Over-Analyzing Black Clover Part 6- Hope, Will, and Merit

Dear Readers,

Long time, no see.  With work back in full swing and a few academic writing projects on the back burner, my more casual writing has been put on hold.  But, since I have an extra bit of time today, I want to try to wrap up the first arc of my "Over-Analyzing Black Clover" series.  This post gets a bit more academic, a bit more serious, than some of the previous posts, but hopefully it serves as a good finale to a series I have very much enjoyed writing.  Also, fair warning, this does turn into a bit of a ramble at the end, but please keep going... it does come back to the point eventually.

So with Part 6 I want to talk about some of the over arching themes of Black Clover, and why they work so powerfully within the story.  I will definitely be drawing on martial from each of my other sections, so if you have time, I definitely recommend reading Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 before jumping in here.  It is not completely necessary, but I will be doing a lot less summarizing here than I have done previously so I can focus on analyzing the work itself.

All of the incredible aspects of Black Clover I have discussed; its powerful women, its emphasis on friendship, its growth oriented magic system, and its unique perspective on rivalry all tie in to the wider theme of the show; the hope that individuals can come together and make the world a better place.  While it is tempting to be dismissive of such an optimistic and apparently naive core, Black Clover does not simply elevate hope as an ideal, the show also carefully considers the social, political, emotional, and psychological barriers to forward progress and thoughtfully opens up the conversation about potential solutions.  Ultimately, hope in Black Clover is deeply tied to the concept of hard work (nothing changes for the better without extreme effort), and the gradual transformation of negative mentalities through positive, relational engagement with the "other."

Black Clover's theme is deeply tied to the ideals of its main character, Asta.  Asta is, within the context of the social, political, economic, and magical structure of the Clover Kingdom a "have not."  He is an orphan so he is completely outside the ruling power structure of the noble families of the kingdom.  He is from an impoverished rural community, so he has no economic or political power.  He has no magic; in a world where everyone has magic, even though the amounts vary greatly, Asta alone is completely bereft of magic power.  As far as starting places for a protagonist goes, it is very difficult to think of a character who begins with less from a societal standpoint.  This makes him a perfect agent for transformation in his world.  As someone who starts with nothing, he is uniquely equipped to engage and inspire the "have-nots" while simultaneously demonstrating to the "haves" that their ingrained prejudices are flawed, leading to new channels of communication and (ideally) systemic progress and change.

We see both of these situations play out within the narrative of Black Clover.  The list of "have-nots" that Asta inspires is long: from commoners like the orphans in Hage, Yuno, and Zora Idealle, to his fellow outcasts in the Black Bulls, Finral, Magna, and Vanessa, Asta's determination and hard work inspire those around him to pursue their own dreams.  He leads by example, bringing out the best in his companions completely unconciously, simply by demonstrating the possibilities available to those who constantly fight to advance.  But Asta's ability to engage the "have-nots" does not just lie in his ability to inspire, but in his ability to empathize.  He repeatedly demonstrates the ability empathize with his enemies, be they the brainwashed child soldiers of the Diamond Kingdom, or the revenge obsessed elves, Asta always attempts to consider his opponents perspective.  It does not stop him from fighting his hardest against them, but he does so while constantly seeking greater understanding and searching for potential common ground.  In his fight against Vetto, he first tries to understand why the Eye of the Midnight Sun holds such hatred for the Clover Kingdom and for humanity in general.  He even observes to a companion, who had commented that their enemies had hurt their friends, "But what if they are also fighting for friends who have been hurt."  Similarly, when he sees Rhya about to violently self destruct in his fight with Mereoleona, he immediately jumps in to stop the suicidal spell, more or less asserting, "I have seen two other people try to use that spell; you do not get to kill yourself, now sit down and tell us what your problem is so we can get to the bottom of this whole thing."  Even before Asta learns the elve's story, he looks for common ground between them, declaring that he wants to create a kingdom in which everyone, noble commoner, elves and humans, can live together with respect.  Rhya's repeated fights with Asta eventually instill in the elf an admiration for the boy, and he recognizes, if more people were like Asta, there might actually be a chance for elves and humans to get along.

This grudging respect, this recognition of Asta's ideals, is not limited simply to his foes.  We also see it in the "haves" of the story, the magical nobility like Nozel Silva (and to a lesser extent Noellle), and Kirsch Vermillion whose elitist prejudices are challenged by Asta's strength and determination, and who are gradually forced to recognize the error within their own thought processes and to acknowledge the boy's strength.  Their grudging, hard won respect, is indicative of the central theme of Back Clover: there is hope for a better world, but that hope comes, not through idealistic declarations or winning words, but through the hard work and steady accumulation of merit.

Indeed, Black Clover's theme can probably best be summed up in a quote from the current wizard king, Julius Novachrona.  When Asta and Yuno ask the great mage what they need to become the Wizard King, he answers, "It's merit.  People want just one thing from the Magic Emperor... Achievements that mark you as the strongest. Produce results. Devote yourselves to building a reputation... That's everything. No one who's unable to do that could ever stand at the top...!."  The characters of Black Clover are forced to acknowledge Asta because of the merit of his deeds: it is impossible to dismiss him as a "magic-less runt" when his anti-magic is powerful enough to take down the strong opponents he faces.  It is impossible to treat him as a "mere peasant from the boonies" when that peasant goes to to toe with a noble magic knight vice-captain (with enhanced corrupted elf energy) and fights him to a draw.  Asta makes his ideals impossible to dismiss because he works for the power and fights for the prestige to back up his words.

Asta's goal to become the Wizard King is both Black Clover's deepest ideal, and the thematic realization of that ideal.  Asta's journey to become the Wizard King is both a means and an end... Asta wants to become the Wizard King in order to protect people, to make life better for those who are struggling, "I'm gonna become the Wizard King, and protect you and everyone else. I'm gonna make everyone even happier!," and he accomplishes this goal by protecting people, by making life better for those who are struggling in the kingdom, and by proving to each character he encounters that even a "have-not" like Asta can work hard and inspire others and eventually become the Wizard King.  This is not a simple goal, nor is it an easy journey.  Asta is fighting against fate, against a society that dismisses him as unimportant, a world pre-disposed to reject him because of everything he is.  Time and again, his goals seem impossible to reach as he comes to the limit of his own powers again and again.  Ultimately, what allows Asta to move forward, what allows him to accumulate the merit necessary to advance toward his goals, to overcome his impossibly strong foes, or to win the respect of his most powerful allies, is his grit, his decision to stand up, time and again in the face of adversity and persevere.  In what is arguably one of Asta's best character moments, he has been stripped of everything.  His arms have been broken by a magical curse, and it seems impossible that he will ever be able to use them (and by extension his anti-magic swords, the foundation of his power) again.  For a moment, it seems like he will be crushed by his despair, by the weight of the impossibility of his goals, but then he shouts out to the sky, "Is that all you have fate?  I have been fighting against you since day one... you think a little thing like this will make me stop?"  Even in the face of the impossible, Asta refuses to give up, refuses to be told that the future he dreams about is impossible, and instead looks at the steps he has to take to make his goals a reality.  An impossible ideal is not a dream to be given up but a goal to be broken down; instead of thinking, "I can't do this." and moving on, Asta instead thinks, "What do I need to do to accomplish this thing," and does everything he can, however absurd it might seem, to push forward toward his goals, and that effort bears results, often in unusual and obscure ways.  Remember how I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter that Asta trained physically since he couldn't train with magic?  Well, that physical strength became the foundation for his abilities: he was able to wield the absurdly heavy Demon Slayer sword because of his strength; his physicality gives him endurance and speed his mage opponents don't expect, his balance, body awareness, and physical insight allow his to use ki, a method of reading his opponent's body movement and energy that is greatly superior to the simple "magic sensing" that those with  magic rely upon.  By doing what he can in the moment, and refusing to give up on his goals, Asta creates unexpected opportunities for himself and blazes a path through the "impossible" barriers to eventually reach his goals.  "Not giving up" is indeed a magic all it's own, ultimately, Black Clover boldly declares that, more important than talent, more important than power, or status, or even luck, will is what is needed in order to meet an impossible goal, or change a fallen world.

I think perhaps, this is something that has been lost.  It is easy to look at the world and shake your head and say, "wow, that's really terrible."  But looking at history, it is people with will who make changes.  Technological progress is the product of will... of the indomitable ability to say, "I'm not done yet" in the face of failure after failure, until eventually those failures give way to success.  The most powerful social movements in history came through individuals who raised a standard of an impossible ideal, "treat  'others' the way you want to be treated," and when faced with the impossible pressure of a society that rejects their ideal shouted, "I'm not done yet," at the world and fate, and slowly, inexorably won others to their side through the merit of their actions and argument.  History is not made by those who give up, those who look at all the difficulties before them and see insurmountable barriers, but by those who have hope that the world can be changed and the will to make that hope a reality.  Black Clover does not merely present its ideals and hope for the best... it demonstrates how excruciating amounts of work, immense failures, and ultimately, an unbreakable hope and will are the tools by which those ideals can be created.

To my mind, Black Clover sums up the ideals behind shonen.  In many ways, shonen is a genre of ideals and paradoxes.  Its greatest strengths are also its most glaring weaknesses.  These tend to fall into two categories.  First, because the story needs to support the ideals of the characters, characters accomplish their impossible dreams through deus ex machina results in fights, the widely derided "plot armor" or "power of friendship" are examples of this difficulty. I addressed "power of friendship" in an earlier post, but I will come back to "plot armor" in a moment.  The second criticism shonen widely receives reverses the the second, where the ideals of the story are sacrificed in order to achieve the goals of the protagonist.  A great example of this is Boku no Hero Academia, where Midoria, (much like Asta), wants to become the number one hero despite not having a quirk.. His ideal (that he can become a hero even though he doesn't have a quirk) are sacrificed early in the story, when he is gifted the quirk "One for All."  Midoria does not become a hero despite being quirk-less, he becomes a hero because he is gifted a (brokenly) powerful quirk. In this case, the ideology of the hero is undercut by the narrative need to progress the hero toward his goal.  Both criticism types arise from a tension between the ideals of the hero and the necessity of the story.  What Black Clover does so well is synthesize the paradoxes inherent to the shonen genre to enhance its themes.

Consider the first criticism: plot armor and power of friendship.  In order to reach his impossible goals, Asta works hard to become a magic knight, but the story also shows people who worked hard and failed; flashbacks to former magic knight Zara Idealle, who, despite his hard work, could not transcend the barrier of social status that separated him from his peers and ultimately died because of it, or Asta's first mentor Fanzell, who tried to improve circumstances in the Diamond Kingdom and was banished for it.  The narrative acknowledges that Asta's progress, while a result of his hard work, is also dependent greatly on luck, the five leafed clover of his grimoire does contain the fourth leaf of luck just like Yuno's does.  Just like "the power of friendship" criticism is resolved by the structure of the magic system, the "plot armor" complaint is similarly defanged by incorporating "luck" as a feature of magic in the world.  Asta's success in reaching his goals occur because he is the person for whom hard work, talent, and luck aligned perfectly in order for him to reach his goal.

Does this resolution of the the first criticism open Black Clover to the second?  Does allowing luck and talent as features of Asta's development undercut the series ideology or Asta's ideals?  Like Midoria, Asta is striving to become number one despite his crippling disadvantage... what is keeping Black Clover from under-cutting its own themes in the same way as BnHA?  There are two answers to that question; the first is semantic and the second is narrative.  Semantically, there is actually a major difference between Asta and Midoria's goals.  Midoria wants to become the number one hero despite not having a quirk.  Asta's stated goal is actually very different, "I'm gonna prove to everyone...That even if you're poor or an orphan you can still become the Wizard King. "  For Asta, becoming the Wizard King is not about overcoming his own lack of magic, but his social and economic position, and inspiring others to do the same.  In this case, it does not matter if Asta has "anti-magic" which basically functions like magic, because the deficit he is trying to overcome remains the same.  Even with anti-magic, he is still a kid from the boonies, a commoner.  This is confirmed by the narrative answer to the criticism, namely Asta's rivalry with Yuno.  Yuno has the same goal as Asta, using nearly the same words, "Even if you're poor, an orphan...or even us... We can become greater than anyone else in this world. And to prove that... Let's see who can become the Wizard King."  Because Yuno has the same goal and upbringing as Asta, he provides an interesting comparison to the main character.  While Yuno seems to be more successful than Asta; he easily gets into the most elite squad of magic knights, he is a magic genius who commands one of the four elemental spirits, he also faces many of the same difficulties in terms of discrimination and status.  When the results for the competition between the magic knights are given and Asta and Yuno are named highest achieving rookies of the year, the crowd quickly turns disdainful upon discovering they are commoners from a rural town.  Within his own squad Yuno faces anger from members who think he is acting "above his place," on multiple occasions, and like Asta, has to consistently demonstrate his merit to his companions in order to advance beyond the prejudices against his common birth and rural impoverished upbringing.  The fact that both characters have the same ideals and the same goal, and struggle against the same barriers and resistance means that the ideal transcends either character, giving it a universality independent of their power levels or respective circumstances. The wider theme of overcoming obstacles of station and birth cannot be undercut by the pair's accomplishments because those accomplishments do not change the circumstances they struggle against.  Whether it is Asta or Yuno, if either of the pair becomes the Wizard King, they do prove that someone who is poor and an orphan can become more powerful than anyone.  Thus, Black Clover is able to use the theme of rivalry so intrinsic to shonen to balance the paradox of the characters ideals and goals, creating a narrative in which the deeper theme of characters transcending their circumstances and making the world a better place is enhanced rather than undercut by the characters' successes and progress.

This is, I think, the greatest strength of Black Clover.  It is a show with an intrinsic awareness of its genre, both as fantasy and as shonen.  It uses the tropes of the genre as well as world-building and narrative elements to create a story that is both familiar and new; familiar in its use of well known formulas, but new in the way it utilizes those formulas to discuss its themes of hope, will, and merit, balancing the paradoxes of the genre in such a way that they improve the story rather than distracting from it.  Ultimately, the message of the series is one of hope, that with will, a lot of work, and a little bit of luck, anyone, be they poor or an orphan (or even us), if they accumulate merit, can rise higher than anyone else and change the world for the better.

And that's Over-Analyzing Black Clover, the finale of this six part series where I have basically gotten to rave a bit about a show and manga that I really love.  Once again, I urge readers to check it out: I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but the story is really good, and if you give it enough time I guarantee you will fall in love with the characters.

Anyway, back to reality.

Over-Analyzing Black Clover Part 5- The Power of Rivalry

Dear Readers,

I was going to save this topic for last, since it is one of my favorite things about Black Clover, but with this week's episode of the anime, the subject is particularly pertinent, so I'm gonna move it up, get on my soap box and rant and rave a bit. This is a bit of a personal subject for me, and it also involves me defending and praising one of my favorite characters in the series, so apologies in advance for the opinionated flavor of this post.  But before I get into the meat and potatoes, just a reminder, this is an ongoing series, so be sure to check out Part 1, 2, 3, and 4 if you want more of my thoughts on this awesome anime series.

For many shonen anime, one of the best ways to show the character's growth and development is the inclusion of a rival character.  This rival is one of the protagonist's peers, often someone who is naturally more gifted than the protagonist, who challenges the protagonist to grow better and become stronger.  There are many types of rivals, good and bad.  I intend to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Yuno, from Black Clover, is in fact, one of the best rivals in anime.  Yes, I'm starting with a controversial statement, because honestly, the "best" anime rivals are pretty terrible at the actual "rival" thing.

But to prove why Yuno is the best rival, we first have to determine what a rival is.  I led with a short definition earlier, but I think it's important to flesh out what I mean when I say rival before detailing why many shonen rivals fall short  The first point I want to stress is that a rival is different from an enemy.  An enemy is a barrier between the protagonist and his goal.  A rival, on the other hand, is someone who seeks the same goal as the protagonist.  This might seem like playing with semantics, but is actually a huge difference.  In some cases, a rival might serve as an antagonist (this is most obvious with something like sports where only one team can win, preventing the other team from moving forward, but in the end, rivals pursue a common purpose to the protagonist, so a rival is not an enemy.  Secondly, a rival is someone who inspires the protagonist to grow.  As I mentioned earlier, many anime rivals are more naturally gifted than the protagonist, which causes the protagonist to work harder in order to catch up and surpass their gifted peer.  Rivalry is a show of respect where a protagonist acknowledges another's strength and uses that individual as a goal as they grow stronger.  And it is this feature; respect, that I think is so often missing in shonen rivalries, and which makes Yuno a much more interesting and well constructed character than many people give him credit for.

I want to look at two shows that are often compared with Black Clover and which also possess iconic anime rivalries.  Naruto is the story of an outcast boy and his quest to become "the Hokage" or leader of his village.  His rivalry with the revenge obsessed Sasuke is iconic; even before I started watching the show I was aware of the competitive spirit between the two.  The second show is My Hero Academia which started around the same time as Black Clover and immediately gained greater popularity and acclaim.  This is the story of Midoria, a young man who does not have a "quirk" or superpower in a world where everyone has some sort of ability, who wants to become the number one hero (starting to see a pattern here?).  His rival is Bakugo, a childhood friend with a powerful explosion quirk and anger management issues.

Both Sasuke and Bakugo start the story from a position of strength.  They are the strong geniuses with vast talents for the heroes to try to catch up with.  They are arrogant, self absorbed and (honestly) cruel to their less fortunate friends.  While Sasuke and Naruto do develop a friendship early in the series, it is a friendship built (from Sasuke's perspective) on the understanding that Naruto is the weaker of the two.  Similarly, Bakugo is constantly trying to prove his superiority; before Midoria acquires a quirk he mocks him as "useless," and after Midoria gains the quirk "One for All" Bakugo is spends the vast majority of the show trying to prove, over and over, that he is still superior to Midoria.  There is a lot of interesting character development here, but ultimately, I do think it hurts the rivalry aspect of the show.  Both Bakugo and Sasuke define themselves by their superiority over their counterparts, and when that is threatened, they lose their foundation.  Sasuke literally goes to the dark side and joins Orochimaru because he is jealous that Naruto has grown stronger than he is (yes, I realize the situation was more complicated than that, but ultimately the point stands).  While Naruto has constantly had to work hard to improve and catch up to Sasuke, when Sasuke is threatened by Naruto's strength, he takes the "easy" road and looks for a quick power-up.  Bakugo is not much better.  From writing Midoria off as useless to exploding in powerful tantrums when the other hero begins to grow stronger, Bakugo's violent antipathy towards Midoria's growth is the defining feature of his character.

This is a stark contrast with Yuno.  In many ways, Yuno is an opposite of Sasuke and Bakugo.  He does not talk a lot, and he does not show a lot of emotion.  While Sasuke and Bakugo are pillars of backstory and "character development," Yuno is off screen more than he is on.  He is a quiet, imposing presence at Asta's back; always felt but rarely seen.  What makes Yuno a superior rival, however, is his respect for Asta.  As I mentioned, Naruto and Midoria might respect Sasuke and Bakugo, but their rivals are hugely disdainful toward them.  In contrast, Yuno is nothing but respectful of Asta's capability.  He might call Asta short, loud, and obnoxious, but he always, always, acknowledges Asta's strength.  In the second episode, when Asta receives a grimoire despite having no magic, Yuno's comment is simply, "I knew it.  There's no way that Asta wouldn't have been chosen.  Asta's always been that way. He always does the unthinkable."  He openly admires Asta's strength and determination, and he is immensely satisfied when the other makes progress.  One of the scenes that best epitomizes this relationship is immediately after the underwater temple arc.  Asta, who has seriously injured his arms, accompanies Yami to a town that is being attacked by the Diamond Kingdom.  Yuno's squad the Golden Dawn, is in charge of the defense.  At this point it has been a while since we have seen Yuno, and he appears with new magic, easily obliterating the enemies in front of him.  When he meets Asta, he takes in the other's bedraggled appearance as quietly states, "You're all torn up, scrambling around, and soaked with sweat...talk about ugly.  The fact that you're so beat up means... You got stronger again, didn't you?  I'm not losing to you, Asta!"  Yuno doesn't boast about his own growth, and he doesn't disparage Asta's injured condition, instead he correctly attributes that condition to his rival's continued growth.  As much as Asta is inspired to grow stronger by pursuing Yuno's genius, Yuno is also inspired by Asta to grow stronger and improve.  This is the most positive rivalry I have seen in a battle shonen.  Instead of rivals that bicker and fight, rivals that disparage each other and treat each other poorly, Asta and Yuno respect each other and it is that mutual respect that pushes the two to grow stronger.

This mutual respect is closely linked to their shared history.  A lot of people disparage the early chapters and episodes of Black Clover for being too slow.  But the tone established for Asta and Yuno's relationship serves as the foundation for their rivalry throughout the show, and the source of Yuno's character.  Yuno was a very sensitive child, often labeled as a "cry baby" by others at the orphanage.  One night, when he was sent to deliver a message, he encountered a drunk man who tried to steal his pendant, the only clue he has to who his family might be.  Asta comes to his friend's defense and takes a beating from the older man, who eventually gives up trying to rob the pair in disgust at the child's persistence.  In this moment, Asta declares that he will become the wizard king to prove that even a poor orphan from the middle of nowhere can be important and powerful.  Yuno is inspired by his friend's bravery and persistence and, wiping away his tears, declares that he will not cry again, and that he too will be the wizard king.  It seems like a small moment compared to the epic scale of the rest of the show, but this simple moment defines Yuno as a character and as a rival.  In the previous examples I mentioned, both Bakugo and Sasuke operate under the assumption that their "rivals" Midoria and Naruto are weaker than them, and thus feel threatened at their new strength.  Yuno's story starts with being saved by Asta.  Asta inspires Yuno to become the wizard king, his determination and strength motivate Yuno to become stronger.  Thus, Yuno isn't starting from a place of superiority; despite being a magic genius, despite being smarter, more talented, better looking, and more respected than Asta, Yuno does not see the other boy as his inferior, but rather as his goal, the person he must reach and surpass in order to succeed.  While Asta strives to match Yuno's power and genius, Yuno strives to match Asta's determination, strength, and idealism. 

This sense of equality, this mutual respect, allows Yuno's character to develop in a truly unique manner.  Yuno's critics complain that he is boring because he doesn't really change, and there is truth to the point because he remains remarkably stable throughout the current run of the narrative.  But I think this is the most interesting thing about his character; his ideals, his sense of self were forged and crystalized by his childhood experience with Asta.  He is single minded; his goal is to become the Wizard King and surpass Asta.  Only by becoming the Wizard King can he even hope to surpass Asta, only by beating his rival to this final goal will he ever transcend Asta's idealism and determination.  Their rivalry forms the solid core of his character, a core that results in a surprising amount of insight; more than any other character (except maybe Mereoleona and Julius, the two most powerful characters in the show), Yuno knows exactly who he is: he is Asta's rival, the boy who swore never to cry again, the man who will become the Wizard King because only then can he truly surpass his brother, the boy who inspired him.

The most recent episode of Black Clover spotlight's the beauty of Asta and Yuno's rivalry (spoilers in this analysis, of course).  Patry, the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, has succeeded in reincarnating the elves into the bodies of many of the gifted magic knights of the kingdom, Yuno among them.  With this reincarnation, the elves have turned on their magic knight companions and overwhelmed them with their incredible magic power.  Asta encounters Yuno and two other reincarnated elves who declare that they are going to kill all the humans.  Asta calls out to Yuno, trying to break through the spell.  Battered by the elves attack, Asta stands up and declares, "Not yet. I'm not going to die yet!  I promised my friends I'd come back alive!  I won't let my friends kill my other friends!  I'll survive this.  I'll survive all of this...and then I'll become the Wizard King!"  The words of his rival trigger something in Yuno, who had been dazed by the reincarnation magic, and he jumps to his friend's defense, commenting, "What are you talking about, Asta?  I'm the one who's going to become the Wizard King!"  No words can describe how incredibly cool this moment is; there is no other example in the show of a human taking over the body while an elf soul is reincarnated in it.  The other elves are stunned by the development, commenting that Yuno must be, "incredibly strong minded" to resist the force of the elven soul within him.  This is the strength of Asta and Yuno's rivalry, a strength forged of mutual respect and admiration, a desire to grow stronger and change the world that transcends even the powerful elven magic.

And the epicness only eschalates from there.  The two are forced to confront the newly awakened Licht, the most powerful of the newly reincarnated elves, and again, their trust for each other and respect for the other's power overwhelms.  It's an incredibly animated fight with Licht's light magic swords magic going toe to toe with Yuno's wind spirit magic and Asta's anti-magic.  It's a fight neither of them could win on their own, but the faith that they have in the other's power allows them to create incredible combinations and stand up to a foe that individually they would be completely annihilated by.  Again, it is Yuno who shows absolute faith in Asta, when, after driving Licht back, unleashes a powerful attack because he also knows, "This is when Asta will surpass his limits."  There is no jealousy, no animosity, nothing but respect for the other, a respect that drives him to grow even stronger and push past his own limits.

And this is what separates Yuno from rivals like Bakugo and Sasuke; Yuno approaches his rivalry with Asta from a place of stability that stems from a unique maturity.  Yuno's opinion of Asta was formed during his childhood, as was his own image of himself.  Asta's determination and grit inspire rather than threaten Yuno, and so he can compete with Asta as a rival without the latent animosity or superiority and jealousy that is seen in other shonen rivals.  Because his character is more mature, he doesn't develop in the same way.  Yuno does not need to come to a conscious realization of his rival's power because he already has it.  He does not need to experience uncertainty in his own identity because he has already been forced to confront his own weakness.  The healthiest way his character can develop is by remaining stable; despite the knowledge of his magical superiority, despite getting into the Golden Dawn when Asta is only allowed into the Black Bulls, despite being chosen by an elemental spirit, Yuno's perspective allows him to remain consistent, to continually work hard despite the temptation to rely on his genius, and to constantly recognize Asta's strength regardless of their relative positions.

This is the sort of rivalry I wish was more common in battle shonen.  It shows up a fair bit in sports anime like Haikyuu!! and the emotional impact is enormous.  Respectful rivals become characters the audience can cheer for along with the protagonist; I cry even when Karasuno wins their matches because I love their rivals and want them to be successful as much as I want that for the main characters.  Similarly, it was heartbreaking for me to see Yuno as a reincarnated elf because I was emotionally invested in his rivalry with Asta, and it was so satisfying when their rivalry became the foundation for his triumph over that magic.  I actually don't know who I want to become the Wizard King, Asta or Yuno, because both characters are strong, hard working, and kind.  It is easy to cheer for Midoria over Bakugo because Bakugo is a jerk.  It is easy to wish for Naruto to become stronger than Sasuke because Sasuke is an arrogant prick.  It is more complicated, more interesting, and more emotionally compelling to watch a pair of rivals who are both worthy of my respect, to see both give their all, to build each other up and push each other forward, and in the end, it will be all the more bitter sweet when one of them eventually takes that step ahead of the other.

So anyway, there's my thoughts on rivalry in Black Clover, scattered and opinionated as they may be.  If you disagree with me, please feel free to comment... I am always down for rational dialogue, and I certainly understand that many people may not share my perspectives on these characters.  Hopefully part 6 will be underway sometime over the next week or so; it's more a matter of marshaling my thoughts into coherent orders and having too much to say that is causing delays at this point.

Well, back to reality.

Over Analyzing Black Clover Part 4: The Magic of Character

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming back to "Over Analyzing Black Clover" this is part 4.  Please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for the full experience.  Part 4 is talking about the magic system in the series, so please enjoy.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Black Clover world is the unique magic system.  Bear with me, because this is going to turn into a mini rant before it turns into an analysis.  I love magic systems.  As a scholar who wants to pursue research in the field of epic fantasy, I am fascinated by the way magic systems interact with the mythology, history, science, as well as with the individual characters.  There are so many incredibly interesting power systems within fantasy literature, and also within anime.  However, controversial statement, I hate anime power systems.  Yep, bring on the hate comments, tell me all the reasons I am wrong, but anime power systems tend to be very broken.  I watch a lot of YouTube analysis videos about anime, all of which praise the interaction between character and power; in particular systems like "nen" from Hunter x Hunter and "stands" in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.  Each of these systems has a structure (vaguely) that allows the individual to develop their power as an extension of their character.  The issue I have with these systems is that they are too open. Here is an example from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (I know it's a detour... I will come back to Black Clover, I promise).  I just recently finished part 4 of Jojo's, and while I enjoy the story and the characters, the power system is too open ended.  Consider Koichi's stand "Reverb."  This stand is new born at the beginning of the series, and it develops over the course of the series.  This, in and of itself, is not a problem; the stand is an extension of the wielder's soul, so of course as the character grows, the stand grows as well. The problem is that this growth is too convenient.  Whenever the story places Koichi in a circumstance where he is in danger, instead of using his current stand according to the set abilities we know it has, instead the stand evolves a convenient new power that allows him to escape.  In particular, the third evolution, to "Reverb Act 3" is problematic, as up to this point, Reverb is a stand that utilizes sound; either by creating writing that makes the sound that is written, or by creating sound effects that have an actual impact on the world (writing "boing" on a solid object allows it to become bouncy).  Act Three, however, transforms completely, and instead of manipulating sound has the ability to manipulate gravity.  Because the stand system is so open ended, the evolution of the power becomes a cheat code; instead of having to be creative with the powers they already have, the characters can simply evolve new ones and move forward.  While this is less true of nen in Hunter x Hunter (the random power-ups at least come with heavy consequences here), the open ended nature of the system allows the characters to simply "evolve" their powers in dangerous circumstances instead of having to "refine" their limited capabilities.

So, back to Black Clover.  In many ways, the Black Clover magic system suffers from the same flaws that I just specified.  The magic system is very open: each person's magic seems to fall into some sort of elemental alignment or specific category, although we don't have a firm knowledge of what those categories are yet, but because the magic is tied to the individual, there is the same possibility for evolution during convenient (read dangerous) moments.  What makes Black Clover's magic system interesting is (much like nen) the conditions under which this evolution can be achieved, and also the way that the magic is so tightly bound to the character's psychological and emotional state.

Breaking down this concept a bit more, the power of an individual's magic in Black Clover is dependent on three separate factors, and these factors work culminate into the individual's magic strength.  First, there is the amount of mana (magic power) an individual is born with.  Certain families like the royals and nobility have naturally higher magic power because they are born with more mana.  This set amount of power limits an individual's potential creating a division between the magic "haves" and "have-nots."  I will go into this classism based on magic power in a later post.  It is the two other factors behind an individual's magic strength that concern this post.  First, one can improve one's magic through hard work and practice.  Any character who is willing to put in the time and effort can improve their magic drastically.  We see the most obvious results of this sort of training during the Royal Knight's selection tournament.  Having just experienced the limits of many of the character's powers in the Witches Forest arc, when we reach this tournament we discover that a number of characters have been training and have worked hard enough to unlock new spells; Magna develops a fireball that vanishes last minute in order to get past Asta's anti-magic, Mimosa develops an attack style for her plant magic, and Finral (who has trained so hard his hair changed color), has developed a homing version of his portal magic that removes any enemy it touches from the battlefield.  Each of these powers is developed through the character's effort and hard training; providing a (partial) solution to the vast power discrepancy between those born with an abundance of mana and those with less.  This supports one of the major themes of Black Clover, which is that hard work and perseverance can allow anyone to succeed.

The third method by which characters can improve their magic in Black Clover is through unlocking new spells in a moment of extremely heightened danger and emotion.  This at first seems like the cop out "evolution" I complained about earlier, but it done in such a way that the development works naturally for the character.  This unlocking of a new spell does not just happen in moments of danger, but in moments of psychological transformation.  I talked about Noelle's development quite a bit in Part 2 of this series, so I won't go into it here.  Instead, I want to focus on Gauche's battle during the first Eye of the Midnight Sun arc.  Up to this point, Gauche is shown to care about only one thing; his sister Marie.  Because of this, he is isolated from the Black Bulls and does not form the same team bond that many of them have.  His magic reflects (pun intended since he uses mirror magic) this; he uses mirrors to shoot beam attacks, and he can make a reflection clone of himself in battle to improve his own strength.  When he is forced to team up and fight with Asta, however, he begins to revise his perspective.  As he opens up to trust the members of his squad, a new and powerful spell is written in his grimoire, allowing him to use the reflection clone magic on others not just himself.  The development of the new magic directly correlates with the emotional development he undergoes learning how to trust others.  In this case, the appearance of the new spell isn't a "deus ex machina." evolution to get the character out of a pinch, instead it is the physical manifestation of a psychological change and the growth within the character.  The same argument can be made for every character that develops a new spell under pressure within the series; the new spells are always implicitly linked to the emotional development of the characters.  The traumatic circumstances might be a catalyst for this emotional development, but they do not directly cause the emergence of new spells. 

One can actually view this as an extension of the second path of growing magic; training, at it's core, is about learning who you are, finding your own limits, and pushing yourself to surpass them.  It is a process of self discovery and development.  By training hard in magic, the individual comes to know themselves better and so they are able to develop new spells.  By confronting their demons in moments of extreme danger, the individual comes to know themselves better and so are able to develop new spells.  Both paths for developing magic are inherently tied to character; the better an individual knows themselves the stronger their magic becomes; this is why characters like Mereoleona and Yami are so powerful; they know themselves, have trained and tested themselves, have striven against powerful rivals and dangerous circumstances for so long that they have refined their own characters.  There is no uncertainty left in them; they trust themselves and their own capabilities, and this makes their magic stronger than that of many of their peers who are still floundering in their doubts or who rely on their natural strength without the same sort of self reflection.

Ultimately, while the Black Clover power system does go the way of all anime power system in being too open and too convenient, the execution of that convenience, and how it is intimately tied to the development of the characters pushes it head and shoulders above many similar power systems.  It shows an emphasis on character and attention to detail that is highly effective storytelling, and I look forward to watching each character continue to develop both themselves and their magic.

Come back next time for a look at society and class in Black Clover (yay), with an analysis on why idealism and hope work in the story despite the seemingly naive optimism of the characters.  I am going back to work next week, so Part 5 might be a little slower in coming, but I will get there eventually.

Well, back to reality!

Over Analyzing "Black Clover" Part 3; Surpass Your Limits: Fight with Friends

Dear Readers,
As promised, part 3 of my ongoing series "Over Analyzing Black Clover."  Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.  Part 2 was really long and got a lot of development, so I'm definitely scaling things back here.  This one is a lot shorter because I don't necessarily go into a lot of details.  It's basically breaking down what I love about the fight dynamics for the main characters in Black Clover, and the role that team work plays in that dynamic.

Do Your Best and Trust Your Friends
So, like I said in the review, one of the great things about Black Clover is the dynamics of friendship and teamwork that run throughout.  Many people compare Black Clover the Fairy Tail, and the comparison is not without merit.  One of the best aspects of Fairy Tail is the dynamic between characters in the guild.  In many ways, watching Fairy Tail feels like joining a new (slightly dysfuntional) family; the characters care about and support each other and encourage each other to grow stronger and move forward.  Black Clover includes the same dynamic, but with even more depth.  The Black Bulls are a collection of misfits and outcasts; and every character has a unique backstory, motivation, and dynamic within the squad.  While Asta is the main character of the series, every arc also focuses on a different member of the squad, giving the viewer/reader more information about their history, while also allowing them opportunities to grow and "surpass their limits."  Asta is a perfect catalyst for this development; his lack of magic means that there are things he will never be able to accomplish on his own.  Despite this shortcoming, however, he still works and fights harder than anyone; his work ethic becomes an inspiration for his companions, while his reliance on their skills and his appreciation for their capabilities allows them to grow in both power and confidence.

Real talk now... and spoilers for the anime.  One of the best examples of this is the undersea temple arc.  Almost the entire squad goes on a mission to retrieve a magic stone from an underwater temple.  The Black Bulls are told that if they want the stone they have to defeat a temple's warriors in a battle games setting.  The friendly fights are interrupted, however, by the arrival of Vetto, a powerful fighter from the main antagonist group of the series.  The fight becomes one for survival as he uses his overpowered (potentially demonic) beast magic to brutally cut down everyone he encounters.

This arc sees amazing growth for three of the Black Bulls, Noelle, Vanessa, and Finral.  Noelle is the female lead of the show, with powerful water magic that she struggles to control.  While fighting Vetto, she struggles because, while she has a very powerful defensive magic, she cannot control her offensive magic to hit her opponent.  This is linked to both her desire not to cause harm to others, but also the terrible insecurity she has in herself and her magic due to her poor relationships with her family (more on this in a different section).  When confronted with Vetto, however, her admiration for Asta and his unwillingness to give up despite his overwhelmingly bad circumstances becomes a catalyst for her own transformation where she transcends her insecurities and unleashes a massive new attack in defense of her friends.  She is able to do major damage to Vetto, allowing Asta, Finral, and Vanessa time to recover and move into the final confrontation.  This is where we also got to see Finral and Vanessa grow as well.  Up to this point, we knew that Finral was a flirtatious spacial magic user (and also a coward), and we didn't know much about Vanessa at all.  The two combine forces in order to help Asta move fast enough to defeat Vetto, combining Finral's portal magic with Vanessa's string magic to increase his manuverability.  In just this short fight, we see Finral struggle with his cowardice (which is born from his own insecurity and sense of inferiority about his magic) and Vanessa with her sense of helplessness.  Asta's absolute trust in the pair of them and his admiration for their abilities as mages allows them to surpass their limits and fight against such incredible odds.  This emphasis on mutual respect and teamwork is one of the major features that makes Black Clover stand head and shoulders above other shonen.



This is all made possible by Asta.  Asta does not have magic, so in many ways he is at a huge disadvantage in the magic knights.  He has swords that can negate magic, but he has to be in close range to be able to use them.  Against opponents who can use magic outside of that range, his only option is to be defensive or rely on others.  Using Finral's spatial magic to maneuver into range and Vanessa's string magic to change course rapidly in response to attacks allows Asta to fight to the best of his ability.  Similarly, Finral, who has no attack capabilities with his magic, and Vanessa who lacks power, would be unable to deal with such strong opponents on their own, but working as a team with Asta, they are able to transcend those limits.


This is something you don't see a lot in battle shonen anime.  Most of the time, even when fighting in a team, the heroes fight one on one, or maybe two on one in a single combination attack.  It is very rare to see three or more characters team up to take on a single opponent, and even more rare to see them do so in such a way were their strengths cover the others weakness to create a whole that is factorally stronger instead of just additively (power 10x10 instead of power 10+10).  Most "team work" in battle shonen consists of two heroes adding their power together in order for a single final hit to be stronger.  Yes, it's team work, but it doesn't really say anything about the characters themselves.  In Black Clover, however, each member of a team brings a unique skill that compliments those of their teammates; individually, neither Asta, Vanessa, nor Finral could fight Vetto and survive.  His power is too great a mismatch to theirs.  But by combining their strengths, they also provide a defense against their weaknesses.  The only other place I have seen this kind of team dynamic is in sports anime, and even there the temptation is often to let two or three main characters carry the team instead of focusing on the combination of skills to create a unified whole (Haikyuu!! and Eyeshield 21 probably do this best of all the sports anime I have seen).  Team work in fundamental in Black Clover, which creates truly unique battle scenes where each individual is contributing to the final goal.

This emphasis on team work highlights one of the main themes in Black Clover, which is that "anyone" can succeed if they try hard enough.  Asta wants to become the wizard king in order to show the world that a commoner, someone from the boonies, someone without magic, can still dream, be successful, and have value.  He wants to create a world where there is no prejudice against people because of their social status, magical ability, or race.  This seems like an idealistic and terribly unrealistic dream, but Asta isn't struggling alone.  Yes, it seem impossible for a kid without magic to join the magic knights.  But with hard work and a refusal to give up, Asta finds a way.  Yes, the nobility will "always" look down on the commoners who have less magic, but those who are intellectually honest will grow to respect the courage, the will to fight, and the results those commoners bring, and will gradually change their perspectives.  Impossible dreams, unwinnable fights are made reality, not just by sheer "force of will" or effort, not just by "the power of friendship" or "plot armor," but through the recognition of the strengths of others, and the choice to work with others, despite their differences, in order to achieve a common goal.  Asta's dream may seem far fetched, but he does not pursue it mindlessly; he thinks about the consequences, he struggles with his conscience and chooses to empathize with others, no matter how different they may seem, and this is the strength that allows hims to advance.  "Anyone can succeed" in Black Clover if they try hard enough, because trying hard is not just working out, powering up and growing stronger (although of course there is that), trying hard is relying on friends to offset your weakness, empathizing with enemies and thoughtfully considering their position, building "merit" in every sense of the word, not just in physical (magical) strength.

Well, back to reality.

Over Analyzing "Black Clover" Part 2- A Minor Thesis on the Badass Ladies

Dear Readers,

I'm gonna come right out and say it... shonen can be the worst when it comes to female characters.  Because it is "for boys," many of the stories focus on male protagonists growing stronger through a series of adventures with their friends.  I don't have a problem with this, but this often results in female characters who do nothing more than stand in the background looking pretty and shouting the hero's name when they get in trouble (I'm looking at you, Sakura from Naruto and Orihime from Bleach).  While there are shonen anime that have interesting and powerful female characters (Hello Erza from Fairy Tail and Olivier Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist), I have never seen a shonen that presents such a diversity of powerful, badass ladies.  I'm definitely gonna go a bit long here because I want to talk about a lot of them (finishing with perhaps the most badass female character ever created).

Sister Lily- the first badass lady we meet in the story is Sister Lily, the motherly nun who helps to raise Asta, Yuno, and the other orphans in their village.  At first glance she might seem like an odd choice to include in this line-up.  She is soft spoken, kind, nurturing, and generally fills a traditional "female" role.  However, this is what makes her so interesting.  Her femininity isn't a sign of weakness.  During a mini-arc in the show in which Yuno returns to Hage village for a mission, it is revealed that her magic power is on par with a magic knight's; this is such an interesting position for a minor character.  She has chosen her calling as a nun: to work with children at a rural orphanage, despite her immense magic potential.  This is a different kind of bad-assery, and definitely deserves a shout out before we head into the list of lady warriors.  It takes strength of a different kind to pursue a calling even when you have a great potential in other areas, and Sister Lily's presence at the orphanage has a strong impact on both Asta and Yuno's characters; her loving support and kind upbring enables them to grow into the strong men they become throughout the series.

Alright, on to the fighters. (Also, be aware, manga spoilers coming up... don't like, don't read).

Mimosa Vermillion: like Sister Lily, Mimosa's character takes a more traditionally "feminine" role.  She is a magic knight, but her kind heart makes her magic trend toward healing and support.  However, she does not close her horizons, and works hard to become well rounded and include some attack spells in her repetiore so as not to be a burden on those around her.  Her recognition of her weakness and humility extends to open admiration for the people around her... instead of looking down on Noelle for her inability to control her magic (like so many of the other royals), she instead admires and emulates Noelle's hard work ethic and her perseverance in the face of difficulty.  She does not think herself better than others (again, a very rare trait for those born into the royalty in Black Clover), and chooses to help people no matter their status, background, or position.  She even extends healing help to enemies because she does not want to see anyone suffer.  While this is again, a more traditionally feminine role, she never comes across as a "useless" damsel in distress.  Her strengths may not lie in fighting, but she will use everything she has to support and help the people around her, and her kind nature and powerful healing magic make her a force to be reckoned with.  I draw a comparison with Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood... she may not actively participate in the battle, but her supporting role is absolutely vital for victory.

Sol Marron: let's swing to the other side of the spectrum with brutal earth magic and heavily implied lesbianism... yay!  Sol Marron is a magic knight in the Blue Rose squad, who uses earth magic to make golems rampaging mud golems.  She is a very powerful mage, and very open about her affection for and defense of Blue Rose squad captain Charlotte Roselli (more on her later).  Sol is brash, easily provoked, and often thoughtless, but she is also deeply loyal.  While the story does not focus on the Blue Rose Knights very often, it is always a treat when it does, because Sol is such a cheerful, fierce fighter who wears her emotions openly; in many ways her character type is that of a "typical shonen protagonist" (she reminds me of Luffy from One Piece, Gon from Hunter X Hunter, Natsu from Fairy Tail, or Naruto), a little thoughtless, a little too enthusiastic at times, but someone who deeply cares about her friends and companions and who is willing fight and sacrifice to protect them.  It is amazing to see a female version of this trope, and she isn't even a main character.

Charlotte Roselli: I love this lady's backstory so much.  She is the daughter of a noble house who was cursed at a young age (a sort of Sleeping Beauty thing with her rose magic).  Determined to save herself from the curse, she trains hard and becomes a magic knight.  As she encounters man after man who is weaker than her, she trains harder and harder, because no man weaker than her can hope to defeat the curse, and if no man can handle it then she will have to defeat the curse herself.  This process breeds a deep contempt for men within her, a contempt that is passed on to her subordinate Sol, as both view the opposite gender as pretty useless.  Things take a twist, however, when her magic goes out of control due to the curse, and all the effort she made to get stronger just means the curse's effect is stronger too.  She is unable to fight her way free of the entangling briars of her magic, but is saved by Yami, captain of the Black Bulls, who easily cuts his way through the curse.  Of course, she falls for him, but a decades long habit of being dismissive toward men is hard to break, so she continues to act disdainful and superior whenever she is around him.  What makes Charlotte so great is this duality; for so long she was disappointed by men that she became dismissive and cold, but now that she has found a man she can admire and respect (and even love), she doesn't know how to express her feelings for him.  As someone from a family of daughters who were raised to be "strong, confident women," this conundrum rings true... most men tend to feel threatened by a powerful, competent woman, and so they tend to avoid such women.  This, in turn, breeds a sense of distance from the opposite gender that makes actual communication difficult.  Charlotte is trapped in a strong woman's dilemma; how to show affection for the opposite gender without being seen as weak, because if she acknowledges a man's strength it implies that she "needs" him.  This is such an interesting twist on the "ice-princess" trope, and is so well executed despite the her being a more minor character.

Vanessa Enoteca: the Black Bull's resident alcoholic.  Insert obligator "Cana from Fairy Tail" joke here... the scantily clothed hard drinking slightly older woman with a surprise tragic backstory.  But while Cana's story is about finding her family, Vanessa's is about choosing to reject hers.  Vanessa's mother is the queen of the witches (a badass lady in her own right, if a bit of a twisted one).  When she foresees that Vanessa will have the power to "control fate" one-day, she imprisons her own daughter in order to keep and control that power for herself.  Vanessa (like Charlotte) is freed by Yami, and becomes a member of the Black Bulls.  When Asta's arms are shattered by magic, she returns to the witches forest to get the witch queen to heal him.  Her arc is so well executed and allows for exemplary character growth.  When she first returns to the forest, she is convinced of her mother's absolute power.  She volunteers to sacrifice herself and return willingly as her mother's prisoner if the Queen of the Witches will heal Asta's arms.  Vanessa chooses to sacrifice the life she has built with her friends when she returns to the witch's forest.  Asta refuses this agreement; unwilling to allow her to sacrifice herself, and looks for an alternative path to victory.  As the friends struggle together, Vanessa gradually realizes that her family is the Black Bull's squad, not the mother who imprisoned and tried to use her.  In the end, she is able to summon the power to "control fate" a power that only responds to those Vanessa considers family, in order to defeat queen.  Vanessa's arc deals with such a wide array of complicated subjects; the question of fate versus free will runs throughout as the queen's foresight is countered with Vanessa's ability to manipulate fate and choose her own destiny, the theme overcoming childhood abuse and building bonds with an adoptive family (which is pretty universal in Black Clover), mixed into a beautiful coming of age story as Vanessa forges her own identity.  This kind of complex character development is more reminiscent of a novel than a shonen, where character growth is not simply "growing physically stronger" but is about becoming an individual who knows herself and uses that self awareness to grow past her old shortcomings.

Alright, now to the big three... two of these are obvious to anyone who watches the anime, but number three might be a bit of a surprise.

#3 Charmy Pappitson
Yes, the lolli.  Yes, the girl who is constantly eating.  Yes, the girl who slept through half of underwater temple arc.  That Charmy.  We don't know a lot about her as a character.  She hasn't had the same development that Noelle or Vanessa have, so we don't know her backstory, or why she joined the Black Bulls.  But what little we do know about her makes her an easy choice for the top three ladies in the series.  First, she is such an amazingly quirky character.  I mentioned before that she is always eating.  A female character.  Who is always eating.  Because she loves food.  Who is drawn with pudgy cheeks and a bit of a double chin but is still amazingly confident in her own sexiness. And you do not want to stand between this girl and a buffet table because she will mess you up.  Charmy is one of the most powerful magic users in the show, with an unusually wide variety of skills.  Her magic affinity is "cotton creation magic" which allows her to produce cotton and living sheep familiars that carry out her bidding.  This magic shines in a support role, as she is able to use her cotton to cushion landings, carry things, provide a certain amount of armor, and so forth.  In a support context, Charmy's sheep cooks are actually brokenly over powered.  We learn in the elf reincarnation arc of the manga that food cooked by Charmy's sheep cooks actually has manna regeneration properties; fighters that were drained after (or during battle) can eat her food and be back up to full strength super quickly.  She is able to single handedly restore the manna for almost the entire Black Bulls squad as they are continuously battling, without becoming drained herself.  This ability, to restore power during or immediately after a fight is basically a cheat code to allow the Black Bulls to continue fighting, but the incredible thing is that it doesn't affect Charmy's own capabilities; after keeping the whole squad in top fighting shape for dozens of chapters, she still has enough power to go all out in her own fights.

And if Charmy is brokenly powerful in a support context, she is even more badass on attack.  Her sheep cooks can transform into a stupidly powerful familiar; in the attack on the capital arc she one shots a witch that was giving (magical genius) Yuno difficulties.  We find out later in the story that her sheep is actually a wolf (I laughed for five minutes straight about the "wolf in sheep's clothing" joke), capable of consuming pretty much anything.  Her fight against Rill (a magic knight captain with reincarnated elf powers) makes it clear how ridiculously powerful her magic is.  Rill is capable of using paint creation magic: anything he paints becomes real.  This power allowed him to become the youngest magic knights captain ever.  He fights Yuno toe to toe in the Royal Knights tournament arc, and only loses because his own magic is so powerful it shatters the crystal he is supposed to be protecting.  This is before he gains the additional manna and experience of his elf reincarnation.  Charmy's wolf, however, easily devours everything he paints, consuming his magic before it even has chance to take affect.  Powerful on both attack and in support, Charmy's magic would be more than enough to land her the number three spot on this list of badass ladies.

But more than that, Charmy's character is so interesting.  Like I mentioned before, we don't know much about her backstory.  It is only when we get the reveal of her wolf familiar during the elf reincarnation arc that we learn that she is, in fact, half dwarf, and that is why she is so stupidly powerful and can actually utilize two different types of magic.  But despite the little that we know about her personally, there is a lot about her character that stands out.  Charmy delights in eating good food, and in sharing that food with others.  Her primary motivation throughout the story is always centered on food; she attacks the manna stealing witch in the attack on the capital arc because she thinks the witch is going to steal her food.  She breaks out of a sleeping spell in the underwater temple arc at the promise of food, obliterating the powerful enemies in her path along the way.  He fight with Rill starts because she offers him food and he rejects and destroys it... this lady is motivated when it comes to food.  But it isn't a selfish motivation, she just delights in good food, and believes in its universality.  When the Black Bulls form a temporary alliance with three magic users from the Eye of the Midnight sun, Charmy immediately invites them to eat with the group, establishing them as a community united by food.  This simple motivation gives a stability to her character that many of the other Black Bulls lack; Charmy knows who she is... the girl who eats food and shares food with others, absolutely confident in herself and completely unafraid of what anyone else has to say about her.

One final note on Charmy before I move on; I love the relationship between her and Yuno. It's really hard to sum up in words what makes their interactions so adorable, so I won't say much.  Charmy falls for Yuno after he saves her food (gotta love her consistency), and proceeds to shower him with affection and food throughout the rest of the series.  For his part, Yuno is not put off by her forward affection and receives her constant gestures with an unusual level of polite gratitude (Yuno has no filter, so if he was displeased with her attentions he would certainly show it as he often does with the wind spirit, Bell).  While it may be that Yuno is simply clueless, the fact that he is so kind in his interactions with Charmy gives me hope that if he does someday catch on the two of them will become the cutest, most self-confident, absolutely badass power couple in anime.

#2 Noelle Silva
From no character development to all the character development, it's time to talk about the female lead in the story, Noelle Silva.  Noelle is the daughter of a noble house with ridiculously powerful magic that she has trouble controlling.  Because of this, she is placed with the black sheep squad, the Black Bulls.  Because of her noble upbringing, she is a classic tsundere; she looks down on everyone around her, refuses to acknowledge her own emotions, and "hmphing" with her nose in the air down to an art.  But underneath the classic stereotype there is a lot of interesting character motivations, backstory, and development.

Noelle's character is inherently tied to her background.  Her mother died in childbirth, leaving her the youngest daughter in a noble family renowned for their magic.  Her siblings blame her for their mother's death and ostracize her, a situation which is aggravated by her lack of control over her powerful magic.  She is constantly put down, and eventually relegated to the Black Bulls because she is "a disappointment to the family."  In the Black Bulls, she works hard to learn to control her magic and grow as a magic knight, and this is where her development gets really interesting.

There are three ways to become powerful as a magic user in Black Clover.  First is to be born with a lot of magic power inherently.  As a member of a royal family, Noelle was born with incredibly strong magic power, even if she could never control it.  The second way is to train hard and gradually develop that inherent power.  Most nobles do not need to do this, as they have large amounts of magic to begin with, but because Noelle had difficulty controlling her magic, she actually trains very hard.  Even before coming to the Black Bulls, Noelle would practice to try to gain better control over her magic, and after joining the squad, she was inspired by the hard work of Asta and the other Black Bulls members to continue training and working hard to learn to control her magic.  This work ethic becomes the foundation of her magic... she isn't just strong because she was born strong, but because she is willing to train ridiculously hard in order to get better.  All of this would already make her a top tier anime leading lady, but this doesn't even scratch the surface of her character, because we haven't even talked about the third way to grow stronger.

In Black Clover, magic strength is tied, not only to natural talent and hard work, but also to the character's mental and emotional strength.  The third way to grow stronger in magic is to experience intense circumstances that serve as an emotional and mental catalyst to open up new magical spells in the individual's grimoire.  Noelle experiences this transformation not once, not twice, but three times over the current run of the manga. I'm going to break down each of these events because they all contribute to the incredible character development that has gone into Noelle Silva.

The first of these events occurs during her and Asta's first mission to the village of Sosshi with Magna.  Upon finding the village under attack from mysterious forces, the three set out to defend the villagers.  While Asta and Magna are both decisive in this endeavor, Noelle is bogged down by her own uncertainty.  First, she lacks confidence in her ability to be helpful; she has no control over her attacks and her barrage fails to hit any of the attackers.  Secondly, she is split between her desire to help and her noble upbringing.  Why should she, a noble, be forced to risk her life for these commoners?  Frozen in uncertainty, she is preparing to flee from the battle, when one of the village children asks her for protection.  Inspired by how hard Asta and Magna are fighting, and determined to do her best to protect the children of the village, Noelle unlocks a new spell in her grimoire, Naga's Cradle, a defensive water dome that she can use to protect others.  This first new spell is representative of a transformation in Noelle's character.  For the first time, she isn't using magic to impress others or live up to her family's expectation, instead, she is selflessly using it to protect others.  It is only when Noelle chooses to put her life on the line for the sake of others that she is able to gain some control over her magic and use it in an effective way during battle.  Instead of thinking of herself as a noble, she thinks of herself as a magic knight, her role is to defend instead of lording it over others.  This becomes a new foundation for her character; while she still acts conceited at times, she begins to treat the peasants around her with a new respect; instead of acting like a noble who constantly needs to be served by those around her, she instead begins to serve and protect others, her pride in her nobility is not a sense of superiority but rather of noblesse oblige.

Her second transformation occurs during the underwater temple arc, and is the result both of training and mental growth.  The arc begins with the Black Bulls needing to reach the underwater temple and wanting to use Noelle's Naga's Cradle to do so.  Noelle is uncertain of her ability to control the massive spell over a long period.  She meets a girl name Kahono who tells her that her ability to control her magic comes from her emotions and her positive memories.  Noelle is forced to wrestle with the fact that she has no positive memories with her family.  Her recognition of this fact strongly indicates that her lack of control is largely due to the emotional abuse she has received from her family.  Noelle gains strength, however, from realizing that she now does have positive memories to draw on through her friendship and camaraderie with the Black Bulls, and is able to stabilize her magic. This is all purely defense magic, however.  Later in the arc, Noelle is forced to confront Vetto.  To this point, all of her attacks still miss her intended targets.  With the rest of the Black Bulls unable to fight at the moment, she steps up to confront Vetto alone.  Through Kahono's help, she realizes that it was her own reluctance to hurt anyone that was influencing her attacks to miss, but that, in this moment, the situation transcended that fear.  Her new family was being attacked, and the only way she could help them was through attacking herself.  A second spell was unleashed from her grimoire, and her massive water dragon smashes Vetto out of the temple, biting off one of his arms in the process.  This moment is about Noelle growing past her own lack of confidence; while her family's constant abuse has been a shadow over her magic for her entire life, she is finally able to break free of them in order to protect the Black Bulls, the family that has absolute confidence in her abilities, the companions who trust her completely.  Noelle's growth in this arc is phenomenal, perfectly balancing the leveling up of her magic with the emotional resolution to create a dramatic climax that hits perfectly.  This is character writing at its finest, showing huge amounts of depth, heart, and impact.

But Noelle's journey doesn't end there.  During the elf reincarnation arc, Noelle is partnered with her elder brother Nozel, as they defend the capital, along with her other siblings, Nebra and Solid.  They face off against Kivn, the elf reincarnation who uses compass magic to seek out enemies and control particular spaces.  When Kivn traps them using a magic that disrupts mana usage in a given space, Nebra and Solid are rendered unable to fight, but Noelle utilizes her new control over her magic to team up with Nozel.  In this moment, Nozel acknowledges Noelle's growth, declaring that the two of them shall show Kivn the power of the house of Silva.  This acknowledgement brings Noelle full circle; her lack of control alienated her from her siblings, and that distance created an emotional disturbance that affected her control even more negatively.  By joining the Black Bulls and gaining friends and companions there, she was able to grow past the hurt from her family and assert herself as a powerful mage in her own right.  Finally, having earned this recognition from her brother, she is able to resolutely move forward and defend the very family that treated her so poorly.  By recognizing how much she has grown, realizing that she no longer needs affirmation from her siblings, and then receiving such praise from Nozel, Noelle unlocks Valkyrie dress, a magical enhancement armor that allows her to defend her siblings and defeat Kivn.

Noelle Silva, as I mentioned earlier, is character development done right.  The gradual steps she takes throughout the show perfectly crystallize into beautiful moments of transformation, where her magical growth is an analog for the psychological growth in her character.  Not only is Noelle an absolute magical badass, but she is also a deeply empathetic character who grows exponentially throughout the series in a unique and well thought out manner.  She is a shining light in both the worlds of fantasy and shonen, where female characters are often archetypes or empty vessels; Noelle Silva is an interesting, powerful woman with a compelling backstory and dynamic character growth.

#1 Mereoleona Vermillion
And taking the number one spot is a relative newcomer to the Black Clover story, but damn does she make an impression.  Mereoleona Vermillione easily blazed her way into the number one spot through sheer power, force of personality, and all around epic-ness.  In fact, she has quickly risen to number one badass lady of all time in my books, effortlessly displacing long time leader Erza Scarlett of Fairy Tail in terms of raw power and impact.

Mereoleona is a member of one of the three royal families; the Vermillions, who mainly utilize fire magic.  It is impossible to talk about her without first talking about her younger brother Flugeleon, so some back story before we jump into the meat and potatoes.  We meet Flugeleon early in the the story, during the attack on the royal capital arc.  Within just a few episodes he is established as a strong leader, with a powerful, tightly controlled fire magic, and a stabilizing presence that builds up everyone around him.  His sage advice leaves a deep impression on both Asta and Noelle, and his surprise defeat where he is left in a prolonged coma creates a huge void within the magic knights.  This void is filled after the royal knights selection exam by his sister, Mereoleona.

If Flugeleon is analytic control and sage advice, Mereoleona is brutal instinct and charismatic chaos (with a hint of sage advice intermingled).  Known as "The Lioness," we are first introduced to Mereoleona when she returns to be temporary captain of the Crimson Lions squad, and subsequently proceeds to kidnap Asta, Noelle, Yuno, two fellow magic knight captains (Yami and Charlotte), and force them and the entire Crimson Lions squad into a brutal training camp at a magic volcano.  This "Hot springs training camp" shows both Mereoleona's power and her surprising insight.  Again, it's hard to analyze without summarizing the story, so spoilers ahead.

Mereoleona's hot springs training camp forces the group of magic knights to climb a magic volcano.  The environment is naturally harsh, and made worse by the mana currents the volcano produces.  In order to climb, the knights have to cover themselves in a thin layer of their own magic to offset the oppressive climate, while still utilizing the rest of their magic normally to fight lava monsters and avoid other dangers on the climb up.  For Noelle, who struggles with control over her magic, this challenge is hugely difficult, but her eventual triumph provides an even greater reward. After their grueling climb, as they rest at the hot springs, Mereoleona tells Noelle about her mother; giving her a glimpse of the woman Noelle never got to meet; a powerful woman with incredibly fine control over her magic who was known as the "Dancing Fairy" in battle.  Mereoleona contrasts Noelle's lack of control with her mother's precise magic, but this contrast isn't dismissive or cutting, instead, she uses it to encourage Noelle to surpass her limits, to build herself up until no one can make such as unfavorable comparison.  Her triumph will be all the greater for having come from such a low place.  Mereoleona recognizes the two things that Noelle needs and gives them to her; she offers a family history rich with love (something Noelle hasn't experience because of her terrible siblings), and mentorship.  To this point, Noelle's growth has been stimulated by her desire to keep up with her peers (Asta and Kahona).  She has never had a teacher to encourage her to move higher.  Mereoleona provides a strong, positive guidance that allows Noelle to move forward significantly.

Mereoleona also plays a similar (although less intimate) role for Asta.  If climbing the volcano is difficult for those with magic, it is absolutely impossible for Asta, who has no magic at all.  His physical strength might allow him to climb the mountain, but he has no way of fending off the oppressive mana currents, and his anti-magic doesn't seem like it can cope with the harsh environment.  Pressed down, and unable to move forward, when Mereoleona comes to talk to him, she comes as the voices of everyone in the world; "Asta, you have done well to make it this far... your anti-magic is impressive, but as you are, you cannot go further.  You cannot climb the mountain before you, there is no way someone like you can become the Wizard King."  She gives voice to all the doubts and fears, until he shows his resolve.  She doesn't tell him what he needs to do, instead she gives him enough hints that he can figure out on his own how to use his anti-magic to defend himself from the environment.  It's a really powerful moment of growth (especially for such a short arc), and it enforces how deeply insightful Mereoleona really is; she provides a perfect training for everyone that addresses both their physical and psychological weaknesses, forcing them to surpass their limits and move on to a new level.

Mereoleona is much, much more than just a badass mentor.  She is also ridiculously strong.  To put this in context, many of the "boss fights" in the show are against the three leaders of the terrorist group, Eye of the Midnight Sun.  In the first fight, multiple magic knight captains took on the three leaders and were fought to a draw.  In the second fight, the entire Black Bulls squad took on a single leader, and barely emerged victorious (many of them sustaining near fatal damage in the process).  In the third fight, it took the combined forces of several Black Bulls, plus a variety of mage and witch companions to bring down a the second leader.  When the Royal Knights finally attack the Eye of the Midnight sun headquarters, Mereoleona goes one on one with the remaining leader, Rhya the Treacherous.  His magic is imitation magic, where he can utilize the magic of anyone whose grimoire he has touched.  This means he uses the magic of everyone in the the Eye of the Midnight sun, plus that of many of the magic knights.  He can also change from spell to spell, utilizing combinations that would be impossible for a normal magic user.  Every other battle so far with the Eye of the Midnight was a close call; Mereoleona's fight with Rhya wasn't.  She obliterates him.  Every spell he flings at her, every combination, every trick is burnt away instantly with a smirk and a derisive, "Again!" Her fire overpowers every element Rhya tries to utilize, and her ability to freely manipulate the mana in a given area allows her to outmatch him physically, evading and countering with unbelievable speed and precision.  When she eventually goes on the attack, there is nothing he can do to stop her.  She easily outclasses every other magic knight we have seen to this point in terms of power, control, speed, and all around total awesomeness.  Later, when the elves are reincarnated with their full powers, she fights alone against five of them, and while she is unable to win a decisive victory, her prowess forces them to band together and combine the full force of their magic in order to eliminate her (I won't spoil the full turn of events here because everything about it is sheer perfection, please just read the manga it's amazing).  Mereoleona Vermillion is a magical prodigy whose love for fighting expresses itself through her wild, unfettered power.

So yeah, in terms of badass ladies, she tops the charts.  She has an amazing personality, drawing out the best in those around her through her insightful mentorship and strong example, and her power as a mage is mind blowing.  To me she embodies what it is to be strong; she is certain in her own identity, she fights with joy and passion, she is observant and insightful, and she builds up those around her.

Conclusion
Alright, we have come to the end of the badass ladies of Black Clover.  There are a few others that I didn't mention here (particularly on the villains side), but I felt like this group deserved special consideration.  What makes the women of Black Clover so exceptional is how they show so many different ways of being strong.  Support and fighting, open or timid, confident or indecisive, each of these ladies is following her own path, fighting her own battles, and growing into her own, individual person, and they support and build each other up in the process.  This is such a positive portrayal that I honestly can't say enough good things (even after 5000 words, I still want to rave about these ladies).  I look forward to watching them all continue to grow throughout the rest of the series as a positive example to shonen and fantasy.


A bit of an update... the next post should come a bit faster than this one... look forward to part 3 of this series where I'll talk about friendship in the series... this post is much shorter, and at this point, it's mostly written, so it will probably be up before next Tuesday.  As always, I love comments and responses, and please share this with anyone you think might be interested.

Well, back to reality.

New Series: Over Analyzing "Black Clover." Part 1. Summary and Review

Dear Readers,

Alright, it's time to talk about Black Clover.  One of the (few) benefits of being a teacher is this glorious span called summer break; I am now free to travel, experience culture, revel in the warmth of our local star... except I have no money and I hate the heat, so I have spent the last week in my apartment catching up on reading and anime.  Both those combined in a marathon for both the manga and anime of Black Clover, a current running shonen fantasy series about a young boy in a magical world with no magic and his quest to become the wizard king. A beautiful day of reading and binge watching later, and I am caught up with the series and bursting with excitement for all the characters, plot points, and general awesomeness that is this series.

I am going to start with a (mostly) spoiler free summary and review, however this will be an ongoing analysis series, and later posts will have both anime and manga spoilers.


Summary
So Black Clover is a shonen manga/anime about a young man in a fantasy world and his quest to become the wizard king.  Asta, the main character, is an orphan boy from the country who is unique in the world because he cannot use magic.  Everyone else in the kingdom has the ability to use magic to some extent, but Asta cannot.  This lack of magic is compounded by the fact that his adoptive brother Yuno is a magical genius.  At the age of 15, every person in the kingdom is awarded a grimoire, a magic book that specifies the type of magic that they use.  Yuno receives a 4 leaf clover grimoire, which is supposed to be extremely powerful and lucky.  Asta does not initially receive a grimoire, but later is chosen by a "black" five leaf grimoire which holds demonic powers and the ability to nullify magic.  The two adoptive brothers set out for the capital of the realm to become magic knights and achieve their ultimate goal of becoming the wizard king.  Their paths diverge at the capital as Yuno is welcomed into the elite magic knight squad, the Golden Dawn, because of his extraordinary magical power, while Asta barely makes the cut, joining the "worst squad," the Black Bulls, a group of eccentrics and outcasts who don't fit into any of the other squads.  Asta continues to train to grow stronger as a magic knight, while combating a series of external and internal threats to the kingdom with the help of his new friends in the Black Bulls.

Review
So, as I mentioned earlier Black Clover is the story of a world with magic.  Everyone has a little bit of magic, so it's use is constant in everyday life.  From the get go, it's a pretty basic shonen formula; main character with a shockingly unrealistic goal, genius rival, and the adventures they encounter along the way, mixed with some pretty basic fantasy tropes; the poor orphan farm boy who journeys to the magic kingdom in search of adventure who ends up being "the chosen one".   So why, you might ask, am I raving and writing about such a "basic" show?

The answer is in the execution.  Yes, Black Clover reuses types and tropes we have seen a million times.  But it takes those tropes and examines them from a different direction.  Yes, Asta is the "powerless" shonen protagonist using hard work and perseverance to pursue his dream fighting against a constant parade of increasingly powerful villains, but unlike basically everyone else in the genre, he doesn't fight alone.  90% of shonen fights come down to the hero punching the big bad guy until he stops moving, and sure, that happens here, but because Asta has no magic he has to rely on his teammates in order to win.  I can't think of a single major villain in the show who is taken down by Asta alone; he is always assisted by his fellow mages in the Black Bulls or from other magic knight squads.  While many anime glorify companionship (nakama!"), it is very rare to see multiple characters team up to take on a single opponent, yet this is constant in Black Clover.  In the same way, the typical fantasy elements are also uniquely synthesized; Black Clover has one of the most richly dynamic magic systems I have ever seen, an amazingly developed world with a deep history and evolving mythology, while also taking full advantage of fantasy's subversive potential with powerful conversations about class, race, mental health (particularly survivors of trauma) that don't over simplify these complicated issues but also manage to retain a hopeful and positive outlook.

I'll try to come back to all of these point later in my analysis.  To get on with the review portion, however, in my opinion Black Clover has everything a good shonen and a good fantasy should.  An interesting world filled with ever expanding possibilities, amazing magic, great characters, and that cozy, heartfelt sense of community that all shonen try but only a few really nail.

As for negatives; many critics will say that the first few arcs of the story drag a bit.  As a fantasy fan, I didn't find the pacing unusual (as someone who goes through 8 or so 1000+ page novels in the average fantasy series, a slow start is par for the course).  People also found Asta's voice (and almost constant screaming) annoying.  This is probably true... I didn't notice on a first watch, but the second time through it is pretty bad.  The animation, especially the 3D CGI, can be clunky at times (although the same thing can be said for Attack on Titan), but it does improve, and the most recent magic battles are beautifully executed (as in possibly the best animated magic battles of all time).

I really can't say a lot more for review without spoilers.  If you are the type of person who likes shonen anime and manga, or the type of person that likes epic fantasy, please look into Black Clover (and keep going at least until episode 40 or so).  Any earlier mis-steps the story might take are easily made up for by how good it gets later on.

I was planning on doing more analysis, but honestly, I have so much to say about Black Clover that I have decided to break it up into multiple posts.  The next one will probably be on the role of women in the series (and boy is it refreshing to have a show with such a diverse and badass cast of ladies), with future analyses looking at the complex view on racism and class-ism in society, unpacking the role of abuse and trauma in the show (especially as it relates to the magic system), as well as a comparison of the concept of rivalry in Black Clover with other that of other shonen anime, as the show promotes a healthy perspective on competition and growth.

Well, back to reality.