Title: Black Clover Vol. 29
Author: Yuki Tabata
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shounen, Battle
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
The Story
I started off my review of Vol. 28 with: “Asta has gotten so far along in his training that Nacht is ready to head into battle …by himself.” Three guesses as to what Asta did in Vol. 29 and the first two don’t count!
Before we get to that part, though, we get caught up with Nacht and his battle against Lilith and Naamah. It seems that Nacht is a bit overwhelmed by their power but it’s okay because Asta shows up. Nacht wants him to forget the battle and go battle the Dark Triad but there’s no way Asta is going to let the man who trained him die on the battlefield!
In addition to this fight taking up a good portion of the volume, we also see everyone who had trained in the Heart Kingdom evolve their power by being able to use Ultimate Magic! Normally reserved for elves, their training allowed them to use magic beyond their limits known as Natural Magic. This allowed them to use a pseudo version of Ultimate Magic… something that will definitely help turn the tide of this battle.
Speaking of the Dark Triad, Dante is pretty confident that he has his fight won; however, Magna of all people shows up and proclaims that he will take Dante down. Of course, Dante scoffs at the idea but then Magna shows how much he, himself, has powered up by unleashing a new technique… one that will even the odds but it comes with a very high risk… that fight will continue and possibly conclude in Vol. 30!
Characters
We are treated to a nice backstory between Nacht and his brother Morgen. It talked about their powers of shadow and light, respectively, and how each one went their own paths… or so that’s what Nacht believed. On the day of Nacht’s 18th birthday, he was summoned by his parents where he was named the inheritor of his house. His parents revealed that they were in tune with shadow magic themselves and felt that Nacht was perfect to take over their research into contracting with devils. Of course, this went a little too far and it ended up costing Nacht dearly.
Asta’s development seemed like a massive power-up; however, he mentioned that he could only unify with devils for a maximum of five minutes. I’m sure that there will be a point in the future where he could do it for as much as he would like but putting a limit on such a massive power-up right out of the gate is probably the best move for now.
Of all of the people to take the spotlight… it’s Magna. I admit that I never saw that one coming but his new power and mindset make him an interesting character for once rather than just some comedic relief kept on the back burner.
Final Thoughts
Another fun volume of Black Clover where most of the volume placed the action up front and center. Nacht’s backstory was a bit on the generic side but it did a nice job of explaining why he is the way he is. The ties to Captain Yami were also a nice touch and it really showed a little bit of how the Black Bulls came to be, too.
Again, Magna surprised me with his power-up and while I think it’s a bit too big for a side character, it might lead to him playing a bigger role in the future. Either that or this power is just one giant death flag and we’ll be seeing Magna go down in a blaze of glory but… does anyone truly die in a shonen manga? I’m sure if he does there will be some shadow realm plot device or deus ex machina thing to bring him back so… go on Manga, give it your all!
The whole Ultimate Magic thing seems a tad overkill to be just handed out like that but I’m wondering if they’re going to talk about “certain conditions” or “can only use it x amount of times” etc etc. If they can use this at will as much as they’d like, it would kind of defeat the hierarchy that was established with the magic knights. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
In any event, Vol. 30 looks to continue the action even more as the fight against the Dark Triad is not over yet!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
