Oda, Kishimoto, And Kubo Celebrate Black Clover’s 10 Year Anniversary

It’s honestly hard to believe that Yuki Tabata’s anime and manga series, Black Clover, has been in publication for 10 whole years, considering it feels like just yesterday that the action-packed shonen series was taking the anime world by storm. As is tradition in the Jump magazine, this momentous occasion has been recognized and celebrated by several well-known manga authors, including the highly influential big three; Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, and Eiichiro Oda.

As most manga anime fans will be well aware, these three legendary artists all have their own unique styles when it comes to designs, so it’s always fascinating to see how they replicate characters from other popular series into their own worlds. Usually, these types of illustrations are most commonly seen when a series reaches its final chapter, but while Black Clover is still going strong with its manga, it does still feel appropriate to celebrate reaching such an impressive milestone considering a lot of shonen manga these days struggle to reach the decade mark. Here’s a closer look at how Oda, Kishimoto and Kubo have gone about paying their own personal tributes to the immensely popular and influential Black Clover series.

Asta Channels His Inner Luffy

And He’s Ready To Set Sail On An Adventure

Despite being in the manga industry for over 20 years at this point, Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, clearly hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to his illustrations, as this image of Asta proves, being a real feast for the eyes. Oda’s done an amazing job here at replicating the core features of the character, primarily the fuzzy white hair and giant Demon Sword, while also inserting a few of his own signature traits that help the protagonist stand out.

For example, it’s very easy to tell that this is an Oda image from the character’s eyes, which makes Asta look like he’s determined to set off on a brand-new adventure due to the eagerness on his face. Of course, it’s also hard to ignore the giant wide smile which Oda is very well known for, and which honestly suits Asta pretty well, considering he’s a lot more joyful than a lot of anime protagonists.

SinceOne Piece is currently in its Elbaf arc, which is heavily based around Norse mythology, it does feel as though Oda tried to channel some of that inspiration into this design, where Asta can be seen wearing a more traditional outfit than would often be seen in One Piece. Overall, it’s a dazzling heartfelt love letter to a series which Oda has no doubt been keeping his eye on ever since it first started publication back in 2015.

Naruto’s Clones Are Here To Help

Aisa Is Put In A Precarious Position With Naruto

Masashi Kishimoto, on the other hand, has decided to go for a slightly more comedic illustration by surrounding Asta with a bunch of Naruto shadow clones. Usually, Naruto himself would use these clones to power up his Rasengan, or to at least help him out in an intense fight, but this time around, they can be seen all working together to try and lift Asta’s giant sword, which is a clever detail considering Naruto never carries a sword in his own story, so it would definitely be a new experience for him.

Adding this comedic factor prevents the artwork from being too flat or boring, as it instead allows Naruto’s own infectious charisma to rub off on Asta himself, who also looks downright jaw-dropping in Kishimoto’s art style. It’s no secret that the designs of Naruto are heavily influenced by Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, and while Kishimoto has settled into his own style as the years have gone on, it’s still very clear from the facial structures and poses that this series still plays a big influence on how he draws.

It’s also just great to see Kishimoto flexing his creative muscles so many years after the Naruto manga officially ended. It’s pretty clear that he still has a knack for drawing, especially when it comes to his characters’ expressions, but for this image, all focus is on Asta, who honestly looks like he would slot into the Naruto story like a glove.

Zora Looks Like He’s Attending An Espada Meeting

An Appropriately Dark, Mysterious And Subdued Illustration From Kubo

Unlike the previous two manga authros, Tite Kubo instead decided not to focus on Black Clover’s protagonist, but to instead shine a dim light on Zora. This actually makes a lot of sense considering that Kubo’s characters tend to look very mature in their designs, being known for their long limbs and stylish poses, so Zora is the perfect character for him to use as a blank canvas.

While Zora is already considered pretty devious in the Black Clover story, Kubo takes this part of his character to a whole new level by shrouding the villain in a blanket of darkness. Kubo also makes good use of his shading skills to emphasize not only Zora’s devilish face and eyes, but also the giant mask that covers his mouth, which almost resembles the Hollow Masks worn by the deadly Arrancar that appear in Bleach’s main story. If anything, he looks like he just stepped out of one of the Espada’s formal business meetings.

Kubo always has a talent for nailing the vibe and aesthetic of a character anytime he tries to replicate them, and while his more serious and brooding designs don’t always quite fit the character in question, it definitely works this time around for Zora. Dark, sinister, but all so eye-catching, this is one of those images that Black Clover fans will never be able to forget about.

Source: Crunchyroll

Black Clover

Release Date

2017 – 2021

Network

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC

Directors

Matsuo Asami, Rokou Ogiwara, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Akira Shimizu, Fumio Maezono, Daisuke Chiba, Toshihiro Maeya, Yoshimitsu Tsuda, Toshiaki Kanbara, Takahiro Enokida, Yasumi Mikamoto, Kenichi Maejima, Chihiro Kumano, Naoki Horiuchi, Yoshino Miwa

Writers

Kanichi Kato, Mio Inoue, Masanao Akahoshi, Momoko Murakami, Kunihiko Okada

Franchise(s)

Black Clover

• 

  Gakuto Kajiwara

  Asta (voice)

• 

  Nobunaga Shimazaki

  Yuno (voice)