Title: Black Clover Vol. 26
Author: Yuki Tabata
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 190
Genre: Shounen, Battle
Publication Date: August 3, 2021
The Story
Action, Action, and More Action!
That’s the name of the game for Black Clover Vol. 26. The volume is broken down into two major fights… one of which is Lolopechka and Mimosa vs Vanica who is possessed by the devil Megicula. All of the dark disciples that were defeated are now coming back to life thanks to Vanica’s power so, in order to lay them to rest permanently, she must be defeated.
The other battle is Asta and Yami up against Dante of the Dark Triad. While there isn’t much of a stipulation in this battle, the same theme of regeneration is at the forefront as Dante’s natural ability is to regenerate his body from damage. Add in the devil’s power and, you can imagine how hard he’s going to be to bring down… until you realize our little main character has his anti-magic plot device!
The twist to all of this comes at the end of the Dante fight. A new enemy appears and captures Yami. He is also shown to have William Vangeance in his possession as well. Asta wants to fight back but is severely weakened at the moment. He asks his devil for more power but the devil refuses and simply laughs at him in his current state. The whole ordeal leaves Asta’s right arm completely black. Frustrated with himself for not being strong enough to fight back, he is approached by a man named Nacht… who claims that he can help him with his devil’s power… and our volume comes to an end!
Characters
Vanica and Dante took center stage here and, as expected, they were crazy powerful; however, our heroes always find a way to triumph as it normally goes in a shonen series such as this. Knowing that there will be a victory for our characters doesn’t leave much to the imagination so it’s always best to enjoy the battles for what they are.
Mimosa had a bit of a moment during the Vanica fight as she recognized the name of Megicula. It ties nicely into her backstory and if you recall it, you should already know what the significance of that name means to her.
Asta feeling weak is a typical plot point where we’ll probably see a power increase coming for him very soon. This is even more evident with the arrival of Nacht who states that he is the Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls. He reassures Asta that Yami is still alive and seems to know about the devil power he has. The fact that he grew devil-like horns when saying that backs up his claim. It’s pretty easy to see where the next volume is going to take us just from his introduction.
Final Thoughts
As I said before, fight outcomes in shonen manga are typically predictable and this volume is no different. Here, we see Asta overcome great adversity only to get knocked down a peg or two. Enter a training arc where the main character will receive a power-up! Add in some “I must rescue my friends” and you have a recipe for a bit of a predictable situation.
No doubt, the next volume is going to focus on what’s happening with Yami and Vangeance, the Dark Triad’s master plan, and a bit of training with Asta. If it’s anything but that, or if they do Asta’s growth “off-camera” then it’ll be slightly disappointing but I don’t see them doing something like this.
The action in the volume was pretty good. Everyone gave it their all and people were given ample time to shine. While Mimosa and Lolapechka’s fight was good, it was obvious that Asta and Yami stole the show in theirs. Of course, whenever the main character is in action, the attention is mostly drawn to them by default. The combo attacks with Asta and Yami were uncoordinated, yet, coordinated at the same time showing that they work very well together. With how much Asta looks up to Yami, this isn’t a surprise at all.
The next volume should be a nice cooldown from what we’ve been given. Time to put away the action and move the plot forward!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
