The first episode of studio Pierrot’s Black Clover Season 2 is a rollercoaster ride. If you haven’t re-watched Black Clover at all, you’ll be hit with a lot of details all at once, for better or worse depending on if you’re caught up. In fact, the pacing of this episode is quite insane to begin with, but that’s all in its favor—you’ll be hooked immediately.
Editor’s note: there will be minor spoilers for episode 1 of Black Clover Season 2 going forward.
Episode 1 begins with a brief recap of the original Black Clover anime, getting you caught up to speed on the general premise of the anime and the most recent events leading in the second season. Asta (VA: Gakuto Kajiwara) is training with Vice Captain Nacht (VA: Hiro Shimono) in order to master Demon Union with Liebe (VA: Nobuhiko Okamoto), all while the Magic Knights are preparing for a full-scale assault on the Dark Triad, who are holding the Spade Kingdom (and various squad captains) under its control. If you saw the trailer, you’d know that this season is going to be action-packed with a lot of stakes at play, and undoubtedly, this episode sets up quite well for what’s to come.
A Lightning-Quick Opening Episode for Black Clover Season 2
In order to fulfill his promise with Yuno (VA: Nobunaga Shimazaki), Asta has to dig deep and complete his training with Nacht, who isn’t holding anything back. You reminded of how whimsical Asta can be, but when he’s serious, he can perform some miracles as the scenes have shown in this first new episode. The training sequences with Liebe and Nacht were gritty and action-packed, and it also further established some power-scaling between Asta and the other Magic Knights, who are ready to attack some of the most powerful wizards and demons they’ve come across.
Pierrot’s animation quality for Black Clover Season 2 is superb and cinematic, and in my opinion, it’s a noticeable step up from the anime’s first run. There are some flashback scenes from the original, so you can tell that the overall quality has risen when watching the episode. The scene where Nacht unleashes his Mana Zone magic was especially eye-catching. In another example, when the Magic Knights prepare their assault, they feel especially important due to how artistically detailed they are. The Magic Knights really know how to make their presence known.
Overall, the first episode for the season is quite thrilling to watch with fast-paced story-telling and action that you can expect from shonen. Black Clover Season 2 opens up with the expectation that you’re all caught up and well acquainted with what’s going on in the current story, so I highly recommend that you catch up with the anime on Crunchyroll first. Otherwise, you’ll be lost in all the details and developments that this season will bring, especially with how fast-paced the first episode is. 20 minutes will fly by when Black Clover is setting up for some incredible battles this season.
Black Clover Season 2 will premiere on October 3, exclusively streaming on Crunchyroll this October.
Disclaimer: Crunchyroll provided access for episode 1 of Black Clover Season 2 for review purposes.
