Just to save myself some of the inevitable grief, I’m not stating this is as a fact, it’s just my humble opinion about top 10 black clover fights (I was so close to putting Charmy vs Lira in here, but the anime wasted that fight). Also, spoilers abound after this point.
10. Asta vs Ladros
This one would get higher if it weren’t for the poor animation. Which is typical of Black Clover, so why so low? Cos it should’ve been so much more. This was Asta’s first big transformation, a staple of Shonen series. Goku going Super Saiyan, Luffy going Second Gear, god knows how many of Ichigo’s different forms, Naruto’s Sage Mode (OK there’s a few for Naruto too but his entrance into Konoha during the Pain Assault Arc gives this the edge for me). This should’ve been one of them, but the animation was such a let-down for me it gets put further down. Some try to defend it as an artistic choice, but personally I just found it to be cheap looking. Well, more so than anything in BC that’s not an opening or ending song. That being said it is still a visually interesting fight to witness in a way, and a great soundtrack nonetheless.
9. Asta, Vanessa and Magna vs Lufulu
So Magna gets a lot of crap for being the weakest of the Black Bulls. To me this is like when people say Kakashi is the weakest Hokage; sure he’s the weakest but the 7th weakest next to six of the strongest characters in all of Naruto, that’s not that much of a diss really. So this was a fun fight for me, watching Magna prove he can utilise his magic well enough when needs be. And most of all the ending of this fight with Luck being freed of Lufulu and the Elf reincarnation, Luck the kid who never stops smiling, finally breaking down and crying was a hell of a moment.
8. Yami vs Patry
This was one of the first times the series started to change people’s initial opinions. A great way of establishing the strength of the top tier of the series, and a good look at how far Asta truly has to go to achieve his dream of being Wizard King. But also how he was still able to contribute and impress even the other Captains.
7. Noelle vs Solid
Oh boy the catharsis on this one. Noelle’s arc has been great so far, seeing her actually able to control her magic finally and make some actual friends. And then after all that to see her face up to one of her siblings who’d made her life misery for so long, and to one-shot him at that? Payback is sweet, and so satisfactory to see the smirk wiped clean off Solid’s face with her Sea Dragon’s Roar.
6. Team B vs Langris
OK so this one was mostly Asta, but Zora and Mimosa did contribute too. It’s ironic the best part wasn’t even in the fight. After Langris (as someone on Reddit put it) turns his brother Finral into a human swiss cheese and was about kill him despite there being no need, the entire Black Bulls squad jumps onto the battlefield to defend their comrade. So seeing yet another case of catharsis was very gratifying. But this time Asta is not only fighting for his comrade, but to prove his dream true a little bit; Asta, a magicless peasant, taking down a corrupt noble (Langris) and putting him in his place, proving status is a truly moot point, and how at the end of the fight the one who everyone stands behind is not the one born into power but the one who earned it. Another step closer to becoming Wizard King for Asta, and one of the best moments of the series thus far.
5. Julius vs Patry
Like with Yami vs Patry a great show of the sheer power of the kingdom’s elite. Julius’ Time Magic is insanely OP, and the fact Patry could hold his own at all was impressive enough. A tragic ending to it all makes for a more bittersweet finale and signifies Julius’ popularity even more.
4. Lumiere vs Demon God Form Licht
After almost 120 episodes, The Ningen Wa opening clip is explained. Not that anyone thought it would, but no-one is complaining that it has been. A more sombre fight between two allies forced into conflict which is ironic considering the efforts both made towards achieving peace between Humans and Elves, only for it to fall apart on them like this.
3. Black Bulls vs Vetto
Guess Who Is Back is my favourite BC opening, and the same reason I love this fight and arc. BC started out in a rather meta state where everyone initially hated it, just like how Asta wasn’t very popular amongst Hage Village at first. But as time went on, both the series and Asta gained more supporters, before eventually coalescing in the Sea Temple Arc. The OP (GWIB) and Arc felt like an announcement to the world, that they were not some flash-in-the-pan series to be written off; they were here to stay, and they were ready to take on the world. Seeing the Black Bulls go from a rag-tag band of troublesome layabouts to a concentrated group with some serious potential to take on the big guns was enormously rewarding.
2. Asta and Yuno vs Licht
You know an antagonist is not messing around when the victory song plays, and the protagonist still loses. Asta and Yuno make for one of the best and healthy rivalries in current Shonen, and this truly shines here. They don’t even need to discuss it; they just know how the other works that well. But it’s also good to watch the protagonists taking a beating every once in a while, to see them struggle. It makes future victories even more fulfilling.
1. Asta, Yuno, Lumiere, Licht, Secre, Patry and Yami vs the Word Magic Devil
And with that final slash, the Elf Saga comes to an end. I compare BC to One Piece sometimes; in OP, Arlong Park felt like the ending of the prologue 50 episodes in, and the end of the Alabasta Saga being the ending of Chapter One. In BC the Sea Temple Arc felt the same as Arlong, as did the Elf Saga to Alabasta. Fitting considering both happened around the same time in their respective animes. After all the build-up, a finalisation of what the Sea Temple Arc originally showed; this series wasn’t just going to die, it had built itself up and paid off the titbits dropped throughout the Saga to a very gratifying conclusion. Seeing the Word Magic Devil, the mastermind behind it all fail as he did not consider a seemingly impossible anomaly, a magicless peasant wielding the power to take him out, seeing the First Wizard King Lumiere acknowledge his ability, seeing the Humans and Elves united like Lumiere and Licht had originally dreamed? It was all brilliant. Flashbacks are typically a boring overused trope in Shonen, but it was great going through Asta’s seeing him rise from a nobody to one of the top Knights in the Clover Kingdom. How much farther he now has to go, I cannot wait to see.