Asta has so many girls attracted to him and he is chasing a nun.
Summary:
With many girls in Black Clover falling for Asta, many otaku call it a harem series.
He doesn’t return their feelings, and the romance in the series is tertiary at best.
Anime genres are not strictly defined, and it’s not really possible to answer the question of whether Black Clover is a harem or not.
Black Clover didn’t really get the best reputation back when it started airing. It was criticized a lot for its tropey and generic setup, lack of unique elements compared to other shounen series, and, most importantly, for the main character’s voice — his screams seemed to annoy even the die-hard fans.
The voice acting obviously got better, and the series got its fairly unique flavor down the road as well. Curiously enough, many otaku who stuck with the anime for a long time may as well call it a harem anime — let’s look at how that’s the case.
It makes sense if you think about it
The reasoning behind the statement “Black Clover is a harem anime” is pretty simple. During his quest to become the Wizard King, Asta encounters many female characters — and a lot of them end up falling in love with him.
It’s not like this is unjustified — they all have their reasons, of course — but it still feels weird to many. However, Asta ignores all of them, with his eyes set on Sister Lily only — and this ultimately leads to many jokes about his “harem.”
Asta doesn’t really return their attraction
One might argue, however, that a setup like this doesn’t really make Black Clover a harem series. For a harem series, there needs to be some kind of romantic tension, and the male character should at least consider the girls as potential romantic partners.
To say that Asta is oblivious to their feelings is an understatement: he’s dead set on marrying Lily, but that’s very far from the main point of the anime.
There’s no real romance element in the series — and a bunch of girls falling for Asta doesn’t really add one. Yes, it’s a setup for a couple of funny gags, but perhaps the better way to express an opinion like that is that Black Clover has harem elements.
No proper answer to the question
There are no strict rules or definitions for anime genres. The harem genre (which many don’t even consider a proper genre) is one of the best examples of this — many people can’t even agree on how many characters are supposed to be attracted to the protagonist for it to count.
Black Clover is just another point in this ultimately pointless discussion that depends on your own understanding of the definition. If anything, it’s just funny that of all the possible women in the series, Asta chose a nun.
Asta has so many girls attracted to him and he is chasing a nun.
Summary:
With many girls in Black Clover falling for Asta, many otaku call it a harem series.
He doesn’t return their feelings, and the romance in the series is tertiary at best.
Anime genres are not strictly defined, and it’s not really possible to answer the question of whether Black Clover is a harem or not.
Black Clover didn’t really get the best reputation back when it started airing. It was criticized a lot for its tropey and generic setup, lack of unique elements compared to other shounen series, and, most importantly, for the main character’s voice — his screams seemed to annoy even the die-hard fans.
The voice acting obviously got better, and the series got its fairly unique flavor down the road as well. Curiously enough, many otaku who stuck with the anime for a long time may as well call it a harem anime — let’s look at how that’s the case.
It makes sense if you think about it
The reasoning behind the statement “Black Clover is a harem anime” is pretty simple. During his quest to become the Wizard King, Asta encounters many female characters — and a lot of them end up falling in love with him.
It’s not like this is unjustified — they all have their reasons, of course — but it still feels weird to many. However, Asta ignores all of them, with his eyes set on Sister Lily only — and this ultimately leads to many jokes about his “harem.”
Asta doesn’t really return their attraction
One might argue, however, that a setup like this doesn’t really make Black Clover a harem series. For a harem series, there needs to be some kind of romantic tension, and the male character should at least consider the girls as potential romantic partners.
To say that Asta is oblivious to their feelings is an understatement: he’s dead set on marrying Lily, but that’s very far from the main point of the anime.
There’s no real romance element in the series — and a bunch of girls falling for Asta doesn’t really add one. Yes, it’s a setup for a couple of funny gags, but perhaps the better way to express an opinion like that is that Black Clover has harem elements.
No proper answer to the question
There are no strict rules or definitions for anime genres. The harem genre (which many don’t even consider a proper genre) is one of the best examples of this — many people can’t even agree on how many characters are supposed to be attracted to the protagonist for it to count.
Black Clover is just another point in this ultimately pointless discussion that depends on your own understanding of the definition. If anything, it’s just funny that of all the possible women in the series, Asta chose a nun.
