The Black Clover Season 5 anime will continue Asta’s quest in the Spade Kingdom. But with the Black Clover manga’s ending coming up on the horizon, when will the anime’s fifth season come out? And will it be Black Clover Final Season?
When the anime adaptation began catching up with the Black Clover manga in 2021 a major Black Clover break/hiatus in TV broadcasting became necessary for the middle of the major Spade Kingdom war arc.
In early February 2021, the official website for the anime series announced that the Black Clover Episode 170 release date would mark an ending for the TV show. On March 30, 2021, the final episode made an “important announcement” concerning the future of the anime series.
This announcement was a Black Clover movie called Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard, which will have an original story rather than directly continuing the manga canon of the TV series. The Black Clover movie release date is confirmed for March 31, 2023.
What’s shocking is that both the Japanese movie theater premiere and the worldwide Netflix premiere of Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King are happening on the same day, so it’s uncertain whether there will be an international premiere of the Black Clover movie English dub in USA, Canada, UK, etc. movie theaters.
It is possible that more details will be forthcoming about the future of the anime TV series when the film premieres in March 2023. (See the news story in the link for more details about the movie).
What is inevitable is that Shonen Jump will renew Black Clover, but will the fifth season also be the Black Clover anime’s ending (unless a Black Clover Saga 2 comes out)?
In late April 2022, Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine indicated that the Black Clover manga’s final story arc could begin in Summer 2022. Assuming the manga’s ending is within 100 chapters of the major plot twist in Black Clover 331, that’s only enough source material for around 40 episodes in total.
Studio Pierrot has typically released the anime cours back-to-back without any major broadcasting break and each numbered consisted of a year of episodes. The longest, Season 3, had 52 episodes, while the shortest, Season 4, only had 16 episodes despite introducing anime-original stories (filler episodes).
Therefore, it seems reasonable to predict that Black Clover Season 5 will finish adapting the manga’s final chapter. The only question is when.
The Black Clover anime has been popular on streaming platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu, and FUNimation Now (the Black Clover English dub), which is important since streaming revenue has become the biggest source of revenue in the last several years.
The anime is considered one of the Big 3 in addition to One Piece and Boruto (some might argue that MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 anime, which already found major success with the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, could make it the Big 4.)
The Black Clover Season 5 anime will be produced by animation Studio Pierrot, which is well known for Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and then its successor, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Studio Pierrot also animated the Tokyo Ghoul anime series and the 2020 Akudama Drive anime. The Bleach Season 17: Thousand-Year Blood War release date was in Fall 2022. The Kingdom Season 5 anime release date is also scheduled for 2024.
Once Black Clover Episode 153 released there were some major changes to the main production staff.
Director Tatsuya Yoshihara was replaced by Ayataka Tanemura. It’s his first time being the main director, but he was the Assistant Director for over 100 Black Clover Episodes (28 – 152). In the past, he’s also been an episode director for Devilman Crybaby and other anime projects.
Series composition writer Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Is The Order A Rabbit?) is being replaced by Kanichi Katou. The writer has previously penned the Squishy! Black Clover anime short episodes in addition to the main series’ Episode 84.
Otherwise, he’s best known for writing the script for Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 2 and the Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun anime series (the Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun Season 2 release date is in 2021).
Artist Itsuko Takeda is the character designer. Composer Minako Seki is creating the music.
- Updated December 7, 2022: Added Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King key visual.
- Updated October 5, 2022: New Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King movie info leaked.
Updated April 21, 2022: Black Clover manga’s final story arc reportedly starts in Summer 2022.
Updated March 9, 2022: Added Black Clover release time frame.
Updated December 19, 2021: Added new Black Clover movie visual and new info.
Updated March 30, 2021: Added Black Clover Episode 170 announcement video.
This article provides everything that is known about Black Clover Season 5 (Black Clover 2023) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Black Clover Season 5 release date predictions: Is late 2023 likely?
As of the last update, Avex Pictures, Studio Pierrot, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Black Clover Season 5 release date. Nor has the production of an anime TV series sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Black Clover Season 5 premiere date will occur in the future.
The fifth season will premiere with the Black Clover Episode 171 release date. The Black Clover Season 5 anime was not discussed during the announcement on March 30, 2021. Unfortunately, this wasn’t too surprising considering the previous seasonal announcements.
The renewal of the third season wasn’t officially announced until shortly before the second season ended. Even then, the first official word was from the anime director on Twitter. FUNimation announced the fourth season on Twitter in October 2020, only months before it premiered.
Studio Pierrot has been releasing new Black Clover episodes with few breaks (that are unrelated to COVID-19). For example, the studio took a one-week break for New Year’s 2021, which meant that the Black Clover Episode 158 release date was on January 5, 2021.
Why would the studio end the fourth season with Episode 170 after only 16 episodes, making Black Clover fans feel like Attack On Titan fans? The first two seasons were 51 episodes each, whereas the third season had 52 episodes and ended with Episode 154.
The main issue is that the anime is quickly catching up on the manga series. There are no more convenient story gaps in which to place anime original content and they probably don’t want to break up a major war story arc with filler episodes.
The secondary issue is that Episode 133 was delayed from May 2020 to July 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19 on the anime industry. It’s possible that ongoing COVID waves are causing further delays and Studio Pierrot realized a seasonal break would be necessary in order to keep up with a weekly production schedule.
A third issue is that Studio Pierrot is committed to making the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime, which is confirmed to be 4 cours. As previously noted, the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War release date was in October 2022.
It’s also very likely that future seasons of the Black Clover TV show will be planned around major story arcs. That could mean the anime TV series will have definite seasonal breaks rather than running annually from one season into the next. Or, the plan is to wait until manga Saga 1 is almost complete so that Black Clover Season 5 will be perfectly timed to coincide with the Black Clover manga’s final chapter.
Since the goal is likely to give the manga creator even more time to create new chapters then the best-case scenario is 2023. Assuming that the anime TV series is released months after the movie, it’s possible the Black Clover Season 5 release date will be in late 2023, although that prediction assumes the Black Clover movie comes out in Spring/Summer 2023.
Black Clover manga’s ending is likely in 2024
The story for the anime is based on the Black Clover manga by writer and illustrator Yuki Tabata. Published in Weekly Shonen Jump since 2015, new tankobon format volumes are released regularly every year.
The Black Clover manga’s ending is now on the horizon now that the final arc was announced in April 2022. But ending so soon may have not always been the plan.
In a March 2019 interview, Tabata had reached the milestone of 200 chapters, and he was asked how he maintained his motivation.
“Well, there are a lot of people looking forward to the next chapter, I hope, so that motivates me. Plus there’s a lot of stories that I still want to tell, so that keeps me going,” Tabata replied. “Oh, and my wife wants me to keep it up. She wants me to keep working.”
In mid-April 2022, it was reported that Tabata would be taking a 3-month-long hiatus to prepare for starting the “Final Arc/Chapter”. This Black Clover hiatus was supposed to start with Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 23, 2022, which comes out on May 9, 2022. The publishing break will last for three months until August 2022, which is in Summer 2022.
Keep in mind that Tabata had previously said in a 2018 French interview that the “first arc ends soon”. Since the Spade Kingdom Raid arc was Arc 10, Tabata’s previous statement has been interpreted to mean that Arc 11 was merely the final arc in the first saga.
But Tabata hasn’t hinted at how many chapters the final arc will be in the overall story for the entire series nor has he mentioned ideas for a climax or ending (presumably, Asta becomes the Wizard King at the ending).
Tabata has also claimed in the past that he’d like to match the long-running Naruto manga series, which ran for over 700 chapters. Assuming that a Black Clover Saga 2 sequel is still on his mind, that means Black Clover’s ending is at least 10 years away.
On the other hand, it’s possible that Tabata changed his mind four years later after the French interview, especially since he began experiencing health problems during that time frame. That could mean he really is shooting for ending the entire manga rather than just the first Saga.
The wording of the announcement also carries with it a hint of finality. The Japanese Kanji symbols used for Black Clover’s final arc announcement is 最終章, which literally translates into English as “The Final Chapter”. This was the same exact Kanji used by Weekly Jump for announcing the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War final arc.
That doesn’t mean we should expect Black Clover’s final arc to be over 200 chapters. But the final chapters will probably number higher than previous story arcs, possibly close to 100 chapters. As such, it’s predicted that the Black Clover manga’s ending will be in 2024.
Black Clover Episode 171 should return to manga canon story arcs
At first, Studio Pierrot was adapting the manga’s story with slow pacing in order to maintain an annual release schedule. Most of the earlier anime episodes rely on manga canon, although there is often some extra filler content in episodes.
The first season had a few entire episodes that were filler, including episodes 3 and 29. The first season adapted 75 chapters, while the second season increased the pacing slightly by adapting up through Chapter 159 of Volume 17.
In addition to the original content in episodes 66, 68, and 82, the second season even adapted author Johnny Onda’s light novel The Book Of The Black Bulls by introducing the character Fanzell in Episodes 55 and 56.
The action-filled third season pumped up the pacing, adapting three to five chapters per episode. By April 2020, the third season was mostly manga canon with the exception of Black Clover Episodes 123, 124, 130, 131, 134, and 135.
By Episode 129, the third season had adapted all the way up through Volume 23: Chapter 228. Considering that the third season was quickly catching up with the latest manga chapters, Studio Pierrot was forced to introduce original content into the fourth season in addition to filler episodes.
Fortunately, rather than being entirely a filler arc, the studio turned to manga creator Tabata, who created a Black Clover anime canon arc based on the 6-month training arc in Heart Kingdom. The manga’s story provides the perfect setup, so the anime canon episodes didn’t feel unnatural.
Asta and the Black Bulls are exploring the Heart Kingdom. There, they hear about a threat pertaining to the Spade Kingdom invading the Clover and Heart kingdoms, so everyone begins training for several months.
In the manga, there is a time gap since the training is not depicted at all. Black Clover Episode 123 through 25 started a multi-part filler arc. Then Black Clover Episodes 130, 132, 133, and 136 through 157 introduced Tabat’s anime canon arc that fleshed out the characters.
But then it was announced that Black Clover Episode 158: The Beginning of Hope and Despair is named after manga Chapter 229. That meant the anime finally returned to manga canon. Episode 162 corresponds to manga Chapters 239 through 243, which is when the great war between the Clover and Spade Kingdoms began.
Here’s a guide to how the anime’s ending in 2021 adapted the manga chapters:
- Black Clover Episode 159: Quiet Lakes and Forest Shadows – Chapter 232
- Black Clover Episode 160: The Messenger from Spade Kingdom – Chapter 234
- Black Clover Episode 161: Zeno’s Power – Chapter 238
- Black Clover Episode 162: The Great War Breaks Out – Chapter 240
- Black Clover Episode 163: Dante vs. the Captain of the Black Bulls – Chapter 245
- Black Clover Episode 164: Battlefield Heart Kingdom – Chapter 247
- Black Clover Episode 165: Water Crusade – Chapter 252
- Black Clover Episode 166: Captain Yami Sukehiro – Chapter 256
- Black Clover Episode 167: Black Oath – Chapter 258
- Black Clover Episode 168: Stirrings of the Strongest – Chapter 264
- Black Clover Episode 169: The Devil-Binding Ritual – Chapter 267
- Black Clover Episode 170: Faraway Future (Haruka Mirai)
Here is the Black Clover Episode 170 story summary:
“Due to the spell Nacht used, the devil who gave power to Asta until then has now shown up. To master the power of the devil, Asta must make the devil give in after battling and defeating him. Suddenly, Asta does something especially crazy.
“Meanwhile, Yuno, Noelle, and the others are trying to get even more power in order to take their revenge against the Dark Triad. To get back Yami and those who were taken away, to save the world from the threat of the devils, a new story begins now!”
Black Clover 170 finished by adapting manga Chapters 268, 269, 270, and 272.
As predicted, that means Black Clover Episode 171 will pick up the story again with the story events leading to manga Chapter 273: Day of Destiny. A group from the Clover Kingdom going to the Spade Kingdom.
Black Clover 2022 anime break was necessary to avoid filler episodes for Arc 11
Fans of the manga were surprised to hear that there would only be three episodes of actual Heart Kingdom Training. Although returning to manga canon was a cause to celebrate, some felt the anime canon arc ended too quickly.
The manga was only up to Black Clover Chapter 278 by the time Episode 158 was streaming. With a lead of only 49 chapters, the anime would have caught up with the manga in 25 weeks (roughly Episode 183) assuming Tabata didn’t take a hiatus and the anime’s pacing averages about three chapters per episode.
(It could have been sooner since the manga chapters were shorter in 2020. Also, Tabata had a child with his wife in July 2019. Due to health problems, he’s taken multiple hiatus in 2020, 2021 and 2022.)
Arguably, the anime canon Heart Kingdom training arc should have been longer. Black Clover Arc 10 is literally a war, making it difficult to introduce another filler/anime canon arc.
Pierrot has a history of introducing filler in the middle of war arcs like they did with Naruto. But in the case of Black Clover Arc 10 and 11, Pierrot must have decided that there really isn’t a good stopping point.
(Keep in mind that if a Black Clover sequel happens that it’s possible Tabata has communicated his story layout to Pierrot and there is an upcoming time gap that begins Black Clover Saga 2.)
Another option would be to introduce a side story that runs concurrently with the main events. If that’s the case, it would make sense to produce the Black Clover movie as an original story rather than as manga canon.
Needless to say, filler arcs are not going away completely any time soon. Let’s just hope the planned broadcasting break isn’t too long and that they confirm their plans for Black Clover Season 5 in 2022. Stay tuned!