Black Clover

Black Clover
The cover of the first volume of Black Clover.
ブラッククローバー
(Burakku Kurōbā)
Genre Adventure, fantasy[1]
Manga
Written by Yūki Tabata
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
Demographic Shōnen
Imprint Jump Comics
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
Original run February 16, 2015 – present
Volumes 17
Original video animation
Directed by Takashi Noto
Written by Takamitsu Kōno
Music by Yūya Mori
Studio XEBECzwei
Released May 2, 2017
Runtime 27 minutes
Anime television series
Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara
Written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Music by Minako Seki
Studio Pierrot
Licensed by
Crunchyroll
Funimation
Original network TV Tokyo
English network
Original run October 3, 2017 – present
Episodes 53
Manga
Asta's Journey to Wizard King
Written by Yūki Tabata
Illustrated by Setta Kobayashi
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Saikyō Jump
Original run February 2, 2018 – present

Black Clover (Japanese: ブラッククローバー, Hepburn: Burakku Kurōbā) is a Japanese fantasy shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata. The series is published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in Japan, and Viz Media is publishing it in their Weekly Shonen Jump digital anthology magazine in the United States. The story centers around a young boy named Asta, seemingly born without any magic power, something that is unknown in the world he lives in. With his ambition, newfound abilities, and friends, he aims to be the Wizard King.

An original video animation produced by XEBECzwei had its first trailer released on November 27, 2016, while an anime television series adaptation by Pierrot premiered on October 3, 2017.[2]

Plot

Asta and Yuno are orphans who were raised together from birth after being abandoned at a church orphanage on the outskirts of the Clover Kingdom at the same time. While everyone is born with the ability to utilize Mana in the form of Magical Power (魔力, Maryoku), Asta is the only exception as he compensates through physical training. Conversely, Yuno was born as a prodigy with immense magical power and the talent to control wind magic. Motivated by a desire to become the next Wizard King, an authority figure second to the king of Clover Kingdom, the two youths developed a friendly rivalry, acquired grimoires with Yuno obtaining a four-leaf grimoire held by the kingdom's first Wizard King. Asta, despite his lack of magic, obtained the mysterious five-leaf grimoire, which contains the rare and mysterious Anti-Magic. But after he and Yuno each joined a Magic Knight squad as the first step to fulfill their ambitions, Asta finds himself facing a terrorist organization that is gathering magic stones to conduct a ritual to destroy the Clover Kingdom for its actions against the original inhabitants at the time of the first Wizard King.

Media

Manga

Yūki Tabata launched Black Clover in the twelfth issue of Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 16, 2015.[3] The manga is Tabata's second series in Weekly Shōnen Jump: his first series, Hungry Joker (ハングリー ジョーカー, Hangurī Jōkā), was launched in the magazine on November 12, 2012, where it ran for 24 chapters before being cancelled in 2013.[4][5]

On February 9, 2015, Viz Media announced that they would publish the first three chapters of the series in their Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine as part of their "Jump Start" program.[6] On March 30, 2015, they announced that the series would join their weekly lineup, beginning with chapter 4 on April 6, and publishing at an accelerated rate until the chapters were current with Japan.[7][8] Plans to release the series in print were announced in during their panel at New York Comic Con on October 9, 2015.[9]

On February 2, 2018, a gag manga spinoff illustrated by Setta Kobayashi titled Asta's Journey to Wizard King (アスタくん魔法帝への道, Asta-kun Mahōtei e no Michi) launched in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump.[10] On September 30, 2018, a manga based on the video game Black Clover: Quartet Knights launched on October 7, 2018.[11]

Anime

An original video animation produced by XEBECzwei that is based on the series was shown at the 2016 Jump Festa between November 27 and December 18, 2016.[12][13][14] It was bundled with the 11th volume of the manga, which was released on May 2, 2017.[15]

At the Black Clover Jump Festa event on December 18, 2016, an anime television series adaptation by Pierrot was announced.[15] It is directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu writing scripts, Itsuko Takeda doing character designs, and Minako Seki composing the music.[16] The anime premiered on October 3, 2017.[17][2] The first season was initially listed as running for 13 episodes, but was later expanded to 51 episodes.[18][19] On September 3, 2018, Crunchyroll announced that a second season will continue on October 2, 2018.[20][21]

Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan while Funimation began streaming an English dub on October 29, 2017.[22][23][24] Adult Swim's Toonami block premiered the English dub on December 2, 2017.[25] Sony Pictures UK and Funimation have announced that they would release the series on home video in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[26] Universal Sony classified the series for release in Australia and New Zealand, on behalf of Funimation.[27]

Video games

At Jump Festa 2017, a video game, titled Black Clover: Quartet Knights, was announced for a 2018 release on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.[28] It was released in Japan on September 13, 2018[29] while the western release on September 14, 2018.[30] A mobile game called Black Clover: Dream Knights has been announced.[31]

Reception

Volume 1 reached 23rd place on the weekly Oricon manga charts, with 38,128 copies sold;[32] volume 2 reached 17th place, with 61,918 copies;[33] volume 3 also reached 17th place, with 80,462 copies;[34][35] volume 4 reached 13th place, with 93,866 copies;[36][37] volume 5 reached 15th place, with 108,503 copies;[38][39] and volume 6 reached 11th place, with 118,783 copies.[40][41] As of May 2018, the manga has 5.8 million copies in print.[42]

Reviewing the series for ComicsAlliance, Tom Speelman described the premise as "what if Harry Potter was a knight and also kinda dumb?" He recommended it for fans of Naruto and Fairy Tail, noting its similarities to the former series as well as to Bleach. He praised the author's ability to invigorate stock characters.[4]

Henry Ma of Ka Leo O Hawaii praised the series' humor and art, noting that the latter was "very nice" and was similar to Fairy Tail.[43] A board of comic book writers at San Diego Comic-Con listed the manga as one of the worst from 2016.[44]

References

  1. ↑ "Official Website for Black Clover". Viz Media. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Black Clover Anime Reveals October 3 Premiere, More Golden Dawn Cast Members". Anime News Network. August 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Shonen Jump to Launch 4 Manga, Including Detective Story by Psyren's Iwashiro". Anime News Network. January 29, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Speelman, Tom (March 17, 2016). "Big Spells, Bigger Swords: Should You Be Reading 'Black Clover'?". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Shonen Jump to Launch 3 New Manga Series in November". Anime News Network. October 21, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Viz's Shonen Jump to Add Yūki Tabata's Black Clover Fantasy Manga (Update)". Anime News Network. February 9, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Viz's Shonen Jump Adds Yūki Tabata's Black Clover Fantasy Manga to Regular Line-Up". Anime News Network. March 30, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ Green, Scott (March 31, 2015). ""Black Clover" to Join English "Shonen Jump"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Viz Media Adds Kuroko's Basketball, Haikyu!!, Yona of the Dawn Manga". Anime News Network. October 9, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Black Clover Gets Gag Manga Spinoff". Anime News Network. January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Black Clover: Quartet Knights Game Gets Manga Adaptation". Anime News Network. September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  12. ↑ Green, Scott (August 24, 2016). ""Black Clover" Anime Episode To Screen At Jump Festa". Crunchyroll. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Jump Special Anime Festa Event Confirms Screening of Black Clover Anime". Anime News Network. August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  14. ↑ "XEBEC Animates Black Clover Manga's Event Anime". Anime News Network. October 6, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Yūki Tabata's Black Clover Manga Gets TV Anime by Studio Pierrot (Updated)". Anime News Network. December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Monster Musume's Tatsuya Yoshihara Directs Black Clover TV Anime". Anime News Network. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Black Clover TV Anime Premieres This Year". Anime News Network. July 8, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Funimation Lists 13 Episodes For "Black Clover" Anime". Crunchyroll. September 17, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Black Clover Anime Listed With 51 Episodes, 4 Openings & Endings". Anime News Network. November 6, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Black Clover Anime to Continue Beyond Episode 51". Anime News Network. September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Black Clover Anime Unveils Visual for New Season". Anime News Network. September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Funimation to Simuldub Black Clover Anime This Fall". Anime News Network. September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Crunchyroll to Stream Black Clover Anime Series Starting in October". Anime News Network. July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Funimation Reveals Black Clover English Dub Cast, October 29 Premiere". Anime News Network. October 26, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Toonami to Air Black Clover Anime Starting December 2". Anime News Network. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Sony Pictures UK to release Black Clover anime series for home video release!". Anime UK News. June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  27. ↑ "BLACK CLOVER SEASON 1 PART 1". Australian Classification Board. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Black Clover: Quartet Knights trailer brings 4-on-4 anime warfare". Destructoid. December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Black Clover Quartet Knights Game Launches in Japan on September 13". Anime News Network. May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Black Clover: Quartet Knights Game Heads West on September 14". Anime News Network. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Black Clover Manga Gets Smartphone Game this Year". Anime News Network. April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, June 1–7". Anime News Network. June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, August 3–9". Anime News Network. August 12, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, September 28-October 4". Anime News Network. October 7, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, October 5–11". Anime News Network. October 14, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 30-December 6". Anime News Network. December 9, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, December 7–13". Anime News Network. December 16, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, February 29-March 6". Anime News Network. March 9, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, March 7–13". Anime News Network. March 16, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, May 2–8". Anime News Network. May 11, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, May 9–15". Anime News Network. May 18, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  42. ↑ "Roundup of Newly Revealed Print Counts for Manga, Light Novel Series (March - May 2018)". Anime News Network. May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  43. ↑ Ma, Henry (April 20, 2015). "Manga Mondays: 'Black Clover' special review". Ka Leo O Hawaii. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  44. ↑ Ellard, Amanda (July 25, 2017). "Best and Worst Manga of 2016 Results - Comic-Con International". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
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