Seeetup♪ This is just seeetup♪ This is just seeetup♪ Get to the point♪

Black Clover
Studio: Pierrot
Genre: Shounen, Action, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure

Note: I skipped Episode 29 because it’s basically just a recap episode.

Oh. Good. A whole episode centered around another one of the Black Bulls. Goody. You know, when I said I wanted more of them, I kinda meant I wanted to get a little more actual character out of them. Not for them to keep running their tropes into the ground. That said, the episode wasn’t entirely without merit? But choosing to spend the majority of the time on the unfunny running gag of Gauche’s sister complex doesn’t do it any favors.

“I don’t care what you think of me, as long as you praise my dear sister.” …oy

The Black Bulls have the day off, so Asta takes the chance to visit Rebecca (the woman from the previous actual episode who develops a crush on him) and play with her kid siblings. So I wasn’t incorrect regarding the increase in Asta’s pseudo-harem. She wasn’t a one-off, apparently. That being said, I doubt she’s going to be relevant for much longer after the conclusion of this arc. Actually, we haven’t even seen any magic out of her, which is odd since magic is apparently everything in this world.

Gauche’s little sister, Marie, happens to live in the church of the town and when he gets there, she’s already playing with Asta. What follows is an exceptionally uninspired conflict of Gaunche trying to kill Asta. That is until a nun shows up to take her back to the church where I guess he isn’t allowed. The interaction between him and said nun is actually amusing, if only because the nun is absolutely the opposite of what I was expecting when she showed up. She takes absolutely none of his crap. It’s mildly funny. After she takes Marie away, he turns to stone and is out for a fair portion of the episode until the end. And then there’s Noelle.

Yes, you.

Noelle followed Asta (guess why) and has been eavesdropping this entire time. I mean… she could easily have just gone with him. It’s not like he has the mental awareness to figure out why. But Noelle is now at maximum tsundere (I really hope I’m right and she evolves out of this by the end of the cour). If nothing else, I do tend to find tsundere shenanigans somewhat amusing. And, to the episode’s credit, I found some of her mini-tantrums funny. Particularly a bit involving water in the restaurant where Rebecca works. But that was about it.

Really, the episode was almost entirely setup for the next one. It got Asta, Noelle, and Gauche in one place. It introduced Marie and also gave us a proper look at Rebecca’s siblings. The final scene shows what it’s all building to, which has a very Pied Piper-y feel to it. I’m somewhat intrigued, but I know most of the larger events the series is going to wind up dealing with, later. So I don’t expect this is going to be especially consequential in the long-run. Probably just a bit that’ll show us a little more of Gauche’s backstory and that’ll be the end of it. The episode’s more or less Harmless. Nothing stellar, but nothing offensive. If you’re looking for something a little more engaging, I’d say to check out our coverage on Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card. It’s not always the most exciting thing ever, but it definitely holds one’s attention.

“Well… it could be worse.”

Black Clover is Simulcast on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 6:25am EST. That’s all I’ve got for ya here. As always, thanks for reading, folks. Keep up the awesome.

Take care,
C. Voyage