Black Clover’s popularity is similar to a bullish stock market. It is growing every day, and there seems to be no end to its popularity growth. The manga went on a hiatus in August 2023 and resumed in December 2023. After it resumed, the franchise recorded more than 19 million manga sales. Yuki Tabta’s storytelling skills had everyone hooked to Black Clover since its beginning.
Even after such a great narrative and character design, Black Clover has yet to reach its full potential. The fans believe that the reason for his delay has been caused because of the Naruto/Boruto fandom. They claim everyone has been calling Yuki Tabata’s masterpiece a cheap rip-off of Masashi Kishimoto’s magnum opus.
Black Clover Could Not Soar Through The Sky Due To Naruto’s Influence
Black Clover was destined to be the next thing in anime after Naruto’s conclusion. Both anime were produced by the same animation studio, Studio Pierrot. Unfortunately, the anime could never reach its full potential, even after gaining a massive fan following. The Black Clover fandom believes the Naruto franchise to be the reason behind it. Naruto fans have always been calling Black Clover a cheap copy of Masashi Kishimoto’s masterpiece.
It set a bad name for the franchise even before it got to spread its wings. Tabata introduced two protagonists, Asta and Yuno, who are similar to Naruto and Sasuke. One of them is a genius, while the other is a hot-head, but through training became stronger than most characters. Even though it seems similar, it is a common plot for the Shonen genre. The main difference lies in the narrative. Naruto maintains a motivational plot, while Black Clover sometimes takes dark turns.
Naruto fans have judged the anime quite early, and it has greatly hampered its growth. The Spade Kingdom arc, which is yet to be animated, has the potential to change the viewpoint of most fans. Yuki Tabata’s creation is entertaining and can get people hooked if given a chance. But Naruto as a franchise is larger than any modern-generation anime, and Black Clover was always the underdog in the popularity game.
Fans Are Unhappy With Black Clover Not Getting The Respect It Deserves
Experiencing the downsizing of their favorite manga and anime has caused the Black Clover fandom to share their opinions on social media. They showed no signs of stopping and directly addressed the Naruto/Boruto franchise for the hatred. There were multiple comments on social media, and few of them said that Black Clover is quite underrated, even after all the exciting stuff.
Black Clover shifted from Weekly Shonen Jump to Jump GIGA. It was a smart move by Yuki Tabata, considering he will not have a deadline every week and can spend quality on his magnum opus before each chapter is published. The manga is currently in its last arc and features the fight between Lucius Zogratis and the Magic Knights. Even after all the problems, it remains the best narrative of the modern generation.
Black Clover is currently available to watch on Crunchyroll.
