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.
