English Dub Review: Black Clover “A Black Deep-Sea Story”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The Underwater Temple is attacked. The Bulls visit the beach to begin serious training. Noelle begins having memory flashes of her mother. Kahono and Kiato take the Bulls to the Temple. Gifso explains they were attacked by a Sea Guardian who has become violently angry and the only ones who can soothe it are Kahono and Kiato. To test herself Noelle offers to use Sea Dragon’s Cradle to enter the Void. Yami sends Finral with them but forbids anyone else from helping…


Our Take

This was passable, if not the best filler. I found this also refreshing that Asta didn’t go with them despite being the overshadowing face of this show that people argue is the magical equivalent to “Naruto” but less stupid. Plus, I’m glad other characters are having their own moments. We see Final now proven worthy of being Noelle’s senior. If Tabata (Black Clover Creator) actually develops these characters more, without the usual gags and infuriating tropes of unrequited romance, I feel Black Clover can surpass shounen like Naruto, Bleach, etc.

It also worked as personal growth and a good challenge for Noelle to train her water powers, and to the surprise, spatial magic-user Finral is tasked along for the job. From less confident to competitive siblings to a daughter’s resolve for her mother’s revenge against the Devil, Noelle essentially gets a power-up in mental strength. Based on observation, Acier (Noelle’s mother) has posthumously become a big part of Noelle’s development since the recent revelation of her death. Noelle is now on a path to be as potentially strong as or even stronger than her mother. A big part of their development is the Black Bull headmaster Yami. He always believes in the abilities of his squad members and let them do things they decided to do because he knows that they can actually do it and surpass their limits even if he’s as dim-witted as every other guy who fails to recognize romance but at least he’s making up for it in other ways. Overall, the animation for this episode was good and it was nice to have an episode focused on Noelle without her acting like a Diva with romance issues. Let’s just hope there’s a light at the end of this filler tunnel so we can get to the actual plot involving Megicula and Asta’s magical tria.