Is ‘Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King’ canon?

The anime and manga success of Yuki Tabata’s Black Clover has left very few people indifferent. It’s unsurprising, then, that the franchise is getting its first feature-length installment, titled Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King.

The animated film will continue to follow Asta and Yuno’s journey as the two work toward becoming the next Wizard King. Standing in their way, however, is Conrad Leto, one of the previous Wizard Kings who has been resurrected, and plans to gain control over the Clover Kingdom by bringing other Wizards back from the dead. A juicy premise, no doubt, but that has left fans wondering how it fits into the timeline, and if it even is considered canon.

Is Sword of the Wizard King part of the manga canon?

Answering this question is more complicated than one might think, as it all depends on how folks define the canon. For manga purists, Sword of the Wizard King cannot be considered canon, since the events depicted in the movie were not portrayed in the source material. Fans who are open to a bit more flexibility, though, will argue that the story is canon due to it taking place between volumes 23 and 24 of the Black Clover manga. Aiding their case is the fact that a limited edition book — known as volume 23.5 — will be made available to theatergoers during the film’s opening week in Japan.

Volume 23.5 will include character designs, interviews with the movie’s voice actors, and more importantly, a short story to tie in the movie’s events with the manga’s timeline. The catch, however, is that the story has been written by Johnny Onda, the film’s screenwriter, and not Yuki Tabata. For some fans, the fact that Tabata was involved in the movie is simply not enough, and if he didn’t put the storyline into the manga, nothing that he or the anime team does now will make it part of the original canon. That ship has sailed.

In conclusion, there’s no definitive answer as to whether or not Sword of the Wizard King is canon, as it depends on who you ask. Some might even call it semi-canon. At the end of the day, though, the film is part of the anime’s canon. but should be treated as more of a side-quest, since it will likely not affect the story’s main plot. Canon or not, it can still be enjoyed by all Black Clover enthusiasts.

Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King premieres on June 16.