English Dub Review: Black Clover “Behind the Mask”

Who could it be hiding under there?

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Asta and Yuno have a long-awaited reunion after their time apart from each other. Asta is introduced to Bell, the wind spirit who has given Yuno immense power. In addition, Finral’s brother, Langris, is introduced, who, like basically every noble in this series,  is a complete asshole. Finral tries to stick up for his friends when Langris starts talking trash about them, but they’re interrupted by Yagos, the general endowed with mucus magic, who are foaming at the mouth. Langris is all set to take out Yagos despite the civilian casualties involved, but Yuno and Asta prove they can stop Yagos without hurting anyone.

After this toxic encounter, we go back to Yami, who’s confronting Vangeance about the possibility that he’s actually Licht, the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Vangeance knows of Yami’s suspicions, but to ease his investigation, Vangeance takes off his mask to reveal the disgusting scars upon his head. Then, Vangeance goes into detail about his sordid childhood, which was plagued with suffering until he met Julius Novachrono. Julius welcomed Vangeance to the magic knights with open arms, and even gave him the tacky mask he wears.

Yami is convinced by Vangeance’s tale, all the while Yuno and Asta are giving each other their goodbyes. After a bit of slapstick between Charmy and Bell, Finral escorts his teammates through the portal back to the capital. After they leave, Yuno is confronted by Langris, who is, of course, talking more shit about Asta and the rivalry Yuno has with him.

The Diamond Kingdom has been defeated, for the time being, but the episode closes on a look behind the scenes of the Diamond Kingdom, where a new generation of Diamond Kingdom Mage Knights is ready to make their move.

Our Take:

Black Clover has become distinctly more watchable over the past few episodes. There’s been a noticeable improvement in both the quality and pacing in each episode. The plot is more in focus than ever, and the fighting has been much more pleasant to watch unfold since this new “season” has begun. This episode does well, but still carries around the same problems that Black Clover has had for some time, not quite breaking the bad habits the show has developed over its run.

Langris is the new noble strawman we’re introduced to, and, per usual, he’s a real piece of work who dismisses everyone that isn’t as “cool” as him. This is an archetype I’m getting real tired of seeing on this show. It’s one thing for nobility and class inequality to be themes present in Black Clover, but its quite another for nearly every noble to have the same cocky attitude that makes them into these one dimensional mustache-twirling fops. Langris could not be less interesting, and his whole introduction is somewhat bungled here. I appreciate seeing Finral start to grow a spine by standing up to his brother, but its a small consolation prize here.

Once again, Black Clover rushes too quickly into things in its breakneck speed to try and shit out the plot as quick as it can. Vangeance’s backstory gets a little over three minutes in length, a paltry amount of time to unpack a character the audience knows basically nothing about. This is a problem Black Clover seems incapable of solving, and its one of the core issues that makes its story so boring. Even mainstay characters don’t get the kind of development needed to make them interesting, and a lot of the time spent with them is wasted on awkward comedic beats that are there to mix up the melodrama. Get ready for a lot of that in this episode, too, along with more unfunny love triangle jokes between Charmy and Bell. If you thought Noelle was a tsundere shell jammed into the plot for shits and gigs, get ready for Bell and Charmy to annoy the shit out of you even more. And, of course, Bell’s voice is a high pitched pixie squeal at just the right volume to shred your eardrums like a cheese grater.

Things aren’t quite “Good” with Black Clover this episode, as I doubt they’ll ever be, but they’re more acceptable than what I’m used to. The plot is going places, hopefully, and the production team is paying a little more attention to the little details that make the show a professional production.

Score
5/10