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In a point in time where there is a plethora of shonen manga to read, each with some unique aspect or approach that at least tries to make things different and/or original, Black Clover manages to be the most derivative, bland, uninspired and predictable of the current, "relevant/popular" shonen mangas.
Having read upwards of 300 chapters, there hasnt been one time which I was surprised by an outcome of a battle or plot point, anyone with half a brain cell can see everything that happens from a mile away. Every potential high stakes conflict or curveball that the manga throws at you, ends up being solved ... in the most unimaginative, inconsequential way possible.
Reading Black Clover is like watching a replay of an awful sporting event. You know everything that is going to happen, and it doesnt captivate you. 95% of the roster is as one dimentional as a black dot, almost an amalgamation of most archetypes in shonen manga so some perverted version of a character checklist ticks every mark, with as much character progression as one would have with a pet rock.
If only to say something positive, some of the art and character design really shows competence, as well as some artwork and panels featured in the work

Tl;dr: read something else, you ain't missing out on anything

Shonen in general tends to be a genre that either hits a certain mark or it doesnt. There is no real criteria as to what shows you will enjoy or hate. I really loved this show.
Being familiar with the manga before starting to watch it, I had high hopes for the anime, and boy did my expectations get blown away
you can see that the team at MAPPA really did their best to deliver an incredibly well-made show. It hits all the expected shonen boxes, yet I cant help ... but feel like it succeeds where many others fail, either by overexplaining the world aorund them, or by ignoring too much of said world, focusing solely in the protagonist and how the story revolves around him. For me, JJK hits the balance between the overpowered protagonist and a bland one (Yuji regularly fails and has to deal with said failures, many times growing him as a character in these moments, making him stronger. Most times, he is a player in a bigger game, and he pretty much never ends up being the magical solution for the problems the story presents). Tone-wise, it is a bit "darker" than other shonens (specially down the line, in the manga), tho it doesn´t cross any extra edgy limits, refraining from trying too hard.
The cast is interesting, although it is up to the spectator to form connections with the characters, I indeed felt the cast and the world really mingled in a beautiful way, with all the deeper moments being complemented with an outstanding animation and soundtrack.
Overall, I highly recomend this show. I havent enjoyed many shonens in the last couple of years, but somehow this one did captivate me in an unexpected way. With a prequel movie coming (Vol 0) and an innevitable new season maybe next year, we have much to expect for JJK's future, be it in the TV or in the manga (which I, once again, surely recommend if you enjoyed this season).
For my experience, making me fall in love with the genre warrants it a 10/10, even with its flaws. I hope people enjoy the show as much as I did, and continue to support GeGe's work!

I have never done a review in this site, but this anime made me do one... What may look like a generic anime about sports ( Who thinks ping pong is brutally awesome, you know?) with an awfull art ends up being one of the most harmonic pieces of art i have experienced... The fact that this short anime is so "underground" is quite sad, in my opinion. Everything fits in each episode: the desing and art matches the flow and feel of the anime, as if the whole series was just an animated sketch, but instead of giving a vibe of ... half-assed work, it gives an uniqueness to the anime.
If you enjoy watching an anime that shows just how humans work, their flaws and ambitions and how that can influence how happy you actually are, while also enjoying some intense ping pong matches listening to a very well composed soundtrack, do not miss this anime!