What are your thoughts on the War Arc So Far?

[u/GameofPain]

I'll tell mines first. I don't enjoy it, and I'm sorry you are getting a second post about this today. I just really want to express my thoughts to the community that I love. It's nice to have different opinions in the community. Some people love the direction the manga is going. Others are like me and they don't enjoy it. So, either way, the fandom is divided. That's not a way to have a continuing successful manga to me. The anime has ended, and it won't ever come back if the manga fans keep having conflicting feelings about the story. My main problem with this arc is the treatment of the antagonists. I dislike seeing some of you say it's not even that far into the arc or their other devils. If the treatment of all the antagonists so far is bad what makes you think it will get better? So, since their other villains, Tabata can toss others to the side? Why? What is all of this for then? To fill in time until we get to them? Watch the good guys win everything until then? Anyway, here are all of my thoughts.

Patri is our best antagonist. Zagred comes as a close second as well. Patri’s character arc was outstanding. He went from this crazy leader of the Midnight Sun to the avenger of his people. Throughout one hundred chapters, we got to see how the royals are firsthand. They are prejudice, arrogant, selfish, and hateful. All of us could see the humans betraying the elves. So, we could understand Patri’s motivation. That makes him better than Dante and Vanica. He has actual clear motives. Not just fighting to go against strong people or just because. Patri wants to defeat the predecessors of the people who killed his mentor and race.

Watching him develop throughout this story was beautiful. The Patri that fought Yami isn't the same as the one that fought Julius. In the Yami vs Patri fight, all of us were just hyped. But in the fight against Julius, we were anxious. You can feel the anxiety from the pages. We were scared for Julius and rightfully so because he died. The sadness we all felt because we adored his character. Patri felt like an actual threat. It set the stakes and tone of the rest of the arc. Julius later came back, but it's fine, right? It's Julius my man is broken, right? Tabata had to nerf him or he would no diff all the antagonists so far... Right? The reality is people don't die in Black Clover that is of importance.

Anyway, back to praising Patri because he is incredible. His backstory was good. Seeing him admire Licht and seeing the aftermath of the story that was teased for so long. Then, the big reveal happened, and it shocked everyone. Mouths on the floor... What’s all that black mist... It's a devil! Gasp Patri got bamboozled by Zagred all along. My man is playing chess and everyone else doesn’t even know what game they are playing. Too bad for Zagred he ran into Lumiere, Licht, Yami, Charlotte, Asta, Yuno, and Sacre. So, he got put into the body bag of course. Still, all of them were fantastic antagonists. I don't give a fuck if you hate Black Clover. Elf arc is one of the best arcs in modern-day shonen.

Wtf is the Dark Triad/War arc? Dante? Shallow backstory and one-dimensional character. Got bodied a handful of times by Yami. Couldn't catch a W for the life of him. Motivation is I wanna simp for Yami and Lucifer. Conclusion I enjoy his character but he's a bitch. Vanica? One-dimensional I wanna fight bitches character. Cool personality and she was fun. She had good connections to two characters (Lolo and Noelle) and that was wasted potential. The fuck is her backstory? Zenon? Man's got serious potential but based on the track record of this arc it's going to end with wasted potential and Yuno defeating him. Twin devils? Got humiliated by broken as why the fuck is this in the story at the moment “Union mode.” In other words, insert a plot device here to show how broken Asta is... Hurrah!!! No, just why. Morris? Man has been teased since the dungeon arc. Watch him get defeated in 4 chapters. Megicula? The most interesting antagonist in this arc. Why was it rushed? The anime fucking ended bro. You have nothing but time. Proper pacing is a simple writing skill you should learn. This part of the story should have been simple. Show us the Acier vs Vanica/Megicula fight in her eyes. Give all of them the much-needed development they needed. Let us see how hopeless Nozel felt, but focus the two or three chapter backstory on them. I wanna see how powerful Acier is hyped up to be. I wanna see her emotions as she knows she's going to die. The sadistic look in Vanica eye and the reaction of Megicula knowing the first step in her plan is underway. Give Vanica more of a reason for her actions. How did she even get in contract with Megicula? A lot of cool answers can be shown. Then, we could see Gaja giving it his all dying to defeat Megicula for the women he loves. Megicula getting back up and whipping the floor with everyone. Then, as Megicula stands on top of a battlefield field with defeated heroes... Nozel shows up before she kills everyone to avenge his mother. After, a hard-fought battle with Nozel losing his arm, Noelle recovers enough to help her brother strike the killing blow. Good guys still win but at what cost? Gaja dead... Lolo heartbroken... Nozel lost an arm and almost died. They won but is the win worth celebrating? That somber feel would have done wonders for this arc. Then, we see Yuno vs Zenon. We all would be nervous after the aftermath of the previous fight.

But instead, this arc is a good guy power trip. The antagonist doesn't have half the development the protagonist has. Tabata didn't care to put any thought into them. Fans keep deflecting thinking the next devil will be better. I always hear that there are other devils in the Tree. That's true and I understand that. But what makes you think Tabata will care enough to give them proper character development. Another foe to show how amazing our characters are. I stopped enjoying Fairy Tail and Dragon Ball Super because of how the writers kept portraying the protagonists. They are so overpowered that no matter the odds they will win. The antagonists can't get any wins.

I love how in JJK Itadori lost against Choso. Because of this Sukana took over after two characters stupidly fed him fingers. After, Sukana killed a ton of people. Itadori felt the loss of all of that. He shouldered the blame. Gojo got sealed and the antagonists of that arc won. I'm not saying JJK is better because I prefer Black Clover again. But seeing BC in its current state is disappointing. I thought this Manga was supposed to be super long. The way it's currently going, I don't see it. Dragon Bal’s spot is taken. Fairy tail’s spot is taken. I don't need or want another, “Protagonist gets some asspull and shit on everyone manga.” I want a story about the Black Bulls... Battling for their lives with their kingdom counterparts to stop the onslaught of devils. Lost happens along the way, but the heroes stare straight ahead at Lucifer and the time devil. It's impossible to come out of this battle unscathed.

This is not my story though. Tabata can make the power of friends manga he wants to. It'll just be like Demon Slayer to me. Like the story but hate the ending or Attack on Titan. Shame really. Please, don't say, “Well quit the manga if you hate it so much.” I said my criticisms because I love it. If I didn't care I wouldn't have wasted time writing this. I want Black Clover to be the best it can be.

[u/Magnus-Artifex]

I am waiting to see what happens, but I do feel like we are near the end of the arc.

Still:

-Morris

-Zenon

-Mereo hasn’t killed that demon yet

-Morris cause he weird