Black Clover (TV series)

Black Clover (Japanese: ブラッククローバー, Hepburn: Burakku Kurōbā) is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series Black Clover by Yūki Tabata. The series follows Asta, a young boy born without any magic power in a world where magic is everything, and his rival Yuno, a talented mage gifted with the rare four-leaf grimoire.

Produced by Pierrot, the series aired its first 170 episodes on TV Tokyo from October 2017 to March 2021; a "second season" is set to premiere in 2026.^[b] An anime film, titled Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, premiered simultaneously in Japanese theaters and internationally on Netflix in June 2023.

Asta and Yuno are orphans who were raised together at a church on the outskirts of the Clover Kingdom. In a world where every individual possesses the natural ability to manipulate Mana, Asta is the only person born without magic. Conversely, Yuno was born as a prodigy with immense magical power and the talent to control it.

On their 15th birthday, the two attend a ceremony to receive their Grimoires. Yuno receives a rare four-leaf clover Grimoire, while Asta receives nothing. However, when Yuno is threatened by a former Magic Knight, Asta summons a tattered five-leaf Grimoire containing "Anti-Magic" swords. The two rivals then head to the capital to join the Magic Knights and compete for the title of the next Wizard King.

Asta and Yuno travel from Hage Village to the Royal Capital to participate in the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. While Yuno is selected by the elite "Golden Dawn" squad, Asta is recruited by Yami Sukehiro into the "Black Bulls," a squad noted for its destructive reputation. Asta begins his initial training alongside Noelle Silva, a royal who lacks control over her magic, and other squad members.

The Black Bulls and Golden Dawn are assigned to explore a newly discovered "Dungeon" on the border of the Diamond Kingdom. They encounter Diamond mages Lotus Whomalt and Mars, leading to a confrontation over the dungeon's treasures. During the mission, Yuno discovers a wind spirit, Sylph, and Asta acquires a second Anti-Magic weapon, the Demon-Dweller Sword.

The Clover Kingdom capital is besieged by the "Eye of the Midnight Sun," a terrorist organization. The Magic Knights defend the city against multiple fronts of attack, including an assault led by Rades Spirito. The conflict reveals the organization's objective: collecting magic stones to fulfill a specific ritual.

The Black Bulls travel to the Seabed Temple to retrieve a magic stone before the Eye of the Midnight Sun. They are forced into a series of challenges by the High Priest, which are interrupted by Vetto, a member of the "Third Eye." The squad engages in a prolonged battle to defeat Vetto, resulting in Asta suffering heavy injuries to his arms.

In search of a cure for Asta’s injuries, the Black Bulls enter the neutral Witches' Forest. They defend the forest against simultaneous invasions by the Diamond Kingdom and the Eye of the Midnight Sun. During the defense, Asta manifests a "Black Form" that enhances his Anti-Magic capabilities, and the Witch Queen successfully heals his arms.

The Wizard King organizes a tournament to select an elite force known as the "Royal Knights" to assault the Eye of the Midnight Sun's headquarters. The tournament features squad-based combat among various Magic Knights, leading to the selection of a final team including Asta, Yuno, and Noelle.

The Eye of the Midnight Sun completes their ritual, triggering a mass reincarnation spell that causes ancient Elf souls to possess the bodies of several Magic Knights. This leads to a kingdom-wide conflict as the possessed knights attack their former allies. The battle culminates in the Shadow Palace, where it is revealed that a devil named Zagred manipulated both races to facilitate his own manifestation.

Following a six-month period of training in the Heart Kingdom, the Magic Knights prepare for an invasion from the Spade Kingdom. The "Dark Triad" Dante, Vanica, and Zenon Zogratis launch targeted strikes to abduct Yami Sukehiro and William Vangeance. Their objective is to use the captains to open the "Tree of Qliphoth," a channel to the underworld.

Following the defeat of the Magic Knights by the Dark Triad, Asta enters a period of intensive monitoring and training under Nacht Faust, the mysterious Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls and a devil host. The training focuses on the "Devil-Binding Ritual," a forbidden ceremony designed to formalize the contract between a human and a devil. Asta performs the ritual to bring Liebe, the devil within his grimoire, into the physical world. Unlike traditional contracts based on subjugation, Asta chooses to form a "contract of equals," establishing a mutual partnership with Liebe. Concurrently, Yuno’s origins as a prince of the Spade Kingdom are disclosed during the progression of the war.

Before the anime television series, an original video animation (OVA) adaptation, produced by Xebec Zwei, was shown at the 2016 Jump Festa between November 27 and December 18, 2016.^[3][4][5] It was bundled with the 11th volume of the manga, which was released on May 2, 2017.^[6] A second original video animation was shown at the 2018 Jump Festa.^[7] It was later released on DVD releases alongside My Hero Academia and Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma bundled with the future volumes of their respective manga, as it was announced at Jump Special Anime Festa event.^[8]

At the Black Clover Jump Festa event on December 18, 2016, the anime television series adaptation by Pierrot was announced.^[6] It was directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu writing scripts, Itsuko Takeda doing character designs, and Minako Seki composing the music.^[9] The series premiered on TV Tokyo on October 3, 2017.^[10][11] with the first two seasons each consisting of 51 episodes.^[12][13] The third seasons premiered on October 1, 2019.^[14] The series was broadcast without any major interruption until late April 2020, when it was announced that future episodes would be postponed based on studio production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The broadcasting and distribution of episode 133 onward were delayed and in its place, the first episode of the series was rebroadcast on May 5, 2020;^[15] the series resumed on July 7 of the same year,^[16] and finished at episode 170 on March 30, 2021.^[17][18]

Crunchyroll has simulcast the series,^[19] while Funimation produced an English dub as part of its SimulDub program as it aired.^[20][21] Adult Swim's Toonami programming block premiered the English dub on December 2, 2017.^[22] The series was added to the Hulu streaming service.^[23] Sony Pictures UK and Funimation released the first part of the series on home video in the United Kingdom and Ireland,^[24] with subsequent parts released by Manga Entertainment.^[25] Universal Sony classified the first part of the series for release in Australia and New Zealand, on behalf of Funimation,^[26] with Madman Entertainment releasing subsequent parts.^[27] The first of Black Clover became available on Netflix India with Japanese audio and English subtitles on February 23, 2021.^[28]

In July 2025, at Anime Expo, it was announced that the series will receive a new season (announced as a second season), which will be also produced by Pierrot.^[29]}} It is set to premiere in 2026.^[30]

A short original net animation titled Squishy! Black Clover (むぎゅっと！ブラッククローバー, Mugyutto! Burakku Kurōbā), produced by DLE and directed by Tsukasa Nishiyama, began streaming on dTV on July 1, 2019. The opening theme song for the short is "Possible" by Gakuto Kajiwara and Nobunaga Shimazaki, under the name "Clover×Clover".^[31] Crunchyroll made the short available internationally on December 31, 2019.^[32]

On March 28, 2021, it was announced that the series would be receiving an anime film, with details to be revealed at a later date.^[33] It was later announced that the film's title is Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (ブラッククローバー 魔法帝の剣, Burakku Kurōbā: Mahōtei no Ken). It was directed by Ayataka Tanemura, with the screenplay written by Johnny Onda and Ai Orii, character designs by Itsuko Takeda, and music by Minako Seki. Tabata also supervised the film and provide the original character designs. The film was originally set to premiere simultaneously in Japanese theaters and internationally on Netflix on March 31, 2023;^[34][35] however, it was later delayed to June 16 of the same year due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting its production.^[36] Treasure performed the theme song "Here I Stand".^[37]

Alex Osborn of IGN, in his review of the first episode, mentioned that its premise is not novel but concludes that it is "ultimately a solid introduction to the Clover Kingdom, and lays the groundwork for what will hopefully be an empowering story about the importance of never giving up."^[38] Writing for Anime News Network, Rachel Trujillo praised the anime for "the grand lessons that one can take away from the story" and ambitious animation efforts from the staff.^[39] In his review of Episode 170, Shawn Hacaga of The Fandom Post complimented the anime's improvement since its beginning, saying that he was "glad that Black Clover was able to turn it around."^[40]

Ivy Rose from Anime Feminist praised the way the story handles its female characters, giving them narrative importance and letting them partake in battles. Rose wrote: "Black Clover has truly raised the bar for depictions of female leaders in shounen anime, and female characters in general, as these solid portrayals are not just limited to women in leadership positions."^[41] Jeremy Looney of Common Sense Media, in his review about the anime said "Black Clover is a guilty pleasure, a by-the-books entry to the Shounen genre that recaptures the magic of earlier series by perfectly recycling them in its own way. A great jumping-in point for the genre for anime newcomers."^[42]

In November 2019, Crunchyroll listed Black Clover in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s".^[43] In January 2021, it was revealed that Black Clover was the most-watched anime series on Crunchyroll in 2020, being watched in 87 countries and territories all over the world.^[44][45] Asta and Yami's fight against Dante was also listed as the sixth best anime fight from 2021 by Crunchyroll.^[46]

• Official anime website (in Japanese)
• Black Clover (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia