5 Point Discussions – Black Clover 20: “Assembly At The Royal Capital”

Sword, Sophie, and Luke arrive in El Dorado.  What secrets will they uncover? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. After Asta finally wakes up from the dungeon mission, he and Noelle are assigned to report directly to Magic Knight HQ about what happened. Several other members attempt to tag along, but Yami denies them all because he thinks they’re all too weird to head to HQ. At the capital city, Noelle and Asta run into Klaus, Mimosa, and Yuno….only Mimosa’s changed a bit. She’s developed a massive crush on Asta. Noelle tries to convince her how stupid that is, until she realizes it’s starting to sound like she’s doing it to keep Asta to herself.
Unlike a lot of series that wind up with multiple women fawning over a single male character, the more you think about it…the more Asta being popular with the women makes sense.  He’s got a strong sense of justice so he stands up for what he believes in, he’s freaking ripped. Also, there’s a bit of this coming into play:

Asta’s so straight forward it becomes endearingly honest, even when that means ignoring or sometimes outright fighting against social norms. Also he’ll do anything to protect his friends, which will come into play just shortly. So yeah…for once, anime got it right. He’s dumb, but the good kinda dumb.

2. After a brief moment exploring the city, the group runs into the Wizard King. He speaks with them and explains what Yuno likely found the most important thing in the dungeon: a wind sylph which chooses its owner every generation. If it wasn’t obvious before, we’re reminded the Wizard King is a geek for seeing new magic abilities. He asks to see Yuno’s summon, but surprisingly Yuno isn’t able to cast the spell again just yet. I’m positive nothing will cause that to change in the near future…
He also tries to see Asta’s new weapon. He can’t read the grimoire, which makes sense.  Asta’s book is unlike any other, and I’d bet that they’ll eventually reveal it’s not meant to be a grimoire at all. He grabs the sword from Asta, but learns just holding it drains magic. He immediately hands it back, telling Asta no one can use it except him.
He thanks them for their work, but Asta and Yuno both have one major question: how do you become the Wizard King. Klaus considers it rude, but Julius actually answers: it’s results. Nothing else matters from the Wizard King other than proving their abilities to the people, constantly rising up in the eyes of the people. The official sub calls it merit, which is reminiscent of the Clover Kingdom’s broken meritocracy. But from the looks of things, it seems like he only obtained the position because he was so strong they had no choice but to give it to him.

3. They’re asked to join the King at a special decoration ceremony honoring all the mages who’ve done exceptionally well. Klaus and Noelle wonder why he would do such a thing, but it turns out it’s motivation for Yuno and Asta, as he points out they have to beat every single person in that room if they want to reach the top.
This is the one major flaw in an otherwise great episode. This award ceremony is long. Reading the manga it’s just quick scenes that take barely a minute to get through, but watching it they drag it out so long it feels like they’ve added new characters. But many of these are going to become key characters very soon, so giving them more screen time isn’t the worst move they could’ve made.

4. Julius leaves the newly promoted Magic Knights to a reception, but not before introducing Asta and the others to them. It’s…incredibly awkward, as the group is looked down on by all the nobles and upper class magic Knights.
…Well. Awkward for everyone except Asta. Dude’s so busy enjoying the food to be fussed by petty royalty. Even when the entire group of higher ups start insulting him loud enough to hear, he just writes it all off as nothing unexpected. It’s not until they begin attacking his friends, with members of Noelle’s family openly ostracizing her and assaulting her, that he finally gets ticked enough to do anything. Though the group tries to shut him up, he shows off his magic-nullifying sword to cancel all their spells before proudly proclaiming he’s sure to become the next Wizard King, intent on shattering their sense of superiority.
As much as we often trash Black Clover (rightfully so in the anime’s case), Yuki Tabata has put a lot of work into setting up this rigid class-based society and developing the upper members of society who do everything in their power to keep things the same. It’s not a coincidence that this scene immediately follows the awards ceremony; it drives home the setting’s social stratification. Even within the Magic Knights things are strictly organized, displaying ranks within ranks in a way we’ve scarcely seen before.
He’s also done as much work making a statement on how birth doesn’t decide anything. Yuno and Asta have repeatedly proven themselves in front of noblemen, and Asta’s an outright better person than them in most cases.

5. Next Episode: Klaus is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. He’s just trying to look out for his new friends and help his leader achieve his dream in the Golden Dawn. He exists to raise up other people, and characters like that don’t get enough love. Also, “making glasses sparkle is my magic” is hilarious. The preview actually tries to keep most of the next episode free from spoilers, so I’ll do the same and not spoil the cool stuff coming up in the next few episodes.
Black Clover is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.