Yūki Tabata (Japanese: 田畠裕基, Hepburn: Tabata Yūki) is a Japanese manga artist.
After working as an assistant to Toshiaki Iwashiro, he created the one-shot Hungry Joker, which was later serialized as a full series. After its conclusion, he launched Black Clover.
Some random thoughts that I took note of while reading:
- Ahhh, Asta's such a good kiddo. As Mars have said, he embodies the name, knight, in the truest sense of the word. - The problem with Fana was easily resolved but... ehh, I didn't mind it. Haha. It's heartwarming. - "I'm dumb, so I can't afford to mess up to begin with!!" - Asta I like that he's owning it xD - Also lmao. Asta's first complaint when he thought that he died was that he hadn't even managed to marry Sister Lily yet. HAHAHA. I find his one-sided crush on Sister Lily VERY WEIRD, but also funny. - It always gives me the feels whenever Asta says, "My magic is never giving up!" - I hear his loud anime voice whenever he's shouting in the manga lololol - "I wonder if everybody else feels that way when they use magic..." - Asta Asta, experiencing something that's quite similar to magic for the first time in his life *cries* - Yayyy for Vanessa's backstory! - Younger Yami is hawwwt heehee - Cute cat!
How do you defeat a girl that is crazy and wants to kill everyone? You hug her, tell her she is a childhood friend, and she instantly becomes cute and submissive thereafter.
How do you defeat a man that is crazy and wants to kill everyone? You unlock the Nine Tails wannabe inside you and you overpower him with what is essentially a deus ex machina.
Then the defeated bad guy also becomes good because he was also manipulated by evil, and his personality is also rewritten to contradict everything he was, up until that point.
Then the hero gets possessed by his dark side and turns against his own friends, killing them one by one. Man, shit got real. He will now have to deal with the negative consequences of abusing his power.
Or one of his friends will use his nakama power to get a power up out of nowhere and time reset everything so nobody is dead and the hero is back to normal. How do you stop a woman that is crazy and wants to kill everyone? You unlock your hidden familiar which resets the plot however it wants, so anyone who gets killed is instantly returned to life. And this is again a deus ex machina.
As for the message of this entire story, it’s summed up with what Asta is praised for: You are nothing special, and that is what makes you special. I am not joking, this is an actual quote in the manga. The author is literally promoting loser mentality. Being last makes you the best of the worst, well done.
Happy ending, all the bad guys become good guys, nobody got hurt, nothing natters. And that’s how the king of shonen anime once again destroys any sense of consequence and drama. Ain’t modern anime wonderful? You are a joke, Black Clover. A badly told, unfunny joke.
I think this is the one that made me laugh a few times. This reminded me a lot of Naruto and Fairy Tail, but I love these characters more. They are quite typical, you see, but the humour is there and the art style is appealing, so 4 stars!!
7/8/19 As I read this for the second time, the shonen troupe is heavily used in this series. Not too sure how I feel about that, but it's definitely addictive.
Astra goes full badass here and he shows you should mess with his friends. He gets to take on multiple foes, showing how much he's grown as a character. However it is Venessa gets to really show up here, unlocking not only new powers but her complete past. Making for a fun volume overall with plenty of big brawls and emotional bits. A 3.5 out of 5.
This is a review of volumes 11-12 which I read together back to back. See the plot section for my thoughts on the individual volumes.
Asta and Yuno grew up together, abandoned at the same church. They both determined to become Magic Knights... Yuno's abilities soon grew to genius levels of power and control while Asta didn't show even a spark of magic and made up for it by training hard physically. It became apparent to both when they received their grimores, Yuno a coveted 4-leaf clover and Asta an unheard of black 5-leaf clover, that they were each other's biggest competition when it came to achieving their goals of becoming the next sorcerer emperor.
We start off Black Clover vol 11 with some serious twists that blew my mind!! I love how this mangaka thinks!! The tension was so high in these battles that I flew through the volume and you know Yuki Tabata keeps it coming... The think that I enjoy about Black Clover is that when we transition to filler between the larger story arcs... I STILL feel the tension come rolling off the story!! And this is true in vol 12 as we learn about a crush one of the captains has on another captain! I just love the entire world and all the various aspects... the battles, the relationships, the kingdoms and the the philosophy of Yami and Asta and Yuno!
The plot was so exciting in vol 11, of course with the battles with the Diamond Kingdom in the Witches' Forest... and I just love how Asta's lack of magic plays into everything! What a way to use your protagonist and yet it make total sense. But it was the fun filler (for lack of a better word for story that serves no larger purpose except to entertain the reader) that I loved so much! I love getting to know the other characters whether its the Black Bulls like Noelle or another captain and her second!! These were so much fun, hilarious but also so telling about the character behind the characters.
The art is superb. I love how distinct the character designs are and how clear and still exciting that the battles are too. A lot of the skill to the art is the perspective... to make things clearer for the reader the view is zoomed out... it makes the action exciting but we can see the over view... Then speeding in for a close up... keeping us up to date with the spectator's expressions... We get the total package and its glorious!
While Asta always adds a shot of genuine support and caring into the story we also get the full perspective of the side characters. Whomever we're focusing on when Asta is around we get to know them and their story... its quite fascinating and so full of depth. I like to understand the other characters and see things for a touch from their POV. It's so spot on for what I look for in a story. Any story that expects to last needs to show us a range of characters and POVs to flesh out the world as well as the story and that is so well done here!
Black Clover vol 11-12 are the perfect combination to show off what is so great about the series... battles, humor, heart, twists, relationships, history and everything worth fighting for! I highly recommend this series no matter what your tastes are... it is seriously that compelling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tension ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art
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Oh. My. Gosh. Vanessa character development FOR THE FUCKING WIN!!!
Damn, those last few chapters had me at the edge of my seat, and Vanessa learning to control fate was just the best way to end the volume! The Witch Queen is a horrible, disgusting person and watching her think that she finally got what she wanted only to have a ripped from her grasp was SO FUCKING SATISFYING. Also, Vanessa's backstory broke my heart (not that that's anything new with this series) but I love how what drives her is her bond with the Black Bulls, her "true" family. Found family is admittedly not one of my fave tropes, but this series is changing my mind with how loyal and caring the Black Bulls are towards each other. Considering how everyone in the Black Bulls has been abused, tormented, or neglected at some point, it makes sense that they would be protective and supportive of each other. While Vanessa has been characterized so far as a barely covered, drunk floozy, it's clear that what truly drives her is the bonds she's made with the other Black Bulls, and they are what push her past her limits. Simple, I know, but poignant nonetheless.
On a different note, I am SO FUCKING CURIOUS about Asta's latent powers and what that will ultimately do to him. It's obvious he has some kind of Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen thing going on, but whatever's lurking inside Asta isn't nearly as interesting as Sukuna. Bummer. But still curious to see what it is and how it will Asta as a person as well as his relationship with others.
This whole series went from "ehh" in book one to being fantastic all the way through. As a lover of manga action, this series delivers. Also the author thought his plot through well, leaving little surprises when you re-read the series after the major twists and reveals happen. So good.
WOW! I'm so glad I picked up the manga to get through the story, but after this Volume, I might go back to the anime!
Highlights: - Mars joins with Fanzell against Ladros. They use Fana's attack to take him down. - Mars recognizes Fana from his childhood. Teams up with Asta to free her from the influence of the Midnight Sun. - Ladros gets back up and takes on everyone. When he is almost taken down by being impaled by one of Asta's swords, he mounts a "final" attack, which somehow allows him to absorb Salamander from Fana. - With Ladros now extremely powerful, the Witch Queen "awakens" Asta's demon form, something obtained when he took on his specific grimoire. He is able to fight against the demonic nature and achieve a hybrid form, which he uses to fight against Ladros, and stop him for good. - The Witch Queen, seeing Asta's power, enacts the spell "Puppet's Blood" which allows her to control him. Her command, kill all of his friends. - As Asta tries to fight against her control, Vanessa gains a massive power-up when she begins to be able to control the Threads of Fate. Accepting the Black Bulls as her true family, she is able to overcome the Witch Queen (revealed to be her mother) and release Asta as well. To be continued next Volume....
Overall, this type of fight is why I got into this story to begin with. Absolutely amazing in every way. Looking for a new manga? Try Black Clover. Strong recommend.
It's Ulqiorra the Magic Knight Who Laughs versus the Dark Phoenix, and wow, for once Black Clover does something interesting with its art. A few pages, like Noelle's magic and some of the big dragon things, have been pretty cool. But Asta's big powerup thing is the first time I've looked at the art in Black Clover and gone "yeah, that's neat". The way his swords look not like swords but like negative space with heavy inks contrasted with the rest of the pencilwork's details is great, and that polar opposite black and white takes advantage of the black and white medium of manga real well.
Not only that, but the ending chapters of this volume with Vanessa's "thread magic" is 100% anime bullshit powerup and I love it. It's so stupid. But it makes so much sense. Her big, ultimate magic power, is hilarious but cool. And it's a female character not primarily motivated by a tie to romance! Is that a first for this series? She actually gets some dimension to her character and that's great.
Maybe, with chapter 100, we're reaching a turning point where the series is... actually good? Fun? Interesting? I hope so.
Another great volume of Black clover. I have to admit this series is growing on me. Tabata is slowly revealing the secrets to Asta's anti-magic abilities. The Black Bulls are getting stronger which means the stakes for this series are being raised. It was just worth the read to see Asta's new abilities alone and get the Witch Queen's incite into the secret of Asta's black clover grimoire. The pacing in this volume was not bad eventhough this arc seemed to move along pretty quickly. At this point in the story you either had to enjoy the last arcs or you just do not like this series. I still have not change my mind about this series coming across as predictable and cliché at times. And there are still other shonen that do this genre a bit better but Asta is becoming an extremely likable character and hopefully Tabata can make his supporting cast just as important as well. We are moving towards the real meat and potatoes of what this tale is all about. Black Clover just might join Naruto, One piece, dragon ball and my hero academia as a top tier shonen series.
I'd forgotten I was still in the middle of an arc based on a light novel I hadn't read. At least, in this volume, everything flows better without relying on knowledge the average American reader wouldn't have. Maybe Mars and Fana's past was covered in the novel? I don't know, it's easier to understand their relationship here than some of the shit from the past couple volumes.
The manga's trademark breakneck pace continues. Ladros is defeated quickly by having Asta deflect one of Fana's Salamander attacks to overload him like Son Goku did to Yakon in Dragon Ball. Then Mars uses The Power of Friendship to defeat Fana. Then Ladros comes back up. Then the Witch Queen does something to give Asta a combination Bankai or like Kurama Four-Tail Form or something, which allows him to defeat Ladros. Then the Witch Queen tries to use Puppets' Blood to control Super Saiyajin Asta to kill his friends, but Vanessa unlocks her own not-Bankai, stretching the idea of Thread Magic too far by giving her control over the Red Thread of Fate... which takes the form of a cat (I guess cuz cats like yarn?). And there's some brief JoJo King Crimson stuff. Pretty fun overall, but god damn does it move fast...!
I'd almost forgotten how nice Tabata draws boobs and thighs.
EDIT: I had a note in my phone of a quote, "Well said, Finral! If we manage to deal with this, I'll let you touch my boobs!" I meant to reference this in a review, but I'm only a little certain the quote was from this particular volume....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Back-to-back easy reads. The beauty of mangas is the easiness of the reads, how quickly they can be finished. This one is no exception to the 5 star series. This one also involves a familiar face, which is shown under a different light, and I’m here for it. This is such a good edition, it went so quickly. Overall, again a 5 star read to match the rest of Black Clover.
The whole fight against Ladros and Fana was a huge MEH. The only thing good about this volume is the ending (last 2 chapters). Vanessa's new power is super broken and interesting in my opinion. Imagine if you combine it with Charmy's magic *wink*. The ending made me curious otherwise the rating would be even lower. Not a great volume, especially this cliche and mediocre shonen fight.
The epicness is real! I couldn’t put it down! Woohoo go Mars! Go witch lady! Go Asta! This volume made me feel so pumped to read the next one! Yeah, go Magic Knights!! 😆
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
With its stellar character development and wholesome "found family" themes, this series is quickly becoming a particular favorite, and this volume (Vol. 11) concludes what is quite possibly one of the best story arcs in the series so far! Her Majesty the Queen of Witches is one of the most interesting and complex characters in this series--ghastly and horrifying like a villain out of a Grimms' Fairytale . Vanessa was the real standout in this volume though. What Black Clover does with its characters and the depths it gives them is what really sets it apart from other similar shonen series. Black Clover is wonderful at flipping tropes on their head and playing with readers' perceptions, and what the author has done with Vanessa in this chapter is a great example of this. Up until this point, Vanessa has been constantly underestimated and really written off as just the token drunk on the squad so to finally get to dive into the why behind her actions and persona as well as getting to see her come into her own and get her moment to shine was truly wonderful .
This is a story arc and a volume I've come back to reread a couple of times now. It still hasn't disappointed. 5 stars.
Il est grave bien ce tome mais il manque quelques chose, c'était pas parfait comme dans le tome 6.
Point positif :
- j'ai bien aimé la stratégie pour arrêter ladros avec l'épée d'Asta pour qui renvoie l'attaque de fana vers ladros pour qui l'absorbe mais plus qui a trop de quantité il pourrait pas mais pourtant..
- après j'ai grave aimé le flashback avec fana et Mars et même le retrouvailles incroyable et quand Mars arrive à libéré l'emprise de l'oeil maléfique sur fana. En plus la scène quand ils pleure c'est juste magnifique !
- après ducoup y'a eu le retour de ladros c'était bien en vrai que ça se finisse que la ca serait nul, surtout que ducoup il y a le nouveau pouvoir d'asta qui le rend trop stylé. Il a enchainé des attaques incroyable en plus il leur donne un nom !!
- en vrai mitigés sur ça prc quand la reine ducoup arrive et contrôle asta et tout ça c'était bien et qui veut tuer noëlle et finral et que Vanessa découvre le nouveau pouvoir c'était bien mais dans l'animé la scène était beaucoup mieux réaliser, comme la scène avec la transformation d'asta ça aussi mais autant Dans le mangas ça va. Il y a pas eu trop d'êrreur avec les dessins.
El mejor volumen hasta ahora. Los giros que fue tomando me gustaron. Me gustan los lazos que se formaron entre los toros negros. Y a Vannesa me parece entenderla un poco mas al saber un poco de su historia. Realmente me sorprendieron cosas que pasaron, sobre todo al final. Me venía venir un tipo de resolución, pero me dio otro que no se me había ocurrido y que tiene cierto sentido. Me da bastante curiosidad ver como se sigue desenvolviendo la historia, y espero que el próximo tomo también sea igual de bueno o mejor.
Fans machen echt erstaunliches Fanwork. Ich finde es super, dass das mitunter im Vorwort präsentiert wird. Der erste teil war so Shonen und so gut wie alle Klischees wurden bedient und absolut erwartbare Entwicklungen. Okay, bei Asta nicht ganz erwartbar, aber auch nicht überraschend. Dann kam wieder die Schönheit und der Charme der hexen und yay, das! Sowohl storymäßig als auch fanherzmäßig macht diese Entwicklung diesen Band wirklich gut.
The battle for the Forest of Witches concludes, but it turns out that the true villain of the piece has been among our heroes from the beginning.
I understand where Asta's coming from in this one - I want to punch the Witch Queen in the face too. Also, I can't believe it took me three volumes to realise that the Witch Queen title is meant to be a counterpoint to the Wizard King one.
this one was a bit boring until the end. i didn’t really like the conflict that took up most of this volume, it felt very repetitive and like something we’ve seen before but the second that witch came back into the story i was back in. boy ! the ! last ! two ! pages ! that was some good shit. i didn’t really care about vanessa until now, but i’m really enjoying her magic development.