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!
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