The voice behind Asta in Black Clover reflected on how far the young hero had come over the course of the anime! Yuki Tabata’s original manga series might be continuing with brand new chapters in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but the anime ended its impressive 170 episode run earlier this Spring. It was an emotional moment for many fans, but it was even more of an emotional goodbye for the actor behind Asta, Gakuto Kajiwara, as it was not only his first major role, but one of his first voice acting roles ever.
If there’s anyone who knows more about how far Asta had come over the course of the anime, and how different he was from the start of the series, it’s Kajiwara and he opened up about Asta’s journey during a special panel as part of Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2021. As he reflected on Asta’s journey, Kajiwara revealed just how much Asta’s growth and his performance have been on the same journey over the course of the anime’s run.
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“[C]ompared to how he was in the beginning…this goes for how big his body got, as well as mentally but you can clearly see how much he’s grown,” Kajiwara began. “He and the other members of the Black Bulls ended up growing so much as they went on this journey together, and I felt like I personally needed to get there, too. But I think there were a lot of moments where I felt like Asta and I were alike.” Looking back even further, Kajiwara noted how he felt like he and Asta were on similar types of journeys too.
“He didn’t know anything about magic or fighting when he joined the Black Bulls, but then he started to grow along with the other Black Bulls. I started doing Black Clover so early in my career, and I started out not knowing anything about this business or how to act,” Kajiwara explained. “I think that Asta and I really connect and link in that regard. Just like Asta, I started absorbing everything around me, trying to figure out what I could do to become a better actor. I wanted to continue to grow along with Asta, so I was desperately trying to catch up to him the whole time.”
How did you feel about Asta’s growth and Kajiwara’s growth as an actor over the course of the anime? Do you think there was a significant change over its three year run? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
