I was thinking for a few minutes what exactly I should title this review. I tried to do a review for One Piece last week, and Four Knights Of The Apocalypse this week- but both would have been too late to really matter. I may not be stressing about time anymore, but I still got get these out while those hashtags are trending! And out of the spoilers that I read Thursday before the fan translations; I decided to talk about this weeks chapter of “Black Clover” because of all the Hate And SLANDER that I saw from all those tweets.
I’ll talk more about it in the “Analysis” section, cause that’s gonna take me like a minute for me to finish. I’m gonna need all of Saturday to do this one, ’cause………. I need to say something. Let’s just get to the review part. Black Clover Chapter 329: “The King Of Devils And The Boys With No Magic.” Let’s see what everyone was so p!ssed about………..
REVIEW
Picking up where the last chapter left off; Lucifero lies cleaved in 3rds on the ground before the Anti Magic Boys. He laments in his status as the “King Of Devils,” refusing to believe that 2 Magicless “Brats” are able to defeat him. He screams that he would never lose to them- exerting his “presence” once more and presses them all down once again. His torso rises up, and reminds them that half of his power is still in the Underworld- they only won because he’s incomplete.
He further exudes his presence, trying to crush them under the intense gravity. But timely intervention from Nacht and Yami breaks his “presence” and allow everyone to move again. Asta picks up the Demon Slayer sword, and glares at the Devil King. Seeing his stunned face; Yami couldn’t help but taunt Lucifero by asking if he’s actually Afraid of their little Anti Magic Boy. So like the coward he is; he starts trying to hover away- vowing revenge when he gets his full power back.
However; his “Tactical Retreat” was stopped- courtesy of Yuno’s Star Magic. He uses “Conjunction” to teleport Asta right up in Lucifero’s face, allowing him to put Lucifero in the DIRT!! Everyone smiles- and even Adrammelech has to give the Anti Magic boys a “round of applause,” congratulating them on their victory. Thus bringing Black Clover Chapter 329 to a Climactic END!!! I……….. I don’t…. know a lot of adjectives. The American School system at work!!
Analysis
The comments when the spoilers came out- the Anitwitter timeline for “#BC329/#BCSpoilers” were………….awful. Just……… they were just bad. It was enough for me to break the first rule of Anitwitter: DON’T GET INVOLVED IN ANITWITTER!! I had to come to this series defense because they were attacking Tabata sensei for the way that he handled this fight. Look: Was this is a little strange? Yes; yes it was. Did Lucifero feel like a 1 track, mediocre villain with no ideology to push and didn’t even use an actual spell? YES; I was kind of disappointed that Lucifero was defeated. I will play “Devil’s Advocate(No Pun Intended):” I did not like that he was defeated here.
I thought it would have said more about his character if he had just left and started searching for another way to get his full power back- to bring his “True Self” into the Human World. Because as fun as it was to see him literally b!tch slap Nozel when he told him “Status Doesn’t Matter;” it kind of got boring after a minute. I felt like this fight went on a little too long. I couldn’t write the story better than Tabata, but I definitely think that there was a better way to end this fight.
And he honestly could have conveyed what “Lucifero” was a little better. Because it might not be as clear to everyone that this is like a Faux Body he made from the remains of that Giant worm thing from chapter 314. It makes it more frightening that they were only fighting a “Meat Puppet” version of Lucifero with half power and NO grimoire to speak of, but that’s not completely clear, which is why people think that Asta’s actually defeated him here.
I also think that a lot of the Antagonists connected to Devils were kind of……….. “The Same.” We don’t know enough about Dante, Vanica, or Morris, so they more or less came off the same character that “just wants to do Evil things because they love being evil.” All Dante and Morris wanted was to see the “Overwhelming Evil and Destruction” that bringing the Devils into this world would bring, and Vanica just wanted to fight some strong characters- which she got. So her goal was achieved. Her arc is over. And if it wasn’t simply the “Bad Guy” Human characters; it was the Devils at their most Base level. The twins were frightening, but they didn’t linger long enough to be “boring.” Megicula seemed to be a little more on the “Tragic” side of things, and Zenon GOT his arc.
But those 3 were………. pretty much the same character over and over again.
……………….This is already starting to feel like my old stuff. But I’m on a roll, so let’s keep going for a little bit. I wanted to help people understand 3 things about this chapter and the entire battle:
- Asta did not defeat the Real Lucifero, and I mean that in more than 1 way.
- Asta is not “overpowered.”
- This fight is the Main Idea Of The Story.
If I’m smart enough; I think I might be able to fluidly ties these points together. Though I’ve already laid out this this is not the true “Lucifero;” he’s still in the Underworld. So there’s still the chance for him to be a great Antagonist. But as for Asta not being overpowered; I’d like to lay out that he did not defeat Lucifero on his own. He always has help from Liebe, but it goes beyond that.
Think about every major arc of the story, guys; every fight that Asta has been in and every villain he’s faced. I ask you: How many has he defeated alone? No assistance; No Healing; No Last Minute saves- straight up. Couldn’t name very many, could you? First guys took themselves out; Yuno and Bell took out a weakened Mars; the Eye of the Midnight Sun captured him and he had to get saved by Julius; he AND Yami won against Patri in that cave; he was puppet against Vetto; and I could go on and on and on. Point is: He’s a factor, but not always is he the “Deciding” one.
It’s laid out really well in this Youtube video by Ophanim, in which he explains that Asta is more of an “Equalizer” in the story; the element in the fight that negates any advantage the other guy has over him. Dark Magic sucks up Light Magic? Anti Magic nerfs that. Water trumps fire? Not Anti Magic. You have more power than him? Cuts through any attack you throw at him. It ties into one of the central points of the story: “Status And Power Means Nothing.“
Asta’s goal is to become the Wizard King- he, a Peasant Boy with not even a drop of magic to speak of. But he was fortunate enough to gain the power of Anti Magic, which negates the only thing that seems to matter to anyone in this world. “Magic Is Everything-” but Asta deletes that sh!t. Status and power are tied together, which is why Lucifero is the “Devil King.” Which leads into the other point: Lucifero is the point of the story– the narrative in character form. That is, at least, the conclusion that I arrived at after looking at it for a moment.
Looking at the story; it’s clear that- at least in the Human World– there are cases where your status and Magic Power aren’t as intrinsically tied to each other as one would think. You have royals like Noelle and Mereoleona who have DUMB levels of Magic, and Common folk like Magna doesn’t have all that much. But then you have cases like Finral and Luck; a Noble who didn’t have all that magic to start with and only had the power to make portals, and a Commoner who was able to beat a child of Noble birth in Grade School. You have some anomalies in the story that tell you something different is going on with power distribution in the Human world. But in the Underworld…………… things are very “cut and dry.”
Liebe laid it out to us in chapter 290 that the Devil Hierarchy is a Set Concept– a Low rank like him could never have defeated a Supreme Rank- let alone The F*CKING KING– even if he tried day after day for the rest of his existence. It is only though his relationship and the “Devil Friending” ritual that he was ever able to kill all of these Higher Ranked Devils- just as having him around has allowed Asta to continue fighting to this level. The common theme of “Friendship” present in all Shonen stories.
But to bring this all home: The Underworld Is Just The Human World At It’s “Base Level.” It’s all coming together now. Just as the Human World believes that the “Magic Is Everything,” and “Your Status Is Unchangeable-” The Devils are that in “practice.” I laid out that there are 1 or 2 anomalies in Humans that doesn’t follow the world’s rules, but the Underworld is that to a “T.” In that way; Lucifero represents the Human world exactly: “Absolute Power= High Status…………..” This came out a little more “refined” in my head.
Basically; I’m trying to say that Lucifero is the series Central conflict personified– his magic acts as a way to prevent anyone from ever trying to rise above their status, and his behavior and character is simply everything we’ve heard Noble and Royal @$$holes spout over the last 328 chapters of the story. And I guess, after a while……… people kind of got “tired” of it. “After 328 chapters; we haven’t gotten anything……… really “New” for the story to tackle; it doesn’t really have anything more to say, so dragging it out anymore is just more of the publisher just trying to make a quick buck-” or so I think people’s reactions conveyed.
But getting back to it; my logic paints Lucifero as the “Central Thesis” of the story. Which should remind of an interview conducted with Tabata in which he said that “Asta is the Antithesis Of The Entire Series.” So if Lucifero is the “Central Thesis” of the story, then Asta would be the “Antithesis.” Ergo; Asta had to be the one to end the fight because it hammers home the goal of the series. But because this isn’t the true Lucifero; the goal of the series hasn’t been reached yet. So the story must continue……. or something like that!!
Conclusion
Wow……….. that came out way cr@ppier than I thought it would. But it’s my best shot at explaining why this is not the worst thing in the world. Lucifero isn’t done in the story yet; Adrammelech more than likely has a goal he wants to reach; and the characters have more than enough room to grow. I hope that Adrammelech is a really good, well rounded villain, and I hope that this hasn’t dampened Tabata’s spirits. He seemed a lot happier and positive in the Volume 32 Afterwords section; much more so than in previous volumes. Really hope this doesn’t get him down again……….
Until the next post, everyone; have a Magically spectacular day. Later, gators!!
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