I could NOT pick a name for this chapter review. When the leaks came out earlier this week(from the time of my writing this part- Friday, December 25th, 2022, 11:18am); I was thinking about the title “Kitsune vs Hyrda,” because all the leaks I saw were focused on Kezoukaku’s Kitsune style transformation. Like, that was the image that I saw the most. But then you have what the other Ryuuzen do in the chapter against this legendary beast. And after reading the chapter properly; it’s kind of implied that this IS in fact the 5 Headed Dragon from Hino Country Lore! So I was gonna say “Ryuuzen vs Hydra,” but…….. Yamato No Orochi. In the end; I came up with this title- if for nothing more than just a Gag.
Chapter Itself: Nothing to write home about, I’m afraid. Tabata had to take an additional week because his dog was sick and he had to console his wife(Hope that family is doing better- genuinely). As such; this PROBABLY wasn’t the chapter that he wanted to end the year on- he probably had a better idea, and that chapter will come out at the top of 2023. I’m sure that’ll be a great Opening chapter for what MAY be “Black Clover’s Final Year.” He says like Naruto’s Finale didn’t span 5 whole years. But yeah; I think the series may reach its finale. Tabata took 3 months to plan out the finale- there probably won’t be a whole lot of “fluff” padding this out.
That said- it probably won’t end until………. probably this time next year, if at all. It’s Sister Series, on the other hand……. In any case; this is mostly a battle chapter with a lot of visual references more than anything. Not really much “content” to dissect…….. Maybe 1 thing. Let’s just get into it. Black Clover Chapter 346: “The Five Divas/ Five Zetten” as the official has chosen to go with. Note: “Devas” are Divine Celestial Deities that were adopted from Hindu Mythology into Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. The Kanji can also be read as “The Heavenly Five,” or could refer to the 5 of them performing Zetten.
REVIEW
We see the civilians of the Land of the Sun reacting to the emergence of the 5 Headed Beast from legend; they wonder if theier Shogun and the Ryuuzen 7 will be able to handle it. Back at the battle field; Kezoukaku is left in mid air, open to Sister Lily’s spatial attack. Ichika pulls her out of the way, warning her to think a little more. Lily warns them not to focus so heavily on them- less the Dragon destroys the entire country. Sure enough; the beast begins attack. But they’ve prepared for that…………
Flashback: The Night before; Ryuuya gathered the 5 of them up and warned them of the Paladins that would be coming. Sister Lily with Spatial and Water Magic; Heath with Ice; and he doesn’t specify for Yrul, but says that the magic let’s him control Magic Beasts. As such, their first move is to break the seal on the 5 Headed Dragon, letting it loose on the country. So Ryuuya tells them to get the people of the Goshu region out of there before the Beast emerges in the morning. If they don’t, then there’s a chance that new Paladins will arise.
Imari and Kezoukaku are worried about how well they’ll do against the Beast of Legend, but Ryuuya assures them that he has the utmost faith in them! That gives them all the power that they need to fight this thing. Kezoukaku is eaten by one of the heads, but she breaks free with “Snow Yojutsu: Silver Fox In Blood Dyed Robes” and the use of Zetten. Daizaemon: “Earth Yojutsu: Giant King Of Wisdom–” he creates a Buddha Golem that slugs another head with a Zetten powered fist. Jozo: “Wind Yojutsu: Killing Kakara Blade” + Zetten to slice up the 3rd head. And dear Imari with “Lightning Yojutsu: Diamond Yasha Princess- Fivefold Dance” + Zetten making Lighting Kunai to slash up the 4th. And of course; Ichika comes in with “Blac Cresent Moon” + Zetten to slash of the final head. Thus; it’s time to face off against the Paladins- next time. Black Clover Chapter 346 END!! Like I said: “Not Much To It.”
Analysis
So I came over to my other Granmother’s- my Maternal Granmother’s- house for the holidays. But I had work on Christmas Eve of all days(with them dumb@$$ “Last Minute” guys and stupid people), and I had a few other things to do. All of this is to say that I’m in a different setting, trying to…… “get comfy” and write my posts. As such; expect this and the My Hero review to be out a little bit later than expected. Crazy, but true. That and the fact that I didn’t get much sleep the night before my writing this(Saturday, December 24th, 2022, 4:14pm) means I’m not at Peak 100%. Several factors as to why this next section might not be that good……….
This chapter didn’t really have much. Although it DOES answer a question that I had about the Monster. In my mind; Yrul was only about to “recreate” the monster from Legend- I didn’t think this would be The ACTUAL F*ckin’ Dragon. I had completely forgotten that there was the seal on this thing- that Paladin Heath broke in chapter 344. Looking back; the text in chapter 342 never said that it was dead- just that it was “quelled” by the Heavenly Maiden. That one was on me. But even so; what Devil’s power does Yrul have? Or is that his Innate Magic like Sister Lily’s Water magic, amped with Devil power? Who the hell is Yrul? I feel like…….I should be a little upset that he just “dropped” this character on us, you know?
On the one hand; the point of the Paladins- at least from what Lucius has described in his plans and what he’s done thus far- is to bring back deceased characters and have them get “Amped.” But Yrul doesn’t really resemble any character thus far. He bares a resemblance to Revchi the Chain user, but we don’t know what happened to he and Guldre Poizot come the end of the Elf Invasion; we’re left to assume that they were just made to either do community service for the rest of forever, or were just thrown back in prison after they were made to help clean up. And based on the fact that he hasn’t given Sister Lily a new name, we know that he’s not gonna be renaming them. So who the f*ck is………
Wait a minute: We know that Human Fana is still out there some where with Mars and the others, but………. what of Human Rhya and Vetto? Could this be Human Vetto’s soul- the soul of a man named “Yrul-” placed in one of these “undying bodies” made by the Zogratis families magic? Both Human and Elf Fana possessed Fire Magic; Licht and Teita’s child past on their Wind Magic to Yuno(however that works); maybe Yrul- if that was his name- also possessed Beast Magic like Elf Vetto.
If this monster’s magic is able to connect to the Underworld, then that might explain a little more about the nature of Beast Magic. In chapter 68; Vetto- having awakened his 3rd eye and more of his Elven power- used a spell that was spoken in the language of Devils. This dragon’s magic seeped into the water, causing a time-space distortion and connected it to the Underworld. Perhaps the “Highest” for of Beast Magic- “Mythical Beast Magic-” is the power to control Beasts from the Underworld; the stronger the magic- the easer it becomes to control even stronger creatures from the Underworld. Maybe. We still don’t know everything about this beast, the Underworld, or even what this “distortion” its presence has created can do.
Perhaps……… Asta really is in another Realm- a different dimension all together. And Yami only arrived in the Clover Kingdom by getting washed away by the Distorted Water. Meaning that finding Asta won’t be such an easy task for the Black……Bulls……….. Sister Lily used Beelzebub’s Spatial Magic to send Asta here(aiming to kill him). The Dragon’s Mana caused a Space-Time Distrotion. Perhaps Beelzebub created the monster to find an alternate way out of the Underworld- as Megucla did with “Malevolent Femcantation.” He created this monster by imbuing a Magic Beast with his magic, mutating it in the same way using the Magic stones turned Licht in an Ancient Demon, or bestowing Secre with her horns. Bodies in the Human world were not made to maintain Negative mana.
So when he imbued a Magic beast, it ended up as the 5 Headed Dragon we see here. And if the Celestial Maiden hadn’t jumped in and stopped it, then Beelzebub may have been able to enter…….. at least, THIS world, if what I hypothesized is true. Kind of a mirror to what happened with Licht, Lumiere, and Zagreb 500 years ago.
That Long Tangent Aside: The Ryuuzen Are Looking Pretty Cool. Once again; Tabata never missing with the character designs- Kezoukaku’s transformation is pretty cool. I saw people saying that Tabata “ripped off” Hiro Mashima because one of the characters in Edens Zero uses a Kitsune inspired design as well. Not even gonna talk further about that. Imari’s Lighting Kunai were pretty cool, too. Daizaemon’s Earth Buddha was cool. Nice battle chapter.
Conclusion
That’s all I got.I really started padding with that Beelzebub theory- which only explains the “Time” part of the distortion if you know anything about how Time and Space works. Something that I’m sure my brother would point out if he read this post. But ultimately; I’m kind of proud of myself for this theory! This isn’t something that I’ve been sitting on for a while; I just kind of made that up as I went. Like I said; I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I need a new prescription because my headaches are coming back. But even so, I was able to add a lot of idea’s to this post!
Though I don’t really expect for all of my questions to be answered. DEFINITELY on the look out for hints about Yrul. But I don’t really expect to learn who he is soon at all. And then in the VERY NEXT CHAPTER we learn who this guy is supposed to be. Ah, whatever; I’m still glad I was able to improvise something the way I did. Let me know your own thoughts in the comments. And until the next post, all- Have A magical Rest Of Your Day. By~~~e!!!
