Asta and Yuno from Black Clover anime standing back-to-back with sword and grimoire

Black Clover

2015anime/manga fandomclassic

Published August 16, 2026

Black Clover is a Japanese manga and anime series about Asta, a boy born with no magic in a world where magic is everything, who aims to become the Wizard King1. Created by Yuki Tabata in 2015, it built a loud online fandom around Asta's shouting, meme edits, and constant Naruto comparisons2.

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Overview

Black Clover is a shonen manga and anime about Asta, a boy born without a drop of magic in a world where magic decides everything, who trains to become the Wizard King1. The setup is deliberately Naruto-shaped, an underdog with a loud mouth, a rival with natural talent, and a lifelong dream shouted at maximum volume, which fans openly joke about4.

The series is recognisable for Asta's screaming voice, his black anti-magic swords, and the Black Bulls squad of misfit mages3. Reviews were split, ComicsAlliance recommended it to shonen fans as a solid classic-style story2, while MyAnimeList users landed at a mid 6.7 and IMDb viewers sat closer to 7.734.

Origin & Background

Platform
Weekly Shonen Jump (manga) / Pierrot anime (viral spread)
Creator
Yuki Tabata
Date
2015

Black Clover is written and illustrated by Yuki Tabata and published by Shueisha, with the first chapter appearing in Weekly Shonen Jump on February 16th, 20151. A week before the Japanese launch, Viz Media dropped the first three chapters at once in its English Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine, then moved to a weekly release from April 6th, 20151.

An anime adaptation was announced on December 18th, 2016, produced by studio Pierrot, directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu5. It premiered on October 9th, 2017, and the initial 13 episode order was quickly expanded to 51, then kept running well past 170 episodes5.

How It Spread

Black Clover built a large online fandom fast. The dedicated subreddit r/BlackClover crossed 11,400 members in the early anime run and the main Facebook fan page passed 210,000 likes, alongside a big community wiki567.

The show became a meme magnet for two reasons. Asta's screaming voice in the Japanese dub was so divisive that hating or defending it turned into a running joke, with Urban Dictionary entries openly calling him out for being the loudest character in shonen8. At the same time, fans kept meming the Naruto comparison, one Urban Dictionary definition just calls the manga "Naruto but with magic"8.

A console game tie-in, Black Clover: Quartet Knights, launched in Japan on September 13th, 2018 and one day later in the West, which pushed the property further into gaming spaces1. The anime paused in 2021 after episode 170, and the 2023 Netflix film Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King brought a new wave of clips and edits to TikTok and YouTube.

How to Use This Meme

Black Clover fan content typically leans on a few recurring bits, Asta screaming "I'M GONNA BE THE WIZARD KING" over unrelated clips, fight edits set to hype music, and jokes comparing any new shonen protagonist to Asta or Naruto8. Reaction images of Asta, Yuno, and the Black Bulls captains are common in anime Twitter and Reddit threads, often paired with captions about grinding, underdogs, or having zero talent but max effort.

Frequently Asked Questions