Reviews

ブラッククローバー 1 Burakku Kurōbā 1 by Yûki Tabata

Only show reviews with written explanations

rereader33's review against another edition

4.0

Strap in, folks, this is gonna be a long-ass rant/ review.

I was incredibly skeptical about starting this series. Despite being a huge Shounen Jump Fangirl, when the anime adaptation came out any motivation to read this was demolished. Why? Because, according to multiple anime fans and reviewers, the anime butchered the series. So, with that knowledge, I moved on. And yet, anime fans were still encouraging others to give it a try; hell, even some of the anime reviewers who maligned the show admitted that the manga was pretty good. Thus, while waiting on my pre-orders, I decided to give this a shot. And I do not regret it, folks.

In lieu of a traditional review, I want to address the issues Black Clover critics have regarding the series and discuss why I take issue with them. I'll try to make this as coherent as possible, but I make no promises.

First and foremost, the biggest complaint that I see leveled at this series is that it's "unoriginal". Okay, here's the deal with originality: IT DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST ANYMORE. Folks, it is 20-fucking-20, the originality river has been sucked dry for decades now. It is damn near impossible for any creator to come up with a wholly original piece of work because they will inevitably be inspired by something they've seen. Now, before any critics shout, "we don't mean it has to be TOTALLY original, but it's too much like other action series!" Um, okay, how is that inherently bad? Anything, original or not, can be entertaining as long as the creator puts in the effort to make it so. If you don't like it, that's fine, we don't all have to like the same things, but if you're only argument as to why you don't is because it's unoriginal than that's on you and your standards.

The second biggest complaint is that it "borrows too much from previous shounen/ Shounen Jump titles". The two that are compared to Black Clover the most are Fairy Tale and Naruto. And while I concede that they're similarities between the two, this is such a fucking petty complaint. If you really think about it, A LOT of Shounen Jump titles follow a similar formula in one way or another in the beginning, but grow into their own later on. Here are two common examples that make my head explode with frustration:

1. Naruto and Black Clover both have an arc in the beginning were what was supposed to be a simple mission turns into a dangerous one. And somehow this implies that Black Clover ripped off of Naruto. Fun fact folks, YU YU HAKUSHO LITERALLY DID THE EXACT SAME THING THREE DECADES AGO. Also, while it's not technically a "mission," My Hero Academia's first major arc does something INCREDIBLY SIMILAR. And finally, JUJUTSU KAISEN'S FIRST GROUP MISSION WAS THE SAME THING AND NO ONE COMPLAINS ABOUT THAT. If you guys are going to criticize a work for doing something similarly to another work, please be sure that this isn't something common in MOST Shounen Jump titles.

2. Fairy Tale and Black Clover both have guilds that are filled with a cast of quirky characters. You know what else has a quirky cast of characters? LITERALLY EVERY SHOUNEN JUMP SERIES EVER.

Finally, the last major criticism lodged at the series is the main character himself, Asta. Now, is Asta the best Shounen Jump MC ever? No. Is he bad, though? Absolutely not.

I think the biggest issue with how people perceive Asta is admittedly my least favorite part of this volume, the first chapter. I've read a shit ton of manga in my 29 years, but this is easily one of the worst introductory chapters in terms of trying to endear the audience to Asta. In this first chapter, he is obnoxiously annoying, can't seem to express himself without shouting, and is just generally an uninteresting character. It isn't until the big confrontation with Revchi that Asta actually becomes a likable, endearing character, but that isn't until the last part of the chapter. Then once that chapter's over, he's honestly a pretty fun and funny character to me. I LOVE his interactions with Magna and his interactions with Noelle paint him as a super supportive and caring person. I seriously have no idea why Tabata wrote him the way he did in the first chapter, but I don't think he's a bad or poorly written character.

As for more miscellaneous thoughts, while I don't love every member of the Black Bulls (except Yami, Magna, and Noelle, they're the fucking best) I'm at least curious to learn more about them and like them well enough (except Gauche, he annoys the shit out of me). I LOVE the artwork/ art style and the fight scenes look super dope. The magic system seems interesting and I can't wait to see how each character's magic grows throughout the story.

Okay, final thoughts. If you're on the fence about starting this series because of the criticisms lodged against it, the best advice I can give is this: if you're looking for a fun, fast paced action romp, give this a shot. If you want something that's trying new things or pushing the boundaries of what Shounen Jump can offer, maybe pass on this. As for me, I went into this with low expectations but genuinely had fun reading it and am looking forward to reading more.