Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

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

Black Clover: Season 3, Part 3 continues the thrilling adventures of the hit television program. The Black Clover anime comes from the collaborative team of producers Naomi Komatsu, Maiko Isogai, and Masahiro Sugasawa.  The series was originally broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo. The series was a successful staple of the Cartoon Network Toonami action-anime block. Fans will be pleased with continuing to experience the thrilling action-adventure of Black Clover. Funimation continues as distributor for Black Clover. Produced by animation studio Pierrot (Yu Yu Hakusho, Hikaru no Go).

In the third part collection, the Clover Kingdom faces one of its biggest challenges to date. The Clover Kingdom may have defeated a past demon but more are on the brink – and the stakes facing them become bigger by the minute. The Space Kingdom is pushing forward with an attack and this is a massive risk for the Clover Kingdom and its citizens.

What path forward can resolve this battle? Everything is at risk for the heroes of this extraordinary tale. Meanwhile, the Magic Knights are now seeking out answers to their questions. Can the Magic Knights find the truth?

As the third season continues, one of the most rewarding elements of the production continues to be the thrilling sense of adventure. The production has so much wonderful spectacle with fight scenes providing audiences with exactly what they want from the series – epic battles with big stakes. An adventure that continues to reward with the intense one-two punch of the series action.

Featuring an original score composed by Minako Seki (The Silver Guardian, Masamune Datenicle), Black Clover has an impressive musical forte. The score provides the production with the right ingredients for action-packed fun. The series composer remembers to balance character themes with the action score, providing the thrills audiences seek from Black Clover. There is a lot to appreciate about the score from composer Seki.

The animation is exceptional and there is no doubt this is one of the key reasons Black Clover became a huge hit. The anime features first-rate art direction from the great Yuki Maeda (Your Lie in April, Meitantei Conan: Excalibur no Kiseki), Black Clover looks beautiful. Background art is clear and impressively designed. The team of animators involved on the production retain the series key characteristic charms – black and gothic overtones with a more up-beat sensibility to keep the production at full speed. A great aesthetic.

Though the screenwriting by chief screenwriter Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Beyblade, Claymore) is occasionally inconsistent, the key elements for success are there: worthwhile characters, charming dialogue, and fun scenarios. Fudeyasu does a solid job with the series and remembers the number one component that the audience wants – fun action sequences. The scripts certainly help provide these elements to the audience in spades.

Director Tatsuya Yoshihara (Yatterman Night, Muromi-san) swings for the fences. The series has to tackle the action as the main ingredient. Without the action beats being successful, the audience ultimately won’t come. The action scenes are exciting and pack a mighty punch – and this is an outstanding example of the strengths of Yoshihara. Yoshihara knows how to cue the cards for entertainment – thrilling viewers with the journey of these characters. Black Clover: Season 3, Part 3 continues that adventure.

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

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, Black Clover – Season 3, Part 3 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation on the release is excellent and there are a lot of elements of the presentation audiences can appreciate. Color reproduction appears accurate and organic, showcasing the darker color spectrum of the presentation. The animation is well reproduced. The series has nice detail. Funimation provides a solid high-definition presentation.

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

The release includes a selection of high-resolution audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio tracks are exceptionally crisp, clear, and engaging. Dialogue sounds clear and easy to understand. The track capably handles the score and integrates the music in to the audio tracks. The surrounds are a bit more active in comparison to the stereo audio sound design of the Japanese language version but either of these options will prove satisfactory to fans.

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

Black Clover: Season 3 – Recording From Home (HD, 9:06) includes members of the cast discussing what it was like to do recordings from home. This is something that may appeal to fans of the cast who are interesting in the behind-the-scenes process. While the piece is relatively short and not in-depth, the supplement remains a nice addition to the release and something that fans of the series should be enthusiastic about seeing included on the package. It could have benefited a bit from a slightly longer running time (as being more in-depth might have provided audiences with even more insights) but the results are still something that will catch the attention for voice-actor fans and series devotees alike. A good idea for a supplemental feature by Funimation.

Clover Clips Special Edition (HD, 3:02)

Textless Opening Song "Black Catcher" (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song "New Page" (HD, 1:32)

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

Black Clover: Season 3, Part 3 offers more exciting action-packed adventure for fans of the popular anime series. The animation quality is first-rate and this is one of the greatest strengths of the hit television production. The series has a lot of great production merits. This is one of the reasons the series is such a massive hit worldwide and continues to garner such a strong audience of fans who are chomping at the bit for more of the action-packed adventures. The fight scenes are exciting as well and certainly contribute to the series finding a nice balance between comedy and action-packed fun. Sometimes the fight scenes are enormously intense and the long and epic battles with the characters duking it out to the win is something that keeps one's adrenaline pumping. Season 3 continues to be a great showcase for epic battles and this is why the audience keeps coming back for more – above anything else – as audiences want to see the exciting fights play out. Though some viewers might consider these elements to be filler material and that there could be better storytelling at play, the ultimate end results are satisfactory nonetheless. Black Clover Season 3 provides plenty of great moments and viewers will want to experience the thrilling adventure. There is so much in store for die-hard fans of the franchise.

The Blu-ray release has a strong video and audio presentation. This is an area that is consistent with other releases from Funimation with Black Clover. Fans can feel rest assured that the release has a nice presentation and that the episodes will look much better than compressed streams from sub-par streaming services (who offer inferior presentations with lackluster video and audio – the kind that is only serviceable as a "rental" at best and can never replace the quality of home media with the Blu-ray format). Never underestimate the importance of home media in the age of lackluster streaming. True enthusiasts will prefer the physical product – something wonderful that can held in their hands. The streaming version can't cut it by comparison.

The set also includes a selection of bonus features, including the extra: Black Clover: Season 3 – Recording From Home. The Recording From Home extra explores the voice actors working from home and their quest to bring their talented vocal talents to the forefront from their own homes. This is something interesting to consider in the COVID era and the way in which COVID has impacted society and will continue to do so for decades to come. Though the COVID state of emergency might have passed, the risk of losing countless lives is something that continues and it makes sense why the extra would explore the voice actors' roles in working from outside of traditional workforce realms. Though the supplemental feature is a bit on the short side, fans of the voice cast will find it a worthwhile addition to the release and something to check out. There is certainly some extra added value with this bonus feature. Fans of Black Clover will want to add the release to their collection. Recommended.