The Yami Clan Massacre! Black Clover Chapter 342 BREAKDOWN

Several things to talk about right now. Firstly, we have the cover of Volume 33 releasing. Nice cover. I hear people didn’t really like it- calling it “The Worst Cover.” No. I agree it ain’t the best- THAT honor belongs to the previous volume, Volume 32- but it ISN’T the worst. I don’t really dislike ANY of the volume covers, but I’d have to say that Volumes 8, 12, 16, 18, 20, and 31 didn’t really “hit” with me like the others. They were also talking about Sister Lily’s “THICCNESS,” so there’s that. 2) Yami is straight up Itachi. This straight up proves it- at least with what the chapter would imply. We’ll talk about that a little more later. For now; Black Clover Chapter 342: “Watch The Night.” Some of these chapter titles also don’t hit, but others- SLAP. 

REVIEW

The chapter starts with Ichika telling Asta the history of the Yami clan: They are a clan descended from a group of Assassins called the “Kijin-” a group known widely for their role in combat during times of war. Soon, they were entrusted with the protection of the Land of the Sun. And of the 5 Provinces of this country, the Yami clan was entrusted with Goshu- the territory belonging to the Ryudo clan. According To Legend: The Land of the Sun was ravenged by a 5 Headed Dragon. But it was in this provinces that the beast would be tamed by a “Celestial Maiden.” It’s yoryoku(mana) seeped into the sea and making it “black and stagnant.” It is said that it caused a “space-time distortion” that connected to The Underworld…………. 

We cut over to the Yami clan’s training dojo, where………. for the sake of the moment, let’s go with “Sukehiro.” Sukehiro is being “trained” by his drunken father, whose upset with the current state of things. Even though theirs is a clan of “Spirit Swordsman,” they are to sit and defend another clan’s remote land- land that has been under threat in ages. He takes it out on his son, and the anger at the loss of his wife on Ichika. Sukehiro comes to her defense, and their dad is pleased; Sukehiro is showing even more potential than the Young Lord Ryuuya!! But Sukehiro gives no sh!ts and he takes Ichika with him when he goes fishing. 

The first fish that Sukehiro catches is an “Demon Tiger Pufferfish-” a Poisonous Pufferfish with Devil horns that’s apparently hard to catch. Ryuuya comes by to join in the fun, but Sukehiro warns that his “Overseer” is gonna get mad at him again. Ichika addressing him formally, but he doesn’t need honorifics- he doesn’t care about status or the amount of Yoryoku you have; he just wants everyone to get along as equals! Sukehiro tells him that’ll never happen, but it’s not like he dislikes those kinds of silly dreams……….

Back in the present; Ichika laments in how stupid she was- how she believed what her brother said that day. But that all changed the year Sukehiro turned 13- when he slaughtered the entire clan(aside from Ichika). And then he ran away from the punishment for his crime by fleeing the country, ending up in the Clover Kingdom. The rest you know. Back in the present; Asta completely rejects this story- he refuses to believe that his Captain could do something like that. That against Ichika, who saw the whole thing, naturally means they have to Fight. If he wants to disprove what Ichika saw, then he must “show the strength he cultivated under that man.” 

Ichika initiates her “Dark Yojutsu: Dark Cloaked Black Warrior-” a Samurai armor made of Darkness. Training has resumed- and she’s coming for blood. Black Clover Chapter 342 END!! This is gonna be Good……… 

Analysis 

Okay, that’s a lot to take in. Where do I start with this? Do you think mangaka start writing like that? The way these guys talk, it’s feels like they have no idea how they’re going to pull off a lot of the ideas in their head. Tabata had 3 months to plan ho to tackle all of this, so we’re definitely gonna get some follow up on this bit of lore. Don’t know how, though. Maybe do something along the lines of tying this back to the original creator of “Zetten?” Oh! MAYBE!! It was said that he “parted the Heavens” with it. Perhaps……… the attack was created to fight against said Dragon, and it parted the sky by ACCIDENT, summoning the “Celestial Maiden!!” in fact; maybe the attack is what resulted in the Dragon’s 5 heads- it may have been a Hydra!! 

And then that caused the Distortion that connects the sea to the Underworld. That most DEFINITELY caused something to happen to the ecosystem- as we see with the Oni Pufferfish. I don’t think that it’s enough of a “tear” that would allow the Devils to flood into this world(unless that’s indirectly how the first Qliphoth event was started, but it’s been made clear through dialogue that it only took place on the Clover Kingdom’s continent), but it’s enough for all that nasty Negative mana to leak out and stain the sea the way it has. Thus forcing the creatures in the water to to evolve. Thus the Oni Puffer. But then the Dragon’s mana/ yoryoku leaking out………. what does that have to do with everything? Was it some kind of Ultra Powerful Devil that could open doorways in and out as it wished? Or is it something completely unrelated to the Devils? I don’t know how this is all gonna tie back to the main plot with Lucius, but it’s gonna be cool no matter how you splice it. 

Yami killing his entire clan. I definitely believe it’s the same case as Itachi, based on his father’s drunken ramblings; he probably wanted to lead a coup against the Ryudo clan, and Sukehiro………. I don’t think he was told to do it. He may have found out about it, and had to take action to stop it. Thus- he murdered em all. Or, maybe he did tell the Ryuudo family and they had him do the same, and in return they would take care of Ichika. Either way, I doubt that Ryuuya knew about it when it happened; maybe now, but not back then. 

Other than that, I kind of like Asta and Ichika’s dynamic- it paints something of a picture of what Sukehiro and Ichika’s relationship would be like if they met in the present……… excluding the, uh……. the Murder stuff. I mean; she didn’t hate her father, it seems- she understood that he was just……. sad about the passing of his wife. And it came out……… in bad ways. But she doesn’t seem to have disliked him; she strikes me as the type that would see the pain in someone’s anger- at least in her younger years. Now, though………. Though that also adds to the parallels; Ichika seeing her fathers pain just as Asta saw through Liebe’s during the Binding Ritual. 

Editing Note: I’ve a had a few days to work on this post- seen some things going around on Twitter that I didn’t even THINK of. Like the thing that Grey noticed with with Yami’s heart. The official release has their father say “Demon God.” Grey said that his heart is “now like the Devil possessing Asta.” Are these things connected? Or the thing that their dad said about Ryuuya; how he has “a whole lot of Yoryoku.” But he doesn’t in the present. He may have made a Devil Bargain- a bargain that entailed him giving up his Yoryoku in exchange for that eye. Or so it seems. Probably traded with the Supreme Devil Of Time Astaroth for something that will help him achieve his goal and help the turbulent Land Of The Sun. But what did Lucius end up doing with Astaroth? The same thing he did to Lucifero in chapter 332? 

Conclusion 

………… There’s a lot that I want to talk about– mostly about what I saw on Twitter. And I’m sure that I will in the coming chapters. Tabata’s doing a lot- probably because he thought he’d have a lot more time to tackle it all. But now we’re in the Final arc of the story; it may well be long, but I don’t think it’ll be the Thousand Year Blood War/ Fourth Great Shinobi War long- the whole point was to “streamline” all of this content and make sure the story can wrap up………. RIGHT for a change. It feels like every series manages to fumble the bag at the finish line. Hopefully “Black Clover” can avoid that fate……………

But yeah, that’s it from me for this week, guys. Next week- Big Battle. I wonder what’s going through Liebe’s mind right now? He’s no longer just a “Power Battery-” he’s out and about in the world now. I’m not saying I want him to go about and explore the Land Of The Sun by himself, but I would like to know how he’s begun to see Yami in the Year and 3 months he’s been free from the Grimoire. Probably won’t, but you never know. Let me know your own thoughts in the comments, and until the next post, all- Have A Magically Wonderful Day. By~~~e!!!!