It’s really good, but most people ignore it.
Summary:
- Black Clover is less popular than its battle shounen contemporaries.
- A huge reason for that is a really poor first impression it had on people.
- Otaku tend to not watch long-running shounens as much as they used to.
The modern generation of battle shounen is defined by series like Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) and Jujutsu Kaisen. Fans often tend to include some series that came out a few years before them, though, such as My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia).
Under the latter definition, though, Black Clover is definitely one of the modern battle shounen. And it’s fairly well-known, too — it’s also the only one (that isn’t Boruto, which is a sequel of Naruto anyway) that’s been running continuously.
Still, despite it being seemingly destined for success, it never really took off as much as My Hero Academia or Jujutsu Kaisen. So, what went wrong, and why is it so unpopular?
The First Episodes Were Really Bad
It’s not like Black Clover is obscure in any way. In fact, by now, the anime has a fairly dedicated fandom. It’s not as big as that of JJK or MHA, though, and there are many reasons for that.
Yes, after Black Clover anime ended, it was considered a very good modern battle shounen. You’d think this reputation would make it more popular, but it definitely wasn’t — and the reason for that is fairly simple. The first 20 or so episodes of the anime are really bad. The world is generic, the story isn’t much better, and the protagonist, Asta, is really obnoxious, screaming all the time.
This first impression basically ruined all the chances for Black Clover to become a modern classic. And yes, the story becomes better over time, and the worldbuilding, while still not perfect, becomes actually decent. Asta becomes a good main character, too, but nothing could really convince those who already dropped the show.
First impressions are usually the most important part when it comes to long-running anime. For Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer, they were amazing, and fans were instantly hooked.
For Black Clover, the general reaction was mostly negative, and fans wondered if they should watch something better instead. Despite the anime getting better, it never lost its reputation as a generic work with an obnoxious protagonist.
Long-running Series Are Generally Unpopular Nowadays
Also, the fact that Black Clover is a long-runner probably played a part in making it less popular. Nowadays, people are used to shorter series — or series that are split into multiple seasons.
As there’s a lot of anime to choose from, it might be a daunting task to get into a long-running series, especially if you don’t know whether you’d like it or not. The only one that’s still really popular is One Piece, and that’s because of its reputation as an all-time classic.