He’s loud.  He’s proud.  And he wants to be the Wizard King in the land of the Clover Kingdom.

His name is Asta.  And nothing is going to stop him.  Or so he thinks.

There’s at least three problems.

• His fellow orphan friend, the level-headed Yuno, wants to be the Wizard King, too.
• A lot of other mages want to be the Wizard King.
• Asta has no magic.  Or at least, no magic he can self-generate.

Such is the scenario of Black Clover, a fantasy action-adventure shōnen series. It was created, written and illustrated as a manga by Yuki Tabata, first serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in February 2015, then Jump Giga in December 2023 and completed in May 2026.  The story was compiled in 38 tankobon volumes, with sales of 24.5 million copies by June 2026.  

An original video animation adaptation, made by Xebec Zwei, premiered in 2016.  Shortly thereafter, Studio Pierrot produced a 170-episode TV series, lasting from Octrober 2, 2017 to March 30, 2021, followed by a theatrical feature in June 2023, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King.  A second season will be released in October 2026.

Asta is voiced by Gakuto Kajiwara, who has over 140 credits listed on IMDb.  Among them are Orb Military Diver C in Gundam Build Divers (2018), Goblin D. Bogzo in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018), Shinra Kusakabe in Fire Force (2019) and Liu Bei Unicorn Gundam in SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden (2020) and SD Gundam World Heroes (2021), plus various video games and at least two drama CDs.  He won Best New Actor Award at the 14^th Seiyu Awards on March 8, 2020.  That same year, he made his musical debut as a singer.

At Anime Expo 2026, Crunchyroll arranged an interview with Kajiwara as well as assistant  director Ayataka Tanemura, now director for the second season.  Tomo Tran interpreted for us.

I was told to submit questions in advance, to facilitate the translation process.  Some were asked to be removed prior to the interview, and more were yanked at the time of the interview, even though they had been earlier approved.  Which was surprising, considering the innocuous nature of the questions.  It should be noted that there were others in the room, representatives from Crunchyroll, licensees and sponsors.  The censored questions were:

• How did Black Clover become an anime?  When did it begin production?
• How has anime improved in quality since the days of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) and Mach Go Go Go (Speed Racer)?
• Do you lip sync to already-finished animation or do you record dialogue that is later animated?
• Is the whole cast assembled for the recording session or are your sessions arranged on an individual basis?
• How much time in advance of the broadcast do you record?

Go figure.

Fortunately I had enough questions to cover our allotted time of 15 minutes, and Kajiwara and Tanemura were gracious with their answers.

Bob Miller: How did Black Clover become an anime?

Tomo Tran: Oh, I think that one, X that out.

Bob Miller: Let’s go to the next one. What do you think is the secret behind Black Clover’s popularity? What makes it so appealing?

Gakuto Kajiwara: I think one of the biggest strengths of Black Clover is the way it portrays Asta’s way of life. He starts out with absolutely no power at all, yet through his own hard work he continues to grow. The series does an excellent job of depicting that journey, and I think that’s something a great many people can easily relate to.

Beyond that, there’s the fantasy setting and the magic. Those elements are presented in a very straightforward, sincere way, so the story speaks directly to the audience’s hearts. I think it’s the kind of series that speaks directly to people’s hearts.

Ayataka Tanemura: Asta’s perseverance is incredible. Of course, he experiences setbacks and failures, but the friends around him help him, and he always gets back on his feet. His “never give up” attitude is a huge part of the appeal, and the exciting magical action battles that result from that make the series a lot of fun. I think those are the biggest reasons for its popularity. 

Miller: Mr. Tanemura, what inspired you to become an anime director?

Tanemura: When I was a university student, I decided I wanted to work in this industry. The biggest reason was seeing the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai. Watching their films made me want to create animation myself, so I entered the industry. 

Miller: How did you come to direct Black Clover?

Tanemura: Originally, I was serving as an episode director on the series. When Mr. [Tatsuya] Yoshihara moved on to another project, I was chosen to take over as director.

Miller: So it was essentially a promotion? You were promoted to the main director?

Tanemura: [Explains that the overall director supervises the production, while individual episodes have their own episode directors working under the overall director.]

Miller: So your responsibilities changed?

Tanemura: Yes. My responsibilities changed. 

Miller: In Episode 6, Yami Sukehiro (Captain of the Black Bull Squad) says Asta’s voice and his size are all out of proportion. Asta is a very loud character. During recording, do you do anything to protect your throat?

Kajiwara: Honestly, not really. Actually, my throat is in bad shape today.

Early in my career, I damaged my voice quite often, but as I gained experience, I got used to it and it stopped happening as much. Lately, though, I’ve become more susceptible to catching colds, and if I have a cold and have to shout, I end up hurting my voice. So I think I probably need to start taking better care of my throat. 

Miller: How long are the recording sessions?

Kajiwara: Usually about three hours per episode.

Miller: So do you lip-sync to already finished animation?

Tomo Tran: That one’s X’d out, too. Sorry.

Miller: Okay. Is the whole cast assembled for the recording session?

Tomo Tran: Oh, that one’s X’d out, too. Sorry.

Miller: How do you prepare for a recording session?

Kajiwara: I receive both the script and the video, but I intentionally save the video for last. At first, I only read the script. I keep reading the script over and over, practicing the dialogue and thinking about the meaning behind every line.

The video is almost like a bonus—I only check it near the end. The visuals contain so much information that I don’t want them to influence my performance too early. I’d rather let my imagination develop naturally from the script. 

Miller: For both of you: Is there anything you wish you had known when you started your careers?

Kajiwara: How to scream. If I’d known the proper techniques back then, I think I would have struggled less and probably given better performances. 

Tanemura: For me, it’s not so much something that I wish I had known. When I entered the industry, there wasn’t nearly as much information available on the Internet. I actually started out as an animator, and all of my animation and drawing practice was done on paper.

Information was scarce, so if you wanted to improve, you had to pay to attend school or learn directly from someone. Today, people share an incredible amount of knowledge on YouTube and social media. I think young creators today are really fortunate. The fact that people can improve so much faster nowadays is something I really admire about this era. 

Miller: Okay. Well, domo arigato. Thank you for your time.

Kajiwara: Thank you so much.

The Black Clover television series carries a content rating of TV-PG, due to fantasy violence, frightening imagery, and occasional suggestive or mature material.  The feature Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King is rated TV-14 by Netflix for fantasy/action violence, including extensive magical combat, some blood and injuries, along with profanity and some suggestive imagery.

Special thanks to Stephanie Wong, Senior Publicist, Streaming Content & Awards, and her team from Crunchyroll: Blake Shuster, Pamela Abeka, Kaitlin Hargrove, Taylor Cocke, and Cameron Winston.