Title: Black Clover
Volume: 3 (of 7+)
Creator: Yuki Tabata
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 10/4/16
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421587203
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (For Teen)
Description: 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 were ready for trouble when they were sent into a magical dungeon full of traps, but going up against the Diamond Kingdom may be too much for them to handle. Even Yuno couldn't stand up to Mars and his mineral magic—does Asta have a chance...?!
Contains Pages 17-25:
- Page 17: Destroyer
- Page 18: Inside the Treasure Hall
- Page 19: Memories of You
- Page 20: One Instant
- Page 21: Destruction and Salvation
- Page 22: Assembly at the Royal Capital
- Page 23: The Distinguished Service Ceremony
- Page 24: Capital Riot
- Page 25: March of the Dead
Review:
Cover: The cover this time features Noelle, front and center. Behind her is Asta, ready to strike with his anti-magic sword. And behind them is Mars, watching over them in a greenish color. The background is rose pink, with the same tapestry like border as previous other volumes of the series has used. The series title is accross the center in white, with the volume number in red under it.
The spine from top to bottom contains the Shonen Jump brand logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangaka, an image of Noelle taken from the front cover, and the VIZ company logo.
The back cover uses the same background as the front. Up top is a small pic that is basically a colorized shot of one of the cover pages from the later arc that takes place in this volume. Under that we have the series title, the volume title, and then the summary of the volume.
I honestly don't care for this cover whatsoever. The imaging used for the front is not very rememberable, expecially with the colors used. It reminds me of something that should really be a chapter title splash page over an actual volume cover. The volume number placement and the color used makes it very hard to even see. The image used on the back cover is ridiculously small and could have been enlarged slightly with how much space was left over on the top half of the cover. Overall, very bad layout!
The spine from top to bottom contains the Shonen Jump brand logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangaka, an image of Noelle taken from the front cover, and the VIZ company logo.
The back cover uses the same background as the front. Up top is a small pic that is basically a colorized shot of one of the cover pages from the later arc that takes place in this volume. Under that we have the series title, the volume title, and then the summary of the volume.
I honestly don't care for this cover whatsoever. The imaging used for the front is not very rememberable, expecially with the colors used. It reminds me of something that should really be a chapter title splash page over an actual volume cover. The volume number placement and the color used makes it very hard to even see. The image used on the back cover is ridiculously small and could have been enlarged slightly with how much space was left over on the top half of the cover. Overall, very bad layout!
Artwork: The art from this series continues to impress me. Being it a shonen series, we can expect there being a lot of action sequences, and does the volume deliver! Mixing a style similar to Claymore and Berserk, the volume continues its dark gothic/magical world element, which I very much enjoy! The comedic moments does change the tone of the art at times, but it really doesn't distract from the overall appeal.
Translation: Character names, attacks, places, and lore remain intact. Honorifics and sound effects have been changed, per usual from VIZ's translations.
Extras: There are tons of extras in this volume. Character bios, relationship charts, a mini chapter, an afterword. There's a lot of little things to find that makes the reading experience much better!
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): This volume concludes the previous story arc with Mars and the dungeon that started last volume, and moves onto the next big arc where we finally meet the current Wizard King. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though yet. Asta and the gang still have a bit to go with the fight with Mars.
Asta finally enters the battle with Mars, and does quick work of Mars' Talos Doll Swarm by using his Anti-Magic Sword. Mars uses his magic to create a Titan like body to defend himself, but in the end Asta manages to take that down as well. The Crimson Dawn and Black Bulls manage to make it into the dungeon Treasure Room.
All looks like our heroes won, until Mars returns using his Phoenix like abilities. We learn it is rare for Wizards to be able to use more then one type of element magic, Mars appears to have more then two so far. Noelle decides she will try to take him down, but in the end she is easily defeated, as well as Asta. All hope looks lost as our heroes are down, but Yuno manages to deliver the final blow to Mars, after Mars has a kind of flashback that shows a somewhat tragic past that he had (no spoilers here, just think that Gaara tragic backstory from Naruto but with Wizards and not Ninjas).
The next story arc barely gets off the ground. We get to see the Wizard Capital and see the Wizard King once again, learning a bit more about him then from the first story arc where we saw the trials Asta and Yuno went through to become actual wizards. This starts out as somewhat of a ceremony to promote wizards who have achieved certain merits (not sure how often these happen). It ends with the Capital getting attacked by a new threat who actually can reanimate corpses and use them as their zombie puppets.
As a whole, the story moved fairly quick. We really didn't have any intermission between the two story arcs and just jumped from one point to the next. It does work for some series, but for this one it was rather to quickly and didn't really give me, the reader, time to breathe between one instance to the next. Plot wise the story was engaging and it won't make me stop reading because of the problems it does suffer, but I do wish the stories begin to get a bit longer then just moving quickly through story arcs. We are on volume 3 and we have had pretty much four overarching stories so far. Like I said it is not a bad thing, just wish there was more overall substance.
Asta finally enters the battle with Mars, and does quick work of Mars' Talos Doll Swarm by using his Anti-Magic Sword. Mars uses his magic to create a Titan like body to defend himself, but in the end Asta manages to take that down as well. The Crimson Dawn and Black Bulls manage to make it into the dungeon Treasure Room.
All looks like our heroes won, until Mars returns using his Phoenix like abilities. We learn it is rare for Wizards to be able to use more then one type of element magic, Mars appears to have more then two so far. Noelle decides she will try to take him down, but in the end she is easily defeated, as well as Asta. All hope looks lost as our heroes are down, but Yuno manages to deliver the final blow to Mars, after Mars has a kind of flashback that shows a somewhat tragic past that he had (no spoilers here, just think that Gaara tragic backstory from Naruto but with Wizards and not Ninjas).
The next story arc barely gets off the ground. We get to see the Wizard Capital and see the Wizard King once again, learning a bit more about him then from the first story arc where we saw the trials Asta and Yuno went through to become actual wizards. This starts out as somewhat of a ceremony to promote wizards who have achieved certain merits (not sure how often these happen). It ends with the Capital getting attacked by a new threat who actually can reanimate corpses and use them as their zombie puppets.
As a whole, the story moved fairly quick. We really didn't have any intermission between the two story arcs and just jumped from one point to the next. It does work for some series, but for this one it was rather to quickly and didn't really give me, the reader, time to breathe between one instance to the next. Plot wise the story was engaging and it won't make me stop reading because of the problems it does suffer, but I do wish the stories begin to get a bit longer then just moving quickly through story arcs. We are on volume 3 and we have had pretty much four overarching stories so far. Like I said it is not a bad thing, just wish there was more overall substance.
Objectionable Content:
- Language: No
- Violence: Yes
- Nudity: No
- Sexual Situations: Yes
Score:
- Cover: 2/10
- Artwork: 8/10
- Translation: 5/10
- Extras: 8/10
- Story: 7/10
Overall Rating: 6/10
Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 12/6/16
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