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Black Clover's Recent Success Questions If The Anime Needs To Return At All

It has certainly been a hard couple of years for fans of the Black Clover franchise. While the anime adaptation elevated the popularity of the series during its run from 2017 to 2021, things started going downhill for the franchise pretty soon after that.

Although the anime adaptation of Black Clover is considered one of the most popular anime of the new generation, it has received its fair share of complaints as well. Previously, the franchise received criticisms for the poor marketing of its console game and almost canceling its mobile gacha game.

However, 2023 has proved to be an extremely successful year for the Black Clover franchise. The manga has returned to serialization and the mobile game earned immense profits in its first month. With the series becoming successful even without its anime adaptation, fans are beginning to wonder if it is required at all anymore.

Why the Black Clover series does not require the anime's return to become successful

Yuki Tabata's Black Clover series has received critical praise from fans due to its enthralling and intense action sequences and the growth of the characters throughout the series. With 170 episodes, the anime gained a significant amount of popularity among fans, who were excited to witness and become a part of the rich world of Black Clover.

However, it's a known fact that no anime makes it to the top without having its fair share of criticisms from fans. Black Clover received numerous complaints from the fanbase regarding its initial pacing and some glaring similarities to other popular shonen anime. It is also considered by some fans to be inconsistent with its quality of storytelling.

Despite the mixed reviews, it gained a dedicated fanbase over the course of its run, from October 3, 2017 to March 30, 2021. However, the popularity of the series seemed to decline towards the end of its run. This was due to multiple reasons, with fans considering the inconsistent quality of the anime adaptation to be one of the main factors of its decline.

Furthermore, the series also received criticism from fans for putting little effort into marketing their console game, titled Black Clover: Quartet Knights. While the game itself was received well by fans of the franchise, it struggled to make much profit due to poor marketing. Additionally, a mobile gacha game for the series was also announced, which was facing the risk of being canceled altogether. Lastly, manga sales witnessed a significant drop towards the end of 2020. Coupled with the lack of any significant merchandise, fan interest in the franchise was dwindling a few years ago. After the anime adaptation came to an end in 2021, the popularity of the series suffered a major hit.

Furthermore, the series also received criticism from fans for putting little effort into marketing their console game, titled Black Clover: Quartet Knights. While the game itself was received well by fans of the franchise, it struggled to make much profit due to poor marketing. Additionally, a mobile gacha game for the series was also announced, which was facing the risk of being canceled altogether. Lastly, manga sales witnessed a significant drop towards the end of 2020. Coupled with the lack of any significant merchandise, fan interest in the franchise was dwindling a few years ago. After the anime adaptation came to an end in 2021, the popularity of the series suffered a major hit.

To make matters worse for fans, the manga went on a hiatus after stopping its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in August 2023 and shifting to Jump Giga. Surprisingly enough, this move proved to be just what the franchise needed for its rebound.

Due to the shift to Jump Giga, mangaka Yuki Tabata was able to enjoy a much lighter work schedule, which further led to an improvement in his health. The manga made its long-awaited return recently on December 25, 2023, which revitalized the whole fandom. Additionally, the recently released Black Clover mobile gacha game became immensely popular among fans, earning over $10 million globally within the first month of its release.

The Black Clover movie, titled Sword of the Wizard King, released on June 16, 2023, went on to become one of the most-watched Netflix releases of the year. It's to be noted that this movie was not a cannon to the overall storyline of the series. Lastly, the introduction of new and exciting action figures and merchandise brought back fan interest in the series. It's important to note that the franchise certainly did not require the anime to turn things around for them. In fact, many consider a possible anime return to be unnecessary for the series to gain further success.

Final Thoughts

At this point, however, a potential season 5 for the series is perhaps not a part of Studio Pierrot's plans for the franchise. It would be interesting to see if a follow-up season does get announced anytime soon, considering that there certainly is enough source material for adapting one more season at the moment.

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