Black Clover is kicking the new year off to a perfect start with chapters 377 and 378. With the side fights out of the way for the most part, the time has finally come for Asta and Yuno to take on Lucius. And the best part? The two chapters only covered the very beginning of what looks to be a long fight that could be drawn out over the entire year in the remaining Jump GIGA issues.
Chapters 377 and 378 didn’t have any criticism from me or the Black Clover community. And if it did, and I didn’t see it, I imagine it’s something extremely minimal as this may have arguably been the best two chapters the series has released since its move to GIGA.
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Black Clover Chapters 374-376 Review
Black Clover Chapters 372 and 373 Review
I know some people may have been a little disappointed that the sidefights with other Black Bulls members were pretty much wrapped up with each of their own single panels, but it’s time we get into the main fight.
I couldn’t be happier that Tabata went down this road. It was a criticism I had with My Hero Academia during the final arc where author Kohei Horikoshi created this incredible world with so many amazing characters that he ended up, almost forcibly, giving them spotlight fights to build up to the final chapters that it felt like it took away from Deku and Shigaraki’s fight in some regard.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous at some point that Black Clover might’ve gone down this road and we’d have to wait much longer to finally get to Asta and Yuno’s fight against Lucius. I adore the Black Bulls, but it’s more of a writing style that I prefer to maintain a certain level of pacing in the story—and these chapters hit a bullseye.
Spreads are gorgeous as ever, showing that Yuki Tabata, and the story itself, have benefitted greatly from moving out of Weekly Shonen Jump. At this point, every new chapter release is going to have amazing double spreads. Yet, even knowing they’re coming, it doesn’t take away from the thrill of it whatsoever.
The fight, despite how fast it was moving, was extremely easy to follow, thanks to detailed artwork, which started to become somewhat of a problem for me in previous chapters during the series’ time at WSJ.
Most importantly, the chapters just made you want to scream “Hell yeah!” with Haruka Mirai blaring in the background because our boys, the two orphans from Hage Village, have come so far. It reminded me of when Asta and Yuno took down Licht.
Black Clover Chapters 377-378 Spoilers
The battle itself provided us with so much great information. Asta performed his fasted Zen yet. He’s able to throw his Demon Slayer sword at speeds that are even tough for Lucius to react to. Now, both Asta and Yuno are so fast at this point in the story that, for one, they (almost) keep up with each other, with Asta ahead, and two, Lucius can’t even properly finish a thought without the two ready to land a blow.
Even more exciting, Lucius showed off the Dark Triad’s powers at a relatively beginner level—almost as if he wasn’t trying. Now, of course, the “it’s a clone” argument has some weight to it. Think, the big villain of Black Clover, who’s technically been around since the very beginning, was taken out that easily? Not a chance.
But as I said in one of my posts about it, the whole fight felt like a boss level in a video game, even Asta tells Yuno he “leveled up.” It’s not necessarily something bad, it’s just what it felt like in a way. They flew up to his platform while he sat on a throne, they “killed him”, and now a bigger, stronger form is about to emerge—classic video game moment.
Now, with the four heartbeats at the end and Lucius tucking his tale and running away from the fight after all that trash-talking is a tall tale sign that this fight is far from over.
If the Dark Triad appears in the next chapters, that means we’re probably going to get more people to join the fight—and that’s something I cannot wait to see. Asta and Yuno were gaining ground on Lucius but it’s safe to say he wasn’t going all out either. So there’s no chance they’re going to be able to take on all four by themselves, especially now that Sylph has undone Never-Neverland, which could lead her to be a top-hated character in the series if many people die.
“So how do people join the fight after they exhausted their mana on their own fights?” The simple answer—Charmy. Even Yuno ate a treat that Charmy had prepared during this fight. She could be the key to getting whoever into the fight with Asta and Yuno (praying on Noelle). Not saying she is the definite component of it all, but who knows? It’s nothing more than wishful thinking, though.
Lucius gaslighting Asta was such a major part of the chapters that I think deserves more discussion. Up until this point, Asta was just told he’s a stain on the magic world, that he’ll never amount to anything, etc.
Lucius was really the first person to try and verbally manipulate his emotions on a deeper level by telling him that Sister Lily, someone dear to him since the first chapter, ending up the way she did and crying after Asta rescued her is his fault in the first place. Others have pissed off Asta before, but nothing on that deep of a personal level. Dante played on his emotions because he wanted to see Asta’s devil form, but he did that by launching a sword through Gauche’s chest.
Meanwhile, Lucius went straight for the heart just in a different way. I think Asta would’ve raged out at this moment had it happened earlier in the story. So I think some more credit needs to be given to Tabata for Asta’s character progression. He had a brief moment of anger hearing what Lucius said but remained level-headed and didn’t let his emotions get the best of him. Sometimes I feel Asta’s character progression in general doesn’t get enough credit so I’m glad this chapter put a spotlight on that.
I do, however, wish Yuno wouldn’t have shouted out at Lucius and instead made a snarky comment about him being a “false god” or how “he’s scared he’s going to lose” while smiling. It would’ve been a perfect moment to contrast Asta’s feelings. If the chapter had a small panel where you see Yuno smirk and then have him say something along those lines to get under Lucius’ skin, it would’ve hit harder for me. But that’s just a nitpicky moment and nothing more.
Now, one thing lingers in the back of my mind—what is Adrammelech’s goal? He’s been a sideline fan of everything that has happened so far and hasn’t been involved in a single fight. He watched Lucifero get taken down. He’s watching Lucius struggle. Now he’s just there, floating around on a rock watching the world burn.
It’s almost as if he’s the narrator, or play-by-play commentator, of everything that’s going on with everyone’s fights. All the panels of the Black Bulls finishing their fights were from his point of view. So if we know Tabata at this point, he has to serve some sort of purpose. But what I love is that none of us have any really good guesses as to what he’ll do. Hopefully, we’ll see a reveal at some point.
But all-in-all, damn it feels good to see our boys back again.
Black Clover chapters 377 and 378 are available to read on the official Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps.
Thumbnail source: Weekly Shonen Jump
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
BLACK CLOVER © 2015 by Yuki Tabata/SHUEISHA Inc.
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