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The latest alleged Black Clover spoilers and raw scans were released on Wednesday, February 15, bringing with them some exciting developments to the series. The main focus of the issue was establishing the history between and backstories of Ryudo Ryuya and Mushogatake Yosuga, as well as their battle to achieve their common goal of becoming shogun.
In this way, author and illustrator Yuki Tabata seems to have introduced a rivalry to Black Clover, which is as great as Asta and Yuno’s. Both for the rivalry itself and the friendship it created, it’s one of the best aspects of the series’ final arc thus far.
Thankfully, Twitter user @PikkuPorgram (Pikku) has compiled a Twitter thread highlighting and fully explaining the symbolic meanings behind the rivalry.
Western story of the Dragon and the Tiger heavily influences Black Clover’s latest and greatest rivalry
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Pikku starts their thread on Black Clover’s latest rivalry by establishing what makes someone a dragon and the other a tiger. They establish that the two are not meant to be taken as opposites. Instead, they are two factions battling against one another for their own form of victory. Going into the relationship between Yosuga and Ryuya, their shared goal is to become the shogun.
They then establish that each is the lord of a different island within Hino Country before addressing their fight. Pikku establishes that they’re participating in what’s known as a “friendly clash,” which is meant to be taken as a representation of balance. This form of battle is one where the Tiger (Yosuga) leaps into the air, attacking the dragon (Ryuya) from above.
Meanwhile, the dragon prepares for the attack and tries to catch the tiger while it is striking. Hence, the literal English translation of “the tiger strikes, the dragon catches.” This motif plays into a fight between the two friends when they were younger, as seen in the latest Black Clover raw scans. Yosuga is seen attacking from above while Ryuya stays on the ground.
Pikku then establishes that the tiger is “direct, aggressive, and spontaneous” and calls this reflective of Yosuga, who only cares for strength, battles with one another, and victory. Pikku emphasizes this aspect of his personality by pointing out a moment in the latest Black Clover spoilers where Yosuga begins to despise Ryuya for stopping their rivalry to pursue other goals.
Pikku then claims that the dragon is indirect, defensive, and considerate, which they claim shows itself in Ryuya’s overall character. By not having yoryoku, he can’t partake in battle, forcing him to become “a fearsome strategist commanding the backlines.” This is certainly true and has been seen throughout the Hino Country subarc thus far.
The Twitter user then likens the tiger to be symbolic of the earth and conceptualizes physical strength, highlighting its title as the king of wind beasts in ancient Chinese history. They assert that this matches well with Yosuga’s yoryoku attribute being iron, something that comes from and makes up the earth itself.
The dragon, meanwhile, is symbolic of the heavens and is associated with spirituality and detachment from physical prowess. This perfectly lines up with Ryuya giving up his yoryoku and physical prowess to gain spiritual wisdom in the form of the Tengentsu. The latest Black Clover spoilers reveal that this is an intentional trade Ryuya made.
Pikku then establishes that the two were always at odds with each other and the only matches for each other, similar to the Dragon and the Tiger, which allowed them to be themselves. However, Ryuya abandoning his yoryoku is equivalent to their rivalry being broken, meaning that he could never stand equal to Yosuga. Since he couldn’t battle for the title of shogun, this is seemingly the end for the Dragon and the Tiger.
Pikku then recounts how the latest Black Clover spoilers see Yosuga get “selfishly mad” at Ryuya for abandoning what he (and they) had. He then goes into solitude, doubting Ryuya for his lack of power and supposed inability to become shogun. However, Ryuya didn’t change, gathering allies, achievements, and a list of accolades worthy of a Shogun, while Yosuga did nothing.
This culminates in the time for the shogun to be chosen, with Yosuga acknowledging Ryuya as the one worthy of the shogun between them. Yosuga also offers Ryuya all of him in a pledge of allegiance, essentially the Tiger giving himself over to the Dragon and allowing himself to be caught, as was the destiny of their battle as rivals.
Pikku then dives into some of the Japanese linguistics used in the latest Black Clover raw scans, which see Yosuga tell his opponent, Heath Grice, that he is “the strongest.” Pikku asserts that this is meant to signify that Yosuga is the strongest between him and Ryuya, adding that the Iron Warrior spell Yosuga casts reflect his battle-loving personality and strength.
Directly after, however, comes language, which Pikku claims sees Yosuga say that Ryuya is “the best.” Pikku concludes by reaffirming that this cements Yosuga’s belief that he is the strongest of the two, but Ryuya is the winner between them. It also shows respect to Ryuya, the Dragon, for achieving strength comparable to that of Yosuga, the Tiger, despite going about it much differently.
In summation
As Pikku’s detailed and in-depth analysis shows, the rivalry between Yosuga and Ryuya is arguably as great as that between Asta and Yuno. While Black Clover’s Hino Country subarc has already earned the love and praise of fans, such deep and thematic backstories truly cement it as one of the series’ best arcs overall.
Be sure to keep up with all Black Clover manga and film news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
