Ey up guys. I’ve gotten so desperate for lockdown and to get out of here I’ve started watching travel vlogs. Cos hey if you can’t travel may as well simulate it by living vicariously through someone on the internet you’ve never met right?…………….anyway, below you will find discussion & spoilers regarding Black Clover 281 Raw and recap of the most recent chapter of Black clover, Heavy spoilers. Enjoy!
Black Clover Chapter 280 Discussion
So remember last week I said a lot happened? Well……..get ready for Deja Vu Electric Boogaloo cos once again a lot has happened. We start with Jack in the wall covered in what appears to be ice (I think?) and Nacht/Plumede shaking in fear. Guess that explains at least one of the Devils magic. Nacht is thinking to himself how he assumed the Devils of the first floor of the Underworld would be on the same level as the Dark Triad, but in fact this pair are even stronger. They fire off more icicles and Nacht tries his best evasive maneuvers but still gets hit/slashed a few times. The Devils talk about how “fun” this is and we learn their names; Naamah and Lilith.
We then jump to outside as the roots grow as the rebels/civilians/Sekke and co realise these roots are draining the mana from the area. They seem to note an ominous presence approaching……..when out of the castle walls burst a horde of Devils. And everyone collectively needs to change their underwear……..Mereoleona looks over as this is happening then turns back to see the Demon God she had floored last chapter has gotten back up. She grins as she realises this is Round Two. You know I’m not sure who I pity more in this match up cos neither are going to let the other make it out in one piece.
We then jump over to Yuno shattering Zenon’s Bone armour/weaponry but as he declares the fight over, Zenon retorts that this is not the case. We see Charlotte perplexed as to how Vanica’s power is growing despite the fact she had just sealed it. The next panel is Dante explaining that as the first barrier to the Underworld is open, that which made them unable to fully access their Devils powers is now gone and thus they can go 100% Devil Power. We then get a double page spread of the Dark Triad’s forms at 100%, and oh boy is it glorious. Zenon has a near full outer skeleton and half his face is covered in what is essentially a Bone Helmet.
Dante’s crown seems to have fused with his Devil making him a helmet too. Vanica has a heart drawn out on her chest. Ironic given her Devil cursed the Heart Queen. Dante then appears to draw Jack to him with his gravity before slashing him with……his claws I think? Or another Gravity spell it’s kind of unclear. Vanica seems to have trapped Charlotte against the wall with her Blood Magic, cackling all the while. Zenon seems to have Yuno on the defensive now as he regenerates his wounds and goes even harder with his attacks.
We see Nacht observing all this and realising he needs to get to Morris to stop this but that he also knows if he leaves Naamah and Lilith to their own devices it will be disastrous. He then thinks the only way to “win” is then thinks of Asta before saying Plumede, die with me please. Plumede appears to be shaking in fear. To the surprise of absolutely no-one.
Zenon says he was right that Yuno would be the one to die and you don’t have anywhere to run anyway. Yuno is perplexed by this statement but then we cut over to Hage Village in the Clover Kingdom as Recca and Nash (Asta and Yuno’s siblings) look at something approaching in the clouds. We see it on the next page………another Demon God. Everyone is obviously terrified (but yey we see Rebecca again). But then the final two panels are of Asta and Liebe in the Devil Union Circle panting.
So……….where to begin? We know the names of these first two Devils. These are named after Devils from Judaism but there doesn’t seem to be anything about them having elemental powers so I’m guessing this was Tabata’s own idea. I still think the other one has Fire powers. I love the designs of the lower level Devils, I expected them all to be humanoid like the ones we’ve seen so far but these were far more animalistic in appearance and they were satisfyingly gruesome for Devils. I think my favourite was the one that looks like a Demonic version of Sandslash or the bird/pterosaur one in the top left corner. The designs for 100% Dark Triad are also great, Zenon looks very much like Ichigo of Bleach’s Hellverse look.
Nacht being ready to possibly die is intriguing, he seems the type to be prepared for such an occurrence but it really does help remind just how serious things are. I am confused as to how big the Clover Kingdom as it seemed everyone could see the Demon God but given how big the population seems to be and how many Magic Knight Squads there are it’s hard to tell the actual size of the place. I’ve felt like everything has been happening at an insane pace but now I wonder if it’s because Tabata threw in this twist as this is what’s going to make this arc last, with these guys having to deal with the breakout getting worse before they can even get to shut the gates.
Black Clover Chapter 281 Spoilers & Predictions:
So………..all hell is breaking loose. Literally. It’s hard to tell just what’s going to happen, so much could. We’ll likely see the Squad Captains getting thrown about by the Dark Triad and the Devils a fair bit more, now that Dante can pull people to and away from him it’s hard to imagine how to beat the guy when he can throw you around like a puppet without even touching you. Mereoleona is facing the Demon God again but just how this goes is hard to tell. She may loose but she of all people won’t go down without a fight. Given the Devils scattering into the town outside the castle, the Rebels and Clover Knights are going to have to face them.
I know what you’re all thinking , could this be Sekke’s moment to shine? It seems almost too perfect a set up to not to. How he is motivated to is hard cos you just know he’s going to run immediately. But maybe Sally injects him with something to give him a power boost as she has done for others. It’ll be interesting to see who fights who especially how Sally, Valtos and Rades will go about this. It’ll be cool to see a few rebels shine too. The fact that we haven’t seen the other Captains (Fuegoleon, Dorothy and Nozel) in a while makes me wonder just what will happen. Could they be the ones to stop Morris? Could they face the Devil Horde outside? Could they save the other Captains? The fact Nacht doesn’t even seem to have noted them in his scans of the Castle is odd. Given Plumede is a Cat Devil it seems almost too obvious that Nacht’s death-wish may just be that Plumede has some kind of 9 Lives Spell that can be used as a get out of jail free style card.
So who’s going to face the Demon God in Clover? The only Captain left is Gueldre Poizot of the Purple Orcas and whilst he could help as a leader/rallying-man I doubt he has the power to kill this Demon. This could be the opportunity for a few non-Captain characters to get their moment taking the Demon on. Maybe a few like the Snow girl from Aqua Deer or Mushroom guy from Praying Mantis. But the obvious answer is the Black Bulls and/or Asta. But even those guys with all their power isn’t going to be enough I think, so we could get Black Bulls teaming up with every other Knight in Clover. Julius is still there but just how much he can do at this point is questionable. Honestly if this is how we get Magna and Zora back in the story it’ll’ve been worth the wait.
Then there’s Asta. Given we end on him, either the entire next chapter will be about him or we won’t see him again for ages. But I’m hoping if we do focus on him we get Liebe telling him the truth about his mother, and maybe going to her house/where she died. I don’t want it to be something that’s barely revealed in time for their fight with Lucifero but hey I trust Tabata to know what he’s doing. Someone mentioned it earlier this week on Reddit, but I do like how Asta and Liebe subvert a trope within the inner demon trope where said demon usually knows all their abilities already to make it easier for the hero but this time round Asta and Liebe are as clueless as each other.
With all this happening, it makes me wonder what is left for the rest of the Demon Saga. Tabata is a Berserk fan and whilst I’m not that far in I know at some point someone fails and the whole world is infested with Demons. Black Clover ain’t as dark and won’t go that far I think but I could see these Devils being out for a while and doing a fair bit of damage before it’s all under control again. Perhaps the heroes will have to retreat to beyond the four kingdoms, whatever may lay outside their borders?
Black Clover Chapter 281 Release date:
Usually the latest Black Clover Chapters are available once they are released on VIZ Media and Shueisha’s Manga plus official platforms. Raw scans for Black Clover 281 are released 2-3 days before their official release date which is around the 7th of February and fans will start discussing the spoilers of Black Clover 281 over our Reddit sub and other social media platforms. To support the Manga creators and publishers, we advise you to read the digital copies from their official websites and apps.