Seriously, it feels like people only judge it by its first couple of episodes.
Summary:
- Black Clover was criticized for a generic premise and annoying voice acting for the protagonist when it first came out.
- The anime stops having these problems later, ultimately becoming very good — if you get through the first episodes.
- Sadly, there’s still no announcement for a potential sequel.
When Black Clover initially came out, it was immediately called one of the worst shounen series ever made. Fans were incredibly annoyed by Asta’s constant screaming — and his voice didn’t help either. That wasn’t even the biggest problem: most people felt that it was too generic and there was no reason to watch it at all.
It might seem that the series was doomed to be quickly forgotten. That, however, wasn’t the case. Despite a relatively weak start, Black Clover managed to get a steady following — who are now asking for a sequel. Did it actually become so much better that it’s worth watching now?
An anime that actually gets better later
Generally speaking, “it gets better later” is not a very good argument for why you should watch something. It usually only gets better if you were already interested at first — and if you disliked the work, you probably wouldn’t like it after a couple dozen episodes. Black Clover might be an exception to that rule, though.
Most of the issues viewers had with Black Clover get solved after just a cour or two. Asta starts screaming less (shocking, we know), and his voice actor, Gakuto Kajiwara, improves as well — so much that he was actually praised for the performance by the end of the series (by those who actually finished it, of course).
It might not be incredibly original, but it’s well-made
The criticism of being generic is harder to refute — but mostly because “generic” doesn’t really mean much in the first place. Yes, Black Clover might not offer original worldbuilding or many new takes on classic shounen tropes, but the execution is what actually matters. And that’s where the series shines.
Black Clover took some time to become an actual great anime, sure. It is absolutely worth watching if you can get through the first episodes. The animation quality is on point as well (especially if you somehow get the Blu-Ray version).
The characters grow and develop, and despite all falling into common archetypes, feel alive and in their place. It’s wild that an anime that had such a weak start shaped up into one of the best modern battle shounen — it seems that miracles can really happen.
Season 2 when?
The question fans have now is: where is the sequel announcement? Sure, there was a movie recently, but it was a side story — that’s definitely not what people wanted.
Sadly, there’s currently no information on a potential second season. With the manga ending soon, however, it’s very likely Pierrot would want to adapt the entire series.