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One of the most interesting aspects of the Black Clover series is the numerous interactions and subsequent pairings that the characters go through. While both typically line up fairly well, there are times when the fandom sees something which series’ author and illustrator Yuki Tabata didn’t at first.
One such Black Clover ship was that of Yami Sukehiro and Charlotte Roselei, both of whom are Magic Knight Squad Captains. While some authors may have tried and suppressed this shipping rather than encouraging it, Tabata took a particularly unique approach when it came to this pairing.
Follow along as this article fully breaks down how Tabata turned Black Clover's most unproblematic ship into one of the series’ best jokes.
How Yami and Charlotte's relationship in Black Clover went from far-fetched fan dream to the series’ best long-running gag
When the Black Clover manga finally broke through its fledgling stages of serialization and established itself as a here-to-stay series, Tabata began experimenting more with his story. New characters, new nations, and new enemies were introduced within a span of a couple dozen issues, ballooning the world in all aspects, especially character interactions.
One such interaction which resonated with fans was that of Charlotte Roselei and Yami Sukehiro, two Magic Knight Squad Captains who seemingly had nothing in common. While Tabata’s initial introduction of the two and their subsequent interactions made it seem like they hate each other, fans ignored this and continued shipping the pair.
Furthermore, it was one of the series’ less problematic ships which fans had popularized at the time. Many were primarily pushing the Sister Lily and Asta agenda, with others advocating for Yuno and Sister Lily, or even Asta and Yuno with various other older characters as well. Needless to say, such shipping can be problematic when taken too far, which some say it was.
Nevertheless, Black Clover fans’ pairing of Yami and Charlotte made for a particularly interesting case. It was both a near-universally popular pair amongst fans, as well as one which would be appropriate to introduce into the series’ canon. Thus, with the reveal of Charlotte’s backstory, Tabata canonized this ship in a baby-steps stage by establishing Charlotte’s love for Yami.
However, rather than simply give fans everything they wanted all at once, Tabata made the incredibly smart decision to draw out their getting together. As of this article’s writing, even in the contemporary Black Clover series, the two still haven’t ended up together. In fact, Yami was only recently seen acknowledgeding that Charlotte is in love with him.
Thus, Tabata instead decided to turn Charlotte’s romantic feelings for Yami into a joke, introducing the socially uneducated side of the latter in the process. No matter how clear it is to everyone else that Charlotte loves Yami, he never could quite seem to pick up on it, even when she ran away at the very sight of him entering her bedroom.
Not only did Tabata successfully adapt this fan-ship into a joke, he also managed to make it one of the most consistently successful, enjoyable, and well-appreciated gags in the entire series. Whereas some other aspects of Black Clover’s humor may fall flat depending on the audience, Yami and Charlotte’s relationship is one joke that never seems to get old.
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