Black Clover frustratingly stopped at episode 170 in 2021, creating a 16-episode 4th season, compared to the 50+ episodes made for the other seasons, and leaving fans hungry for a 5th season of Black Clover. Although this decision may seem confusing, it makes sense in context. Black Clover episode 170 aired in March 2021 and adapted chapter 270 of the manga, which had just been published the previous November, just 6 months earlier. It is clear that Black Clover the anime had to stop as it was quickly approaching the point of running out of manga to adapt.
While Black Clover could continue with the filling, as B.CAnime studio Pierrot did something infamous with naruto and Bleachthe poor reception for this filling makes it clear that this would not have been a good direction for the series. Instead, Pierrot is taking some time off Black Clover (in addition to the Sword of the Wizard King film released in 2023) wait for the manga to give them more to adapt to.
Black Clover Season 5 Didn’t Happen to Avoid Filler
Studio Pierrot has received a lot of criticism for its use of filler, so it makes sense that Black Clover would avoid it
Black Clover stopped in the middle of season 4 so that I wouldn’t have to do any filler episodes. As Studio Pierrot was only a few months behind the manga, the series did not have enough space for a full season, especially when compared to the lengths of the series’ other three seasons. Black Clover is a fast-paced, action-packed series, and any filler would have slowed down the show’s pace immensely. While some of the filler may have been good, most of the filler is not well received by fans.
Pierrot Studio I wanted to completely avoid filling with Black Clover. It’s a mature decision that may frustrate fans in the short term, but it’s worth it in the long run. No one wants to wait several years for the latest episode of their favorite series, but even fewer people prefer to see their favorite characters in low-quality episodes that ultimately don’t add much to the experience. It’s a mature decision by the anime studio that shows they’ve learned lessons from using filler shows in other series, namely megaseries like Bleach and Naruto.
Studio Pierrot’s use of filler for Naruto and Bleach had mixed results at best
Filler is a controversial topic in the anime community. While most viewers are understandably excited every week for the latest episode, they only get excited if the episode is worth watching. When naruto and Bleach were updating their respective mangas, the Pierrot studio made the decision to create anime-only filler episodes to continue airing Bleach and naruto weekly and to give the manga time to create more source material for them to adapt.
While there are certainly some fun filler episodes in both series, most fans agree that the filler wasn’t great. They would rather wait for the manga to create more source material than watch Pierrot come up with his own ideas. Creator of naruto Masashi Kishimoto was notoriously uninvolved with filling out his series, causing most episodes to feel out of sync with the rest of the series.
While it may seem like a harmless idea in practice, filler episodes can be very frustrating. It’s not fun to watch a series that thematically heads in one direction, only to go off on an unrelated tangent several episodes in. Instead of making the same mistake they made with naruto and Bleach, Pierrot is choosing to be patient with his new hit shōnen series.
Black Clover Season 5 May Have Been Even More Affected by Manga Delays
Yuki Tabata’s health problems led to big changes in the Black Clover manga
Black Clover is a series defined by its action. The best fights in Black Clover feature incredible teamwork, exciting scenarios, and great animation, like Asta and Yami’s fight against Dante. Pierrot wanted to give the manga enough room to create more of these jaw-dropping events, rather than creating them on its own. In addition to the animation features, Black Clover creator Yuki Tabata had health problems This caused the mangaka to put his beloved creation on hiatus.
The work culture in Japan is much more intense than most other places in the world, and that’s still true for creatives like Tabata. Your workload was immense for a substantial period of timewhile he was pitching Black Clover manga for years weekly without a break. It’s important for everyone to take time off from work, and for amazing manga artists like Tabata, it can be very difficult to take time off without feeling guilty about leaving fans without their beloved series.
Mangakas, like all walks of life, must prioritize health over work. Unfortunately, life can often get in the way of work, and this is the case with Black Clover. Tabata’s health issues likely impacted the release of season 5 of Black Clover since he wasn’t able to create as much source material. Black Clover went from a weekly series to a quarterly series, being released 4 times a year, as opposed to the previous 50+. It’s a huge change that has brought the series to a standstill, but luckily, it’s exactly what Tabata needs to regain his health.
Black Clover’s final season will likely arrive after the manga ends
Since Black Clover the anime had to take a break, the manga managed to create a lot more source material to adapt. Pierrot’s strategy workedas they now have a lot of series to look forward to when they decide to roll out the 5th season of the show. The 5th season of Black Clover It could be the last too, as the manga is tying up loose ends and creating, what appears to be, an exciting ending to one of the most popular shōnen series in recent years.
The last season of Black Clover It hasn’t been planned yet, but since it’s been 4 years since the anime ended in March 2021, Pierrot has more than enough material to adapt. They could have been waiting for the manga to be fully finished, which would potentially prevent the possibility of a full filler in the future. Pierrot probably won’t have to wait long, as the end of Black Clover It’s probably closer than any fan would expect.