Title: Black Clover Vol. 36
Author: Yuki Tabata
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 195
Genre: Shounen, Battle
Publication Date: January 7, 2025
The Story
Volume 36 of Black Clover continues the final battle of the series! We start out with Noelle facing off against her mother. She reveals that she paired with Leviathan and now has brand-new dragon armor! As she fights, Yuno is in the middle of battling Lucious. Yuno actually defeats him; however, Lucious unveils his trump card… he had cloned himself and 12 copies of him remain!
The Witch Queen says that Asta can’t be reached by normal means; however, there is a grand spell that can. The three great witches work together to open a door; however, Domnatio has other plans and tries to interfere with the gate. The Black Bulls show up in force and it works as it buys them enough time for Finral to go through the gate and retrieve Asta… And Ichika!
Asta rejoins the battle and thanks to his training, he has a brand-new power… one that can turn the tide of this battle!
Characters
There wasn’t as much character development in this volume as there was in the last as the focus was on the battle at hand and preventing the gate from opening to bring Asta back.
Yuno was truly tested in this volume but he showed his resilience. If Asta wants to become the Wizard King, he’s going to have some serious competition from Yuno thanks to his actions here.
Noelle’s power-up was pretty nice. It showed that she could get stronger without relying on Undine to assist her. Together with Leviathan, she has certainly leveled up and her new dragon armor is pretty cool-looking.
Shout out to the entirety of the Black Bulls for standing up to Domnatio. They still haven’t changed since the beginning of the series… perhaps they are too dumb and reckless for their own good but they still have that value of family above anything else.
Ichika going through the gate with Asta wasn’t anything significant now but it will be when she and Yami come face-to-face; however, Yami isn’t exactly in the best sorts at the moment so, their reunion could go a completely different way. It all depends on certain factors but we are going to get that eventual reunion one way or another. Whether it brings smiles or tears remains to be seen but it is definitely one of the more high-anticipated moments of this arc.
Final Thoughts
Another great action-packed volume. The manga has slowed down in Japan in terms of its release cadence but we are in the final arc no doubt. With Asta back, the tide of the battle will surely turn; however, this isn’t going to be a simple one-hit-kill scenario. Even with Asta’s new power, Lucius is greater than a Supreme Devil. This is not going to be an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination and he’s not the only ultra-powerful foe on the battlefield.
Of course, things are looking bleak but that’s how it goes with shonen action series. It’s always bleakest before the plot device kicks in and the good guys win; however, it makes me wonder how many of the good guys will be left by the end of things. Whether or not Tabata wants to go a dark route and put George R.R. Martin to shame remains to be seen but, it’s shonen… I would expect Deus Ex Machina moments to save all of your favorite characters, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
As we close out the series, Volume 37 looks to continue the final fight and I believe that is how it will be for the foreseeable future. It’s been an epic battle so far so I’m looking forward to the next chapter of it!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
