The Black Clover Season 5 anime will continue Asta’s quest in the Spade Kingdom. But when will the fifth season come out?

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, which is reportedly coming out in 2023. It possible that more details will be forthcoming in the future about the anime TV series when the film premieres. (See the news story for more details about the movie).

With all this talk about the Black Clover anime ending, what does that mean for Black Clover Season 5?

What is inevitable is that Shonen Jump will renew Black Clover, but it will probably be a seasonal production rather than annual seasons. The anime is considered one of the Big 3 in addition to One Piece and Boruto (here’s hoping 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 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 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 Kingdom Season 3 anime is also scheduled to return in 2021 after being delayed by COVID-19.

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 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 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 should be multiple cours. The Bleach Season 17 release date is scheduled for Fall 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.

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 early 2023.

Black Clover manga’s ending is many years away

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 nowhere in sight. 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.”

Tabata has said that Arc 11 is the final arc in the first saga. But he hasn’t hinted at how far he is into the overall story nor has he mentioned ideas for a climax or ending (presumably, Asta becomes the Wizard King at the ending).

Tabata has also claimed that he’d like to match the long-running Naruto manga series, which ran for over 700 chapters. That means Black Clover’s ending is at least 10 years away.

Black Clover Episode 158 returns to manga canon story arcs in 2021

At first, Studio Pierrot was adapting the manga’s story with a 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 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 Episode 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 Episode 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 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 recently had a child with his wife and he’s taken a hiatus in 2020, so he could take another break in 2021.)

Arguably, the anime canon Heart Kingdom training arc should have been longer. Black Clover Arc 11 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 11, Pierrot must have decided that there really isn’t a good stopping point.

It’s possible Tabata has communicated his story layout to Pierrot and there is an upcoming time gap.

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!