Black Clover Episode 1 Review: Asta and Yuno

If you’re a fan of magic, friendly rivalry, and you are always rooting for the underdog who becomes the chosen one, then Black Clover is definitely for you! Not only does its story seem totally promising, its world is also something you’d definitely want to know more about! Time to get in on the action!

Japanese Original Episode Title: アスタとユノ

Plot

Asta and Yuno are orphans who grew up together, both aiming to be the next Wizard King. The problem is that Yuno is a prodigy at using magic, while Asta doesn’t have an ounce of it! The latter hopes to be able to awaken his powers once he gets his own grimoire at their awarding ceremony, but even then, he got nothing! Talk about pitiful! Meanwhile, while the others got three-leaf clover grimoires, Yuno got the rarest kind, one with a four-leaf clover! You’d think there’s not a chance for Asta to stand alongside with Yuno anymore, but when the latter finds himself in danger, a grimoire with a five-leaf clover, the Black Clover, appears before Asta! It’s so awesome!!

Episode Highlights

Asta and Yuno: These two fit the generic duo you see in shows since one is very energetic but weak/powerless and the other is quite aloof but very talented. Like Akko and Diana from Little Witch Academia, or Deku and Kacchan from My Hero Academia! But at the same time, their tandem is also different! They grew up together and got along really well when they were kids, but eventually, they grew distant and became rivals! However, I don’t think the last bit is really what it seems to be, given how Yuno still encouraged Asta in the end. Maybe there’s a reason why he’s acting indifferent towards his friend? One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely related to what happened when they were kids! From the brief flashback we saw, Asta defended Yuno from that adult. The guy’s spunk knows no bounds after all! It’s actually one thing I really liked about him. It’s easy for someone to just wallow and self-pity, but he was just chock full of determination!

Awarding Ceremony: No wonder children were looking forward to getting their own grimoires. It was such a magical experience, plus it seemed totally exciting to imagine what kind of grimoire you’ll get! I appreciated how they took the time to show the different kinds! Seemed like no two grimoires were alike! But the best one of all was Yuno’s! It appeared in such a flashy way, and it was the rarest grimoire! I guess those books decide who they go to based on one’s magical power too, huh? That’s why Asta didn’t get anything. I felt so bad for him! He hoped and hoped that his magical powers will awaken once he gets his own grimoire, but he didn’t even get one! And everyone in the tower either just made fun of him, or never bothered to help him out! I think a lot of people needed to be kinder towards Asta, even if they found him annoying. He got the short end of the stick by not having any magical powers, which wasn’t his fault, yet most were really mean to him! You could clearly see the society’s mindset on magic by how they were treating him.

Getting bullied: And of course, with such a discriminating society such as theirs, there’s bound to be stuck-up people too. Serves those two nobles right that Yuno got the Four-leaf Clover instead of them! Plus, when they wanted to get rid of it, he didn’t even need to use it to fend them off! However, there was someone even more powerful that all the three of them combined, and he was really scary (and creepy)! Revchi looked like quite the sadist too because of how he beat up Asta and kept on jeering at him! Whatever that guy did to have gotten kicked out from the Magic Knights, it couldn’t have been pretty!

Asta’s Grimoire: That scene when Asta’s grimoire finally appeared was so badass!! They were already outside the Grimoire Tower though, so was the Black Clover grimoire really something different than the other books? They did say it had a demon residing in it! I also didn’t expect a sword to come out of it! Could his magic be related to combat since he’s more physically adept? In any case, I’m so glad that his friendly rivalry with Yuno managed to snap him out of his despair because it was so painful to watch him lose confidence in himself! And turns out that when Yuno said it was impossible, he was actually talking about Asta not receiving a grimoire, not about being his rival! And here I thought their friendship was over when he said that!

Themes & Trivia

Manga Adaptation: Black Clover is based on a manga by Tabata Yuuki. It started in February 2015 and it’s one of the newest generation of series published in Weekly Shonen Jump! Currently, it has over 100 chapters.

Faith, hope, and love: These words, commonly seen together, are actually taken from the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13:13 is where Apostle Paul wrote, ‘So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’ I wonder what the connection of these three virtues in the grimoires is. Maybe it’s like the ‘love’ part in the magic Sister Lily used on Asta?

Comments

The whole show really looks promising, in my opinion! I like it very much! Probably cause I’m such a sucker for stories with ‘chosen ones’ and magic, but it’s actually also really interesting!

The art and animation is nice overall. I’m not sure if it was just the style though, but I saw a bit of hiccup here and there. Also, unfortunately, the 3D chains didn’t really work for me. I wish they made them look more 2D to match the rest of the visuals.

On a smaller note, I may need some time to get used to Asta’s voice. It’s nice that it portrays his energy really well, but his constant shouting hurt my ears.

Go for it Asta!

I’m looking forward to seeing what capabilities Asta has now that he has his very own grimoire, a powerful-looking one at that! Plus, we’ll be seeing just what happened to the two friends when they were younger! Black Clover is off to a great start!

So, what did you guys think about this series! Let me know if you liked it or not in the comments section! We’re also starting on our other Fall 2017 reviews, so check them out!

NEXT TIME: The Boys’ PromiseThe Boys` Promise (少年の誓い)