English Dub Review: Black Clover “New Future”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Yami tells Marx to get Owen so he can heal Julius, but Licht tells him it’s pointless before being taken by Valtos. They return to the tablet with the remaining two magic stones, where Licht congratulates his comrades on a job well done…but then tells them that they’re nothing but irredeemable humans before turning them to stone themselves. A bright light shines all over the kingdom, signaling a massive shift in the battle.

Back at the Eye of the Midnight Sun’s hideout, we FINALLY catch up with what’s happening with Mereoleona’s fight with Rhya. Rhya attempts to self destruct like the other Third Eyes, but Asta stops it with his Anti-Magic sword. He then proceeds to go on a rant about how they should all talk things out and not kill each other, but everyone around him knows he’s wasting his time. Yuno and his group approach a giant magic source within the building, a floating person, but soon everyone near it except for Mimosa begin forming pointy ears, markings on their faces, and an increase in magical power, as well as Rhya whose hair turns white. And the being in the light opens their eyes.

Back at the capital, Julius bleeds out while warning that Licht must be after something dangerous. Yami vows to keep the Clover Kingdom safe.

OUR TAKE

This jumping around is still annoying as hell, but it looks like we’ve reached an important point in the arc. I mean, putting magic stones in a special holding place and causing a big light is a pretty universal sign of bad shit going down, but instead of half of everyone turning to dust, it looks like at least a notable portion are getting Mike Tyson face tattoos. What does this mean? Well, it looks like we’ll be getting some insight into that next week, but I’m guessing it’s the execution of that “getting our true forms” dealy that’s been thrown around, along with something to do with Licht and William sharing a body and that odd bit awhile ago regarding how Licht knows Guache somehow.

Also interesting is that Licht stops referring to himself as Licht right as the event happens, implying there might be more to this guy than is let on. Are there more personalities within William than just Licht? Or is Licht just a persona that this being has held onto for appearances, but now that his plans are complete he can drop the act? Either way…he’s still not very interesting a villain, let alone character, so I’m still struggling to maintain my attention to what his sudden mood swings could be about, but his disdain for humans (including ones who work for him) is at least a comprehendible motive for me to follow. But as said, it looks like next week will give me a whole lot more to talk about in regards to his past, so that’s something to look forward to.

All in all, this episode was more about transitioning between two major segments of the overall arc, so not a ton happens that can be talked about for very long. On the (hopefully) bright side, next week finally brings us a new opening song! Which I really hope won’t spoil anything out of the gate and have a good jingle for me to listen to, though I worry this one might be around shorter since this current one was around a few weeks longer than normal. At least it’ll be something to talk about, if ever so briefly. In the meantime, we can use the following week to ponder what all of these massive changes mean and whether or not this anime will finally take a break once it finishes this arc, which the manga apparently has just done (or is about to, from what I hear).