Black Clover

Episode 26

There's a point in reviewing a shonen action show where the easiest way to move forward is to give a brief recap of what's happened (much like the baffling six minutes of recap that this show already gets), but it's starting to get repetitive for the Royal Capital arc. Our heroes continue to fight in the streets of the capital through a series of drastically under-cooked actions scenes, in case you missed a few weeks and were dying to know if anything had changed.

Actually, the action does noticeably improve this week, as the money shots pop with much more enthusiasm than the past few episodes (even if stills continue to do most of the work). With Asta, Leopold, and Noelle holding the villains off in defense of a dying Fuegoleon, there's an unspoken dynamic at play between the children and the more experienced Magic Knights. It's easy to draw parallels between this and My Hero Academia's U.S.J. arc, where there's a focus on the kids fighting the villains until the adults can arrive to save the day, which is exactly what happens here as the lost Magic Knights return just in the nick of time. Sadly, I don't think I've come around to thinking any of these adult characters are very cool beyond Fuegoleon, so this moment doesn't feel especially triumphant.

That said, there is one cool adult character who's been conspicuously MIA until now: The Wizard King. When things don't seem to be going well for the villains, they kidnap Asta and warp out of the city to reconvene where we finally get a change of scenery. It's here that they finally come face to face with the Wizard King himself and receive a taste of his magic—which seems pretty unambiguously time-themed. Giving the audience a glimpse of what the stronger characters are capable of is one surefire way to get the imagination going, and the Wizard King casually wiping the floor with this group of villains is one of the show's raddest scenes in months. I already liked this guy thanks to his chill personality, so seeing him in action is a definite plus.

Frankly, given all the things I did like about this episode, I'm still unsure how to feel about it. We've been opening up the world of Black Clover by introducing all these new characters and receiving a taste of what the big shots are capable of, but that just makes me wish this arc could have been tighter paced. I feel like we've just been drifting through this Royal Capital arc, moving from scene to scene without a clear sense of momentum. Everything makes sense from a dramatic point of view, but nonetheless we arrive at the cliffhanger this week, ready to meet the big bad of this villain organization, and I don't find myself itching to know more.

Black Clover has nestled comfortably into functional-but-bland territory. There are small nuggets of intrigue and the occasional cool moment, but the excitement net gain continues to be very mild compared to its Shonen Jump contemporaries. That's not always a bad thing, but it certainly doesn't keep investment going week-to-week, and my tank is starting to run low at this point. Oftentimes when I start to get really bored with this show, that means something marginally interesting is going happen soon, so let's cross our fingers that's the case. Long-story short: the Wizard King is cool, but everything else is getting real snoozy.

Rating: B

Black Clover is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Sam Leach records about One Piece for The One Piece Podcast and you can find him on Twitter @LuckyChainsaw