Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • Leaderboard
    • The CBR Team
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fantasy > When the annoying one of the hero/friend/rival pair is positioned to win

When the annoying one of the hero/friend/rival pair is positioned to win

Black Clover vol 22 by Yuki Tabata

January 30, 2021 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Besides comfort reading, I sometimes turn to graphic novels and manga for some brain relief or palate cleansing when also reading a book that is either much longer or more complicated; in this case, that would be an 1100+ page sci-fi/ speculative fiction novel (review to come in hopefully a week or so).

I’ve been following the Black Clover series a while, and I’m about 2 or 3 volumes behind the published in English volumes, but whatever. The basic gist of the series is pretty standard: teenage nobody has big dreams and through hard work and a lot of yelling begins to achieve them. Asta is our nobody and he lives a world of magic except he has none, but he makes it into the Magic Knights anyways. Volume 22 presents the conclusion of a major battle against a devil who had been the brains behind elvish spirits possessing human bodies and causing havoc. Asta and friends first have to defeat the devil, and when all seems lost, there is something of a deus ex machina revelation and the world is saved for now. The aftermath though might be just as big a problem. Asta himself has a connection with a different devil and he finds himself facing trial and probable execution as the scapegoat for all the trouble caused by the devil he helped defeat. It’s safe to say there will be some way out of this because the manga is still going and you don’t kill the hero in this kind of story, at least not at this point.
Asta’s hero type bugs me since, although he’s a nice guy, he’s annoying because really, who is going to beat the more qualified, powerful, and a better team player best friend/rival (Yuno) by nothing more than being really loud and working hard. I mean Yuno has a similar goal and presumably works equally hard, and seems to have some concept of intellect, teamwork, and leadership; Asta means well, but acts before he thinks every time. Based on some social media spoilers I saw, the anime at least is working towards a way to give Yuno something else to aim for besides being Wizard King (military leader of the Magic Knights, not the actual king- who currently is naturally a spoiled idiot), and I’m really hoping that is not the case. Then again, it might make Asta’s inevitable triumph less aggravating if Yuno finds something equally cool that’s not the same, even though Yuno would probably be a much better Wizard King than Asta.

The rival/friend thing is obviously a theme is this story, especially when there are other pairs besides Asta and Yuno who have a similar dynamic. Fuegoleon and Nozel are much the same, already captains, and their rivalry is much more interesting since they’re clearly competitive and obviously friends (sort of) even if neither would openly admit it. They’re also both competent and generally evenly matched. This pairing is more interesting and I’d be equally ok with either one winning that Wizard King goal that they too share. I have my suspicions about how this might eventually be settled too, but it’s far less aggravating.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Graphic Novel/Comic Tagged With: #fantasy, Black Clover vol 22, devils, elves, knights, magic, manga, Yuki Tabata

CoffeeShopReader's CBR13 Review No:10 · Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novel/Comic · Tags: #fantasy, Black Clover vol 22, devils, elves, knights, magic, manga, Yuki Tabata ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About CoffeeShopReader

CBR13 participantCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participantCBR  9CBR 8CBR 7CBR 6

View CoffeeShopReader's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • wicherwill on I have as many emotions inside me as there are genres in this book.did you ever want to gift them a bottle of an oil-based makeup removed (and maybe a serum afterwards)? sometimes all I could think of...
  • KimMiE" on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodOne of my favorites as a child was The Cricket in Times Square, which I re-read, reviewed, and still loved in 2019. I also loved...
  • ingres77 on We’re going to need a bigger boatI like the idea of that page, but it'd be interesting to see some quotes that were legitimately hard to identify.
  • andtheIToldYouSos on I have as many emotions inside me as there are genres in this book.ALWAYS
  • andtheIToldYouSos on Be my friend, Rachel Bloom! Please!I loved the "new chapter!" so much; I was caught off-guard every time and hit with a fit of giggles
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in