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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 5, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3
Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)
Release Date: February 2017
Volumes: 9+
Spoilers?: No.
Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a world of magic, Asta, a boy with anti-magic powers, will do whatever it takes to become the Wizard King!

Asta is a young boy who dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the kingdom. Only one problem—he can’t use any magic! Luckily for Asta, he receives the incredibly rare five-leaf clover grimoire that gives him the power of anti-magic. Can someone who can’t use magic really become the Wizard King? One thing’s for sure—Asta will never give up!

With Asta captured and Fuegoleon defeated, the Clover Kingdom tries to recover from the attack by the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Meanwhile, the greatest mage in the kingdom launches his own counterattack. Can the Wizard King take these terrorists out before they do any more harm?

Review:

We get to see some of the aftermath from the big battle in the previous volume. Asta is in a better state now, and there are a few new enemies moving around, including this crazy scientist lady. We get to know Gauche more, and see his blind devotion to his sister, which is just unhealthy. He's pretty much an uncaring jerk to everyone else. The volume ends with another mid-battle cliffhanger.
This series seems to be using the theme of obsession, or maybe devotion?, a lot. Everyone is obsessed with becoming the wizard king and the rivalries. There's also a lot of one-sided love obsessions as well. Asta is convinced he will win over the nun. Gauche is obsessed with his sister. And now we see that Noelle is pretty much obsessed with Asta. The way that we see her following him around, very obviously hiding and watching him and getting jealous when he talks to other women, is outright stalking. She does it at least twice in this volume. It's rather unsettling, honestly.
I don't mind this series, but I don't particularly like it. It seems very clearly underdeveloped in comparison to several other shonen series in this line alone. It's okay.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

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