English Dub Review: Black Clover “Those Remaining”


Overview


Long before the events of the Elf/Midnight Sun Arc where reincarnated Elves possessed magical people and attacked the capital in a full-scale magical massacre, much of the story is told from the perspective of a young woman named Dazu Tayaku and progressively we see through her eyes how she chose to side with a cult-like group whose members primarily consist of victimized survivors who lost loved ones due to the Elve’s intense hatred of the Humans, along with some personal losses she experienced. Later on, after hearing the false rumor of Asta being involved in some way, she also just so happens to hear one of Damnatio’s subordinates, Kabwe Karyon, who is furious at Damnatio giving Asta and Secre “6 months to prove their innocence” instead straight-up executing them instantly.

This leads to Dazu, and her friend, Bou, approaching Kabwe about joining this vigilante group of Elf victims known as the “Devil Banishers”, a group who has supposedly dedicated themselves to getting revenge against the devil’s servants, meaning Asta, Secre, and anyone formerly possessed by an elf soul and proceed to make their first move against the Clover Kingdom and the Black Bulls…



Our Take

Much like a previous episode I recently covered, It felt like foreshadowing in the sense that the Midnight Sun/Elves aftermath would have lasting unchecked consequences and negative repercussions by not only showing how the lives of the Magic Knights have been affected but also the lives of the citizens within the Clover Kingdom. While I can understand why they’d resort to this, It’s quite often a sad truth you see or hear about in parallel stories on the news about religious fanatics, terrorist organizations, or vigilante groups often starting out as either a victim of injustice that became disillusioned by a legal system that failed to protect them, or people devastated by tragic circumstance and are left searching for answers. And with Asta being used as a scapegoat to simply point the finger at for what happened, they’ll of course target him and anyone by association, along with anyone who was possessed by an Elf.

It’s also abundantly clear that after the recent events near the episode’s end, It’s easy to assume that the Spade Kingdom is not the only problem that needs to be dealt with. And I do find it quite interesting to see which direction this arc will take and if Vangeance (who is the most responsible in the kingdom for the Elf-incident in the first place) will play any substantial role in it. And am I the only one that finds it interesting and Ironic that Damnatio, despite being a bureaucratic douche-monkey, is not that radical compared to other members of the Parliament and knows the true priorities the kingdom have to face.

Overall, I think it’s a great set-up for a decent mini-arc so far, as it actually has a plot that is surprisingly much better than previous ones. This was definitely more of the direction many would have liked the filler to go in which I find both compelling and suspenseful, because at least we the audience aren’t in the constant barrage of one-off character-focused episodes, though a few were at least decent.

I can’t wait to see what happens next!