Black Cloverfrustratingly stopped at episode 170 in 2021, creating a 16 episode season 4, compared to the over 50+ episodes made for the other seasons, and leaving fans hungry for season 5 of Black Clover. While this decision can 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 in the previous November, barely 6 months beforehand. It’s clear that Black Clover’s anime had to stop, as it was rapidly approaching the point of running out of manga to adapt.
While Black Clover could continue with filler, as BC’s anime studio Pierrot infamously did with Naruto and Bleach, the poor reception to that filler makes it clear that this would not have been a great direction to take the series. Instead, Pierrot is taking time away from Black Clover (other than the Sword of the Wizard King movie which released in 2023) to wait for the manga to give them more to adapt.
Black Clover Season 5 Hasn’t Happened To Avoid Filler
Studio Pierrot Has Received A Great Deal Of Criticism For Their Use Of Filler, So It Makes Sense For Black Clover to Avoid It
Black Clover stopped in the middle of season 4 so that it wouldn't have to make any filler episodes. As Studio Pierrot was only a few months behind the manga, the series didn't have enough room for a full season, especially when compared to the sizes of the other three seasons of the series. Black Clover is a fast-paced, action-packed series, and any filler would have slowed the show's pacing down immensely. While some of the filler might have been good, most filler isn't received well by fans.
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Studio Pierrot wanted to avoid filler entirely with Black Clover. It's a mature decision that may frustrate fans in the short-term, but it's more than worth it in the long-term. Nobody wants to wait several years for the latest episode of their favorite series, but even fewer people would rather see their favorite characters in low-quality episodes that ultimately don't add much to the experience. It's a mature decision from the anime studio that shows they've learned their lessons from using filler shows in other series, namely mega-series like Bleach and Naruto.
Studio Pierrot’s Use Of Filler For Naruto & Bleach Had Mixed Results, At Best
Filler is a controversial topic in the anime community. While most viewers are understandably on the edge of their seats every week for the latest episode, they only get excited if the episode is worth watching. When Naruto and Bleach were catching up to their respective mangas, studio Pierrot made the decision to create anime-only filler episodes to keep airing Bleach and Naruto on a weekly basis and to give the manga time to create more source material for them to adapt.
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While there are certainly some fun filler episodes in both series, most fans agree that the filler wasn't great. They would have rather waited on the manga to create more source material than to watch Pierrot come up with their own ideas. Creator of Naruto Masashi Kishimoto was notoriously not involved with the filler of his series at all, causing most of the episodes to feel out of sync with the rest of the series.
While it seems like a harmless idea in practice, filler episodes can be very frustrating. It's not fun to watch a series that's thematically headed in one direction, only for it to venture off into an unrelated tangent for numerous episodes. Instead of making the same mistake they did with Naruto and Bleach, Pierrot is choosing to be patient with their new hit shōnen series.
Black Clover Season 5 Could Have Been Further Impacted By The Manga’s Delays
Yuki Tabata's Health Issues Led To Some Big Changes For The Black Clover Manga
Black Clover is a series defined by its action. The best fights in Black Clover feature amazing teamwork, heart-pounding set pieces, 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 instead of creating them on their own. Beyond animation capabilities, Black Clover creator Yuki Tabata had health scares that caused the mangaka to put his beloved creation on a hiatus.
Work culture in Japan is much more intense than most other places in the world, and that's still true for creatives like Tabata. His workload was immense for a substantial period of time, as he was releasing Black Clover's manga for years on a weekly basis without a break. It's important for everyone to get time off from their job, and for amazing mangakas like Tabata, it can be really hard to take time off without feeling guilty for leaving the fans without their beloved series.
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Mangakas, like every walk of life, should prioritize their health over their work. Unfortunately, life can often get in the way of work, and that's the case for Black Clover. Tabata's health issues probably impacted the release of season 5 of Black Clover as he wasn't able to create as much source material. Black Clover moved from a weekly series to a quarterly series, being released 4 times a year as opposed to its previous 50+. It's a huge change that brought the series to a stand-still, but hopefully, it's exactly what Tabata needs to get his health back.
Black Clover’s Final Season Will Most Likely Arrive After the Manga Ends
Custom image by J.R. Waugh Since Black Clover's anime has had to take a break, the manga has gotten to create a lot more source material to adapt. Pierrot's strategy worked, as they now have plenty of the series to animate once they decide to unroll the 5th season of the show. The 5th season of Black Clover may be its last as well, as the manga is tying up loose ends and creating, what looks to be, a thrilling end to one of the most popular shōnen series of the last few years.
The final season of Black Clover hasn't been planned yet, but as it's nearing 4 years since the anime ended in March 2021, Pierrot has more than enough material to adapt. They could be waiting for the manga to end entirely, which would potentially avoid the possibility of filler entirely in the future. Pierrot probably doesn't have to wait too long, however, as the end of Black Clover is probably closer than any of the fans would hope.
Release Date October 3, 2017
Seasons 4
Writers Kazuyuki Fudeyasu , Kanichi Katou
Directors Tatsuya Yoshihara , Ayataka Tanemura
Creator(s) Yūki Tabata
English (US) ·