Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie Review

A stunning conclusion to the first season of Black Clover.

Black Clover reaches the end of its first season in style. The action-packed fantasy series (which also has an abundance of comedy to boot!) rounds out the season with some of the best episodes to date. Season 1, Part 5 is full of charm and adventure. Produced by Maiko Isogai, Naomi Komatsu, and Masahiro Sugasawa, Black Clover adapts the manga written and illustrated by Yuuki Tabata.

The Black Bulls get a chance to shake off some pent-up energy (Taylor Swift style!) while hanging out alongside the beautiful beaches that surround them. The gang gets goofy and flirty in swim-wear – as everyone hops for joy in the morning sun. Even Noelle Silva (Kana Yuki) is bikini clad. Can Noelle impress Asta (Gakuto Kajiwara) with her curves?

Yet danger awaits. (Around the corner.) Though the fun of taking a break from fighting evil-doers is a nice change-of-pace, the Black Bulls soon find their true purpose: to find a magical stone and bring it back with them. At the same time, a new obstacle awaits them all: Vetto of the Third Eye – a lion-like beast-man with super strength and enormous abilities – who might be their biggest enemy and threat to date. Can Asta, Noelle, and Yami survive the onslaught to come?

Magic and brawn.

Set 5 of Black Clover finds a fun balance between comedy and action-adventure. The first half of the set is a bit goofy and silly by nature – that's part of the charm. The second half of the set ramps up the action quotient considerably and leads to an epic confrontation and cliffhanger that will keep audiences glued to their seats in eager anticipation of the next set. There is no dull lapse in these episodes and fans will find the journey one that is well worth taking.

The music composed by Minako Seki (Kingdom, The Silver Guardian) manages to fit the style of both halves of the set quite well. Seki plays with the beach-episode conceptually and gives the characters a airy background. The action-packed second-half is more uptempo and the music builds to a crescendo. Fans will be quite pleased with the efforts.

The animation remains one of the highlights of the program. Black Clover is an extremely creative and well-animated series that has fantastic character designs crafted by Itsuko Takeda (Mirage of Blaze, The Galaxy Railways). As the set represents the final batch of episodes in season one, everything manages to seem extremely well-polished for these episodes. As a result, Black Clover looks its absolute best.

The conclusion leaves a lot of question marks up in the air. Will Asta ever become the new Wizard King? The story leaves viewers wanting more – and that's a good thing. That's all part of the journey. With strong direction by Tatsuya Yoshihara (Yatterman Night) bringing to life the scripts by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Bleach), Black Clover remains a delight. Fans of the series won't want to miss these fun and zany episodes. Just be prepared for the cliffhanger.

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Black Clover – Season 1, Part 5 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series looks as great as ever. The colors are bold and dynamic while retaining the signature Gothic undertone of the production. Line art looks immaculately crisp and detailed.

During the entire batch of episodes in Part 5, the background animation continually impresses with stunning detail. The animation helps the entire series to feel more cinematic – and the top-notch encoding by Funimation helps reflect that. The encodes never struggle with presenting the high-octane action sequences. If there are any minor drawbacks, it is only found in the occasional banding (which is unobtrusive and won't be distracting for most viewers).

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes two lossless audio options: Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 surround sound and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio tracks are exceptional and never sound overly harsh from scene-to-scene. Dialogue remains crisp, clear, and easy to understand throughout the entire collection. The music score is presented beautifully and adds some extra ambiance to the experience. There were no issues with hiss, crackle, warps, clicks, and other audio-related deficiencies to report. Kudos to Funimation.

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Page 45: The Guy Who Doesn't Know When to Quit Audio Commentary

Disc 2:

Inside Studio J: The Art of Acting (HD, 17:31) takes fans behind-the-scenes as members of the English dub production team discuss the process of dubbing the episodes and the role of a voice-actor in the development of a series (with the focus on the dub production of Black Clover). The piece includes discussion with Cris George (ADR Director), David Matranga (voice of Kiato), Lydia Mackay (voice of Vanessa), and Barry Yandell (voice of Gifso).

Black Clover: Inside the Episode –

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 40-42 (HD, 4:49)

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 43-45 (HD, 5:28)

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 46-48 (HD, 6:58)

Black Clover Highlights: Episodes 49-51 (HD, 6:13)

Page 51: Proof of Rightness Audio Commentary

Clover Clips: Special Edition (HD, 7:06) features extended-edition versions of the beloved mini-episodes which are spotlighted at the end of each episode (and which feature mini chibi versions of the main characters).

Textless Opening Song: Guess Who Is Back (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song: "Four" Version 1 (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song: "Four" Version 2 (HD, 1:32)

Black Clover: Season 1, Part 5 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The final batch of episodes in Black Clover: Season 1 is a total blast. The set balances comedy and action perfectly. The first half is a nice diversion from the epic battles the characters have been in recently while the second-half kicks up the ante significantly. The Funimation Blu-ray release features a strong video-audio presentation and a nice assortment of supplemental features. Fans won't want to miss it. Highly recommended.