11 Hype-Filled Anime Like Black Clover to Binge as Asta Returns

Burned through Black Clover and need more of that loud, underdog-powered magic? Plenty of anime like Black Clover bring it: a hero everyone counts out, a fierce rival dragging him higher, a squad that turns into family, and a world where power decides everything. No show copies Asta's exact grimoire, but the closest ones nail what made you fall for it: the magic, the rivalry, or the refusal to quit.

The timing could not be better. After the original anime wrapped in 2021 and left only the Sword of the Wizard King movie in between, the series returns this October with a brand-new season on Crunchyroll, picking up right where it left off. So it is less about filling a void and more about readying your watchlist before the hype train leaves. Still catching up? Our Black Clover filler list points to the parts that matter.

We ranked these from closest match to loosest, judged on one thing: how much each shares Black Clover's actual build, an underdog grinding up a ranked magic order, pushed by a rival and a squad. There is a quick table, plus honest notes on shows that share the energy but not the underdog-climbs-the-ranks build.

11 anime like Black Clover at a glance

Here are the shows like Black Clover worth your queue, all in one place. The Similarity column is our call on how close each one gets to Black Clover itself, not how good the show is on its own.

Streaming rights shift by region, so these are a starting point. Check what is available where you are before you dive in.

The anime most like Black Clover, ranked

Here are the good anime like Black Clover that genuinely share its build, ranked from the closest match to the loosest. The Similarity Rating is our read on how near each one gets to Black Clover specifically, not how good the show is overall, and we kept the stars to whole numbers. The build we are measuring against is simple: a powerless or underdog hero climbing a ranked magic order, driven by a rival and a squad that becomes family.

1. Wistoria: Wand and Sword

Similarity Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Will dreams of reaching the top of a magic academy to reunite with someone waiting at the summit, but he cannot use magic at all. In a world that prizes spellcasters above all, he fights with a sword instead, enduring scorn to claw his way up. The series leans into the sting of being underestimated. It looks gorgeous, with fluid, weighty action.

Of everything here, this is the closest 1:1 narrative clone. A boy physically incapable of casting even basic magic, in a magic-supremacist academy, uses heavy swords and physical speed to shatter spells and climb the ranks alongside an elite childhood rival, which is Asta's story told almost without changing a beat. The can't-use-magic hook, the steel-against-spells combat, the ranked climb, and the world that looks down on him are Black Clover's exact DNA. It is one of the newer anime like Black Clover, and it leans harder into the emotional ache of being overlooked than most.

2. Naruto

Similarity Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Naruto Uzumaki is the dead-last of his ninja class, mocked by a village that fears the beast sealed inside him. He trains with everything he has, climbs the ninja ranks from the bottom, and swears he will one day become Hokage, the village's leader. His rivalry with the prodigy Sasuke defines him, and his squad becomes the family he never had. It is one of the foundational shonen epics.

Naruto is the foundational structural ancestor, and the parallels are uncanny. An orphaned, loud, ostracized underdog screams his goal of reaching the nation's highest rank, becoming Hokage exactly as Asta vows to become Wizard King, harbors a sealed demonic entity like Asta's devil, and is defined by his rivalry with a brooding natural prodigy. “Become Hokage” is “become Wizard King,” and the Naruto-and-Sasuke dynamic is Asta and Yuno almost beat for beat. It is a massive commitment, but the payoff of an outcast earning respect is the same high. Our Naruto filler list trims the long road down.

3. Bleach

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu

Synopsis: Ichigo Kurosaki gains the powers of a Soul Reaper and is thrust into a hidden war, guarding the living from corrupted spirits and battling through the ranks of the afterlife's military society. As the threats escalate, so does his power, across sprawling arcs full of memorable fighters. The final saga has been brought to life with stunning modern animation. It is a cornerstone of the shonen battle genre.

Bleach is the stylistic blueprint. A swordsman with a giant black blade and an uncontrollable inner demon makes his way through an elite military society divided into specialized squads led by eccentric, god-tier captains, which is Asta's black anti-magic sword, the devil sealed inside him, and the Magic Knight squads under their larger-than-life captains almost point for point. The ranked hierarchy, the squad structure, and the escalating sword battles all give it a strong Black Clover flavor. Ichigo is more naturally gifted than Asta, which keeps it just below the premise twins, but the black-sword-and-squads build is a strong match.

4. My Hero Academia

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Izuku Midoriya is born without a superpower in a world where almost everyone has one, until the greatest hero alive sees his heart and passes him a legacy. He enrolls at an elite hero academy, trains relentlessly, and sets his sights on becoming the number one hero. His class becomes a found family, and his explosive childhood rival pushes him at every turn. It is bright, earnest, and emotionally charged.

The modern shonen sibling: a powerless protagonist in a superhuman society builds himself up to inherit a rare ability, takes entrance exams, and climbs the hero ranks toward the top. Swap magic for superpowers and this is Black Clover's build down to the studs, a found-family class standing in for the Black Bulls, a fierce childhood rival in Bakugo echoing Yuno, and the hero rankings mirroring the Magic Knight stars. It runs more school-focused than Asta's story, but the never-back-down heart is cut from the exact same cloth. Our My Hero Academia filler list keeps your watch clean.

5. Fairy Tail

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Natsu and the rowdy wizards of the Fairy Tail guild take jobs, blow up half the scenery, and treat each other like family across a sprawling magic world. Lucy, a celestial wizard, joins them and finds the home she was missing. The guild faces bigger and bigger threats while leaning hard on the bonds between its members. It runs long, loud, and unapologetically sentimental.

Fairy Tail is the closest match for the Black Bulls. A rowdy, destructive guild of outcast magic users treats one another as family, throws down in elemental clashes, and tangles with demon curses, which is Asta's squad to a tee. The bond-powered magic and the friendship-fuels-strength engine are exactly what the Black Bulls run on, and the guild's found-family heart is the same one that makes Asta's crew so easy to love. It lacks the powerless-underdog hook and the strict climb-to-a-title ladder, so it sits below the premise twins, but for the guild spirit, it is the closest there is. Our Fairy Tail filler list helps you skip the slow patches.

6. Mashle: Magic and Muscles

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Mash Burnedead is born with no magic in a society where magic is everything and the powerless are discarded. To protect his quiet life, he bluffs his way into an elite magic academy, aiming to earn the title of Divine Visionary, solving every obstacle with absurd physical strength instead of spells. The tone is deadpan and frequently hilarious. It plays like a magic-school shonen crossed with a bodybuilding gag.

Mashle is the parody sibling. An innocent, magicless, bowl-cut boy physically suplexes and out-muscles complex spells in an elitist magical society, grinding up a ranked magic academy toward its top title by outworking the prodigies who were handed everything. Mash swinging muscle where everyone else casts is Asta swinging a sword in the same spot, right down to the rival classmates and the climb. It plays the premise for laughs rather than drama, which keeps it just under the top twins, but for the magicless-underdog-in-a-magic-world build, it is as direct as it gets.

7. The Seven Deadly Sins

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Prime Video

Synopsis: In a European-flavored medieval kingdom, a disgraced band of legendary knights, the Seven Deadly Sins, are hunted as traitors until a princess seeks them out to save the land from the corrupt Holy Knights who truly seized power. Their leader, Meliodas, hides enormous strength behind a goofy grin. The series mixes raucous comedy with escalating magical warfare. It became one of the most popular fantasy shonen of its era.

The build connection is the European medieval kingdom setting and the corrupt Holy Knight squads, which rhyme with Black Clover's Clover Kingdom and its orders of Magic Knights, right down to the organizational intrigue. Meliodas's “Full Counter,” reflecting and canceling out magic spells with physical force, even echoes Asta's anti-magic sword nullifying what everyone else relies on, and the guild-like band of outcast fighters gives it real Black Bulls energy. Its leads are not powerless underdogs, which keeps it mid-list, but the medieval-knights-and-counter-magic build is a strong match. One note: it streams on Netflix, so availability depends on your region.

8. Radiant

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Seth is a young sorcerer in a world that fears and hunts magic users, blamed for the monsters called Nemesis that fall from the sky. Determined to find their source and prove sorcerers are not the enemy, he sets out on a journey full of prejudice and danger. He is brash, optimistic, and endlessly stubborn. It is a European-made take on the shonen formula with a bright, bouncy style.

The connection is the hated-outcast magic-user grinding forward against a world that rejects him, which is Asta's treatment by the Clover Kingdom turned into a whole premise. Seth is an energetic, horned sorcerer outcast with an inner dark power, fighting to prove his worth against constant discrimination, and there is a magic system to master and a monster-hunting purpose on top of it. It lacks the ranked-guild ladder and the central rival, so it sits mid-list, but the underdog-magic-user-proves-himself spirit is a strong match.

9. Chivalry of a Failed Knight

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll, Prime Video

Synopsis: Ikki Kurogane is written off as a failure, an “F-Rank” knight with almost no magical output in an academy that trains students to materialize weapons from their souls. Dismissed by nearly everyone, he wins through relentless training, technique, and a sheer refusal to lose, catching the eye of a prodigy classmate. It blends magic-academy action with a central romance. It is a slick, confident underdog story.

The build link is the “F-Rank failure” formula that Black Clover runs on: an underdog with negligible magical output who methodically dismantles noble mage prodigies through sword technique and sheer body conditioning rather than raw power. Ikki outworking those handed everything, in a ranked magic academy that counts him out, is Asta's exact journey, down to proving the rankings wrong one duel at a time. It is more of a focused academy duel-drama with a romance than a sprawling guild epic, which keeps it mid-list, but the F-rank-underdog-outworks-the-elites build is a genuine match.

10. Blue Exorcist

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Rin Okumura learns he is the son of Satan, born with blue flames and a demonic heritage he never asked for. Rather than embrace it, he enrolls at a school for exorcists, training to hunt demons and one day take down his own father, a flaming blade in hand. He is hot-headed and reckless, hated and feared for what he was born as. The tone balances real darkness with warmth and humor.

The connection is the Satan-blooded outcast at a ranked academy: a boy harboring forbidden blue flames trains at an exorcist school alongside his prodigy younger brother and a squad of cadets, climbing toward the top rank of Paladin, which rhymes with Asta being written off by the Clover Kingdom and clawing up the Magic Knight ladder. The magic-school structure, the prodigy-sibling tension, and the blade at the center give it a strong Black Clover flavor. Rin is powerful rather than powerless, so it lands mid-list, but the ranked-academy-plus-outcast setup fits. Our Blue Exorcist filler list shows what to skip.

11. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Aladdin, Alibaba, and a handful of chosen few explore deadly magical dungeons, bind powerful djinn, and get swept into the rise and fall of kingdoms. The world runs on a rich, rule-heavy magic system of magoi and metal vessels. Politics and destiny weave through the action as alliances form and empires clash. Its best arcs hit genuinely hard.

The connection is the high-fantasy scope and the rich, rule-driven magic: royal court intrigue, djinn equips that work like a deep spell-and-vessel system, and a sharp divide between commoners and nobility that recalls Black Clover's peasant-born Asta pushing into a noble's world. There are chosen heroes climbing toward greatness and kingdom-sized stakes to match. It lacks the powerless-underdog hook and the magic-knight ladder, so it sits at the lower end, but for the rich-magic-world adventure, it delivers.

A few anime similar to Black Clover that watch differently

Search around for anime similar to Black Clover and plenty of huge shonen come up that share the energy or a power system but not the actual build, the powerless underdog climbing a ranked magic order. They are fantastic, and we would happily point you to them. We just want the match to feel honest.

Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer both give you ranked fighters, explosive battles, and a hero growing stronger, so they feel adjacent, yet neither is built on a magicless outsider grinding up a magic-knight ladder driven by a rival. Gurren Lagann, meanwhile, bottles Asta's pure never-give-up spirit better than almost anything, just without the magic world or the organization around it. Every one of these is worth your time. Just go in knowing they scratch the shonen itch or the underdog spirit, not Black Clover's specific underdog-climbs-the-ranks build.

Keep the magic going as Asta returns

The best part of being a Black Clover fan right now is that the wait is basically over. Chase the premise twins with Wistoria or Mashle, the ranked climb with Naruto or Bleach, the magic worldbuilding with Magi, and the guild heart with Fairy Tail or The Seven Deadly Sins, and you will have a full queue ready while the new season finds its footing. The whole point of a good set of anime like Black Clover is to keep that never-quit feeling alive between episodes.

While you line it all up, come hang out with us at Kaminari, where our weekly newsletter rounds up the shows worth your time, the news that actually matters, and takes written for people who love this stuff as much as you do. We will keep you posted on every twist of Asta's return, so you never miss a beat of the new season.

FAQs

Is there an anime exactly like Black Clover?

Not a perfect twin, but a few come remarkably close. Wistoria: Wand and Sword and Mashle: Magic and Muscles both run on Asta's exact premise, a powerless underdog refusing to quit in a world built on magic. For the rivalry, the sealed demon, and the climb to the top, Naruto is the clearest ancestor.

What to watch after Black Clover

If you want the smoothest transition, begin at the top of this list: Wistoria: Wand and Sword, Naruto, Bleach, My Hero Academia, or Fairy Tail. Each one carries over the underdog grit, the ranked climb, or the magic that made Black Clover so easy to root for.

When does the new Black Clover season come out?

The anime returns in October 2026 on Crunchyroll, more than five years after the original run ended in 2021. It picks up the story from where the Sword of the Wizard King movie left off, heading into the series' final saga.

What are the best anime like Black Clover for the magic system?

For rich, rule-driven magic, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is the strongest pick, with Fairy Tail close behind for its guild-and-spell worldbuilding and Radiant for fans who loved watching a hated underdog master his power.

Where can you watch anime like Black Clover?

Most of these stream on Crunchyroll, including Black Clover itself and Bleach, though The Seven Deadly Sins is on Prime Video. Availability shifts by region and over time, so confirm what is on your service before you settle in for a binge.