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As the highly anticipated return of author and illustrator Yuki Tabata’s smash-hit Black Clover manga series draws closer, fans are excitedly looking back at the series’ greatest moments yet. While Tabata has made it quite clear that the series’ coming arc will undoubtedly be its last, we don't have an estimate of how much time is left until the end of the series.
Fans are currently busy ranking and discussing the various Black Clover story arcs thus far. They have put forward many varied yet nuanced opinions, but there is a general order which most fans seem to agree upon.
Here’s every Black Clover story arc, ranked from the least to the most loved.
Black Clover fandom seems to unanimously agree that the recent arcs deserve all the love
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10) Magic Knights Entrance arc
Kicking off the list is, unsurprisingly, the Magic Knights Entrance arc. While nothing about the arc is particularly bad, it’s somewhat underwhelming and boring relative to the other arcs on this list. As Black Clover's debut arc, it has been overshadowed by its successors.
Furthermore, many anime fans argue that Asta is at his most annoying here, constantly yelling and seemingly asking Sister Lily to marry him every other minute. While manga fans may obviously differ on this specific point, they share a similar take on the arc.
9) Dungeon Exploration arc
Coincidentally, the second arc in Black Clover sequentially is also the second least-loved for most fans of the series. Although the arc does give us our first major fight scenes for Asta and Yuno, it’s plagued by inconsistent pacing. At times, the storyline moves very slowly, before rushing through specific events all of a sudden.
It’s clear that Tabata was still feeling out the kind of series he wanted to write here, and the overall pace at which he wanted to write it. While every author is more than entitled to experiment with their own series in the early stages, it unfortunately did not leave a good impression on fans.
8) Royal Capital Assault arc
The Royal Capital Assault arc, the third sequential story arc, gets the edge over the previous two because it gives a sense that Tabata has finally settled into his own story. He is much clearer about his approach and how he wants to portray the characters.
Furthermore, the series sees the stakes raised for the first time with the introduction of the overarching antagonists of the early series in the form of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. While many fans viewed this arc as a large improvement over what had come before, it still felt like Tabata had more to offer in his series.
7) Seabed Temple arc
The Seabed Temple arc is one of the first arcs in Black Clover to feel like an elevation of what came before, especially given the arc’s final fight. Fans typically praise the arc for its development of Noelle and Asta, both as fighters and as people, and its great fight scenes.
Furthermore, it established the Eye of the Midnight Sun as a real threat, showing that Vetto could easily hang with even the strongest members of the Black Bulls. Despite eventually losing to Yami in the end, the damage he did stuck with fans and truly made this arc feel a step above what had come before.
6) Royal Knights arc
The Royal Knights arc felt like an elevated version of the Magic Knights Entrance arc, with Yuno, Asta, and others competing to join the new Royal Knights Squad. As a precursor to the epic battle that was the Elf Reincarnation arc, it exceled in every way possible, from highlighting the characters to showcasing the fights.
That being said, some fans criticize the arc for playing too hard into the typical tournament style matchups of shonen anime. Additionally, some still hold a grudge that the series did not pair up Asta and Yuno, which would have been a dream match for many Black Clover fans.
5) Eye of the Midnight Sun Encounter arc
Whereas the Royal Capital Assault arc gives fans their first tease of Black Clover's first antagonistic group, the Eye of the Midnight Sun Encounter arc fleshes them out. The fights within the arc give fans a sense of just how powerful and evil the Eye of the Midnight Sun group is, but Asta gets plenty of opportunities to shine as a result.
Despite being one of the quicker arcs in the series, fans found it highly engaging during its initial release.
4) Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle arc
Similarly to the Royal Capital Assault arc, the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle arc primarily serves as a means of setting up the next arc using a variety of methods. It introduces Black Clover's next antagonistic group, and gives the series’ heroes new means of powering up to overcome this latest threat.
The arc is also, arguably, the most substantial fans have received in terms of worldbuilding, expanding on the political intrigue of other kingdoms and even showing fans the Heart Kingdom. While some may prefer other arcs and the way they flesh out Black Clover’s world, many consider the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle arc as the gold standard in that regard.
3) Witches’ Forest arc
The Witches’ Forest arc is one of the first widely loved arcs of Black Clover, with many still looking back on it very fondly even years later. This arc had real stakes, having introduced readers to just how powerful and archaic the world’s magic can truly be.
Furthermore, it gave Vanessa an impressive backstory, which subsequently turned her into a character that fans absolutely fawned over. Despite her relevance in terms of combat having somewhat faded since this arc, fans still appreciate the layers it gave to her character, both in terms of her power and her identity.
2) Elf Reincarnation arc
Easily one of the most beloved arcs in all of Black Clover is the Elf Reincarnation arc, which is also the series’ biggest arc to date. The entirety of the Clover Kingdom became a battlefield, with most of the fighting centralized in the Royal Capital and the Shadow Palace hovering above the capital.
Several characters got fantastic opportunities to shine, including those first introduced within the arc itself such as Secre Swallowtail and Patolli.
1) Spade Kingdom Raid arc
Finally, the greatest arc in the series per fans is also the latest, aka the Spade Kingdom Raid arc. While Black Clover fans initially criticized the arc throughout its original serialization, opinions have since changed in light of its mind-blowing closing reveals. The best part was that many of the issues pointed out by fans were resolved with the said reveals.
The arc is essentially Tabata’s attempt at a war arc, with a massive battle raging all across the Spade Kingdom’s Royal Capital. While much of the action is centralized within the Spade Kingdom Royal Palace, there are plenty of supplementary battles that help elevate the overall action quotient.
