It was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
- Episodes : 16
- Genre : Adventure, Fantasy, Shounen, Comedy
- Airing Date : December 8, 2020 - March 30, 2021
- Producers : Studio Pierrot
Black Clover has reached the end of its animated series production for the foreseeable future. Asta, Yuno, Noelle, and the Black Bulls are preparing for an upcoming fight with the Spade Kingdom to prevent the world from being taken over by power-hungry oppressors. As is the theme with Black Clover, everyone working on training pushes their previous limits and makes gains. Let’s take a few minutes and look at just how season 4 went.
Contains Spoilers
Meet Some Enemies Worth Defeating
The most notable characters in the newest season of Black Clover are easily the members of the Dark Triad. Just as Asta has a devil in his life, all three of the members of the Dark Triad have a devil’s powers that they can use much more fluently than Asta can. He has a long way to go if he’s ever going to beat them.
Secrets Not Included in the Manga
Right at the end of season four, we encounter Asta’s devil, Liebe, and learn about how he had no magic and was raised by a woman in the human world who could not live with others because she sapped other things of life and magic. Since Liebe was not affected by these things, this woman adopted Liebe as her child. When she has the option to protect Liebe, a flashback shows this silver-haired, green-eyed woman leaving a new baby Asta by the church.
This scene did not appear in the manga with as much clarity. In the manga, there is an image of Asta’s mother leaving a basket on a doorstep, but only in the anime does it definitively show that Asta is the baby being left. This information has yet to be released in weekly chapters, so anime watchers, enjoy this piece of info that came out first on TV!
Hype for the Upcoming Movie
The production company chose to produce the last season of Black Clover so that it is a HUGE hype for the upcoming movie, the title and release date of which have yet to be released. This format of leaving about a year between the end of a top-rated show and its movie production has been an excellent moneymaker for production and has been effective at keeping fans hyped for the franchise.
As with Demon Slayer and Jujustu Kaisen, Black Clover’s last anime production is to be followed by a film that is currently expected to finish out the series. While this sounds like a tidy plan, those otakus who have seen Bleach or Gintama know that fans are not always so easily satisfied, so time will tell where the franchise ends up.
The Plot Thickens… and Thins… and Then Thickens Again
Towards the end of season four, the anime got into the common situation of being caught up with the manga. As the manga has a six-month gap where everyone trains in preparation for the fight in the Spade Kingdom, there are a lot of added character and training highlights that start to feel campy. But some turn out to be a lot more badass. In particular, episode 156 features a training session between Yami and Mereoleona that does not disappoint. In general, though, the plot takes its sweet time picking up, but it is a shounen lover’s dream when it does.
After the halfway mark of the season, the story goes from the cute ‘getting ready for battle’ stage to moments of looking despair in the eye. BOTH Captains, Yami, and Vengeance, are beaten in battle and kidnapped for purposes that will end their lives and lives for the rest of the world. Asta and Yuno have to grow in unexpected ways to get through the challenges ahead of them.
Final Thoughts
Black Clover has been the constant uphill charge led by Asta and anyone who knows him since the series began. The adventure was never short on battles, comedy, or storyline, and morale, but the latest season built relationships and saw more brutal trials than ever for Asta and his friends. Only time (and spoilers) can tell what the upcoming film will be like, but if this season did anything, it prepared us for the extraordinary battle ahead! Have you watched this latest season? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
Author: Mool Basil
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