In his first convention outside of Japan, Black Clover creator Yuki Tabata met with fans from all over the world during Manga Barcelona. Between signing autographs, press conferences, a Q&A session, and then a masterclass with an original drawing to end it all, Tabata gave Black Clover fans everything they were hoping for and more.
While there were some minor disappointments during his stage, to no fault of his own, such as the Q&A sessions being nothing but pre-written questions by the convention moderators rather than the fans themselves, Tabata’s constant laughter and good nature were like a dream come true to witness in person.
While I wasn’t lucky enough to win a chance at getting his autograph, many people were. But it goes beyond myself, or any of us individually. Tabata was as jolly as St. Nick on Christmas Day, laughing during entire panels, constantly thanking the fans, and just being positively infectious to the point it gave all of us a sense of relief in a way.
One of the first questions I was asked on X (formerly Twitter) after my press conference with Tabata was “How does he look? Does he look healthy?” And the simple answer to that was yes, he was. In fact, even thought I don’t know him personally, his attitude was as if he’s never been better.
Tabata’s Health – A Green Flag
Black Clover fan and X user Seph (@sephu__), who was at the convention alongside me and others, spoke on seeing Tabata in person for the first time, amplifying the fact he was basically glowing.
“Everything about Tabata and his interactions with the fans was absolutely amazing,” said Seph. “He was super cheerful, constantly smiling, and genuinely grateful for everyone’s support. He’s such a fun and kind person, and I wholeheartedly hope the new schedule allows him to attend more events like these.”
I made it a point myself multiple times covering the event that Tabata looked like he was having the time of his life at Manga Barcelona and was enjoying seeing all of those who love his work, and Seph emphasized that.
“Having a chance to chat with him during the signature was a dream come true,” said Seph. “He was super open and easygoing during the interviews as well, and I absolutely loved the talks between him and Fukuda-san (editor), and between them and the fans. They all looked like they were having the time of their lives!!”
For a fandom constantly worried about his health after what he went through while working under Weekly Shonen Jump, knowing that he looked and sounded healthy was the best gift he could’ve given any of us fans, and we made sure to give the love back to him ten fold during Manga Barcelona.
Black Clover Fandom – Second to None
X users Diab (@Diab_26) and Nishiki (@nishiki_opn) were the highlight of the weekend for Black Clover fans. Diab managed to get almost 50 artists, including Yuugen_RB, who worked on Black Clover and its movie as a key animator, over the span of one month to create a collective artbook full of original Black Clover illustrations for Tabata while Nishiki translated all the messages to Japanese.
Traveling all the way from Australia, Diab was only in Barcelona for the convention for basically two of the four days—having to get this gift to Tabata by any means necessary. After leaving the convention area and not knowing he couldn’t return, I talked to Diab and was going to make sure he got the art book in one way or another. Luckily, one of the security guards vouched for him and let him return to the convention anyway in order to give Tabata the art book.
From there, Diab was able to meet up with X user MooPa (@MooPaTX), who was able to deliver the art book to Tabata through one of his autograph sessions (which barred those who didn’t win the raffle).
“Being able to create an art book filled with many artists, and then to travel all the way to Spain from Australia, just to meet the author is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Diab. “The guy was filled with excitement and proud to know that his series was that popular.”
Black Clover Was a Hit at Manga Barcelona
To keep the train of amazing events happening surrounding Tabata and the series, Black Clover left the major convention as the number one most popular series at the Norma Comics (Spanish publisher) stand, beating out Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, DanDaDan, Mujina into the deep, and Sailor Moon.
Norma was packaging Volume 36 with special cards that are clean versions of all the volume covers. The Spanish publishers for the series also ran a special if you bought Volume 31, you would get a nice little take-home box set that can hold a specific amount of Spanish volumes (would have to DIY it to hold English volumes since they’re bigger).
Slight Criticism – The Yuki Tabata Q&A
There were only a couple of criticisms that took fans aback during the convention, none of them have to do with Tabata or Fukuda personally. But the fact his Q&A session with fans during the convention was nothing but pre-written ones from Norma and the convention themselves was a little disappointing, leaving many fans, at the convention and at home, wondering when some heavier questions will be answered.
In previous conventions, having fans grab the mic and being able to ask their favorite creator any question they’d like is such a great way to connect the two sides. While some were able to ask questions during his masterclass for his last day at the convention, The Q&A was still a missed opportunity.
Then to top it all off, the convention wouldn’t publish Tabata’s masterclass drawing of Asta despite major fan backlash for those who couldn’t even attend. So the fans took it into their own hands anyway.
However, I do appreciate that Norma Comics posted all of Tabata’s questions and answers when his panels were scheduled. It was a good way for overseas fans to follow along with his panels and for those who were having trouble with the language barrier.
Even asking Tabata a question in English, the Spanish translator for the press conference at the beginning of the convention couldn’t have been nicer and did her best to translate what I asked Tabata (the question about which character he models his wife after), which made him laugh. So my entire weekend was made because of that.
Overall Manga Barcelona – Tabata Experience
What can I say? I was lucky enough to see Tabata in person, asked him a question, and got to make him laugh and talk about his wife. That’s a win in my book. As for everyone else in the Black Clover community, I can say the feeling is the same.
While it would’ve been great to ask Tabata more questions and hear more from the fans, it was still a treat from beginning to end. Hopefully, with Tabata’s appearance at Manga Barcelona, we’ll be seeing him more frequently at overseas conventions as the manga draws closer to its end.
However, according to Tabata, there’s still much left in store for the manga before its ending.
© 2023 “Black Clover Movie” Production Committee © Yuki Tabata/Shueisha
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.