Will Black Clover 317 be a longer chapter with more information than recent Black Clover chapters?

Tabata Yuki’s Black Clover released its chapter 317 on December 12. Since Black Clover has not been reported to be going on a break this week, chapter 317 can be expected to release on December 19, with spoilers coming in around December 16.

Caution: This article contains spoilers!

However, with the release of chapter 316, fans have started to notice a glaring problem in the Black Clover manga: the chapters are getting shorter, with more visually impressive panels that give readers very little information or plot advancement. This has led to fans speculating if Black Clover 317 will be another such chapter, now that Lucifero’s manifestation has been cut in half.

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Are the Black Clover chapters getting shorter with increasingly fewer dialogs?

Black Clover 316

While chapter 316 was beyond impressive in terms of art and detailing, we got very little plot wise. Asta and Liebe enter devil union and use their Fourth Sword “Demon Slasher: Infinity Slash” Equinox to cut Lucifero in half and rescue Yami and William. This is too little in terms of information, but too much in terms of plot advancement. Even in chapters as recent as Black Clover chapters 270 or 290, such a development would take 3-5 chapters, while giving away more information in a single page.

Compared to Black Clover chapter 100, which has 17 pages including two full spreads, or even chapter 290, which has 14 pages including 4 full spreads, every chapter from Black Clover 309 onwards has had only 12-13 pages with a maximum of 2 full spreads. The most dialog-heavy chapter recently was Chapter 314, where part of Yami Sukehiro’s past was shown.

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Why chapters are likely getting shorter

Yuno vs Zenon (Image via mor3color)

Granted, Black Clover is currently in an action-dominated arc and that most of the fight sequences require detailed, intricate artwork. Panels like Yuno overpowering Zenon in Black Clover 310 or Megicula unleashing the devils in chapter 301 must require at least five times the effort or time than a regular panel.

Magicula's devils (Image via Shonen Jump)

It can be argued that recent chapters of Black Clover move fast, as readers have gone from the Black Bulls coming to Save Yami to the destruction of Lucifero’s manifestation in 6 chapters.

However, fans argue that these plot points need to be fleshed out more. The plot moves rapidly, but Tabata seems to have adapted a policy of “show not tell” following the footsteps of Tite Kubo in Bleach’s last few arcs, and less and less information is being allotted to the reader in every episode.

Yuno's Star Magic (Image via Shonen Jump)

For example, during Yuno’s defeat of Zenon, Yuno’s use of Star Magic is explained in detail. In comparison, during Asta’s infinity Slash Equinox, only the choice factor of Demon Slasher’s attack is told, it is not even explained.

Asta's Infinity Slash Equinox (Image via Shonen Jump)

Granted, with the information we already have on Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash Equinox, it is possible to infer that Asta just replaced Yami’s Dark Magic with his Anti Magic, but no additional information is available. Black Clover 316 takes no more than 2 minutes to read for the average reader, and has less information than a single panel in chapter 311.

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Speculations of Black Clover 317

Now that Lucifero’s Manifestation has been destroyed by Asta and Liebe, and the immediate threat to the citizens’ lives have been dealt with, it can be assumed that the manga will move into more dialog heavy chapters at a slower pace. With Yami and Vangeance taken out of the Qilphoth channel, Lucifer’s source of power should be disrupted, leading to a more in-person battle with the Protagonists.

Black Clover chapter 316 is available for reading on Viz.com and Manga Plus, however only the latest three chapters can be read for free. Black Clover chapter 317 is slated to be released on December 19 (December 18 for some regions) on the same platforms.