Black Clover: Yuno and Asta's rivalry might be the best in modern shonen

In light of its recent, exciting developments, author and illustrator Yuki Tabata’s Black Clover series has become one of the most talked about shonens as of late. Nearly every anime fan with an internet connection is discussing how while My Hero Academia flails wildly in its final arc, Black Clover continues to shine and improve each and every week.

This, in turn, has led to discussions about what the series does well that truly works relative to what other contemporary shonens have. One of the biggest differences is the quality of the series’ star rivalry relative to other shonens, with Yuno and Asta’s being one of the best on modern shonen, if not the best overall.

Follow along as this article breaks down why Black Clover’s Yuno and Asta rivalry might be the best in modern shonen.

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Black Clover stars Asta and Yuno share a unique bond which is highlighted by their loving rivalry

Having a rivalry between a series’ two central-most characters is nothing new to the shonen formula. Even before the days of Goku and Vegeta, Ranma ½’s Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki and City Hunter’s Ryo Saeba and Hayato Ijuin serve as some older classic rivalries.

While Goku and Vegeta are likely the benchmark for many in terms of shonen rivalry, Black Clover’s rivalry of Asta and Yuno certainly elevates the trope.

While many of the most famous shonen rivalries, such as Goku and Vegeta, are predicated merely on who’s stronger, Yuno and Asta’s rivalry has a different win condition.

While being the Wizard King certainly does depend on one’s strength, it isn’t necessarily the be-all and end-all to attaining the title. Were this true, Yuno would likely have already secured the win in their rivalry, being one of the most uniquely strong mages in the entire series.

However, the conventional strength of Black Clover’s world isn’t something which one must necessarily possess. Asta is living proof of that, being one of the most respected Magic Knights in the contemporary series despite possessing no Magic Attribute whatsoever. While he does have Anti-Magic, this is widely agreed upon to come from Liebe rather than Asta himself.

Furthermore, while the win condition of their rivalry is strength-based, their desire to attain such a title is far from being based in similar sentiment. The promise for their becoming the Wizard King comes from a time as children where Yuno’s magic necklace was stolen, prompting a young Asta to immediately step in and confront the thug.

While he does get his friend’s necklace back, Asta does so at the cost of his own body, being covered with injuries all over from the fight. Both boys, expressing a desire to protect the ones they love, then declare their intent to become the Wizard King, with each saying they’ll protect the other when they are the one to become Wizard King.

In this way and many more, their rivalry is unique, both in current and past shonen manga series. Arguably the most similar rivalry in modern shonen to Black Clover’s is My Hero Academia’s, and only thanks to Academia’s Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugou also having grown up together.

In every other way, however, the two are extremely different, with Black Clover clearly being the better rivalry. While Asta and Yuno share a goal and are each able to independently and plausibly work towards it, Midoriya and Bakugou each share the same goal but the latter rarely makes strides towards achieving it.

This is mainly due to Midoriya always needing to be the hero in order to continue building him as the series’ eventual No. 1 Hero. As a result, Bakugou is rarely given the opportunity to prove that he too can be the No. 1 Hero, despite being consistently characterized as having the same exact goal.

As a result, My Hero Academia’s flagship rivalry is severely lacking compared to that of Black Clover’s. Furthermore, it’s also the closest rivalry to Black Clover in terms of overall quality, emphasizing how exceptional Yuno and Asta’s rivalry is in modern shonen.

Even comparing it to its predecessors, however, it’s clear that Tabata’s flagship rivalry is truly something special.

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