Black Clover

Episode 42

After a few episodes of training, Noelle is finally ready to use her water magic to transport the squad to the coveted underwater temple. Right off the bat, what really hit me was that this was the first time we've seen the Black Bulls in their entirety working together on a mission. We've seen the crew hanging out at home base, goofing off, but there's something unique about seeing them all on the same page like this. This is especially true after last week, where we saw them all being so affectionately pro-Noelle together.

The journey underwater feels extremely reminiscent of the time spent traveling to Fishman Island in One Piece, with Noelle creating a large ball of water that houses the Black Bulls and allows them to look out at the fascinating sea life that surrounds them. This trip is much shorter, however, only taking about half an episode before we wind up in Zora's Cape from Majora's Mask and the gang is surprised to discover there's a perfectly normal and accommodating civilization of humans living there. Probably the funniest joke in the entire series yet sees Yami stepping into this foreign land and thoughtlessly bullying the locals around like a yakuza boss, only for the locals to instantly adopt his tough-guy language for themselves. They're not offended. They think it's cool! I completely lost it.

Not nearly as funny is the high priest of this domain, who's every pervy old man character you've seen a million times before (voiced by Chō, no less). This isn't a genre that's short on clichés and archetypes, but in Black Clover's hands they always feel extra phony. This old man is supposedly the only thing getting between the Black Bulls and the magic stone, and he's willing to give it to them if they win a game first. The game turns out to be a mini battle tournament. Ten of our guys vs. ten of theirs. The Black Bulls get split up into different areas of the temple as a result so my interest in a team effort gets thwarted, but it isn't against the rules to leave your area and help out one of your friends, so we'll see what happens.

There isn't a ton to get excited about this week, but this is probably the most I've enjoyed the group dynamics in the series. Each character having their one-note quirks and catchphrases feels much more natural when the team is this big. The world of the underwater people is pretty generic so far (just imagine "fantasy underwater setting" and you'd be in the ballpark), but there's plenty of wiggle room to expand on it. The Black Bulls' interactions with the underwater folk are very casual and impersonal so far, which I think allows the audience to just roll with something sporting while also making us feel like things have to go bad sooner than later. We know Kahono has to come back at some point, as does the villain prominently featured in the opening, so I'm sure we still have a ways to go before that magic stone is safe and secure.

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