Black Clover anime fell short of Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia in popularity, and it's due to Asta

As all Black Clover anime fans would know, the series did not have a great start compared to other Weekly Shonen Jump magazine anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. This seemingly poor start to the anime caused the entire series to underperform compared to its counterparts.

Other series' fandoms may try to push the agenda that Black Clover had a poor start as it wasn't as good as it was hyped up to be. However, that is far from the truth. So, why did Black Clover anime fall short compared to its counterparts, and why do most fans blame Asta for the shortcomings?

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Black Clover anime's performance was massively impacted due to Asta's voice

Asta, as seen in Black Clover (Image via Studio Pierrot)

While voice actor Gakuto Kajiwara should not be blamed for the Black Clover anime's poor start, many anime fans have claimed that they initially dropped the anime because of Asta's voice.

As one can observe, Asta's voice at the beginning of the anime is too loud. Hence, many say they found the series' protagonist insufferable. Given that some people did not like the protagonist himself, there was no reason for them to continue watching the series. So, the anime ended up having a poor start.

Gakuto Kajiwara voices Asta in Black Clover (Image via Japan Creator Bank)

However, those who decided to bear with the protagonist's voice soon found no problem with it, as the voice actor had seemingly improved over time. The truth is that Asta was Gakuto Kajiwara's first major role as a voice actor. He got to voice the role within the first six months of his career. Hence, considering that Kajiwara had only begun his journey, it took him some time to nurture his character's voice properly.

While the Black Clover anime performed well later, becoming one of the most-watched anime in several countries worldwide, the initial damage caused the series to drop in popularity compared to My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Comment byu/ready-simclass130 from discussion inBlackClover

That said, some fans believe that My Hero Academia anime should have also received similar treatment at the start as the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, seemed highly annoying. Fortunately, Studio BONES' animation and quick story progress helped the anime perform well.

Another reason for the Black Clover anime's low popularity at the start was its release format. Unlike its counterparts that released the anime in a seasonal format, the Black Clover anime was released as a continuous weekly series.

Ichigo Kurosaki, as seen in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (Image via Studio Pierrot)

This meant that the anime would release a new episode weekly. This episode-release format was outdated, as fans were now more accustomed to watching anime in a single go. Hence, continuous anime was less appealing to fans. In comparison, anime like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen released their series in a seasonal format, allowing fans to watch and catch up to it before the next season premiered.

Even Studio Pierrot has realized its mistake with the episode release format. This is evident from Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War being released in a seasonal format. Hence, fans can expect a similar format for Black Clover anime and other Studio Pierrot anime in the future as well. This should hopefully boost the popularity of the Yuki Tabata series.

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Related Links:

Black Clover watch order: Chronology of all anime seasons and the movie explained

Black Clover: Complete filler list

When Will Black Clover Anime Return? Status After the Movie, Explored