Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Time for some more action!

Black Clover continues to impress in its third set. The action-packed fantasy anime has developed a rabid fan-base as one of the most successful productions in years. Produced by Maiko Isogai, Naomi Komatsu, and Masahiro Sugasawa, Black Clover successfully adapts the hit manga written and illustrated by Yuuki Tabata. The magic is real: the action is intense. Fans won't want to miss it.

Season 1, Part 3 of Black Clover continues the adventures of Asta (Gakuto Kajiwara), Noelle Silva (Kana Yuki), and the rest of the members in the Black Bulls wizarding group. Though regarded as the worst team of the bunch, Asta and the rest of the crew remain determined to prove everyone else wrong – and fight the good fight. Some dangerous new threats loom ahead.

Though the team enjoys having some much-needed down time at the start, the peace isn't kept so easily. Despite having just finished battling unimaginable foes, the Black Bulls must now face down zombie-like enemies that are plaguing the land and other new nefarious villains – including a evil witch with super magical abilities that could thwart them all. Can the Black Bulls defeat their latest threats and continue to pave a path forward (from the bottom of the ranks)? Will Asta ever truly become the new wizard king?

The battle of a lifetime.

Asta continues to be the compelling lead character of Black Clover. Though the entire cast of characters is given time to shine, it is a joy to see the continual development of Asta in his leading-role. The role of the grimoire continues to be a compelling element – as magic spells can't guide him in a traditional sense. Asta's strength remains in never-giving-up and his endurance. Frenemy Finral keeps appearing as well (from time to time) and adds some comedic moments in to the mix.

Black Clover remains a consistently impressive series from a production standpoint. The animation is superb and the character designs by Itsuko Takeda (The Galaxy Railways) manage to make a huge impression. The art direction by Yuki Maeda (Twin Star Exorcists) delivers in spades – showing audiences the results of the animators hard work. There are many awe-inspiring moments.

The action sequences remain at the heart of the program. Black Clover never seems to lose steam as it builds its action-packed adventure up. The third set keeps things intense and the new challenges that awaited Asta and company are compelling to watch unfold. While some series lose energy as things progress, Black Clover remains entertaining and the action doesn't feel shoehorned in.

Thankfully, Black Clover continues to excel in many arenas. The music by Minako Seki (The Silver Guardian) remains engaging. The scripts by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Bleach), the head screenwriter, entertain and expand on the characters audiences have come to love. The direction by Tatsuya Yoshihara (Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls) never lets up, either: the fun experience is consistent throughout the third set. Black Clover is a must-see anime series that is consistently worthwhile. Check it out.

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Black Clover – Season 1, Part 3 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. As with the previous sets of the Black Clover anime series, the animation style remains as dark and gritty throughout much of the program. The set continues to accurately reflect the intended artistic aesthetic and with clean, clear, and robust reproduction of the color palliate. The action scenes are well-preserved with exceptional encoding quality that never suffers from egregious compression artifacts and similar woes. The line art and background animation looks splendid here and continues to impress throughout the entire batch of episodes.

Another interesting element of the set is the occasional scene in a 2.35:1 widescreen format (used for flashback sequences). These moments are used for flashback scenes. These moments appear to be a cropped version of the standard 1.78:1 versions. However, the cropping used for these flashbacks managed to be serviceable and cinematic – never cropping out detail that would have been missed. Impressive. While cropping has been used to ill effect in some anime series (or releases), such as in Dragon Ball Z in its earlier editions, the effect is handled well here.

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 surround sound and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality is top-notch and manages to make the experience all the more enjoyable. Dialogue remains crisp, clear, and easy to understand throughout each episode and all the way through to the end of the box-set. The dynamics are crisp and smooth – enhancing the style of the program while never sounding overly harsh or fatiguing. The lossless audio certainly enhances the viewing experience (and fans will appreciate the sonic fidelity boost in either version – English or Japanese).

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Page 20: Assembly at the Royal Capital Audio Commentary

Page 23: The King of the Crimson Lions Audio Commentary

Disc 2:

Inside Studio J: The Technical Team (HD, 9:05) features behind-the-scenes discussion about Black Clover with members of the English dub production team. The footage features Cris George (ADR Director), Bonny Clickenbeard (ADR Script Supervisor), Nathanael Harrison (Lead Mix Engineer), and Chris Han (Brad Manager).

Black Clover: Inside the Episode –

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 19-21 (HD, 3:04)

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 22-24 (HD, 3:28)

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 25-27 (HD, 4:50)

Clover Clips Special Edition (HD, 6:44) features extended super-sized versions of the mini-episodes fans have come to love at the end of the episodes (featuring chibi-style versions of the characters).

Textless Opening Song: Paint it Black (HD, 1:32)

Textless Opening Song: Black Rover (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song: Amazing Dreams (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song: Black to the Dreamlight (HD, 1:32)

Lastly, the release includes a selection of trailers (HD, 7:48) promoting other releases available from Funimation Entertainment.

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Looking for a burst of energetic and action-packed anime fun? Black Clover will do the trick. The series has great characters, outstanding animation, and solid direction. The third set remains fun throughout the entire batch of episodes. The Blu-ray release from Funimation features strong video-audio and a nice selection of supplemental features. Fans will certainly want to add the release to their growing collection. Highly recommended.