*Sigh*…………. “Black Clover: Sword of The Wizard King Is Being Delayed To June 16th, 2023 Due to Covid-19.” I’m so sick of hearing that. And the worst part is that I’m hearing people speculate whether or not this is a cover up for a Poor Production schedule. I don’t know whether to be disgusted that Pierrot is hiding behind a World Changing Disease to cover up the fact that they’re rushing the animators and then decided last minute to give them the time they needed, the fans for thinking something like that, that fact that’s probably partially the case, or if my own sadness at the delay is making me incapable of writing this post properly. I…….. I really wanted to see this movie. I was gonna start a 30 Day free trials and ride that ’til the end of season 2 of Edens Zero, and the I’d cancel the subscription til Four Knights Of The Apocalypse came out. At which point, I’d just get Hulu and go from there. Ugh……..
Like I probably said in my My Hero review; the series this week have been “Good” but not “Great.” This one is no exception. And with the news that one of my most anticipated movies this year has been delayed- My hearts just not as in it. Maybe I should just look on the bright side: They can continue to work on the movie and make it look even better. It worked for “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero;” maybe it’ll make this movie REALLY look good. Super Hero got like a 2 month delay(It was supposed to be out in April of last year, but came out in June instead); they get a whole extra Month for “Sword Of The Wizard King.” Please be so good and well received that it makes them bring back the anime. Black Clover Chapter 351: “With The Shogun Of The Land of The Sun” Here we go…….
REVIEW
Picking up after the events of last chapter: Asta begins his battle against the Five Headed Dragon- slicing up 2 of its heads with Zetten. But it just regenerates after every attack. Meanwhile, Paladin Heath struggles against the Strongest Ryuuzen, Yosuga. But he refuses to give up- “For The Sake Of Lucius Sama’s Righteous World!” Yosuga responds that he’s also fighting for the sake of someone he believes is “Righteous-” For his Shogun, Ryuya.
FLASHBACK: Yosuga is the heir to the land of Koushu, being incredibly strong at a very young age. The only one in the Land of the Sun who could fight against him was the heir to Goshu, Ryuya. They would battle constantly, fighting to see who would one day become the Shogun. The Year They Turned 17: A Plague spread through Koushu and Goshu- people with very little yoryoku died by the drove. According to the elders, the only thing that could possibly stop this is the “Soul Quickening Grass.” But it seems to have gone extinct.
They would bring Ryuya and Yosuga- the only ones with the Yoryoku to do this- to a cave that held Tengetsu. With it’s power, it’d be possible to find the herb and begin growing more of it to solve the problem. But the trade off is that the holder will lose their Yoryoku altogether. Yosuga- valuing his immense strength- mentally could not do it. Ryuya, on the other hand, didn’t think twice. He gave up his Yoryoku and received Tengetsu, and saved the Land Of The Sun. And only continued to help from there. But no matter how much he helped; Yosuga remained angry with Ryu- having lost the only one who could give him a challenge left him bored and feeling a little betrayed.
Even so; Ryu would continue to garner favor with the people of the Land Of The Sun- even followers in the form of the other 6 Ryuuzen. But when it came time to decide on a Shogun, the officials had originally wanted the Powerful Yosuga in the seat. He rejected the title, deciding to become the 7th Ryuuzen and make Ryu the Shogun. Back in the present: Yosuga reveal his yojutsu- “Iron Yojutsu: Iron God Of War,” turning him into an Iron moving statue, and using Zetten to end the fight with Heath. The other Ryuuzen stand up in time to hear Ryuya’s words of encouragement:
Hey!! Even if Nobody Knows, I’ve Watched Y’all All This Time; Yer Fights; Yer Feelings; All Yer Hard Work. There’s Just No Way It’s Okay For Ya To Fall Here!! Band Together And Take Down The Five Headed Dragon!!
– Shogun of Hino Country, Ryudo Ryuya
His words of encouragement spark to life the others, as Yosuga admits that Ryuya truly is “The Best.” And he’s going to help Asta to become the man who stands at the same level as Ryuya. Black Clover Chapter 351 END!! Not much, but we’re doing a Kaiju battle, so it’ll read better when we look at the chapters back to back.
Analysis
………….. There actually isn’t that much to say about this chapter, if I’m being honest. I’m being genuine when I say that; this is a very “Straight Forward, No Hidden Layer” type of chapter. He said several hours ago; I was writing the that the night of Friday, February 17th, 2023. Went to bed, went to work, and now that I’m stopping to think about it a little bit- There’s LOADS to this chapter. Or, well; more like just a little bit of symbolism and some lore. Starting with the whole thing of the “Tiger And Dragon” in Chinese Mythology. ‘Course I have to look it up. And during my search, I found several sources that say that represent “Yin And Yang-” The Tiger is “Yin,” and the Dragon “Yang.” The Tiger “crouches low to the rocky ground as sign that the yin earth is the tiger’s territory,” and the Dragon is “full of active energy that causes rain clouds to swirl and waves to form when its head rises out of the yang heavens.” How does this apply to Ryuya and Yosuga? That’s what I’m planning to find out……..
Hm…….. This source says that “Yin and Yang are are the two halves of forces that are incomplete without each other; if the opposite is not present, the equilibrium of the universe will be upset.” To this end, those forces are in a constant game of “Cat And Mouse-” neither able to overtake the other and preserving the balance of the Universe. Then Ryu gave up his “Yang” power, leaving Yosuga…….. without someone to “chase.” And that left him feeling a little betrayed; as if he was the only one invested in their relationship. But while Ryuya continued to grow in popularity- helping everyone- Yosuga was still stuck in the past. He stagnated- something that I believe the Dragon did in the myth. Though I can’t seem to fin that story.
There’s also maybe something in there about “Iron Sharpens Iron-” the idea of a Dragon being stagnant and the Tiger keeping it on it’s toes, while the Dragon…….. keeps the Tiger from getting a “Big Head?” Is that how the story goes. I don’t know; I’m spitballin’! Moving on a bit: I’m curious when Yosuga started to move on from his feelings of abandonment. Perhaps it has something to do with how he learned Zetten, and how he went about training Asta a few chapters ago. Instead of “hesitation,” there may have been “despair” in the way he fought. And someone gave him the same advice that he gave to Asta: “Focus The Moment.” He focused on the fact that he was the Strongest without Ryuya, and………. well, you see the results.
And then you have Tengetsu. We knew that the cost of that eye was his yoryoku, but we had assumed that he made a contract with Astaroth. This chapter tells us that that’s not the case. But then you have the cave- and eye with a slash right down the middle. There’s a lot of lore that Tabata is setting up here; lore that I’m not sure what the purpose of it is. You already have the bits and snippets that imply that Charmy is somehow connected to the Land Of The Son, the 5 Headed Dragon’s lore, this stuff with the Yami clan, and several other things introduced in this chapter. Lucius told Lily that the going ons in Hino Country right now will be “inconvenient” to their cause, meaning that whatever Asta learns here is going to be important. There’s Zetten, of course, which can turn every Paladin Lucius makes back to normal, and that means that he can turn Lucius himself back to normal. But they can’t kill him so long as he’s got Julius held hostage in their body.
Then again, I doubt that Asta will want to kill Lucius when it comes down to it. He may want to, but no one will let him cross that line. Not Him, anyway; the Captains are more than willing to lop his head off the moment that Julius is free of Lucius. I also feel like Lucius will die at the end of the series- something that he’s actively been trying to avoid in making these “Undying Bodies.” We saw in Zenon’s flashback and his own that Lucius was always the sickly type; spent a lot of his life in a wheelchair. And had he not done whatever he did to Astaroth- done whatever he’s doing to his family- he might not have lived this long. And in pursuit of avoiding death, he’s taking everyone else’s “Lives.” I talked at the end of my “In Defense Of Lucifero” post about the quote “Death is A Part Of Life,” and about how Lucius making it so that no one can die is robbing them of the “Joy” of life.
I think that him dying at the end- not being killed out right but dying as a result of……….. something in his plan that he overlooked comes back to bite him– is a fitting end for his character. He spent so much time avoiding death that he didn’t enjoy the Time he had. Notice the Word “Time.” He took Astaroth’s power and STILL didn’t have enough of it. Something thematically perfect for his character, as any good villain send off should be.
Conclusion
That came out better than I thought it would. When I started the Analysis section, I kind of didn’t know what I would say. But I managed to come up with something. And hey; I’m not even………… THAT upset about the delay of the movie. Still breaks my heart, though. But now, I don’t really have an outro. Let me just end it here before I start rambling. Til next time, ladies and gents- See ya!!
