After more than three years of straight broadcast, Black Clover is heading to its much needed break as the anime closes out with Episode 170. It’s the continuation of the Devil-Binding Ritual where Asta faces off with his Devil. He must defeat the devil one-on-one in order to gain full control of his powers. Can a one-arm Asta pull through or will Nacht display his skull on the shelf like the many others who failed?
“The Faraway Future” covered Chapters 268-270 of the manga.
Quick Recap
Here’s what you’ve missed from the previous episode:
The Magic Knights battling at the Heart Kingdom were saved by the Elves of the Eye of the Midnight Sun and were recovering at Elysia, a secluded area in a strong magic region deep within the Heart Kingdom
Nacht Faust visited the Black Bulls base and informs them of the plan to attack the Spade Kingdom
All of the Magic Knights plan to train again and prepare for the final battle against the Dark Triad
In order to become the ultimate warrior, Nacht Faust started the Devil-Binding ritual for Asta to face-off against his Devil.
You can check out the full review of the previous episode here.
The Uncanny Parallelism
Episode 170 might have focused more on the continuation of the Devil-Binding Ritual but that entire event was not just for the sole purpose of making Asta stronger and being able to control the powers of the Devil. It felt as if it was a tribute of past adventures and how Asta came to be the Magic Knight he is today. Definitely a tear-jerking moment for Black Clover fans who have been watching the show ever since the beginning.
Another aspect of the episode that we found noteworthy was the uncanny parallelism of Asta and his Devil. From the outside looking in, one might find it hard to correlate the two especially since they’re two completely different individuals. Not only by appearance but also by the very nature of their existence. It’s amazing to think that two completely different characters can be so similar however, that’s not to say that the particular theme is unique. What took it to another level was how they were able to connect with each other on such an emotional level.
That being said, however, there’s still some sort of gap when it comes to Asta’s non-magical self. The episode might have been able to shed some light when it comes to his and his devil’s origins but there’s still no solid narrative as to why Asta is unable to use any magic. We might be overthinking this but it could be something we can all look forward to when the show comes back from the break.
The Spade Kingdom Arc
When the anime came back from its winter break, there was a great deal of hype as the show was going to traverse the Spade Kingdom Arc. The excitement came from a lot of different reasons. We have the main antagonists in the devil-possessed Dark Triad who posed a different kind of threat against the Magic Knights because they actually threatened the entire world and not just a specific magic region. But the depth of this arc roots from the connection that these characters have to the Magic Knights. On one end, we have Asta since he also has a devil himself; another is Noelle Silva since her mother was killed by the Devil Megicula; and another one in Yuno since his family was murdered by the Dark Triad.
As a whole, the entire premise was set very clearly but the events following the initial episode was a slow burn. The audience had high expectations because of how good the first episode was especially since it highlighted the upgraded look of the characters and their much improved abilities. Beyond that however, it ran very slowly in terms of transitioning towards the main battle. This is not to say that the prior events were irrelevant because those were key moments that played vital roles into shaping the entire arc. It’s just that it felt a little slow to develop to the point that some episodes felt like fillers.
Despite the slow burn in developing the narrative, the show redeemed itself in terms of the action in all of the battle scenes delivered especially towards the end. That being said, the entire arc felt like a prelude to the actual battle that’s about to go down in the future contrary to what was expected out of this one. The main highlights were the new information made known to the audience such as the origin stories of the main protagonists, some new characters, and some character development.
As a fan of the show, it pains me to say that we still have to wait for a while in order for us to see the actual bloodbath from the main battles. But we should all appreciate most of the events that transpired in this arc since it gave clarity to some questions that we have all had ever since the show began. But we do hope it picks up a little faster compared to the arc that was.
However, we do still have some questions that remain unanswered. But I guess we’ll all just have to wait for the next chapter of Yūki Tabata’s Black Clover. Something to look forward to though is that by the next time we see Asta and the rest of the Magic Knights, it will be in the form of a movie. So here’s to hoping that it will all be worth the wait.
We also want to applaud the efforts of Studio Pierrot for all their hard work up to this point! They definitely did a great job with the animation for this arc!
Surpass your limits!
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
"The Faraway Future" was a tear-jerking episode that revolved around the continuation of the Devil-Binding Ritual; It also felt like a tribute to past adventures and what makes Asta the Magic Knight he is today
The uncanny parallelism of Asta and his devil was elevated through a very emotional connection
There's still no solid narrative as to why Asta does not have/can't use any magic
The Spade Kingdom Arc started off with a lot of hype from the first episode but had a slow burn for the succeeding events until the last few episodes.
Black Clover the Movie announced
Official Anime Website: Black Clover
Official Anime Twitter: @blackclover_PR
What did you think about this episode and the entire Spade Kingdom Arc so far? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!
