I started this series through the anime, and my favourite character ended up being Julius. As for the scene/moment, it was undoubtedly this one:
Not necessarily because he had time magic. I could already guess it for the name "Novachrono" (even though time-related abilities are cool as hell and not many anime characters I've seen have them, so that was plus), but for his personality. Prior to that point, we had been introduced to a pretty chill guy. Very charismatic, very open-minded, respectful and curious about other kinds of magic. He went on trips, staying away from the Kingdom he had to protect for considerable amounts of time, and he did that often. I honestly couldn't guess how someone that seemed as laid-back and optimistic as him had good enough achievements to have become the Wizard King. Tbh, prior to this scene, I already liked him, but Yami was my favourite character ngl.
Little did I guess that this same dude was capable of such savagery. Infiltrating into an enemy base, wait for them, and effectively start ageing motherfuckers to dust while grinning in a mockery way and saying "What's the matter? You came prepared to kill people in my Kingdom but you weren't prepared to die yourselves?". Even him coming there and asking "How was the Royal Capital?" to the dudes he already knew had returned from devastating it. He even proposed to let one of them live in mockery way if they surrendered ("first come, first served"). How about the time when he said "You guys seem pretty skilled, you might give me some trouble". He probably wanted to create a false sense of hope in their minds, so that they would feel even worse when he crushed it completely instants later. He was playing with them, both physically and mentally.
The sheer power of his actions, his magical abilities, the weight, reality and savagery of his words (coupled with the epic ass music that played and the sound effects to make up for a near pant-leaking scene). He almost seemed like a completely different person than the one we had seen so far. This sudden shift was what made me fall in love with him. I don't like characters that act like justice-bringers. This man seemed like almost an angel to the people of his Kingdom, but when it came to the enemies that threatened it, he was more like a devil. I quickly realized why he was entrusted with that position. Morality mattered very little to him as long as he could protect his Kingdom.
It was at this moment that I realized that this fucker would be hard to top (and even now he hasn't been topped to me). I didn't know most of his story, but that scene was strong, very strong, insanely strong character-wise. Tbh, later on, I read it in the manga, and I'm fucking glad I watched that scene in the anime first. I still stand that the anime did a phenomenal job adapting it, far surpassing even the manga for that scene. In general, the anime did a very respectable job when it came to Julius' most relevant scenes. Other top-tier clips regarding him. The first one is a follow-up from the first one:
Most of the second clip ("Ultimate Speed") never happened in the manga, but it's absolutely outstanding. Both the choreography of the fight, the OST, and Julius' faces (how he constantly looks like he has something better to do and doesn't give a fuck). Top Tier asf. Most of the Black Clover anime scenes looked pretty mid IMO but when it came to Julius, it's like the budget for animating doubled lol.
