nnoitra from Bleach.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Sandman87

[Sandman87]

"One of you is a traitor!" Turns out to be the captain of the Purple Orca squad. Asta manages to chase him down with his brand new Qi detection, and the youngest Knight Captain makes the capture with the power of impressionism. After subjecting Bad Orca to interrogation, it's a bit vague exactly what traitorous things he's done, but they make up for it by pointing out all the non-traitorous naughtiness he's been engaged in, stuff like child prostitution and eating puppies (or maybe it's the other way around). They didn't mention parking his broom in handicapped spaces, but I'm sure he did that too.

[Sandman87]

A couple of beach episodes, complete with a watermelon getting smashed. As you know, all anime with any humorous content whatsoever are required to have at least one beach episode. Swimsuits, swimming, playing in the sand, etc. Asta and Noelle make friends with someone who sings to work restoration magic, and is secretly involved with the underwater temple that they're going to raid. She helps Noelle gain better control over her magic.

[lathspel]

I’m impressed we managed to turn the “beach episode” into an actual multi-episode plot.  That may be our least derivative plot element.  

I like the new start and end titles too.