I'm bad at writing long letters/essays or whatever u can think of when you think about writing something long but here we go!
300 chapters baby! What a rollercoaster of emotions this manga has been. At times bad, mediocre, and pointless writing later mixed up with good and lore expanding writing not to mention the hype for the fights which is top-notch.
Villains in Black Clover needed some time to pick up good writing but I can gladly say that since the Elf Reincarnation arc the Villains are much better written than anyone could expect.
This manga was good before the Spade Kingdom arc but once The Dark Triad and Tree of Qlipoth Devils made their debut in the series I think anyone who liked Black Clover before the Spade arc would agree that the Spade Kingdom arc took Black Clover to higher level.
Tabata despite all the odds and JUMP editors forcing him to not write what he wants managed to give us an amazing arc with so much hype, lore, and world-building. Tabata was highly pressured by the JUMP editors to keep it family-friendly and basically tried to force him to make another Fairy Tail alike manga for the kids to like. Fortunately, Tabata had the balls to stand up to the expectations and gave us a darker and deeper arc than ever. I think no one will question his intentions after he basically draws a "what if scenario" for possible Devils victory with kids hanging off the tree and Devils eating and burning the human world.
Despite all the good things, there are also a lot of bad things that I disliked. People often think that I'm a casual Black Clover defender who thinks that this is my #1 manga and nothing is better written than this. You can't get further wrong than that. Black Clover is not my #1 manga and I still love it like my second child.
Black Clover really lacked tension at times. No deaths, no casualties, and no actual punishment for actions taken. Prime examples:
The Elf Reincarnation arc: No one from the side cast died, the citizens who were attacked by the Elves on the borders of the country or in the Capital itself basically obeyed the laws of nature and lived thru encounters with Tree of Life amped Elves.
The Light Triad ( Asta, Noelle, and Yuno ) didn't experience defeat, fear, or despair until the Spade Kingdom arc which is bad in my opinion. Julius in the early chapters put a huge emphasis on Magic Knights not being a friendly show just for people to attend and take part in.
Gauche should've died. Sorry, I don't have more to add here. Although even I myself explained Grey's powers in a solo thread it is still such bullshit. Gauche "died" on Asta's watch, Asta's Devil got trigger from the past, went Berserk only to later see Gauche being alive and well.
Spirit Guardians not biting the dust is another prime example of a poor lack of tension. Once again even I myself explained why they stayed alive yet still they didn't have any chance against the Dark Disciples and should've bitten the dust. ( Aside of Gaja, he's a different breed ),
Just now in the current chapter, it seems that Loropechka will be saved. Such bullshit. Especially after Noelle got her power-up ( I will also expand on this one shortly after ). Undine made a pact with Noelle to become her Spirit and now that Loropechka will be saved, she will most likely leave Noelle to protect that crybaby Queen again.
When it comes to Noelle's power-up in the recent chapters and leading up to this one. It was insane. Literally one of my favorites chapters in a while and I really, really don't like Asta showing up. I will still let it stack to see what will happen but I need to tell you now. Asta is probably a few minutes away from the Union mode. I'm only praying that Megicula won't jobb to his Union mode. I really fucking hope that Main Trio of the Devils is a different breed both power-wise and IQ-wise.
But now, not to dump in the majority of the reply with the bad things. Time to mention few extraordinary things which made me fall in love with this series.
Asta is a really good MC!
Yes, I mean it. He is a really good structured MC. He has standard shonen protagonist troupes but the execution of his development is something that is heavily underrated. He is much better as MC than Deku. Asta lacks in few aspects like judging the thread or his stupid belief that you can change everyone but he is punished for this despite what anyone thinks. He finally got his reality checks recently and he is still learning from his mistakes. This arc is literally a be or not to be for his beliefs and goals because if Yami dies. It will be on him.
Asta and Yuno's rivalry is a top-notch protagonist rivalry!
Yes. Their rivalry is something that really got me since the beginning of this manga. This is how you write a shonen protagonist and deuteragonist rivalry. Their relationship is healthy, made up of respect for one another but still with one goal in mind. To become the Wizard King which was their dream since they were little kids. They don't need to dig holes under each other. They strive for their goal in their own ways but keep it healthy and respectful which is something a lot of mangas with protagonist rivalries lacks a lot.
Noelle is the best female lead protagonist in the last decade.
Yes!
She is the best written female lead protagonist in a long, long time and there weren't even too many of them. Personally, I think she is the best-written character in the Black Clover manga history. Her goals, beliefs, dreams, achievements up to this point only solidify her strong position. Her character development throughout the series is my favorite part of her character. She goes from a sassy tsundere who thinks she's better than people who were born in lower parts of the Clover Kingdom just because she is royal to a Queen material who will lead a country one day and everyone can depend on. She develops both as a character and also as a fighter. She goes from afraid of her powers, a scared royalty girl to a powerful woman who can stand up for herself without Asta or Captains being alongside her. She develops enough to fight for her dreams and goals alone with a heart made of fire and strong will and she doesn't stop until she can't go on on her own legs anymore. There are characters like Nobara or Maki from Jujutsu Kaisen but their writing is only "good" to some extent in my opinion. Noelle on the other hand is the best female lead protagonist in the manga industry atm for me. You don't have to blindly follow my opinion but I genuinely think even if you read other mangas you may think the same about Noelle.
Now to finish this off. Thanks to everyone who has shown up to the threads in the past and present and help build this part of WorstGen. We went from a small thread in the "Other Mangas" section to a fully blown up own section that is present on the main page of the forum!
I want to especially thank you guys:
@Fleet Admiral Lee Hung @playa4321 @Konstantis @BangMi @God_Aizen you guys helped a lot just by showing up and talking with us in the section.
My special thanks go to
@Light D Lamperouge thank you, bro. We basically built this section from fucking ashes. I couldn't have done it without you.
I hope you lot can still enjoy Black Clover to a bigger or lesser extent and continue to show up in the section from time to time to discuss what Tabata prepared for us:cheers:
The series that was meant to die, get axed early, remain in the sea of Mangas.
300 CHAPTERS STRONG BABY!!!