Are we thinking time skip when we return to the present, or do you think we’re picking up right where we left off at Chihiro forging the new blade?

“Where’s Asta’s father?” “Who’s Asta’s father?”

Him

Orsi’s been there since Day 1, give him the respect he deserves 👑

Asta wasn’t entirely sure about the properties of Destroyer at this point, as it just appeared in his grimoire, so I don’t think he called or willed it to him. Am I crazy for thinking that Liebe summoned Destroyer to assist Asta in removing the poison from Father Orsi?

We know that Liebe blames himself for Licita’s death and felt like he was too weak to do anything to save her. Fast forward to the present and we see Asta in a sort of similar scenario with Father Orsi succumbing to the poison effects. Since Liebe is in the grimoire and has already interacted with Asta (in his demon form) during Witches’ Forest arc, he’s consciously aware of the things that are going on around him.

And I’m not saying this because Liebe suspects Asta is related to Licita at this point in the story. I’m just saying that the circumstances are similar and could have reminded Liebe of what happened the day he lost his mother, leading to his intervention via Destroyer.

In all honesty, Tabata probably didn’t have this in mind, but it’s an interesting parallel and way of looking at Liebe’s character if he decided to help Asta save a parent figure in the way he couldn’t do for his own. It reinforces Licita’s assessment of him not being evil simply because of who he is or what he looks like.

Am I reading too much into this?

Art by @nacht_umi on Twitter/X

Love the darker colors on here as it better matches Asta’s aesthetic. Only thing I would want is his headband and belt to be navy blue but otherwise, this is one of my favorite interpretations of the color design.

Also I can’t tell if it’s just a perspective thing, but I’ll never be able to get used to the idea of Asta getting taller lmao

Integrity, Hope, and Love. Those are what each part of a three-leaf clover represent. And each saga dealt with these ideals and challenged them in multiple ways.

For Integrity, we have the Elf Saga.

The humans of the present have their integrity challenged by Patry and his allies due to how the royals of the past massacred the elves. Before all of that, we see the systemic treatment of how royals and nobles see themselves above commoners and peasants, and all the underhanded tactics they utilize to serve their self-interests. Disloyalty and secrecy are a key aspect that the characters are fighting against.

Asta and the Black Bulls (primarily) are the central answer to Disloyalty and Secrecy by being themselves and having Integrity. Asta especially pushes to embody this by beating it over the heads of his opponents multiple times, just to get the point across. He’s one of the very few to loudly call out injustice to its face, in a world that is accustomed to looking the other way.

For Love, we have the Devil Saga.

At first glance, it may seem weird to have Love be associated with this part of the series, but it makes sense in retrospect. Several instances in the story highlight hatred as a primary emotion (Nacht’s backstory, Asta and Liebe’s anger against Lucifero, and multiple other characters employing some form of self-hatred or focused hatred that coincides with the devils they’re facing).

However, Love is what triumphs over Hatred (corny, I know, but still). Licita’s love for Asta helped him find what was probably a better life for him, and her love for Liebe was enough to endure against Lucifero. The Black Bulls’ love for Yami pushed them to become stronger and save him from the ritual. Asta’s love for his country, in spite of its hatred of him for using a devil’s power, is the first sign of change in his favor. Noelle and Nozel’s love for their mother and each other allowed them to overcome Megicula. And of course, Liebe’s love for Licita, as well as Asta’s love and support for his new brother, motivated them to end Lucifero for good.

For Hope, we have the Judgement Saga.

I left Hope for the Judgement Saga because it’s a period of confusion and uncertainty. The story opens up with people wondering where Julius is, and obviously we know what happened after Chapter 331. Asta is “killed” and the Magic Knights begin to worry and panic, Lucius invades with a powerful force and the people are frightened at the thought of “Julius” being the one who’s attacking, and the overall mood is just that of fear — overwhelmingly so.

Hope, though, is the answer and is present in multiple instances. The Black Bulls hang onto the idea that Asta is alive based on hope, and that determination allowed them to bring him home. The moment Asta is slashed a second time, hope dwindles for a short period, only for it to return when he does. Even for someone like Lucius, he himself (falsely) believes he is the hope that the world needs. And it is true hope in having Asta as Wizard King that the kingdom will truly have a better and brighter future than ever before.

Maybe I’m reading too much into things, but I like to think that the three leaves of a clover helped shape what Tabata wanted to tell with his story.

Not sure about the numbers breakdown worldwide but I believe these are the numbers for the English version at least. Black Clover has been consistently in Top 10 for a bit now (at least as long as I’ve been reading on the app), but it’s great to see Tabata’s work reach the Top 3. Congrats to him and his team.

Art by @darckon

Hokazono is on a generational run right now

I love this color spread so much. Anyways, I got some time to kill and felt like sharing these. Here are some LN ideas I’d wanna see in the future if they’re ever made:

Yuno on break visiting Ciel in Spade and helping secure his family’s name while Spade nobility try to install their own puppet leader into her position

Liebe, Adramelech, and Nacht’s devils chill out with each other and trade stories

Yami and Charlotte visit the Land of the Sun, maybe they find Mereoleona and Yosuga in a stalemate match or something

Nero goes in bird form and cruises around the capital, watching Asta’s antics as WK, visiting the Magic Research Branch, and monitoring the progress of Licht and Tetia’s descendants

Asta and his first Captain’s Meeting as WK (maybe another captain team battle too)

Hypothetically, if we were to get >!that arc!< somewhere down the line, who would you like to see have more presence/receive more screen time and upgrades?

I believe the anime will significantly improve Chad during TYBW, at least giving him fights to standout in and make it seem like his training prior to joining up with Ichigo meant something. That being said, with >!Hell!< being a focal point, it would make sense to have the man who has an ability named “Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo” (The Devil’s Left Arm) have some badass fight scenes and a decent role in the story on top of that.

Lieutenant Rindo is one of the newer characters introduced in >!New Breathes from Hell!< and I’m probably not alone in wanting to see more from his character, especially a backstory and all the wild things he can create using his Zanpakuto. I don’t have much to say cause he’s only shown in the one-shot, so I hope we get more out of him in the future.

Momo is my next choice cause I feel like she has the most room to grow character-wise out of all the OG lieutenants. I like the little look we have at her dynamic with Shinji and I think they make a great duo; their familiarity with Aizen and his betrayal of their trust make them a fantastic pairing. I believe she is due for an upgrade to Tobiume as well, maybe a Bankai reveal?

Up next I chose Hisagi. While we do know he has Bankai and has a good amount of screen time for being a side character, I still would like to see more of him. I don’t really have a reason like the previous ones, I just wanna see more from Shuhei (and now that I say that, Kubo would include him just to have him get bullied by everyone lol).

Penultimate spot goes to Akon. He’s an OG but a recently promoted lieutenant, and the way he fights is super unique compared to everyone else. It’s very methodical and calculating, something he no doubt picked up during his years with Mayuri. And now that he’s a lieutenant, I’m very interested to see where his character could be taken, even if it’s very minor.

Last but not least is Captain Iba. I mentioned that Momo felt like she could use the most exploration out of the former lieutenants character-wise, but Iba is someone we just need more from in general. I have no problem with him as captain, but I’m fairly certain we haven’t even seen his Shikai yet? It’s a pretty ballsy move to have him go from someone who doesn’t appear to have many feats to captain level, but I’m sure Kubo has some idea of what to do with his character.

Honorable mentions would go to:

Kazui and Ichika (didn’t want to include them since it’s pretty much guaranteed they’d be central to the plot of a certain >!potential future arc!<)

Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin (they don’t necessarily have to be central to the story going forward but if they were, maybe taking a page out of Hell Verse by having them getting abducted wouldn’t be a bad option)

Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro (they sorta fall in line with the last HM but I think incorporating them in some small way would satisfy me plenty)

Those are my picks, what about everyone else?

For me personally, it has to be Ending 12 or 13. I know not picking Aoi Hono is probably blasphemy lol, but I just prefer A Walk and Beautiful more, especially Ending 12. Would feel very fitting for Asta’s conclusion to have his outro sung by his VA.

Thoughts?

Yami looks like he has finally quit smoking since the end of the war. A lot of burdens were unresolved in his mind prior to Lucius’s defeat, which no doubt perpetuated his habit. And I also like to think having Charlotte with him makes him wanna improve his health.

Good for them both, they deserve their happy ending.

With Asta now certified as Wizard King and Yami simultaneously retired and in the Special Reserve Corps, Nacht is now Captain of the Black Bulls. Who do you think he’s chosen as Vice Captain?

I think the best choices are either Nero, Noelle, Finral or Vanessa, in that order specifically.

Nero has experience in professionalism and diligence due to her time at Lumiere’s side as well as her time in the Magic Research Division. This makes her a suitable candidate for Nacht, who prefers results and straightforwardness. And while she would be best for this role, I kinda wish that she became Asta’s advisor instead as I really enjoy their dynamic with one another.

Noelle is someone who knows how to take charge when needed to, as evidenced in fights during Spade or Judgement Day, so I can see her becoming Vice Captain easily. It would also be a good stepping stone into recognizing her efforts and growth throughout the series. If Nero is asked by Asta to be his advisor, Noelle would be my number 1 option for VC.

I threw Finral and Vanessa in here cause ever since the start of the series, they always gave off the “older brother and sister” vibe so I imagine they’d fit well into the role of Vice Captain, despite their quirks and attitudes.

So, who do you think will be the new Vice Captain of the Black Bulls?

As a bonus question, who do you think is a part of the Special Reserve Corps? Is it a unit specifically reserved for Yami and Adramelech, seeing as how Yami wanted to create his own position? I think it’d be cool if mages from different nations came to join the Corps. Would be a great way to promote peace and unity between the kingdoms.

Asta really wanted that Wizard King title lmao

Idk if this has been brought up yet but he straight up knocked Yuno out of True Saint Stage bro

One Story Ends and Another Begins

The ending is here, and I can’t lie — I liked it. Probably more than most it seems. It’s not flawless by any means, there’s things that could/should be expanded upon, but the finality of it all feels earned. Asta vs. Yuno, the populous acknowledging their worth, Yami and Charlotte, a new future for the nations, other various relationships established, and that final shot of Asta as Wizard King is absolutely amazing. My only complaint is how little of his new fit we will get seeing as how it’s the ending (more on that later).

Gear up and be prepared, cause here’s another long post lol. Apologies if my thoughts are all over the place.

A Promise Fulfilled

Let’s start off with just the title of 390: The Promised Showdown. There’s sort of a double meaning behind it in my view. Not only is it a callback to Asta and Yuno’s promise, but I feel it’s Tabata finally giving us what we’ve been waiting for. He’s delivering his promise to bring us an ending that he believes would be satisfactory, and I believe that despite some difficulties he achieved that overall.

The fight between Asta and Yuno was short but great at showing them at their absolute best, fulfilling their promise to one another to get stronger and battle for the title of Wizard King. The section where each of them flashback to important points in their lives, right before they lock in and get ready to give it their all, was absolutely peak.

As it went on, one of the things I liked was how Asta was so in control of his Anti Magic that he was paralleling Liebe in their initial fight by wielding all four swords at once (if you missed it, the swords were floating around Asta in the panel where Yuno was launching the giant boulder at him). Even during the Lucius fights, you see in real-time how much Asta has grown as a fighter, going from someone who relies on pure strength to someone who uses strength in a precise and masterful manner.

Speaking of Yuno, his own mastery over Star and Wind Magic being enough to outpace Asta’s Anti Magic might have flown under the radar for most people. This not only shows his prowess as a mage, but opens up the possibility of Asta’s Anti Magic not being the busted power type we all once believed.

To me, this doesn’t downscale Asta in any way, as the point of it all was that hard work, training, and merit are what matters in this world, not the amount of potential power you may have. What this does is allow others to “close the gap” between Asta and Yuno (whether they’re heroes or villains).

One of the things I was concerned about at this point in the series was how far away the boys were in terms of skill and power, but now that we see more clearly how Anti Magic can be “countered”, this stops Anti Magic from being “broken” and simply enhances the idea that Asta himself was the one who earned his way to the top — not the power.

Finally, Asta calling down Slayer to cut Yuno’s sword in the end, Yuno being proud of his brother and subsequently conceding, all while Asta thanked him for pushing him to get to this point, was executed near-perfectly imo. These two chapters were dedicated to their rivalry and brotherhood, and Tabata did them justice imo.

The Little Things

Moving onto relationships, Yami and Charlotte is something that’s been waiting to happen for quite some time now. It’s nice that she got to visit the Land of the Sun with him and I especially liked the “elder sister” comment from Ichika. And Yami calling Wizard King Asta his perma-runt was perfect lol. Their dynamic remains as one of the best in the entirety of Black Clover’s run.

Mereoleona was apparently courted by Yosuga, Grey and Gauche are together, Mars and Fana get married, as do Lolopechka and Gaja. Finral of all people is about to be a dad, and Rill and Charmy already have seven kids with each other. These relationships were expected to occur, sure, but I’d rather have something like this than a subversion of expectations just for the sake of shock value.

On top of these other nice moments, and a personal one that I enjoy, Licht and Tetia’s descendants are about to become Magic Knights, fulfilling the theory of the elves being reintegrated back into Clover Kingdom (called this in a previous post, so I’m happy about that). This is one of those full-circle moments that brings it all together for me.

Also, Nash is built like a freight train. Dude has exceeded Asta’s build, and he’s like 14-15 lol. Marie is off to become a Magic Knight as well, Nacht is now Captain of the Black Bulls, Adramelech is fully contracted with Yami and set to go on adventures, and there’s a new Reserve Corps that I assume deals with threats greater than/outside of Clover’s singular control. Small stuff like this makes the universe and ending more lived in and real.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Asta himself came up with this squad and filled it with people across the country. I predicted that rather than being Wizard King, Asta was more suited to a Guardian role since he’s super active and likes getting in on the action, so I think this Reserve Corps squad is a great way to integrate that and actually bring all the nations together.

As for Asta’s new Wizard King drip, Tabata couldn’t really decide on a look for him huh, lmao. He’s gone through several designs but I think this one is a good way to represent him as someone who is now regal and has authority but definitely has no problem being the first one into the battlefield. I really dig this design and think it’s my favorite of all the previous ones, even the most recent one on the cover page.

Like how I’ve expressed for the past few chapter drops, to me, there’s more positive in this arc that outweighs the negatives.

Shortcomings and Criticisms

Now, I did mention it wasn’t flawless.

Everyone so far seems to be focused on the Noelle/Mimosa rivalry or the length of the final fight, but I think it’s worse that there was no resolution between Asta, Liebe, and Licita. That was something that disappointed me, as I wanted them to have a moment together before she faded away. It could have easily been resolved by having Licita pass away in that moment Asta cut her, but having her teleported away set something up that should’ve been explored.

A surname drop would’ve been cool, but that’s neither here nor there. None of these two things break the series for me, but it would’ve been a really good reunion that could’ve added more emotion to the climax and aftermath of the fight.

It’s also kind of upsetting that Door Theory didn’t lead anywhere. I wasn’t expecting a Lucius revival or anything but it did feel like something was supposed to be there. A bit disappointing but it’s probably best that it didn’t lead to a random enemy appearing at the last moment to overtake Lucius’s role as final boss. I guess the panel will just live as an out of place shot.

I think the big thing that’s on everyone’s minds is the Noelle/Mimosa situation, and I can understand why. Tbh it’s the last thing I expected to be left open-ended. I’m fine with Asta being a loner for now since he’s mainly focused on now being Wizard King, but it seems like Tabata himself couldn’t choose between either of them so he left it the way it is. Maybe we could see all/any of this play out in a one-shot time skip chapter or future Light Novel (more on that in a bit)?

One thing that these chapters really needed was another award ceremony for the side characters, where we see someone like Noelle be promoted to Grand Magic Knight 1st Class. Something to highlight the efforts of those who don’t typically get recognized by the masses, which is an important aspect of the series.

I don’t think Noelle needs to be a captain or anything just yet, but acknowledging her worth through a promotion of some sorts on-screen would’ve been a good payoff for her character and struggle (all of this could’ve happened off-screen, so hopefully the anime incorporates an expanded ending, maybe even a full episode, just dedicated to the ceremony). I liked her having dinner with her siblings, that was a nice touch to ending their story. And it seems like she’s keeping Leviathan, if going by the color spread means anything.

Beyond Not Giving Up

I did want to talk about the final page of the series. It very obviously says “The End” at the, well, end. However, I do think that in the future (not anytime soon) we will get a one-shot chapter that follows up the events of the final chapter or maybe another time skip (in the same way the No Breaths from Hell one-shot for Bleach builds things post-EOS).

We will probably get a look at Asta as Wizard King, how he enacts the change he promised, the new Reserve Corps that Yami is a part of, Noelle vs. Mimosa finally coming to a close, and some other things that potentially set up a new threat (perhaps the enemies that were in the aircraft or something much worse, though I’m not sure what gets worse than devils or a Wizard King-larping False Messiah).

I don’t think this hypothetical one-shot will be setting up a new arc, not this close to the ending anyways. And if that were the case, I highly doubt Tabata would be the artist; he’ll at most have his hand in the story as advisor or writer cause that would theoretically be less strenuous. Either way, Tabata will certainly take time to rest. But I don’t think he’s done with Black Clover. I speculated before that Light Novels or movies might be the way to go. Maybe it’s cope, maybe it isn’t, I’m fine with either decision he makes. But something inside me feels like this isn’t Asta’s final curtain call as Wizard King.

Overall, with Judgement Day finally concluded, I think I give the series an 8-8.5/10. There are flaws in it certainly, definitely within the most recent arc, but there’s a sort of warmness that the ending brings that makes the series an instant classic for me personally. This was one of my first manga/anime that I explored so I’m glad I got to see it end in a relatively good way.

As a side note, anyone who says this ending is the worst thing ever or says it’s absolute trash is most definitely a tourist or rage baiter. This is FAR from the worst ending ever. It ain’t perfect, but imo, it’s a good ending. It feels right to see a happy ending like this for almost all the characters, especially for Asta. He finally achieved his dream, and it feels so satisfying to watch.

All hail Asta, the 29th Wizard King 👑. And all the praise for Tabata for actually sticking with the story until the end through what was probably the toughest point in his life. He really took “I’m not done yet” to heart, and I like to believe it paid off in the end.

What are everyone’s thoughts on Black Clover’s last three chapters, the final saga, and the series as a whole?