The Sea Dragon Goddess: Noelle Silva!! Black Clover Chapter 359 BREAKDOWN

And we’re Back At It. Tabata had to take a few more weeks off to draw this one, but Man Oh MAN was it worth it. THIS THING LOOKS CRAZY SICK!!!! But it also reveals somewhat of a Problem that seems to be making its way into this series- something shared with its Sister series, My Hero Academia. THAT’S not a good sign. I’m not gonna say that it’s not a problem for “Black Clover” when it’s one of the MAIN things I despised about My Hero’s Final War. It sucks that this is happening, but…………. it’s been established; can’t walk it back and do something else. Then it really WOULD be like “My Hero.” But for now, let’s just focus on the fact that Noelle- Has A New Form. Yeah, that “Sea Goddess” comment is coming full circle. And the Potential for this Development- This might be longer than anyone had thought. Can’t wait to see where all this goes. Black Clover Chapter 359: “The Dancing Princess Of The Battlefield Returns!!” Let’s begin………

Overview

Acier’s kicking her kids @$$e$; her lance pierces Nozel, and she admits to being a fair bit disappointed that THIS is what’s become of her squad after she died. That and her other 2 kids are just Plain Disappointments. She says that they let their pride as Royals cloud their minds, preventing them from becoming any stronger. And they take it to heart; Nebra saying she no longer wants to fight, and Solid mentally preparing to give up- even thinking about taking her offer to die and be reborn by Lucius. But Noelle comes to their aid- stronger than before. Seeing the daughter she never got to meet, Acier admits that she looks remarkably similar to herself in her younger years. While Noelle recognizes her from when they defeated Megicula. But this is NOT that Acier Silva- This is the enemy. And she may not have Undine anymore, btu she has something up her sleeve…………….

FLASHBACK: She was bummed after Asta disappeared; she went back to Raque Beach where she first met Kahano and Kiato, and just……….. cried. She had made up the difference in power between her Saint Valkyrie Dress and her regular Valkyrie Dress, but………. it wasn’t enough. But she is NOT Giving up yet. She believes in her heart that Asta is alive, so she vows to protect the Clover Kingdom for when he returns. Meaning Kahano didn’t have to comfort her at all. Yeah, she came to see her. Though she admits that there’s something of a problem going on at the Seabed Temple- something that might pertain to what’s happening in the Clover Kingdom at the moment. 

Legend Has It: “When The World’s End Is Nigh, The Dragon of The Fierce Seas Will Awaken From Its Long Slumber.” Lucius plans to end the world as it current is, so that counts as the “End Of The World.” So the Leviathan woke up, rampaging about as it senses the impending doom. It needs a Strong Water Mage to be it’s host. And that’s where one little Tsundere Princess comes in. Back in the present: She is the current host of the Leviathan. Kahano and Kiato have come for back up, while Noelle Shows off her new DRAGON Valkyrie Dress!! Acier is a very proud Mother. Black Clover Chapter 359 END!!! There are some things that I want to say, and I will. But first: Welcome Back, Tabata Sensei. We’ve missed you. 

REVIEW

It’s starting to feel like I have to write this section twice; once to realize what I want to say, and one where I actually say it.And one of those things is that: I don’t like this. Not the lore or the form itself; I more dislike the way in which this was presented to us. It gave me vibes of………… put bluntly: This is what Ruined My Hero Academia for me. Horikoshi going out of his way to actually show developments like “My Villain Academia-” showing us how a Gigantic Power Up like that happens to Villains rather than Tomura’s next attack and he just becomes a God of Destruction out of the blue. I liked that. And going into Deku’s Vigilante stent, I had thought we’d be seeing a little more of the same. And I was wrong. And that arc killed my love for the series. Though to be fair; Mirio and Mr Compress also had a hand in it. I can go on all day about that, but we’d be here all day. But what I’m building to is the idea that Tabata just did something similar: A Cool Power that is explained through flashback, rather than showing us how she got it. 

I was very much expecting to “Rewind Time” to when the Black Bulls began their search for Asta- to see what some of them were feeling, and how they were also preparing for Judgement Day. ‘Cause they’re going to show up here at some point with new powers. You don’t have to show me EXACTLY what they’re going to be capable of, but tease us with it. Because I know that whole Narrative trope about knowing the plan leading to it’s failure, but this I feel is a bit different than that. With that; it’s something to let the audience know that something will go wrong- that there’s already a problem with the plan that’ll crop up sooner rather than later. While My Villain Academia showed us how the Villains rise to power; how Tomura goes from this “Upstart In Over His Head” to “Villain King,” as opposed to other narratives where the Big Bad has already BEEN through all that, and we’re just left to see the Hero rise to match that in the time allotted to the story- usually not that much to push the narrative of “Hard Work.” 

I feel like that’s why people started to love and adore Tomura Shigaraki as a Villain: We actually got to see how he became the Biggest Bad of All rather than a lot of “Hype” built around him just for him to be revealed as some kind of Hypocrite or Giant Infant or just some serial killer. And how all of this applies to Noelle; I feel like the reaction to this form would have been a lot more positive had Tabata actually shown us Noelle taming this thing- the whole initial interaction and how THAT turned into…….. Another Familiar. Seriously, people have already done fan art of Leviathan with the other Familiar types like Bell and Liebe and all of Nacht’s Devils. He’s already that. Which isn’t a problem; Bell started off as a infant and grew in proportion to Licht Jr’s soul in Yuno. But we at least got to see Liebe do something before he just became “Chibi Liebe,” and Nero went from a Bird to……… you know. 

Because it also has some great Lore Potential at that. Like; people are speculating that Leviathan is a Devil– sealed away as some part of “Prophecy.” Noelle probably had to prove her strength to this thing to make it’s power her own- much like a Devil Binding Ritual. But at the same time, as @Promithean11 pointed out; it’s entirely likely that there wasn’t a fight at all- that it simply needed a Host and Noelle fit the mold. We don’t know how this thing chooses it’s host- or if it even cares and just bonds with someone without thinking, but even that would have made for an interesting Training arc for Noelle; her tapping into this power a little bit and it being more than what she was expecting. And then just spend the next few days leading up to……… let’s say this whole training arc for her takes place in the same 4 days as Asta’s training, probably ending on a similar panel for virtue of “Relationship Goals.” And in that time, her training is to control this power- to withstand it. And maybe tap into what she said in chapter 304: “We’ll Just Overrule Reality- That’s What Magic Does, Right?” 

And just like how Mermaid form was made in the anime; her Valkyrie Dress responded to her situation- that instance the Anime Only Flashback showed her trying to swim through a stream of Undine’s Magic, and her Regular Valkyrie Dress was too clunky to go through. So she became a Mermaid. So with Leviathan and the seeming adaptability of her Valkyrie Dress, she makes a form that can handle that power, with the rest of the time being her training to handle a little bit more of its power each time. We don’t see the form just to keep it a surprise for this moment, but much like Asta’s Devil Union– we get a small little tease to it. I think that would have been nice to see some parallels just to show Asta’s effect on her; I feel like she would even have a similar moment to Asta and Liebe during the lead up to that moment in chapter 272 with her having this “Grand Revelation.” That’s how I feel like that could have gone. Someone make that a Fan Manga- just make sure you give me credit for the idea!!

As for the form itself: It’s Fine. I saw that people on twitter didn’t really like it, but……. Eh; I like it no more or less than any of her other forms. They’re equal to me. But I do have one more thing that I want to discuss; an idea that I saw- Big Shock– on Twitter. The idea that this– what Lucius is doing- is prophesied; this is THE prophecy that Yuno is apart of- the thing that his life and all these “Chosen One-isms” around him have been building up to. Lucius’ plan is to kill everyone, take control of all Magic in the world, and revive everyone as his Followers. GENUINE GOD COMPLEX. Then again, is it a complex when you’re Effectively one? Nuther Tyme. POINT IS: Bad News. Seems like something you would make someone to deal with if you were a Genuine, Bonified God, right? That’s where Yuno comes in, as the boy who’s Specific Ability Set seems to counter everything Lucius can do. And as for the Leviathan: Contingency Plan. Or at the very least something than can support Yuno when it’s time. 

But…………. It’s Lucius. He more than likely knew about that when he set off on his “Holy Crusade,” and has since begun taking steps to try and counter the Chosen One. That may be why he felt the need to get rid of Asta; Asta and Yuno have always brought out the best in each other- nothing demonstrates that more than the fight with Zagreb. So if Asta were still here, then Yuno would be “competing” with him to see who’d take Lucius down first, leveling up the whole time while Lucius struggles more and more each time they get back up- having to contend with his own “Natural Enemy” and the Natural Enemy of Magic. AND THAT’S NOT MENTION THE LEVIATHAN. Don’t know what it’s gonna be able to do, but it’s certainly not good for Lucius……….

Conclusion 

Woah- That came out better than I had expected. Not bad for having to finish the night of the official Release. I enjoyed this chapter(for reasons), and I can’t wait to see what kind of spells Noelle is gonna display against her Mother. That “Sea Dragon” series should definitely get a Leviathan skin now!! Oh, the title!! Almost Forgot; the title is a reference to Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. The continuation of Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail introduces us to a NEW Enemy: The Dragon Gods. The only 2 I know of so far are Selene and the Earth Dragon God Dogramag. Gotta get to that. But I haven’t finished Original Fairy Tail yet; something keeps coming up every time I try. Though from what I’ve seen; I have to say that I’m surprised people called “Black Clover” a “Naruto Clone” before they called it a “Fairy Tail clone.” Way more similar to that than “Naruto,” especially during Vanica’s sections of the Spade Invasion. Just go back and count how many times IT happens. 

Now; I gotta go and work on My Hero before Tuesday. I’ll have a whole day, so hopefully I’ll come up with SOMETHING. ‘Cause I do want to talk about that. You’ll see it when it comes out. For now, let me know what you guys think of the chapter. ‘Til next time, everyone; Catch y’all later!!