English Dub Review: Black Clover “Dungeon”

A dungeon appears! No dragons, though.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The Black Bulls are having a relaxed time at their hideout; drinking, doing push-ups, and trying to come up with a good name for the hideout’s pet bird. Their shenanigans are interrupted by Yami, who informs them that a new dungeon has emerged. Asta, perplexed but excited, has no idea what a dungeon is. The Black Bulls explain that dungeons are ancient ruins built long ago that contain magical treasure and items, but are also very dangerous and full of traps. Basically, a dungeon like in a video game. Despite the danger, the Black bulls are stoked to check it out and have been assigned by the Wizard King to do just that. Asta immediately volunteers, but as it turns out, the Wizard King asked specifically for Asta to be sent on the mission. Yami sends Noelle and Luck, another Black Bull to accompany him.

After a quick portal trip, the three are off to find the dungeon. Deep in the territory of the hostile “Diamond Kingdom”, they eventually discover the dungeon entrance to a clearing in the woods. The three venture into the stony passages, Noelle and Asta arguing per their usual banter. Eventually, they stumble upon an enormous room of different paths to take, with Escher-esque water features running along the walls. The place is chock full of magical power, and Asta takes some time to lament that he can’t feel any of it. In his tantrum, Asta keeps clumsily springing traps and using his anti-magic ability to dispose of them, while Luck gleefully enjoys the show.

After dealing with the traps, Luck uses his sensing ability to find the correct path out of the trap room, but he quickly realizes that they’re not alone. He summons his electric boots and runs off on his own, chasing after the source of this magical power. Noelle and Asta remain behind, and Asta tells Noelle a little more about his life and friendship with Yuno. Noelle starts hopelessly crushing on Asta, and in her distraction accidentally falls into a plant trap, and a giant man-eating flower springs up from the ground to attack them. Strung up by vines, Noelle is completely disabled, but Asta quickly cuts her down. However, soon both of them are caught, and all seems lost until a powerful sword magic spell destroys the creature. Surprise! Its none other than Yuno and his Golden Dawn squad, who have also been assigned to explore the dungeon.

Our Take:

There’s not a whole lot to say about this episode, mostly because it suffers from all the same problems that this series has had before it. Very little happens in terms of plot development, a lot of the episode is wasted on unfunny comedy scenes, and things just feel a bit bland. Furthermore, the concept of the dungeon is extremely lacking in creativity and is just a copy-paste replica of a dungeon in any video game ever. But on the bright side, this episode comes with a new intro song, and it’s not bad. Unlike everything else.