Black Clover Volume 1 by Yuki Tabata

 Black Clover Volume 1

192 Pages | 2016

Summary: In a world of magic, Asta, a boy with anti-magic powers, will do whatever it takes to become the Wizard King!

Asta is a young boy who dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the kingdom. Only one problem—he can't use any magic! Luckily for Asta, he receives the incredibly rare five-leaf clover grimoire that gives him the power of anti-magic. Can someone who can't use magic really become the Wizard King? One thing's for sure—Asta will never give up!

Young Asta was born with no magic ability in a world where magic is everything. In order to prove his strength and keep a promise with his friend, Asta dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the land, the Wizard King!

Review: To start with, this manga and the anime would fall into the Shonen genre category which tends to include exciting battles, high-stakes situations, overcoming adversity, emphasizing the importance of team work, additions of light-hearted humor, and in this case, fantasy based world building due to the magic systems of this world. I have watched the entire anime before going back to read through the manga in order to spot any differences, and to look through the original work. Black Clover Volume 1's first page showcases a high stakes moment in the past of the Clover Kingdom in which instated the position of "Wizard King." With that one page alone, its clear that earning this title is a heavy commitment and furthermore a difficult achievement, given that the first Wizard King saved Humankind from being decimated by demons. Based on the summary, it's clear this will be the title our main character, Asta, strives for. We learn about Asta's hometown and his rival, Yuno, and it quickly becomes clear that they are opposites for each other. Asta is magicless, rather loud and boisterous. Yuno is gifted in magic, and is quiet and "cool." This leaves a good dynamic, because even though from an outsider's perspective, Yuno's talent is unreachable to Asta, Yuno respects Asta just as much as Asta respects him. They both take their goal to become the wizard king seriously and motivate each other to improve by their own means. This volume has in total what I would consider three highest stakes moments. Not to mention, the third is Asta's first encounter, unknowingly, with the major antagonist that will be building in the background for many volumes to come. We are left off in the middle of this highest stakes moment as an incentive to pick up the next volume, which is a good strategy for keeping readers going.

This book sets up the setting, the character's starting points, and even sets up the antagonists early on. It's a great volume 1, and if you or someone you know is wanting to get into a new Shonen manga, I would highly recommend giving the series a try.