Thread by @ClovaMemes, Alright...Here goes. This is gonna be a thread of what I think [...]

Alright...Here goes. This is gonna be a thread of what I think of Black Clover's power system - more so, the "Surpass your limits" or situational need-type power up part of it. I'll be going over my PERSONAL thoughts, and what I believe to be both GOOD and BAD uses of this system

You don't have to agree with it, nor am I claiming it's an objective fact. You are free to disagree. In fact, I was pretty hype when reading all of these power-ups the first time around, and still like them. These are just my thoughts, and you can discuss them below if you like.

A basic overview of the magic system is that as mages grow, new spells can get carved into their grimoire. They can grow stronger and unlock new abilities beyond their previous capabilities. The panels here show some of the author's statements about how this power system works.

Examples of this are Magna in the tournament arc unlocking his "Annihilation Massacre Fireball

" spell in the tournament arc, Mereoleona unlocking her "Hellfire Incarnate" spell in the spade arc, or Mimosa's Magic Cannon Flower, her first attack spell, in the tournament arc.

Examples of this are Magna in the tournament arc unlocking his "Annihilation Massacre Fireball " spell in the tournament arc, Mereoleona unlocking her "Hellfire Incarnate" spell in the spade arc, or Mimosa's Magic Cannon Flower, her first attack spell, in the tournament arc.

It's cool to watch mages' growth shown in their spells. This brings us to a particular part of the power system or in general, how Black Clover handles on-the-spot power-ups.

Sometimes, heightened emotions, sudden changes, or strong resolution can trigger magic amplification.

Or alternatively, an intense desire can grant one the power they need. This is NOT to ignore the fact that people WORK for, practice with, and hone their powers throughout the series. EVERY character in Black Clover has done this to some extent.

When it comes to power growth, surpassing your limits or emotional powerups can definitely be a tricky subject. On one hand, they can look really cool, but if the audience isn't on board with it already, it might come off as cheap to them.

Let's say that X character is up against a much stronger opponent, but because they have something at stake, they get JUST enough power to overcome their circumstances because they need them, but next time, they fall JUST short of accomplishing the task at hand. It could feel-

forced or even manipulative because the power they gained might be inconsistently attributed to them depending on how the plot needs to move. Or perhaps, they're under JUST enough stress to pull out the required power, but in other situations, they aren't because...plot.

This is especially weird when you might not know whether the main antagonist (battle shounen here) will be a threat depending on whether or not they piss off the main character enough.

Trust me, you do NOT wanna piss off Noelle! She'll summon a Sea Dragon's Hydra and that's GG.

So, here are what I believe to be the good and bad general power-up instances in BC. These could be good and bad instances of the power system or situational power-ups that I think felt natural. We'll focus on three characters - Yami, Noelle, and Yuno.

Let's start with the GOOD.

Let's start with a fan favourite, Yami Sukehiro. As I outlined in a previous tweet, I feel Yami Sukehiro's unlocking of Death Thrust was one of Tabata's best instances of using "power-ups."

Yami entered the spade arc knowing how to use Mana Zone(MZ) and showing proficiency with it, such as condensing it and being able to run on mana. Death Thrust happens when Yami super condenses his MZ into a small area and launches it to press delet- I mean eliminate his opponent.

It's believable because Yami used resources available to him, and in a moment of genius, unlocks a countermeasure to push Dante further. He doesn't just surpass his limits because he needs to. He needed to but his tactical thinking helped him achieve the greater power he needed.

For our second GOOD moment, let's focus on Noelle Silva.
I could really appreciate her unlocking of Sea Dragon's Cradle, in the Sea Bed Temple arc. I want to WORD THIS CAREFULLY because for one of the negative instances, I want to make a subtle differentiation.

Noelle had been training up until this point, perfecting her skills, so that she could achieve a spell of this level. This specifically works because Noelle shows progress in being able to perform at a level SIMILAR to that which is required to perform this spell. She is-

Seen blatantly struggling with a spell that has ALMOST taken shape. In other words, she is ALMOST at the level required to perform this and just needed that extra support from her friends and extra effort on her part. This was done really well by Tabata. Noelle really earns this.

Our third really good instance occurs with Elf-Yuno during the Elf Invasion Arc. It's proven many times that Yuno's power growth was correlated to the elf power that he houses inside of him. In chapter 197, Raia makes the direct connection between Yuno's power growth and Licht's-

child awakening. This, for the most part, should be pretty self-explanatory. Yuno's on the spot increases are actually more gradual increases that spike at certain times during the arc. There are outside "resources" that allow him to access a greater level of power than his own.

This way, it doesn't really seem too forced, at least the way Tabata handles the gradual power growth throughout the arc.

Well, that concludes what I personally consider to be Tabata's best instances of the on-the-spot power-up.
What about the "bad" instances? Well, here goes.

Let's start with Yami. To preface, I was NEVER personally annoyed by these instances of gaining a new spell or powering up. I'm simply JUST explaining what I consider to be a bit of a writing flaw with these instances. This is JUST my opinion, and I still love these.

There isn't much to say for this one. Yami unlocks a space-cutting spell in the moment because he needs to save his squad. He showed no real affinity for it before, not being able to cut space, nor did he train specifically to combine this spatial property with his attacks.

So, this just came out of left field and kind of undermines a bit of the believability of the narrative if someone can just bust out with a new move, untrained for, or with no related alternate ability in their arsenal to reference or draw inspiration from.

Don't misunderstand. Despite ALL I've said. IT WAS COOL.

The second instance would be with Noelle Silva's unlocking of Valkyrie dress. To be clear in this argument, Noelle did not show ANY progress towards using a spell THIS powerful or equip her magic with this level of versatility before. She had shown- (CHECK REPLIES, THERE'S MORE).

earlier in the arc. Her back was clearly against the wall with nothing more to give an out of that came Valkyrie dress. I’m going to give this a bit more attention to avoid some confusion here. Yes, these power ups are part of the magic system, so they are part of the verse.

This, however, does NOT mean they cannot be used badly or create an unnatural flow for the events of an arc. Saying that Noelle had been through life-or-death crisis and has trained does not disprove how poorly executed this instance IS because we got to see-

the upper limit of that training and where it got her - right at Kivn’s mercy. So yes, Noelle did train, and all power to her that she got a cool spell; however, just like Yami’s case, it doesn’t really excuse how forced this particular moment is, even though we all love Noelle.

But yeah...in conclusion, I really do like Black Clover, and I'll repeat myself by saying, none of these affected how much I like the series. These are just some of my thoughts. Let me know what you think below.

Stay safe, and happy holidays!

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