Black Clover Episode 8 Review: Go! Go! First Mission

Life would get too boring if everything was always serious. We all need a riot of fun every so often, right? This week, Black Clover gave us just that! It had a lot of silly scenarios, but it perked up a dull day quickly!

Japanese Original Episode Title: ゴーゴー初任務

Plot

Asta’s been adapting well to his new life as a Magic Knight! Or at least, I’d like to think so. His squad hasn’t even done any proper missions at all, actually! In fact, he’s just been doing chores! However, when Yami and Magna’s ‘mission’ ended up badly, he and Noelle were tasked to fix it! Finally, the new recruits got their first assignment!

Episode Highlights

The newbie life: I never knew we’d see maid Asta in this kind of anime! Whether he’s just easily convinced to do things or humble enough to know his part as a newbie, what’s sure is that he’s such a hard and fast worker! Even if what he’s doing is no different from what he did at the orphanage, at least he’s getting paid for it. He could also think of it as added training! It’s just too bad that he had all the workload just because he’s the freshest meat and a commoner, unlike Noelle, who used her status to get out of doing chores. Don’t worry, Asta! At least you’re getting more out of this than the others!

Mission of adults: Yami and Magna ruined my image of them! I was wondering what kind of mission the two would be tackling that they would look so serious, but it ended up being gambling! Poker! I thought Yami was a responsible captain despite his looks and his squad’s bad image, but seems like there’s actual basis! The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all! Of course, since the boss is like this, it’s not surprising that Magna would follow, being the diligent yankii subordinate that he is! If seeing them in a casino wasn’t bad enough, we had to see them stark naked because they lost at poker! Oh the ruined image! I’m with Noelle on this one: what kind of squad did she end up in? Even the guy they lost to had me surprised! I thought he was the owner of the casino, but turns out he was the mayor of a village! Talk about going beyond your duties, in a different sense.

Cleaning up the mess: If the boss of a company messes up in their decision, either they’d fix it themselves or let their employees do all the work and suffer for it. Unfortunately for Asta and Noelle, the Black Bulls is the latter. Well, like Magna said, it can serve as good training and experience. And, at least it wasn’t entirely left to just the two of them! He’ll accompany them too, even though that’s just proper as he was part of the mess in the first place. I had fun watching the three of them interact, like with the motorcycle – I mean, Magna’s broom. I laughed so loud when Noelle suddenly elbowed Asta off it! Hope this errand will not only prove useful skills-wise, but with their relationships as well!

Mysterious people: Unknown hooded men snooping around with a scary-looking commander leading them? Hah! I sense a conspiracy…or something. They mentioned a magic crystal that they seem to be looking for. What could it be? And from the looks of the preview, the trio will run into them instead, especially since the wild boars they were going to hunt already got turned into ice cubes by the leader!

Themes & Trivia

Being a subordinate: Seeing Asta start from doing menial tasks, like chores, and following unreasonable orders, makes me excited to see him at the top someday! Not so he can lord it over others, but because he’ll be able to understand what it means to be at the bottom of the hierarchy! Magna’s also a good example of a subordinate, albeit he or somebody else should probably be more of a voice of reason to their captain. However, given that Yami is scary as hell, that might be hard.

Royal straight flush: No, it’s not the thing the toilet in a castle does. It’s the best possible combination in poker, and an unbeatable hand. Now wonder Old Man Seyhe won fair and square! I won’t give you tips on how to win at poker though, since I’m not one for gambling, and I won’t suggest you try it! You might end up broke and naked like Yami and Magna!

Comments

I still found this to be a simple episode, but it was a lot of fun! The way they set it up so the trio will end up on the boar hunting mission is crazy! At the same time, we find out further just why their squad doesn’t get a lot of missions and why they’re infamous, which I feel will be a huge deal along the road. I actually think that even letting us see Grey’s and Charmy’s abilities will turn out important! We’re starting to see how the plot is slowly turning its wheels.

I just wish the art could become even better. Some parts were good, but some were so obviously off-model that it was distracting.

Do your best, fledglings!

Hope you guys enjoyed the fun times this episode gave us, because the next one seems dark! Those hooded guys didn’t seem to be bringing good tidings to the village, so it’ll be up to Asta, Noelle and Magna to stop them!

Let us know how you liked this episode or your thoughts on it by leaving a comment! Don’t forget to read our other Fall 2017 reviews afterwards as well!

NEXT TIME: Beast