Black Clover’s manga is in its final stretch, but there are still no updates from Studio Pierrot regarding a new anime season. Yuki Tabata’s series has gained a massive fan following over the years, making it one of the most appreciated Shonen. The story is intriguing with its magical world-building, captivating storyline, intriguing characters, and a lovable main character. The manga is currently serializing in Jump GIGA after transitioning from Weekly Shonen Jump in 2023. The anime debuted in 2017, and it was rare for a studio to work on a long-running series. The anime almost caught up with the manga and stopped airing in 2021.
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No one expected the break to be this long but even that didn’t decrease the series’ popularity at all. According to the latest report by Netflix, Black Clover was the fifth most-watched anime in the second half of 2024 with 138 million hours watched. In the first half, it had 158 million hours watched. Although the anime debuted in 2017, it finally made its way to Netflix in April 2024. The series was a major success while it was airing and it continues to rise in popularity. The analysis was shared on several platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, originating from the official downloadable report on What We Watched on Netflix.
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Black Clover Anime Ended Before Its Most Exciting Arcs
The anime concluded with the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle Arc while also setting up the prologue of the Spade Kingdom Raid Arc. Even though the 2023 film Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King takes place in the series’ world, it’s not considered wholly canon, so it didn’t actually continue the main story. If the anime sequel ever airs, it will only have two arcs left to cover, both having its fair share of tragedies and thrilling fights.
The Spade Kingdom Raid Arc centers around the Clover and Heart Kingdoms launching an all-out assault on the Spade Kingdom to stop the Dark Triad and their plan to open the door to the Underworld. This arc’s major villains, Dante, Vanica, and Zenon Zogratis, are hosts for high-ranking devils, making them some of the strongest enemies the Magic Knights have ever faced. Asta masters his Devil Union Mode and works alongside Liebe to defeat the enemies. It’s also a crucial arc for Yuno who comes to terms with his identity as the Prince of the Spade Kingdom and avenges his parents’ deaths.
Meanwhile, the final and ongoing arc commences after everyone returns to the Clover Kingdom. This time, the story takes a major turn after Lucius’ arrival as the kingdom is once again plunged into chaos. The villain’s Soul Magic allows him to manipulate souls, potentially purifying them or using them for his own purposes. This raises the stakes of each fight as the Magic Knights find themselves fighting people they care about.
Black Clover Disappointed Fans by Neglecting the Manga’s 10th Anniversary
The manga debuted on February 16th, 2015, so last month was a major milestone for the series. Fans have been hoping for some exciting project or announcement as a means to celebrate the series’ debut. However, literally none of that happened, not even the social media accounts acknowledged this milestone. There wasn’t an anniversary trailer, no comment from the author, and nothing to highlight the importance of the 10th Anniversary.
It’s unprecedented for a show with a global following to not even care about the anniversary at all. Fans celebrated this day unofficially through special illustrations and discussing the show on social media. Even so, the neglect was probably the most disappointing thing that could’ve happened for the fans. While it’s easy to criticize the publisher and the animation studio, nothing could change the fact it missed a major publicity opportunity.
The manga has been gradually gaining popularity since 2017, the same year as the anime’s debut. In December 2017, it had 4.8 million copies in circulation. However, according to the last report in June 2023, it has over 19 million copies in circulation, making it a fairly successful manga. Even the anime had a slow start with initially low ratings, but eventually picked up the pace as the series continued. Now it’s one of the most beloved shows, with the anime’s ratings rising from 6.51 to 8.14 on MyAnimeList. With the anime still having this many views on streaming platforms, it’s safe to assume that we may get a sequel not long from now.
Source: What We Watched on Netflix, Pascal J. Bonnet on LinkedIn
