5 Point Discussions – Black Clover 36: “Three Eyes”

The leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun is down!  But does that end the threat, or have things only begun? 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. This feels like one of those major turning point moments for a series–y’know, that part where people watch and think “If [this character] had just done this, the team wouldn’t have had to go through all this!”   Y’know, like when Star Lord punched Thanos in the face.   Thanks Gauche’s mirror spell reflecting Licht’s attack back at him, the group has the Leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun completely incapacitated.
….But unfortunately Finral’s too exhausted to teleport them all back to Nean.  I’m kind of torn on how to feel about this: on the one hand, Yami and Gauche both keep hassling the teleporter, and they’d all be dead if he hadn’t put in the work earlier.   On the other hand?   He teleported a maximum of three times and he’s already completely drained?   On his next level up he should invest some points into spell economy.   This series should be over right now–the group teleports back to the capital city, Licht and his spatial magic using pal are imprisoned, boom.  Biggest threat to Clover Kingdom jailed, Black Bulls best ever.   Instead they have no choice but to literally sit and wait on his cooldown timer to empty.  Shame.

2. This episode, Noelle tries to talk with the main base about why help hasn’t arrived yet, only to get Sekke again who informs her he’s already visited the Black Bulls’ headquarters and help should have already shown up.  Noelle wanders off to find out what’s going on, and in the process meets up with Theresa and the missing children.  But while that’s happening, Sekke has an entire conversation with himself about how beleaguered his life has become.  He’s not whining about it anymore; he’s got to that point in your job where you complain by making fun of your boss’ unusual ticks.
Shout out to Sekke for going from being another conceited stereotype in the hero’s way to frequently being one of the most entertaining characters on the show.   They don’t make him show up all that often so his gimmick doesn’t get old, but watching him try to adapt to the insanity of his guild and the life of a Magic Knight is endearingly hilarious.

3. While Asta, Yami and the others are waiting for Finral’s magic to recharge, reinforcements arrive…for the bad guys.  Whatever Licht’s goal is, it involves subverting everything the Clover Kingdom claims to stand for–the three leaf clover of the kingdom is said to stand for love, hope, and faith.   So when his reinforcements arrive in the form of the Third Eye, we learn he’s named them to be the opposite of everything they believe in.  The woman is Fana the Hateful, the animal guy is Vetto the Despair, and the other, sleepy-looking fellow, is Raia the Disloyal.
One thing I want to complain about briefly is the camera angle of this shot.  While I appreciate the fighting game start screen-esque look of what they’re going for here, I feel like a full frontal shot would have done a much stronger job of showing who these people are.  Still, we get a good enough idea when they go on the attack.  Raia’s called the disloyal because he can copy people’s magic and isn’t loyal to any one of them.  Vetto’s some big animal dork who likes stealing people’s hope.  And Fana is emotionless and doesn’t seem to be capable of much in the way of emotions besides hatred while her skills seem to be incredible healing ability.
With our heroes exhausted but under attack regardless, it’s up to their Captain to try and fend off their assailants until Finral can get them out of there.  Unfortunately, he’d be outclassed in even the best case scenario, with Licht claiming they’re more skilled than him–and more powerful than any Magic Knight Captain.

4. Of course, claiming they’re more powerful than the Magic Knight Captains is like poking the bear.  Just as Yami’s about to get completely wrecked trying to guard his scrubby subordinates at half-strength from three attacks at once, three different Captains appear to deflect their attacks for him.   Nozel Silva of the Silver Eagles, Charlotte Roselei of the Blue Rose, and Jack the Ripper from the Green Mantis.  This arc just keeps finding ways to get more exciting.
Also, Yami’s got more lives than a cat–this is the second time in two episodes he’s been saved from death by his comrades arriving at the last second.  It’d feel really fake if he weren’t so nonchalant about it every time.  This week, he complains they saved him at all as he was “certain” something else would awaken within him, poking fun at how often shonen heroes power-up in situations like his.  Yami’s easily one of the best characters of the show, and hopefully we start getting more of him after this.

5. Next Episode: If this series has to end, it’s a good thing they know how to give you everything you’re wanting.  Before the show can wrap up, they’re letting us see what it looks like when Magic Knight Captains take the field to wipe out threats.  But will their efforts be enough to take out the Third Eye, or are they really stronger than Magic Knight Captains after all?
Black Clover is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.