MOVIE NEWS MOVIE NEWS MOVIE NEWS MOVIE NEWS!! WE KNOW THINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE NOW!! And it’s all great!! Well, one piece might be a little upsetting, but the rest is SUPER exciting! Especially that Subtitle. To me; it feels like something that would be for a more “Grandiose Adventure” rather than a “Raging Magic Battle-” like they’re trying to find the thing rather than fighting against it. Though it could end up being both. I can’t say right now. All I can tell you:
- Full Title: “Black Clover- The Sword Of The Wizard King(God, I just love saying that name)”
- Main Antaogonist: “Conrad,” The Previous Wizard King- Designed by Yuki Tabata himself. Him being the Wizard King before Julius makes him the 28th. Wonder what his story is……..?
- Release Date: March 31st, 2023 In Japanese Theaters And Worldwide On Japan Simultaneously. Would have liked to see it in Theaters and then have the DVD, but at least we get to see it! And they may still put the DVD out at some point!
In some other news; we finally have the results for the most recent popularity poll. There was some weird stuff going on with the voting system, and the guy’s behind the scenes had to do a recount. So the results got delayed a little bit. Results- may shock you:
Yeah, I was………… not expecting Dante to be so High. And I didn’t expect to see Luck actually booted out of the Top 10. I guess with more fans coming in to vote, Luck hasn’t been “hitting” like he used to. In like the first 5 or 6 popularity polls, he was somewhere in the top 10. This was Crazy one, huh? And of course- Noelle takes the W once again. This is the second time she’s been #1. Glad to see her winning! And now; The Chapter! Black Clover Chapter 340: “An Opening.” Let’s begin………..
REVIEW
Chapter 339: Liebe is fully recovered, meaning it’s time to start Training! The technique that Asta hopes to learn: “Zetten-” a technique that utilizes ki to control the flow of yoryoku/ mana and hyper focus it into one point, and send it out in a massive, powerful attack. Ichika demonstrates on a Bamboo stock- bambo that is grown with yoryoku. Asta tries it, and the Anti Magic Zetten that comes out withers away the stock.
Chapter 340: He continues to train with “Zetten-” withering away several stocks of Bamboo. Now that he has the basics of the technique, he now has to learn when to use it so that he doesn’t just waste all that Anti Magic. And the only way for Muscle dope like Asta to learn that: The Heat Of Combat. He has to face Ichika. He takes his Devil form, but Ichika warns him still: “If You Don’t Give It Your All- You WILL Die.”
Ichika makes the first move, but Asta manages to defend against it- he even learns that her yoryoku infused attacks are dampened by his Anti Magic. But the physical damage is still ever present. He takes out the Demon Slasher katana, but misses every time he swings. Ryuuya explains that the name “Zetten” comes from the person who invented the technique- someone with Yojutsu so powerful that it “split the sky with one attack.”
Ichika kicks Asta to the sky, and the two end up taking the fight to a nearby lake. Ryu is talking with Mikuriya about the fight; he says that Ichika has a problem hitting people when they’re concentrating, so she aims for that momentary lapse in attention. Lucius is the same way. And with Time and Soul magic backing him- he’s nothing to take lightly. So what he wants Asta to do is continue to Evade the attacks- be they from Ichika or Lucius- and wait for that “opening.” Ichika finds it, drawing her katana and slashing at Asta. But he manages to get out of the way and she ends up cutting down the majority of the forest.
Asta is so taken aback that Ichika manages to land a kick in his gut, ending the fight. Asta is surprised; even in Devil Union, her strikes did so much damage. But that just makes him MORE excited. He gets back up-clinging to consciousness- and asks to continue the fight. Ichika slaps him on the head and knocks him out, warning him not to talk like that when he’s only barley conscious. Even so; Ryuuya’s impressed that Asta was able to take Ichika’s serious attacks and got back up- that’s something no one in the land of the Sun has been able to do! Black Clover Chapter 340 END! That last one might of been a little bit stronger than her other attacks………………….
Analysis
Ichika is tough. THAT we know. She’s like Yami, only the physical strength is a little more……… subtle. Like; they’re of a similar level of strength, but Yami’s much more of a “Brute-” Ichika’s strikes are…… compact. And using Zetten- so will Asta’s. Thinking about it; Ichika is probably using Zetten up to the point of “condensing” it, and is simply imbuing her strikes with it, making her seem even stronger than before. If Asta learns how to do that, then…………. he may not even need the swords. Though that seems to be in the process as is.
Let me say THIS before I go forward: He’s GOING to use his swords against Lucius when they fight. I’m just saying that he might be able to fight hand to hand. Which is something that Lucius pointed out as weakness of his in their fight; Asta can’t really do anything about physical attacks. But now he can. And I don’t think that that’s all he can do against the Paladins……….
Through Zetten; Asta is able to wither away plants that grow with mana. Lucius’ goal is to create “Undying bodies” via his siblings magic and the power of the Devils. 1) The Dark Triad is either back, or is going to come back– that’s a no-brainer. 2) Would Asta be able to erode these “Undying Bodies” in the same way? That’d be something that Lucius would need to watch out for. That, and now he knows that he can defend against Magic imbued attacks with Anti Magic. He’s going to learn a lot more facets of his Anti magic in this arc. I appreciate the focus on this learning process, but I think it’s time that we see what they’re up to in the Clover Kingdom.
Another aspect of the chapter that I like is that it further shows how “Black Clover” handles a fight. This is a “Battle Shonen Manga.” And while it doesn’t exactly “reinvent the wheel,” it has to do something that sets itself apart from from it’s contemporaries. And this mostly done through how each series handles its fights in terms of storytelling. For the Original Shonen Battle story- Dragon ball– the fights are used for “Story Progression;” every fight has an effect on the story. Be it something like keeping Goku out for a minute; pushing certain themes like Gohan vs Cell; showing off how much power a character has to make sure you know what your in for; information on a character; and several other things. For “Black Clover’s” main rival- My Hero Academia- the fights serve as the capstone of a character arc; the characters go in trying to learn something about themselves, think back on a previous event, and the “Final Blow” is the moment of “Realization” where they complete the arc.
But in the case of “Black Clover;” the story is told through the fights- world building; character development; lore; progression of the story; it’s all tied to the fight. The lore behind Zetten is only dropped because Asta needs it to battle Lucius- it came up during his current battle. Or even going back to fights like Asta and Yami vs Licht; we began to learn more about where Yami comes from and gotten the introduction of ki to the story, which has become supremely integral to the plot. There are other examples, but you get my point. And it’s important that Tabata do this because it’s important that a fight have some point to the narrative; there’d be no point to watching it otherwise.
And to bring it back to the ki thing; Tabata’s done a good job of having Asta utilize it in his arsenal. It’s what allowed for “Black Asta,” which is described as him “using ki to circulate the Anti Magic from his sword through the body.” Ki is used to force Yoryoku to do the same. And it’s the crux behind “Zetten.” The story has been building up to this technique the whole time, and that makes it feel like Asta should “know the basics” of the technique. But he needs the combat experience to safely use it in a real battle. Thus the Sparring match he just had.
Speaking of: Ichika Yami. I don’t know why she’s so angered by her brother– maybe something happened between them in the past; maybe she’s upset that Yami decided to stay in the Clover Kingdom and leaving her “alone;” maybe she just doesn’t like guys like that. But it’s clear that she sees the same traits in Asta. And that’s what’s bothering her. I don’t know if that’s hampering her abilities, but it’s clear that it’s making her……. unnecessarily rough on Asta, I feel. He’s going to ask her at some point, and- knowing anime- she’ll probably say something like “Fre@kin’ Annoying” or “He’s a bumbling clown of a man without a single redeeming quality.” When they meet again, we’ll probably learn why.
I think that this would be the time that we cut away from Asta to see what the others are doing; be it Yuno, Lucius, or the Black Bulls. I’m sure Yuno’s training- as all of them should be- but I also think he’s helping in the search. I’m hoping that they’re looking in “shifts;” like- a group of 3 or so going around following the lead the last team found, and they take turns looking each day. It’s logical because now they’re not just exhausted going into the battle against Lucius and his Paladins, but it also allows them to rest, eat, and train to prepare for the battle. It’s just something that I think will be neat.
Conclusion
All of that being said; I’m not sure what we’re in for next week. All I can say is that there’s a chapter next week. And I said everything I wanted to about the movie and the popularity poll in the beginning. So I’ll end the post here. Let me know your own thoughts in the comments, and until the next post, all- Have A Magically Wonderful Day. By~~~~e!!!!
