Black Clover

[Kaizou 10]

Black Clover
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Shounen
Author: Tabata Yuuki
Serialization: Weekly Shounen Jump
Publisher: Shueisha

Aster and Yuno were abandoned together at the same church, and have been inseparable since. As children, they promised that they would compete against each other to see who would become the next sorcerous emperor. However, as they grew up, some differences between them became plain. Yuno was a genius with magic, with amazing power and control, while Aster could not use magic at all, and tried to make up for his lack by training physically. When they received their grimoires at age 15, Yuno got a spectacular book with a four-leaf-clover (most people receive a three-leaf-clover), while Aster received nothing at all. However, when Yuno was threatened, the truth about Aster's power was revealed-- he received a five-leaf-clover grimoire, a 'black clover' book of anti-magic. Now the two friends are heading out in the world, both seeking the same goal!

Chapter 1

[Gokuyuske]

I've read the 4 chapters of this that have been in the english WSJ so far and I'm actually find myself kinda intrigued despite it's very stereotypical shonen-ness and overused plot elements.

I'm a sucker for the "anti-magic" protagonist like in MxO and honestly I like the artist's style.

At worst I think this series could just try to capitalize on the success of Fairy Tale and Naruto, but at best I think it could definitely become it's own thing and actually be interesting.

[NateRich]

Chapter 2 was beyond cliché but I enjoy the series so far. I've particularly liked the couple of wide shots of the Black Bull members.

[Bigivel]

I've read the 4 chapters of this that have been in the english WSJ so far and I'm actually find myself kinda intrigued despite it's very stereotypical shonen-ness and overused plot elements.

I'm a sucker for the "anti-magic" protagonist like in MxO and honestly I like the artist's style.

At worst I think this series could just try to capitalize on the success of Fairy Tale and Naruto, but at best I think it could definitely become it's own thing and actually be interesting.

Just a small correction, but it isn't Fairy Tale, but Fairy Tail.

[Ragnar]

Unfortunately after the ending of Naruto a big wave of people started to point their fings at any mangas that had any resemblance with Kishimoto's work like if he invented the wheel or something.

I like the way the manga way simpler and less ambitious than Hungry Joker. The art is great and the plot actually works. The manga has nice references and it is heading towards a good path so far.

I guess there are five chapters or more of it already. I just don't know which scan got the project though.

[Kaizou 10]

Just a small correction, but it isn't Fairy Tale, but Fairy Tail.

Maybe he was talking about actual Fairy Tale

[Aohige_AP]

Yeah, sure, it's better than Hungry Joker.

But that's like saying McDonalds is better than Heart Attack Grill.

[Gokuyuske]

Unfortunately after the ending of Naruto a big wave of people started to point their fings at any mangas that had any resemblance with Kishimoto's work like if he invented the wheel or something.

You write this like I'm making an unfair comparison. I didn't write it as an accusation, I said that trying to copy other series was the worst case scenario for Black Clover. I get that to be successful in Jump you have to do certain things to catch people's attention right out of the gate and that often leads to overused story elements, but this series seems to copy more elements than others.

It's not that it bears only a slight resemblance to Naruto. It's that the main character is a high-energy failure (which a mysterious power) who looks like Naruto and has a rival with a coldish personality who is the most technically talented and who happens to look like Sasuke. It's that his teacher is very similar to Kakashi and it's that he wants to be the Wizard King. Sure if you want you can believe they were created totally independent of Naruto and Sasuke, but it's silly to pretend like they don't look and act very similar. Like I said, I understand that shonen battle manga often works within a certain formula, but any writer/editor had to know that Black Clover was naturally going to remind people of Naruto.

[Ragnar]

You write this like I'm making an unfair comparison. I didn't write it as an accusation, I said that trying to copy other series was the worst case scenario for Black Clover. I get that to be successful in Jump you have to do certain things to catch people's attention right out of the gate and that often leads to overused story elements, but this series seems to copy more elements than others.

It's not that it bears only a slight resemblance to Naruto. It's that the main character is a high-energy failure (which a mysterious power) who looks like Naruto and has a rival with a coldish personality who is the most technically talented and who happens to look like Sasuke. It's that his teacher is very similar to Kakashi and it's that he wants to be the Wizard King. Sure if you want you can believe they were created totally independent of Naruto and Sasuke, but it's silly to pretend like they don't look and act very similar. Like I said, I understand that shonen battle manga often works within a certain formula, but any writer/editor had to know that Black Clover was naturally going to remind people of Naruto.

Actually that was my opinion about the general reception the manga had so far. Here in Brazil most of the people that comment about the manga had the assumptions you highlighted regarding how the caracthers remind the ones from Naruto and I didn't mean to make your comparison unfair. I even think that it is WSJ's fault because without these clichés a manga like Black Cover wouldn't get a safe passage to serialization and as the new mangas are meant to attract the new generation's attention, to make these elements fresh again is a good strategy.

I see that the elements are similar but I also think that the author won't try to push it too much because that's a different story, way lighter than Naruto, in my opinion. It is common to see Shonen mangas struggle to survive because they need to keep changing over and over and among the many ways to do it we see traditional caracthers and situations that are repeated over and over. I need to point out that the manga is still in the beginning, many things can happen and be different from what we already saw before and many things can recall what we already know. Let's see how things will turn out from now on.

[KageKageKing]

I just realized something:
Hungry Joker was about science and this is about magic.
Maybe the outcome will be the exact opposite?

[Purple Hermit]

I just realized something:
Hungry Joker was about science and this is about magic.
Maybe the outcome will be the exact opposite?

Hungry Joker was pretty much about magic at its core, so maybe we'll get a manga that's superficially about magic but applies science?

Either way, HJ was so bland I haven't bothered even touching BC

[Somewhere]

Yea, first 4 chapters were just so... ehhhhhhhh.
They weren't bad, but you could just feel how formulaic it was. No real life to it; no strong personal touch in it that screams 'THIS IS MY STORY'.

[All Fiction]

This mangaka's art style is pissing me the fuck off, but I don't even know why.

[Kaizou 10]

It looks like many people love this series so much.

[SunnyBlue]

Read the first chapter.
I can't describe how utterly bland and derivative it is.
To be fair, the first chapter of one piece, Naruto, HxH, Bleach, Shokugeki no Soma, My Hero Academia and many other shounen manga does starts out in a rather generic fashion. But their first chapters have a soul in them to make me want to continue reading. Good art, endearing characters, interesting settings, a refreshing plotline etc
While the underdog shounen protagonist who has a goals that is difficult to achieve is a common plotline. A good author can be able to make it feel refreshed.
But I can't find anything that make me want to continue reading this. There's no soul to it. I feel like the author is just putting a bunch of troupes together and hope that it works out for the best!

I can see why it might appeal to some people, especially the target audience. I guess I'm not the target audience.

[spyda]

This mangaka's art style is pissing me the fuck off, but I don't even know why.

Funny because literally everything about this manga pisses me off, except the art

The MC & the side characters, the blandness, the story, the atmosphere, ... everything

It looks like many people love this series so much.

What do you think about this manga? I'm curious

[Kaizou 10]

What do you think about this manga? I'm curious

I think it is good. I know it isn't something very original; heck, it is doing typical mainstream shounen fantasy action series. But hey, isn't that why people read series like OP, Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, etc., etc? I think the author did the generic stuff nicely.

[valiantt]

This reeks of Sensei No Bulge for reason. As in it's super bland playing it super safe, but unlike Bulge it MIGHT survive due to being lucky or people will catch on real fast and it'll tank like how HJ tanked.

[xAsum0x]

I wrote a story in kindergarten more creative than this shit

[Cruithne]

Chapter 4 was a liiiiiiiittle better. I still don't get why the MC is so hung up over that nun, though.

This mangaka's art style is pissing me the fuck off, but I don't even know why.

Maybe how static and lifeless it is?

He has good attention to detail and interesting color choices, don't get me wrong, but the lack of weight and feelings of movement combined with it is pretty jarring. It always looks like the characters are just sorta standing there in whatever positions they're in, completely unmoving and uninfluenced by their surroundings.