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Anime Spotlight - Black Clover

by ANN Staff,

Black Clover

Official Website: http://bclover.jp/
Official Twitter: @bclover_PR

Premiere Date: October 3, 2017

Streaming available at: Crunchyroll

Key Staff

Director: Tatsuya Yoshihara
(Monster Musume (TV), Yatterman Night (TV))
Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
(Ben-To (TV), Denki-Gai (TV), Is the order a rabbit? (TV))












Introduction

In 2017, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine...

Studio Pierrot—a studio that has crafted a number of Jump anime adaptations throughout the years—is teaming up with a large cast of popular voice actors and actresses to fully animate a new and unique fantasy story that will take flight in 2017.

Meetings with new friends, conflicts, and battles. The curtain is about to rise on the story of two boys who grow as they overcome countless trials.

"I created Black Clover with the idea of 'don't give up on trying for your dream,' and I think the anime completely encompasses that. The staff animated the "sheer awe of magic" that I had always imagined through the medium of anime. I would love for everyone to experience a magical fantasy story that can be enjoyed by anyone—from kids to adults!!"

-Yuki Tabata
(original creator)

Story

When humanity was on the brink of destruction at the hands of a demon god, a single mage saved them and become a legendary hero called the "Wizard King."

In this world where magic is everything... A boy named Asta who hasn't been able to use magic since he was born aims to become the Wizard King—the head of the Magic Knights—in order to prove himself and fulfill his promise with his friend!

Characters

Asta

Voice: Gakuto Kajiwara

Position: Member of  the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Anti Magic

A boy who was abandoned as an infant in front of a church in the village of Hage, which is located on the outskirts of Clover Kingdom. He's a hothead who's kind of dumb who doesn't think ahead. His dream is to become the head honcho of the Magic Knights, the "Wizard King," and marry Lily, a nun at the church.

Asta isn't able to use magic, making him an anomaly in a world where everyone can use it. While Asta himself doesn't realize it, he is the holder of the five-leaf clover Grimoire, which is said to have a demon living in it. With the sword that is summoned from the Grimoire that can cut through magic, his muscular physique, and his strong heart that cannot be read by others, he is able to take on even the most powerful of Magic Knights.

Yuno

Voice: Nobunaga Shimazaki

Position: Member of the "Golden Dawn" squad
Skill: Wind Magic

A boy who was abandoned as an infant in front of a church in the village of Hage alongside Asta. He treasures the pendant imbedded with a rare stone that was with him when he was left at the church. He has decided that Asta is his rival in life, and despite his calm and cool attitude, he has a fighting spirit and competitiveness hidden in his heart. He even sometimes says cheeky or cruel things. Yuno is a genius magic-user who has an extremely large amount of intuition and magical power. He is able to use wind magic, and holds a four-leaf clover Grimoire, which is said to have been owned by the first Wizard King as well and is only held by only those chosen fit for it.

Yami Sukehiro

Voice: Junichi Suwabe

Position: Captain of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Dark Magic

A foreigner who came from a country in the East. He is a Magic Knight who can manipulate the darkness emitedemitted from his opponents. He uses his Dark Magic and muscular body to fight his enemies. He joined the Magic Knights after being invited by the current Wizard King Julius, and is now one of the most trusted squad captains.

He is rude and violent, and pushes others into a corner through intimidation and brute strength. He treats his own squad members very harshly, making them do crazy things and telling them "Overcome your limits!" However, he listens to others when he's needed, and because he's there right when someone needs him, he is trusted by not only his own squad members, but also by the other squad leaders.

Noelle Silva

Voice: Kana Yuki

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Water Magic

The youngest daughter of the royal Silva family. Although she holds a great amount of magical power, she is unable to control it, and as such, she often releases it off in an unintended direction. Because the rest of her siblings excel in magic, she is considered a failure by her family, and this has given her an inferiority complex. In truth, she puts her all into everything and has a kind personality, but she is unable to be honest with herself and others and always has a better-than-you, cheeky attitude. She has interest in Asta, who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but is very straight-forward. Despite this, she can't be honest with her feelings.

Finral Roulacase

Voice: Jun Fukuyama

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Spatial Magic

With the convenient power of Spatial Magic, Finral is often used as squad captain Yami's assistant. He also happens to be a smooth-talker and ladies man. He was born as the first son of a famous family known for their use of combative spatial magic, but he himself is unskilled at it, and he also has little stamina. However, his ability to control his magic and judge the situation is very high, and if it's somewhere he can see or knows by heart, he can open and close portals without missing a beat.

Vanessa Enoteca

Voice: Nana Mizuki

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Thread Magic

A witch with plenty of mature beauty and love for alcohol. She's almost always hungover. She's very good at controlling her magic, which gives her control over threads. She has a pretty uncaring attitude, but is in fact caring when it comes to her juniors. She used to isolate herself in the Forest of Witches, but after meeting Yami and being touched by his words, she went against the "Witch King" who rules the woods and departed for the outside world.

Magna Swing

Voice: Genki Muro

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Flame Magic

Just like Asta, Magna was raised in the countryside. In his case, however, he was raised in the village of Rayaka. He looks and acts like a delinquent, but he is very kind and caring to the weak, those in trouble, and his juniors. It's hard to tell if he and fellow Black Bulls member Luck get along, but they can often be seen playing around with each other (or maybe they're just butting heads).

Luck Voltia

Voice: Ayumu Murase

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Lightning Magic

Luck was born into a family of commoners, but he has a strong source of magic and perceptual skills. A lover of battles who always has a smile on his face, he loves nothing more than to face strong opponents. His mother's strict teachings of "always win" and "always be powerful" might have lead to his broken personality. His mother was his only family.

Gauche Adlai

Voice: Satoshi Hino

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Mirror Magic

A guy so obsessed with his sister that he's able to say "my little sister is everything to me" without blinking an eye. He'll do anything for his sister, no matter how bad it may be. He holds a great amount of magical power, and is able to use magic that employs mirrors. He was born into the noble Adlai family, but was chased out along with his young sister Marie when their parents passed away. He was arrested for stealing things they needed to live. He escaped, but met Yami while on the run and decided to join the Black Bulls squad after being invited to join.

Charmy Pappitson

Voice: Kiyono Yasuno

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Cotton Magic

With an appetite that never is quenched, this girl is always seen eating. She hates having her food taken by other people, but loves it when people enjoy the food she recommends alongside her. She always has her "Sheep Chef" she creates with her Cotton Magic make delicious food. She fell in love at first sight with Yuno, who saved (?) her food from falling on the floor when it slipped from her hand. She secretly calls him her "Meal-Saving Prince." Because of the great magical power she releases when food is involved, it's thought that she has quite the source of magic hidden within her.

Grey

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Transformation Magic

A person who transforms into a number of different forms. No one has seen her true form. The reason Grey transforms is because this magic-user is more than a bit bashful. She's able to not just transform herself, but also cast transformation magic on other objects and people.

Gordon Agrippa

Voice: Kenichiro Matsuda

Position: Member of the "Black Bulls" squad
Skill: Hex Magic

A man who is always muttering something to himself. He has such an unapproachable aura that even his fellow Black Bulls squad members are unsure as to how to deal with him. He really does want to get along with everyone, but is unable to talk to others due to his lack of communication skills.

Julius Novachrono

Voice: Toshiyuki Morikawa

Position: Wizard King

A great magic-user who currently stands at the top of the Magic Knights. He is called "Magic Maniac" by other members of the Magic Knights and his retainers. This is because his eyes widen and sparkle like a child when rare magic or skills enter his field of vision. Despite living in a world where magic is everything, Julius is a man of character who treats everyone the same, no matter the other person's size or type of magic, or even their class. On the other hand, he often causes troubles for his retainers by sneaking out to go on walks, which he succeeds in doing by changing his appearance.

Cast

Asta
Gakuto Kajiwara
Yuno
Nobunaga Shimazaki
Noelle Silva
Kana Yuki
Yami Sukehiro
Junichi Suwabe
Finral Roulacase
Jun Fukuyama
Magna Swing
Genki Muro
Luck Voltia
Ayumu Murase
Gauche Adlai
Satoshi Hino
Vanessa Enoteca
Nana Mizuki
Charmy Pappitson
Kiyono Yasuno
Gordon Agrippa
Kenichiro Matsuda
Julius Novachrono
Toshiyuki Morikawa

Staff

Original Creator
Yuki Tabata (serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump)
Director
Tatsuya Yoshihara
Series Composition
Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Character Design
Itsuko Takeda
Sub Character Design
Kumiko Tokunaga
Prop Design
Kosei Takahashi
Art Director
Yuki Maeda
Director of Photography
Tomoyuki Kunii
Color Design
Aiko Shinohara
Editing
Hiroshi Okuda
Music
Minako Seki
Sound Director
Hajime Takakuwa
Animation Studio
studio Pierrot
Opening Theme Song
"Haruka Mirai" (Distant Future) by Kankaku Pierrot
Ending Theme Song
"Aoi Honoo" (Blue Flames) by ITOWOKASHI

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