Angels, Devils, And What Lies In The Soul. Black Clover Chapter 349 BREAKDOWN

I couldn’t think of a proper title, but I knew I didn’t want to use the “1001 Ways” title again- because this chapter deserves better. And I put this in the Dragon Ball category because there’s something that I wanted to talk about last chapter but couldn’t really do in the format I chose. And the movie because the movies coming out in a few months. So until then, I think I’ll keep putting it in the movie category for the time being. Really should put more Movies up here. In any case; “Black Clover” is on FIRE right now. Not much content per chapter, as per usual, but enough. The character writing for Asta, in particular. Considering where we started with this kid, the leap from there to here must seem Enormous. 

But for however much I love this series- My Hero was the better of the 2 this week. Honestly, that series was probably the Best chapter I’ve read this week- it really seems like it’s getting “back to form.” At the 11th hour ’cause I really don’t see it making it past July, but it’s trying to end on a High Note. This is a “Black Clover” post; I probably gushed enough about My Hero in its own. Let’s begin. Black Clover Chapter 349: “Asta vs Sister Lily.” 

REVIEW

Heath sees Asta for the first time in a long time, having never thought that the same boy would be standing in opposition to him once again. But he won’t be fighting Asta this time; he’ll be fighting Yosuga for the time being- he wants to let Asta and Sister Lily have their “private” reunion in peace. Speaking Of: Lily asks Asta how he’s alive. Asta replies that the people of this country saved him- after she sent him here in the first place. She says that that was meant as a killing blow, but Asta doesn’t buy it; “The Sister Lily I Know Would Never Try To Kill Anyone!” he claims. And she begins trying to dispute that. 

Asta proves to be too skilled for her, and she can’t use some of her better Spatial Magic attacks while Asta is still moving. So she combines her Water and Spatial magic to make “Sachiel’s Flash-” a beam of light. Asta avoids the attack, and Lily yells “For the sake of the World, Asta- You MUST Die!!” And Asta yells back “I won’t let you kill me, Sister!!” Thinking back to her memories of Asta- from the time they met to his Final Confession- she tears up, and admits: “I don’t want to kill you, either!!” But Lucius’ “programming” won’t let her relent; the Paladins loyalty to Lucius comes first. 

As such, she fires multiple “Sachiel’s Flashes” at Asta, tearing up the landscape. But he plows through it all, knowing that forcing someone to kill could never be considered “Righteous.” He vows to never forgive Lucius for what he’s done. He flies towards Sister Lily, and- just as with Yrul- uses Zetten to cut the “Paladin” out of her. Her face returns to normal, as Black Clover Chapter 349 comes to an Emotional END!! That’s one problem solved- but…….. How are they gonna get back to the Clover Kingdom?

Analysis 

I Love What Tabata is doing with Asta. I wanted to start with that. Last week, I had planned to talk about his recent development. I don’t really know how to convey it, though. I know that last week, I was going to talk about how his training kind of reminded me of what Vegeta had to go through during the recent Granolah Arc. Like; him defeating his greatest fear- the Fear Of his Own Weakness- reminded me of how Vegeta had to learn to use Hakai. For the both of them, they had to “Destroy Their Old Way of Thinking” and “Make A New One.” For Vegeta, he had to stop taking on all of the guilt for what his race did- to stop chaining himself to the past. And for Asta; he has to stop “hesitating” so much- stop thinking about Yuno and Yami and Fuegoleon and what THEY can do. He has to focus on what HE can do. Also similarly to Vegeta in that he’s not chasing Goku anymore- they don’t just “have the same forms” anymore. 

However, I see people debating on whether this “Sudden Development” is good or not. Because Asta……….. largely hasn’t changed. His character growth has been a little more subtle than someone like Izuku or Naruto, who aren’t even the same characters anymore. Asta is loud, stupid, determined, confident, and kind. That much hasn’t changed. But because of what Fuegoleon said in chapter 31(at least from MY perspective); he’s not………. ALWAYS yelling like he was before. In the beginning…….. well, you know. But Fuegoleon told him that “A Magic Knight Must Keep A Calm Mind.” Which he does. You’ll see him stop mid battle a few times to assess the situation- such as learning from Licht’s Ultimate Magic in chapter 207. Or there’s the difference between his mindset in chapter 1 vs chapter 80. Whereas Revchi’s chain magic revealed to him that he could NEVER use Magic, and would have given up had Yuno not spoken up; Asta cried for a minute, ate with his friends, went off somewhere quiet, and told Fate “I’m Not Giving Up.” 

So seeing him just “suddenly” have this “Inferiority Complex-” comparing himself to Yuno all the time- seems to have Jaded some fans. While others I’ve seen have been talking about how failure can affect the mind. You can be the most confident person alive- humble enough to NOT have a Big @$$ head and be a pompous jerk, but also know that you can do anything you put your mind to. Then you fail. And you fail again. And again. And again. It may not be the first time- or the second or third- but at some point; it’s going to start to get to you. And that’s FINE. You’d be in denial if it didn’t. “What’s important is to not stop trying” and all that self help cr@p, but it’s important to think about this from the perspective of Asta. 

You work your butt off for a year and some change- almost die fighting the KING OF DEVILS with the most Magic Power in this world and the other– and Yuno becomes a Grand Magic Knight before him. Ain’t THAT some ol’ bull. THEN, you confess to the woman you love(or at least, you think you do, ’cause maybe he was just kind of confused) and she Family zones you. Not “Friend zone” where there’s some wiggle room- Little. Brother. Territory. It is my head canon that, had Lucius not made his move that day; Asta would have gone back to his room that night and cried- if only just a little. But the fact of that matter is that he got rejected. And by his First crush, no less. That tends to be the one that hurts the most. And THEN some creep comes up and not only tells you “You Shouldn’t Exist,” but also Brainwashes your Crush RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES and you aren’t fast enough to stop it. And then she tells you to “Die.” Not even 10 minutes apart. That hurt. That hurt ME. That probably hurt Tabata. 

Though…….. all of that……. is probably just what brought these insecurities to the surface- made them problems that Asta couldn’t ignore anymore. Like in chapter 110, when he could figure out how to catch up with everyone at that Volcano. After trying to activate Black Asta(in rather silly fashions, I’ll admit), he began to think about how he wished he had Magic. He ran up against a wall and started to wish he was more like those he wanted to surpass. Normal reaction. Chapters 260 and 261: Yami is caught offguard by Zenon after an Intense Battle with Dante. And none of them have the strength to stop it- be it exhaustion FROM that same battle, or they simply aren’t strong enough to hack it. Asta is willing to give Liebe precisely what he wanted: His Body. But seeing the state he was in, Liebe told him to his Face: “Your Body Can’t Move Anymore, And As Things Stand- I Can’t Make Anymore Contracts With It. It’s YOUR Fault- Because Your WEAK.” His body cr@pped out right when he needed it the most. How do you think he felt after that? 

This “Inferiority Complex” he has isn’t recent- it’s something that goes all the way back to chapter 1 of the story; every time there’s a setback, he slides into this mindset of “I’m Not Good Enough.” But through his training here, he’s learned how to overcome it. Will it continue to be a problem in the future? Not in this Final Arc- that would just be bad writing. But it’s not like those issues are just gonna “go away.” This might be a life time thing. But…. for the moment…….. He’s gonna be alright. 

Now that the “Analytical” part of The Post- Asta’s Zetten Ability!! I don’t think he would have been able to do this with Demon Destroyer(haven’t really seen him use Demon Destroyer, or even Slayer and Dweller since the Time Skip). Demon Destroyer undoes spells and their effects. What Lucius is doing………. might be something different. Otherwise, I don’t think Asta would have had to learn a whole new technique for the sake “curing” all of Lucius’ victims. Not unless this is the arc where we learn what Drowa meant by that power coming with “consequences.” Maybe……… Demon Destroyer can’t undo something like what he did for Morris in chapter 344. He basically made Morris a body from the ground up, considering the state he was in. Could Demon Destroyer undo something like that? 

That leads me to question where something like the “Soul” stands in all of this. Is Lucius completely Transmuting a soul? I mean like “Deconstructing” it and “Reconstructing” it to be something else. I guess a better word would be “Rewriting” a soul. Would Demon Destroyer be able to undo something that was only “altered” instead of “infected?” I don’t know. There was “Fate Release” from chapter 219 that broke Damnatio’s spell that basically “shrunk” their magic. That might work for Souls, but that doesn’t take care of the Purified Devil Essence Lucius placed in them. Perhaps that’s what Zetten will be for: Returning all of the Paladins to Normal. And then use “Fate Release” to undo the “programming.” Which would mean Yrul and Lily are still programmed to follow Lucius’ orders. But all of that is just pure speculation on my part; I’m not even 100% sure of what I said just now. 

The name “Sachiel” in the leaks had me looking through the real life Angel Sachiel from Christian Angelology. Guess where the f*ck I learned that phrase from? This spell had me looking up the Angel, and all I learned was that: 

1. Sachiel is an Angel from the Order of the Cherubim(winged angelic beings described in biblical tradition as attending on God).
2. His name when translated from Hebrew means “The Covering Of God.” 
3. The name ‘Sachiel’ originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called The Heptameron.
4. Sachiel is associated with the Zodiacal sign Sagittarius, the weekday Thursday, wealth, and charity. While in most sources Sachiel presides over Thursday, others do assign him to Monday or Friday. All associate him with the planet Jupiter. As such, in New Age angel lore he can be invoked for matters involving money, finance, law, politics, and religion. 
5. His Sigil appears in Francis Barret’s The Magnus, an early nineteenth century compendium of occult lore. It also appears in the 16th century treatise, The Complete Book of Magic Science. 
6. It’s the name of an Angel in Neon Genesis Evangelion. 

I wait for the translation of the editors note to find out which part this is referring to- and it doesn’t even say. Maybe my brother’s right; these mangaka don’t look that far into the names they use……… sometimes. Others like “Yami” are kind of surface level references if you know even a little Japanese from anime. This, however……… seems to just be a name. 

It also seems like Lucius’ programming just puts his will at the front of their minds- not something to take away their free will. So that’s gonna make for some emotional moments when we get to the Important Paladins. Like Morgen, for example. Nacht’s got some “Limits” to push past. Will he finally let himself “into the light,” or will he fall victim to Lucius’ “Holy Darkness?” I can’t WAIT for the answer………..

Conclusion

Alright, I’m done. Every part after “Like Morgen, For Example” was just me padding ’til I figured out what I was gonna talk about next. But that Asta Analysis took up the bulk of my “Creative Juices.” That, plus the other 2 being good this week has me SPENT. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. ‘Til next time, y’all.