English Dub Review: Black Clover “The Desperate Path Toward Survival”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Back at the hideout, Mereoleona continues buying time for Asta and Zora by fighting off Rhya and four other supercharged elves, including members of her own squad and a fellow captain. She puts up a hell of a fight, but eventually starts to have her defenses chipped away. She’s then forced to pull a Majin Vegeta and attempts to explode in front of her opponents, but all that does is singe off some of their clothes and leave her completely drained. But just as she’s about to take on the combined force of the five elves, Asta and Zora arrive with their own plan: absorb the blast with Zora’s Counter Trap magic to double the blowback, but then have Asta hit it back with his sword, quadrupling it. With that, they escape…

…until Rhya pops out of a portal and captures Asta in order to bring him to Licht. Back in Licht’s room, Mimosa finds herself alone with three possessed knights, including Yuno and Klaus, and is strung up on a cross. Just then, Asta is dropped there and saves her, but now has to face more former friends in battle. He’s even more distraught over Yuno, though he seems to be quieter than usual.

OUR TAKE

I gotta admit, this wasn’t a bad fight. It certainly wasn’t great, but I did find myself getting a bit invested there, so that deserves some credit…or it deserves to be a reminder that this show is deliberately not trying more than it IS trying. Still, if this and the last few weeks have been any indication, it’s that the Vermillion family is full of badasses who are harder to stamp out than a flaming bag of dog shit. Having HER out of the fight feels like a significant loss compared to Julius, mostly because I actually like seeing her talk and fight and exist on screen, and having her NOT be around is significantly less enjoyable! I feel real stakes here now!

Though this episode did raise some questions in my mind about the current situation of facing possessed Magic Knights. Specifically, what is the etiquette for if someone gets killed here? If a possessed knight is killed, does the one who killed them face repercussions for killing a comrade? Or is it self defense and the one possessed is considered dead once their body is taken over? And if someone possessed kills someone but then is able to break free, are THEY held accountable for the actions taken by the spirit that controlled them? Do they have to just live with having ended someone’s life while being in the passenger seat of their own body? How would you even LIVE with yourself after that?

Though I don’t expect Black Clover of all things to get within mile of those dark implications, because all of this seems to be a preamble for Asta’s formal encounter with both the possessed Yuno AND the real Licht, who is the apparent original owner of his anti-magic weaponry. Feels a little early for facing the final boss, but I’m not going to complain if they want to speed up the pace a bit. At the very least it might mean we don’t have to jump around to different fights so much. Will Asta have to face his longtime friend and rival, or rather the vengeful elven spirit that has taken over his body? After battling Licht’s imposter a few times, what will the real deal be like in a fight? And more importantly, can we please end this show once this arc is over so we don’t have to do a full blown filler arc? Find out all this and more next week in Black Clover’s landmark 100th episode!