Because of the
Mediocre. These episodes feel like a holding pattern. The animation quality dips, the villains are forgettable, and the stakes feel artificial. For a weekly viewer, this was purgatory. For a binge-watcher, it’s a speed bump. 2. The Training Camp from Hell (Episodes 29, 66, 80, etc.) Black Clover is sneaky. It rarely does multi-episode filler arcs. Instead, it injects single-episode fillers into canon arcs. how much filler does black clover have
While not "filler" in the plot sense, these structural repetitions make the first 30 episodes feel like they are 51% recycled content. Viewers conflate "slow pacing" with "filler." Once the show hits the Seabed Temple arc (Episode 40), this problem vanishes, but the damage to the show's reputation was already done. The most brilliant decision Black Clover made was ending the anime. Because of the Mediocre
Similarly, the anime expands the "Royal Knights Arc" with a prolonged training camp (Episodes 80-84) that teeters on the edge of filler. While some character moments (Luck vs. Magna) are good, the obstacle course feels like busy work. Here is where Black Clover outsmarts the traditional filler model. Unlike Naruto ’s "Ostrich Ninja" episodes (which are entirely non-canon and never referenced again), Black Clover uses expansion. For a weekly viewer, this was purgatory
By ending the weekly serialization, Black Clover avoided the filler death spiral entirely. The upcoming movie ( Sword of the Wizard King ) is also canon-adjacent, written by Tabata himself, which is a level of author involvement most filler never gets. For completionists: Yes. The filler arcs are short (6 episodes total). You will lose nothing but a few hours. The training episodes offer minor character bonding that the manga skips.