Shonen Jump manga tends to follow certain patterns. Fancy people call them tropes; I call it following the SJ Blueprint. The SJ Blueprint has very specific directions on how to build a successful manga. For instance, the hero has to be kind of clueless, but very determined. He or she must also have a very lofty and seemingly impossible goal—to be the best “fill in the blank” or rise to the top of an organization or even a country. And lastly, some kind of special ability or weapon to help him in his goal. Oh, he needs funny and cool friends too.

Not every SJ manga follows the blueprint, some deviate quite a bit. But Black Clover follows it almost religiously. It is 100% Shonen Jump and makes no bones about it. But despite following the pattern so rigidly, it still manages to surprise the reader time and time again. It’s both predictable, and utterly unpredictable at the same time. Which makes for a very interesting read!

The story centers on a plucky young boy named Asta who dreams of becoming the Wizard King, the most powerful mage in all the land. There’s just one problem—he has zero magic ability. Which is rare in this world where even the lowliest peasant knows a little magic. Naturally, his best friend and rivalYUNO has a tremendous amount of magic power. But during a scuff up with a magic thief, Asta receives a most unusual Grimoire, or magic book, that produces a most unusual sword with the power to negate magic.

A magic-negating sword in a world filled with magic is an incredibly powerful weapon. Of course, Asta has no idea because he’s totally clueless. But this cluelessness combined with his undying optimism ends up being an asset. Because he’s literally too dumb to understand the danger he’s in, he charges in with gusto and a very useful weapon. This also allows him to beat foes with far more magic power and impress some interesting people. 

Speaking of interesting people, the side characters in this manga are a crack up. A wonderful ensemble of oddballs and misfits. And although we just get to know them a little in this volume, if you read it in Weekly Shonen Jump, you'll see that they continue to get funnier and become more endearing. They say great characters make the manga, and this story has an abundance.

But not all the humor is found in the characters, the manga is filled with little visual gags that add an extra layer of entertainment. Classic gags like the characters eyes being filled with sparkles, and more unusual ones like this panel where a little hand comes out of Asta’s mouth because he wants a magic knight's robe. It’s not actually coming out, it's just a sight gag, but it’s totally hilarious.

As far as the art goes, it’s rock solid from the first page. I've played a lot of JRPGs and Western RPGs, and this falls a little more on the Western RPG style of art. It definitely does not look like a Final Fantasy game. It’s more like a Skyrim with flair. The magic attacks, however, are straight out of a JRPG and can be quite complex and visually impressive. Fans of video game RPGs and tabletop ones should get a kick out of this manga. 

Black Clover’s hyperactive energy and infectious humor is hard to resist. And it seems to improve with each chapter making it more and more addictive. I have no doubt that at some point an anime will be announced and this will grow into a full-fledged Shonen Jump franchise. Mangaka Yûki Tabata seems to have found the magical formula for success.

by djum