Black Clover is a manga written and drawn by Yūki Tabata and published in Shūeisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on February 16, 2015, after an initial one-shot of the series saw its release in November 2014. The title refers to the grimoire used by the protagonist, which has a black pent-sheet on the cover. The animated adaptation of the series includes several OVA episodes, the anime series, the non-canon ONA series that aired in 2019, and a 2023 anime movie. But is the series finished? Is the original manga by Tabata over, or can we expect more? In this article, you are going to find out about the future of manga, as well as how and when it could end.
The Black Clover manga is currently ongoing and is not over. Back in 2022, the series went on a three-month hiatus so that the author could prepare for the manga’s final arc, which is currently ongoing. It is not known when the manga will end, but it is probably going to happen relatively soon. As for the ending, knowing how shonen works usually play out, Asta is going to defeat the ultimate opponent with the help of his friends and be recognized as the series’ most powerful character, later living in peace, probably as the new Wizard King.
The rest of this article will provide you with all the additional information related to the future of the Black Clover manga series. You’ll find out what happened to the manga and how the developments in the manga will influence the end of the story and the plot of the manga’s currently-ongoing final arc. You’ll also find out whether there will be more Black Clover material and what the whole franchise is going to look like in the future.
Black Clover will probably end with Asta becoming the new Wizard King
Yūki Tabata began publishing Black Clover on February 16, 2015, and as of the time of writing this article, more than 300 chapters have been published; the chapters have been collected in 305 volumes as of the time of writing. This means that the manga is still ongoing, but while fans will be able to enjoy the story a bit more, we have to say that the series is nearing its ending.
Namely, back in April 2022, Tabata took a three-month hiatus to prepare for the series’ final arc. The hiatus ended with Chapter 332, which was published on August 1, 2022, which is also when the eleventh and seemingly final arc of the manga began; the arc does not have a name as of the time of writing. The most recently published chapter, Chapter 361, came out on June 12, 2023.
As of the time of writing, we don’t know how many chapters still await us, but the series is slowly heading toward its end. We assume that the manga will certainly continue throughout this year, and it is quite possible that we’ll be able to read it for the better part of next year, but we do have to prepare for the upcoming end. And while we’re on that topic, how could the Black Clover manga actually end?
Fans of the series know that Black Clover is actually about the character of Asta, who is a typical Shonen protagonist in every way imaginable. The story focuses on Asta’s growth as the hero of the story, and just like every typical shonen hero, he has the goal of becoming the best and holding the position of the Wizard King, which is the most important title one can have in the series (in comparison, Luffy wants to become the Pirate King in One Piece and Naruto wants to become Hokage in Naruto). So, everything that Asta is doing is focused on him becoming the Wizard King, and since the story itself revolves around Asta, the whole plot is leading up to the point where Asta will become the Wizard King, and that is probably how the manga is going to end.
Based on what has happened in the series and what Asta has done so far in the story, he definitely is worthy of the title of the Wizard King; if you want to argue that he still isn’t ready, we could actually agree with that, but as we’ve said, everything in the story is leading up to the point where Asta becomes the most powerful character in the series and a character who is definitely worthy of the title of the Wizard King. And this brings us to a traditional shonen trope.
Namely, based on what we know about shonen manga and how they evolve, it makes sense for Tabata to finish his story in such a way. Asta has gone through a lot and will become the story’s hero, which is almost certain, and this will, of course, lead up to a point where it will be expected of him to become the new Wizard King, and that would be a very natural end to the story, and a very expected one.
This is how shonen manga usually works unless the author is planning a sequel, but that is something we don’t know yet, as there is nothing pointing in that direction.
Julius Novachrono will probably die by the end of the manga, something that seems quite likely and has been talked about for a while, and there are a lot of theories concerning his death. This is why his death might be used as a segway for Asta to succeed him.
Now, this is all pure speculation, and Tabata might decide to take a completely different turn, but that is something that we will have to wait and see, but our theory seems to be quite likely. As we have said, Black Clover is slowly approaching its end, and the manga is going to be over relatively soon if we live through all the hiatuses that are still to happen (although it does seem that there aren’t as many as before).