Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 18, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2019

Volumes: 26+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 17. 19.

 

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 their friend and teammate turned into an elf, the other members of the Black Bulls will risk their lives to return Luck back to normal. But is their only hope Asta and his new sword?

 

Review:

 

The fight against the fae body-snatchers continues in this volume.

Asta barges in and tries to get his friends back to normal; there's a lot of stuff blowing up, a lot of emotions and arguing as they try to talk sense into them. The first half of the volume has Asta's fight continuing from the previous volume, then the latter half features Yami fighting. It's all very intense, blah blah blah. The volume ends with the hint of the main fight coming, I believe. We'll see.

I will admit this story line is a tiny bit more interesting than previous ones, but I don't care much for the characters. The inner turmoil all feels rather one-dimensional to me. Something about the fairies' hate also feels off to me, as well.

Meh, overall. The writing and characterization in this series is not enough for me.

 

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 17, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: September 2019

Volumes: 25+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here:  Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 15. 18.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

I missed a volume, and apparently I missed some very important plot, as well.

The faeries have taken over, and now everyone is fighting each other, and Asta has only a few people with him attempting to save everyone else. It's a long and intense fight as Asta works to save a select few from the faeries in different areas, and then work together to stop them at other areas of the kingdom. This includes a short stop in the town that Asta and Yuno grew up, where they get to show how far they've grown.

There's a lot of growth in a few different relationships here, and it's nice to see. We're also shown yet again just how strong Yuno is, quite what a prodigy he is. In such a way that it's easy to believe he would become the wizard king and it would need someone very powerful to compete with him, and it makes sense that Asta would need to be strong in the exact opposite way, thus him having anti-magic.

This was actually an okay volume. I haven't been following this very closely, but this was an interesting change to see, since most of this has been much smaller-scale battles and competitions.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 15, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2019

Volumes: 23+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 13. 16.

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!

As the Royal Knights selection test enters its final stage, a surprising team is still in contention! Can Asta or Yuno take the crown? And after the test is over, the real battle begins when the members of the Royal Knights are decided! What will be their first mission…?

Review:

After Asta's battle, it feels like the rest of the competition just rushes through. The crystal is broken quickly for the remaining battles, and while Asta's battle didn't go as he planned, Yuno gets to show off, pretty much.

After that quick ending, we move onto the next round of competition pretty quickly, competing again to be a Royal Knight.

Just as we're learning there's a member of the Black Bulls we didn't know about, the story switches back to the home base, where we find out another aspect of the Black Bulls we never knew about. The member we meet is creepy as fuck. The other surprise, though, I find quite interesting. I'm intrigued to see where these new characters go next.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 13, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2018

Volumes: 20+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 12. 14.

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!

In order to form a new powerful team to take down the nefarious Eye of the Midnight Sun, the Clover Kingdom commences the Royal Knights exam. But mages will need to compete as teams and Asta’s been assigned a teammate who seems impossible to work with!

Review:

A new arc starts in this volume: a test to be a Royal Knight. Pretty much everyone is signed up for it, and the first round includes being put into teams of three, and fighting to protect your own crystal and destroy your opponents'.

The teams are oddly set up, and yet no big surprises yet for who wins. I'm okay with most characters, and only have a few I actually like. I do enjoy Yuno, so I like getting to see what he can do, and who he decides to trust and listen to. Other than that, meh. Asta, meh. There are a lot of crazy characters paired up, and some of that was interesting.

It was an okay volume, ehh.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 12, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2018

Volumes: 19+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 11. 13.

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!

Asta and friends are finally able to save the Forest of Witches and claim the magic stone, but awaiting them back home is a brand-new challenge. But first, it’s time for a party!

Review:

Now that Asta is cured, and they've saved the witches, they get to go home. And then there's a festival, the annual festival where they rank the guilds. Asta has a magic cure from the witch queen, so he gets to help two of his friends from before during this.

As Yami gets drunk, him and Vanessa run into the leader of the Blue Rose Knights, not in disguise for the first time. We get to see her history briefly, and she has a bit of a sleeping beauty history with Yami.

During the festival, the Black Bulls have no interest because they've always been last. There's a surprise in the rankings this time, though, and of course they show off Asta and Yuno. Afterward, Fuegoleon's brute sister drags a ton of them to a volcano, where they compete to reach the top. It's a rather fast competition and show of strength, but Asta has a harder time with it, since he doesn't have magic. He has to do something different.

They announced a new competition for a new team to help the king during this, so I'm sure that's where the focus will go next.

Surprisingly, this wasn't too bad of a volume. The festival stuff with the Blue Rose Knight was interesting.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 11, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2018

Volumes: 17+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 10. 12.

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!

As the battle for the Forest of Witches continues, Asta goes up against a member of the Diamond Kingdom. But when a powerful mage switches sides, it may throw the whole fight into chaos.

Review:

We continue the witch's fight as this volume starts, which expands to being a fight against Ladros, where they're all trying to beat him. We get a background story from Mars here, who knows Fana and thought she had died. I will admit their story was sweet, and I quite like their relationship. Their bond was really heartwarming, and I liked their reunion.

After that, we finally see what the Witch Queen has been planning. It definitely made sense that she was up to something else, and that she wouldn't be at all appreciative that they'd just saved their village. We get to see Vanessa's history, how sad it was, and afterward, getting to see her powers come to fruition and how she gets to finally stand up for herself, is really nice. I will admit I really like her new powers, too.

This series is not one of my favorites, but I don't mind it. Since we kind of took a break from Asta and got some backstories for some other characters, I didn't mind this volume. It was actually interesting.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 10, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2018

Volumes: 14+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 9. 11.

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!

In order to heal his badly injured arms, Asta and his friends head to Vanessa’s homeland, the Forest of Witches. The Witch Queen who lives there may have the power to fix Asta’s arm, but can he pay the price she demands…?

Review:

Given the ending of the last volume, I didn't think Asta getting his hand fixed would be so anticlimactic. But it really is, and then we move onto the next big fight.

This time the group is kind-of helping a secret female-only witch village. They hate outsiders, they hate men, and their witch in charge is extremely strict about witches leaving. This also turns more of a focus on Fanzell, a wizard we've met before, who is in hiding from the group attacking the witches.

During this volume, I had to actively not pay attention to the sexist comments and themes. They were definitely there, but I didn't want to look at them too deeply. I didn't want to get upset by analyzing them.

This series is relatively easy to read, but it's not great. I don't particularly care for any of the characters, and the constant battles grow a bit boring after a while. Just meh for me.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 9, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2017

Volumes: 14+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 8. 10.

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 the battle for the water temple finally over, the Black Bulls return home to the Clover Kingdom as heroes. But more trouble is on the horizon as the Diamond Kingdom launches an invasion! Can Yuno and the Golden Dawn repel the invading mages?

Review:

We get to see the conclusion of the fight with Vetto in this volume. It's violent and bad, but also ends rather easily with another person's help.

The end of that fight brings something new for the Black Bulls, though: praise. Now they're being cheered and commended and thanked for saving people and helping out. It's something most of them never thought they'd get.

While still recovering, a group of them goes to see the Wizard King, and end up called in to help with another invasion in a nearby town. Mostly they help out the civilians, though some rivalries are called up during it. Good and bad, really.

Near the end of the volume, Asta gets some news regarding his injuries, and of course it only brings him down for a short while before he decides to overcome it. Looks like he's going to have some more problems to conquer in his road to become king—no surprise there.

Meh; I don't mind this series—I don't love it and I don't dislike it. It's an okay shonen series.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 8, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3
Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)
Release Date: August 2017
Volumes: 13+
Spoilers?: No.
Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.
Volume: 1. 5. 9.

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!

As Asta and the Black Bulls continue their search for the magic stone in the Underwater temple, they are blindsided by Vetto of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Can the rowdy Black Bulls work together to take down this fearsome foe?

Review:

We're in the middle of a big battle as we start the volume. It actually looks a bit like a massacre. This beast of a man is fighting and killing people, and of course Asta and his team are working to defeat him. They're fighting hard, no matter what is thrown at them.

Asta's unrelentless power, how he never gives up no matter how beat up he gets, is ridiculous. And rather unbelievable, honestly. It reminds me a bit of Ganta from Deadman Wonderland, which is not particularly good. Asta isn't as annoying as him, but he is more unrealistic/unbelievable. Asta should literally be unable to move, and yet he keeps fighting.

This volume was full of fighting, and it was just meh for me. This series is a bit more iffy and weak to me, than others like it.


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

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.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

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!

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 4, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 6, 2016

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

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!

The Clover Kingdom is under attack by a mysterious mage who can control zombies! The greatest Magic Knights have come together to protect the kingdom and Asta's caught in the middle of the ferocious battle!

Review:

The big fight in the middle of town continues through this volume. Everyone is split up and fighting someone else somewhere else in town. At one point several of the good guys (supposedly) get transported outside of town. Asta is trying to protect a little girl, and continues to surprise people with his anti-magic power.

There's a nice point where we see development in Yuno's power. We're only getting real glimpses of him in comparison to Asta, but I like Yuno. Those two are similar in odd ways. There's also a scene between Yuno and Charmy, the “little” girl who is obsessed with food. It was a fantastic scene, too.

And then we end on a cliffhanger.

I am enjoying this series, oddly enough. It's pretty typical shonen, nothing new or surprising, and it could use some work at times. But the pace and the characters are getting better as the series goes. It's fun to read.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 3, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Volumes: 8+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

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!

Asta and his teammates head deep into a magical dungeon in search of treasure. However, waiting below are mages from a rival kingdom! Can Asta summon the power to defeat an enemy even Yuno couldn't take down?!

Review:

Still in the midst of the battle scene, we get some history on Mars, and the connection between Mimosa and Noelle. While it is better in this volume than the previous, and it does work well, I can't help but feel that this is rushing a bit. We're getting a lot in a short time; some of it isn't as well written or paced as it could be—not to say that it's all badly done, though, and it is easy to read.

Aside from that fight, we see that Asta has made a girl fall in love with him, and then they get to meet the wizard king. Lastly, the volume ends on a new fight ensuing, this one from a wizard wreaking havoc on a city.

Mostly, though, I really want to see more of that tiny little fairy that Yuno summoned somehow with that book. I want to explore that some more, and I do hope we get to see what Yuno is doing on his own when he's away from Asta.

This is a straight-up shonen series, lots of fighting and competing and magic. I'm rather enjoying it so far, though. It's easy to like.

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

Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 2, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2, 2016

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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!

On the orders of the Wizard King, Asta and his allies head to a mysterious dungeon to retrieve a powerful relic. However, when mages from a rival country show up, this mission turns into an all-out battle. Can Asta lead his team to victory?

Review:

Asta and his teammates are finishing up a battle as this volume starts, and they do much better than anyone expected of a bunch of misfits. And because of this, their leader gives them a difficult job in a newly discovered dungeon.

The dungeon has some interesting challenges for them, plus they’re competing to reach the prize first. Asta runs into Yuno here, and even though they’re rivals, they’re also friends. They know how to fight for each other and to fight each other when they have to, and they inspire the other to work even harder. It’s an interesting change of events as the volume ends.

There’s also a very cheesy moment with one of Asta’s teammates here, and it was done very over the top and even rushed, even if I do like the sentiment. 

I do like the cast of characters here. Luck is very interesting, and I like Noelle and her hard shell. This is an interesting series, and I don’t mind it even if I don’t love it.

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