TLDR: Don't watch this for the plot or story; watch it for the character depth and impressive world building.
After 4 1/4 years and multiple hiatuses, I have finally completed Black Clover and, wow, what a ride its been. This show is not perfect (in fact at certain points I despised it) and it truly is a copy and paste "long shonen" in many ways. However, Black Clover as an anime has had a unique history developing underneath itself as the story found its way and continuously improved (ironic given the genre). It has improved to a degree/quality that I never believed it capable of. Yes, I was once a hater.
Most people are aware of the turbulent reception Black Clover had in its initial 50 or so episodes. It garnered lots of hate and many people dropped it. Consequently, despite this show being a lengthy boi meant to mimic the Big 3 Era of shonen, not as many weebs talk about it today as you might think (at least in comparison to shows like Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, etc.). For reference, I've seen merchandise in various stores for literally ALL the big shonens, both old and new, EXCEPT for Black Clover stuff. One could argue that the show flopped as it failed to meet expectations, and as all the haters left Black Clover early on, it gathered an overwhelmingly negative reputation that caused many to avoid it.
Personally, I am grateful that it turned out this way. Once Black Clover was "left alone" and no longer heavily scrutinized, it was allowed to mature at its own pace under the radar as new titles caught the mean critics' eyes over time. In addition, the fan base that remained (however biased they may be) were the opposite of toxic and perhaps is one of the few that I could see myself getting along with without losing the majority of my brain cells.
As an anime-only reviewer, I initially found the concept of "Anime Canon" episodes to be nothing more than glorified fillers. Naturally a long shonen was going to outpace a manga's production, so I begrudgingly accepted that some of the arcs were going to be pointless and boring. To my surprise, they were not. I'm not sure how much contact Pierrot had with the manga author during these segments, but somehow they managed to provide meaningful episodes in between the meat of the story.
What does this mean? Basically, they were able to flesh out the side characters to not only make them more likable and memorable, but also to provide a rational way for them to remain relevant to the plot (I'm looking at you, Naruto and Bleach). Often these episodes were ripe with fan service and comedic spoofs that don't seem to have much weight, but Black Clover's unique way of delivering humor really helped to keep the characters' tropes fresh and enjoyable. Personally I found myself rooting for these side characters that I initially disliked, because I was given the opportunity to witness them as more than just one-dimensional plot devices. In my opinion, this is the key reason why Black Clover is able to thrive in an age dominated by seasonal anime: yes, it has an outrageous amount of episodes, but it aptly gives the viewer time to fully explore and truly appreciate well-thought out characters, however cliche they might be at times.
Seeing the half-naked fan service character Vanessa receive her own arc and a genuine plot line was a nice surprise for me, as well as seeing Magna the goofy hype guy face the harsh reality of his juniors surpassing him. Somehow this show managed to give (almost) every Black Bulls member an impressive amount of depth without ever breaking with their character's main gimmick. Even Noelle, whose traditional "hyper tsundere" trope is something I quickly get annoyed with, became one of my favorite characters in this show after seeing her backstory and fighting spirit (seeing competent and active female characters in shonen is refreshing).
As someone who has major nostalgia goggles on when reminiscing about my beloved Naruto and Bleach, I have to admit that Black Clover is objectively better (strictly talking about the anime, idk about the manga). The latter's pacing and willingness to flesh out the world and sidekicks around the main character is something that I REALLY wish Naruto and Bleach took to heart (not that they didn't, just not to this degree of complexity). I'm not sure if the author took inspiration from these two giants, but he (and Pierrot for that matter) seem to learn from the mistakes of older shonen and acted proactively to improve on the genre that is quickly becoming stale, if not already.
Point is, Black Clover is not perfect, and sometimes the story seems to stumble as if it's not sure where it's going. It absolutely will frustrate you at times and it might even seem boring at others. However, there are plenty of areas of this show that shine brightly and will leave a positive impact on you. Trust these Black Clover stans when they insist that the show gets MUCH better. If you won't take their word, take it from an ex-hater: this anime is really frickin' good.
