Black Clover Episode 24 Review: Blackout

Rades was quickly beaten last week, but if you thought that was already the end of the invasion of the capital, then Black Clover has got a surprise for you! The challenge just got even harder in this episode, with more things apparently at stake!

Japanese Title: ブラックアウト

Plot

While Fuegoleon was interrogating Rades on who his other allies are and their goals, the other Magic Knights were suddenly caught in a trap, teleporting them to the middle of nowhere. Only Yuno was able to get away because his newfound power alerted him, only to witness the surviving citizens getting their mana and youth sucked out of them by that mysterious lady on a broom!

Episode Highlights

Revenge fail: Ahh, poor Rades. Got defeated in a flash by his new opponent, captured, preached to by his previous opponent whom he called weak, and his one-page grimoire was discovered! No wonder he was so full of despair! To top it all off, whoever was talking to him through his earpiece seemed really disappointed in him! If their group is just like any other evil organization, then he’s not in a good position once he gets back to them because he’ll probably be punished, kicked out, or even killed! But just when I thought he was already regretting everything that he’s done because of all those factors, it looks like he didn’t! He was still so cocky when he declared Fuegoleon was their group’s target all along!

Warped away: I don’t think kidnapping Fuegoleon was the only reason that mysterious group attacked the capital. If it was, would it really have been inconvenient for the Magic Knights to stay there so they had to teleport them somewhere else? Plus, being able to go under everyone’s radar like that that none of the nobles, who are supposed to be exceptional at detecting mana, managed to notice such a precise and large-scale magic…whoever their spatial magic user is, they’re terribly powerful, no doubt about that! The question now is, how will the knights all get back to the capital before everything else gets worse?

Yuno’s pride & prowess: Discovering Yuno’s inner thoughts and unspoken motivations makes a fan feel super fulfilled! He’s always been very aloof that he’s hard to read most of the time. But now we know that the reason he’s been so amazing, or talented as some would put it, was because he didn’t want to lose to Asta, let alone anyone! A plain and simple reason for why he works so hard, and yet it’s also something more! Maybe most people who always want to win would be fine having outside help, but the stoic Yuno isn’t fine with that at all! He wants to win by his own power, by his own capabilities, by his own strength! He probably felt like a cheater getting that new spell from the dungeon but not being able to master it himself! A huge thank you to that old hag for putting him in a pinch and disabling his senses with her curses! He was able to finally figure out the trick to his new power! Yuno has leveled up!

Targeted? I can’t believe that Fuegoleon has just recently become my new favorite, only for him to be the villain’s target! I’m super-duper worried and incredibly curious! Why would they target him and not the king? Or, if they’re after the powerful captains, why not Nozel Silva, or William Vengeance who’s at the top? Why is it my new favorite out of all people? There was also another person in that white dimension he was teleported to, someone that he seems to know… He looked quite shocked back there.

Petit Clover: This episode’s segment was so adorable!!! I loved it so much! Yuno did just figure out how to summon his wind spirit, so seeing them already interacting even in that extra was wonderful! He even gave her a cute name, celebrated her birthday, and gave her a cake! I know he used to be charming when he was younger, but he’s currently always deadpan that I didn’t think he’d be so sentimental like that! More, more!

Themes & Trivia

Life Drinker: There are certain types of characters who seek to gain immortality by sucking the life force of their victims, like how the lady on the broom sucked the mana from the townspeople to keep looking young. Sometimes, they may also seek out some other magical being’s organs, usually the heart, and eat them. Most of the time, they’re already completely dependent on their vampiric tendencies that if they stop, they’ll finally age and quickly die.

Disability Superpower: Yuno’s new enhanced ability to detect mana when his senses were suddenly disabled reminded me of Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both of them were able to have their other senses heightened, and even go beyond to make up for what they lacked. In real life, this is actually a thing, though I’m not sure about going beyond extraordinary.

Comments

I got sucked into this week’s chapter as well, and so I give my salute to the mangaka and the anime’s writers! The way everything was unfolding made the 24 minutes pass by so fast! Not only that, but I was at the edge of my seat like usual! The ‘silly trap’ caught me off guard, so I was very surprised! And, if you haven’t noticed, I was totally drawn into Yuno’s fight, and was super worried for him and Fuegoleon! All these suspense certainly makes you want more and more each week, huh?

Please be safe, Fuegoleon!

Ooh, the anxiety for when one of your favorites is in danger! Actually, two of mine, since Fuegoleon is all by himself, and we still don’t know if Yuno is already out of the woods. Well, three because Asta is also badly wounded. Wow, the situation is even worse than I thought…

So, comments! What did you think of this episode? Loved it? Hated it? So-so? Let us know! A lot of shows are also starting to end this season, so you better check out the Winter 2018 reviews for some of them!

NEXT TIME: Adversity (逆境)