Black Clover: Volume 13 manga review

Black Clover Graphic Novel Volume 13 cover image

Asta and his friend, Yuno, are found abandoned in the village of Hage of the Clover Kingdom.  Asta dreams of one day being the “Wizard King,” the greatest mage in the land.  He has one big problem; he can't use magic.  When he is 15-years-old, Asta receives the rare “five-leaf-clover grimoire” (a book of magic), which gives him the power of anti-magic.  Can Asta become the Wizard King without being able to use magic, and is he worthy of being in the “Magic Knights” squad, “the Black Bulls?”

As Black Clover, Vol. 13 (Chapters 111 to 100; entitled “The Royal Knights Selection Test”) opens, Asta and his Black Bulls teammates finish their “hot springs challenge” with the Crimson Lions.  Now, it is time for the Royal Knights selection test.

At the recent “Star Festival,” the Wizard King announced the formation of the “Royal Knights” brigade, an assemblage of the best Magic Knights.  The purpose of this “ultimate brigade” is to put down the threat of the “Eye of the Midnight Sun,” conspiracy that threatens the Clover Kingdom.  Forty-eight Magic Knights, including Asta and Yuno, have been divided into 16 three-person teams.  In the first round, eight matches will decide which eight teams make it to the second round.

Asta's teammates are Mimosa Vermillion and the mysterious jerk, Xerx Lugner.  Let the games begin!

[This volume includes bonus material:  “The Blank Page Brigade;” an “Afterword;” and sketches.]

THE LOWDOWN:  I am still getting back in the groove with the Black Clover manga.  After not reading it for about a year or so, I have read four volumes in about seven weeks.

Black Clover Graphic Novel Volume 13 is intense battle manga.  Vol. 12 was laid back, a time to wrap things up and hand out awards after the intensity of Vols. 9 to 11.  Vol. 13 explodes with the fury of competition, as the Magic Knights compete to be in the new Royal Knights.

Creator Yuki Tabata has found a way to turn allies into enemies or, at least, into rivals and now, readers can have the fun of magical combat without the threat of enemies killing the good guys.  Taylor Engel's translation finds the heat of battle and also the generous helping of humor that Vol. 13 offers.  Annaliese Christman's lettering leaps of the page to grab the reader with this volume of exhilarating competition.  Oh, “Round One” does not end at the end of this volume.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of everything from Naruto to Harry Potter will definitely want to try the “Shonen Jump” series, Black Clover.

A
9 out of 10