The show is so unoriginal, so derivative it kinda makes your head spin that it's so popular. I'd instantly compare the rivalry between Asta and Yuno to Naruto/Sasuke, but many have pointed out that these characters are actually MORE similar to Natsu and Gray from Fairy Tail, at least as far as character design. Black Clover also apes Fairy Tail in that it's a world of spellcasters, and the fact that Asta joins the Black Bulls, which is VERY similar to Natsu's Fairy Tail guild. I could go off all day about how similar this show is to other shonen, but instead let's look at how many of the supporting cast are 2-D cliches and archetypes. The main girl, Noelle, is a textbook tsundere who is in love with the main character. Yawn! One guild member likes to get drunk and sleep in her underwear a lot. Another member likes to fight a lot, one girl likes to eat constantly, one guy likes to flirt with girls at every opportunity, one guy won't shut up about how much he loves his sister, etc. The Black Bulls are so one note that I could pretty much predict *exactly* what a member would say before he or she said it, which is never a good sign. None of these characters are bad per se, but they are so stock that I can't give the show above 5/10.
I have to take a moment to talk specifically about Black Clover's pacing, which is simply horrendous. Everything I hear from fans tells me the manga is paced much better, but for some reason Studio Pierot slowed the show down to a crawl. I remember getting to around episode 13 and saying out loud, "hey, not much has happened yet!" This show has more padding than I thought possible for an episode of an anime: We start with a generic recap of the Wizard King saving the village from the demon in EVERY episode (why!?), followed by a 2-5 minute recap of last episode's events, followed by the OP. Following the new content we have of course the ED and next episode preview, as well as a short chibi segment called "Petit Clover," which is cute and funny at times but 100% unneeded. Petit Clover is the type of thing you'd see as a DVD extra, not at the end of EVERY episode!? When you factor in all this bullshit I'd guess you only get about 15 minutes of new content per episode. Are they really this close to catching up to the manga that they need to pad the episode THIS much!? If so, then they DEFINITELY should have waited to even start this anime. This much filler so early on in the series is totally unacceptable! I probably would've given the series 1 point higher if not for this filler factor.
This show isn't just average, it's *aggressively* average. The plot is every cookie cutter shonen plot you've heard before (5/10). For instance, instead of a chuunin exam, Asta and his friends have a field exam where they show off their wizard skills to earn the next wizard rank--yeah, it's the chuunin exam! The art and animation is incredibly boring (5/10). Sound is this show's one strong suit in my opinion, since each of the opening and closing songs really kicked ass (8/10). The music was so good it got me hyped for a show I knew I found boring! My enjoyment score for this anime was average, until I factored in Asta's voice actor and had to bump it down to 4/10. This part needs to be addressed: for whatever Godforsaken reason, the Japanese VA for Asta decided to scream, nay, SHRIEK every one of his lines! Every time he says he wants to be the Wizard King, you wanna puncture your ear drums! I listened to the English Asta and this is one time where I can recommend the dub over subs without hesitation, if only for Asta's voice. Trust me, it's that bad. Overall I give Black Clover 5/10. This show isn't bad, in fact it can be pretty entertaining, but I have to recommend you watch pretty much every shonen anime this show copies before you spend your time on Black Clover.
