“Breaking the Seal”
What They Say:
In a world where magic is everything, Asta and Yuno are both found abandoned at a church on the same day. While Yuno is gifted with exceptional magical powers, Asta is the only one in this world without any. At the age of fifteen, both receive grimoires, magic books that amplify their holder’s magic. Asta’s is a rare Grimoire of Anti-Magic that negates and repels his opponent’s spells. Being opposite but good rivals, Yuno and Asta are ready for the hardest of challenges to achieve their common dream: to be the Wizard King. Giving up is never an option!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
At the end of the last episode, we learned that Nero could talk. And now, she won’t shut up! She demands that Finral stop looking so dumbfounded and open up a spatial portal to the demon’s bones. It’s of the utmost importance! Humans who are possessed by elves might not be able to return to normal if they continue dilly-dallying. Elsewhere, Yami and company are still fighting the demon. As you can imagine, they’re having trouble against his busted Word Soul magic. While it is impressive, Yami figures that it must have limits. For example, he hasn’t told them to simply “die.” If the demon wanted them dead, he could have easily done that. Who knows, maybe he could but doesn’t because he wants to have fun. However, Yami does notice that the demon always dodges his dark magic attacks instead of canceling them. Charlotte also notices that some of her briars didn’t wither when he used his magic. His World Soul magic definitely has limits, but what exactly are they? That is the question!
Remember that I just mentioned that the demon could be holding back because he’s having fun? Well, that also seems like the case. He admits that their company is making his heart dance with delight! But it’s time for him to get serious. He uses his five-leaf grimoire and summons an otherworldly spell. By the way, he’s apparently from a different dimension. He casually mentions that. As for the otherworldly spell, it takes the form a gigantic, squishy mass of disgusting goo. Yami gets some on his arm and realizes that it leeches magic and life energy away from you. The demon explains that it’s a spell that devours life. Well, that’s certainly not good! Unfortunately for them, the spell won’t stop until it devours all of the humans, elves, and everything else that lives. They’re in quite the pickle, huh? The spell starts making its way towards Asta’s group. It surrounds him but he’s able to cut through it with his sword! It looks like his anti-magic works on it. At least they’ve got that going for them. Nozel takes Mimosa with him to help the others below. He instructs Asta, Yuno, and Patry to head above. Those three have the best chance of coming up with something to defeat the demon!
Finral takes Nero to the demon’s bones. He’s exhausted but she continues to make him work. She’s pretty bossy for a bird. She commands him to remove all the magic stones from the monument and place them on the statue of the first Wizard King. He does as he’s told and is surprised to find out that he just awakened Lumiere Silvamillion Clover, the first Wizard King!?!? Also, Nero turns into a human girl!?!? Ha, I figured she was the new girl in the opening and ending! Nero’s real identity is Secré Swallowtail, a servant of the first Wizard King. Finral didn’t know she was such a cute girl! If he had known, he’d ask her on a date. He stops himself there and apologizes after realizing he was being creepy, haha. Never change Finral, never change. Lumiere explains that Secré used her confinement magic to seal him away just as he was about to die. But enough chit chat! They’ve got to go stop the demon. They toss Finral aside and head towards the Shadow Palace. Dang, how you going to treat Finral like that after everything he just did?
We then cut to a flashback from 500 years ago. Secré was a noble but her magic could only open and close things. Everyone considered it useless and she assigned to be a servant to the eccentric prince, Lumiere. His magical talent was renowned throughout the kingdom. She thought he was going to be an arrogant snob but was surprised to learn that he was a kind boy who wanted to help people. He’s been creating magical tools so people who aren’t blessed by magic can use all kinds of spells. He wishes that their society was more equal. Secré thinks it’s a silly dream but over time, she starts believing it. She uses her magic, which Lumiere finds fascinating, to help him make his magical tools. A lot of the royals weren’t fans of his ideas but he never compromised his beliefs. Secré admired that.
At some point, she notices that Lumiere and his sister, Tetia, have been sneaking out of the castle more often. She follows them one day and finds out that they’ve been meeting with the elves. The leader of the elves, Licht, had incredible magic just like Lumiere. They both shared the same thoughts and ideas. Licht was truly the first friend that Lumiere ever made. They both believed that they could make the world a better place for everyone. All races could live together in peace. With the help of the elves, Lumiere’s dream was slowly becoming a reality. Licht was even going to marry his sister and they’d become family! On the day of the wedding, Lumiere tells his sister he’s going to be late since their father summoned him for some reason. When he goes to meet him, he’s captured by the demon! The demon reveals that he’s been manipulating the situation the whole time. At this very moment, the humans are probably killing all of the elves. That bastard! The demon admits that Lumiere has strong magic but he was prepared for that. He shouldn’t be able to escape anytime soon. The demon says he’ll play with him again once he obtains his body and grimoire.
When the demon leaves, Secré shows up and releases Lumiere with her magic. She tells him that the magic item they created is gone. There’s no time to waste! They need to get to the elf village, ASAP! When they arrive, they’re horrified to see that everyone is dead except for Licht. It’s an especially sad sight to see Licht holding his dead wife. The magical tool that they created was used to kill everyone. I know that must be eating Lumiere inside. But Licht is happy!? He knew that it wasn’t Lumiere that caused this terrifying ordeal. He’s sorry that he even doubted him for a second. It seems Licht has reclaimed his heart and the demon isn’t too pleased about it. He tries to possess Licht’s body but is repelled. Licht refuses to allow the demon to take over his body and magic. Thus, he’s poured a ton of negative magic into himself. He entrusts the future to Lumiere and turns into a gigantic demon. He asks Lumiere to kill him as a last request. Yes folks, the giant demon at the beginning of every Black Clover episode is actually Licht. SHOCKING TRUTH!
In Summary:
What an episode! We finally learned the truth about what happened 500 years ago. It’s about time we got those answers! Everything that has happened is because of that demon bastard. He’s such a…well, bastard, as I just said. Nero is actually a human girl! Although, I think most of us already knew that because of the opening and ending sequences. Dang spoilers, am I right? Still, it was cool to learn her story. I find her magic to be fascinating. I mean, she was able to keep the first Wizard King alive all this time, yeah? Also, doesn’t that mean she’s been alive for 500 years!? How does that work? I hope they explain it eventually. The big shocker was that the demon we see at the start of every episode is Licht. Those are his demon bones! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that. Black Clover has been consistently great these past few weeks. I could not be more pleased. I hope it continues to stay that way!
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, VRV