Are There Filler Episodes In Black Clover Season 1?

Alright — if you’re asking about 'Black Clover' season 1, I’ll keep it simple and enthusiastic: it runs for 51 episodes. I binged through this first chunk like a kid on a sugar rush, because those early episodes are all about setting up Asta and Yuno, planting the rivalry and friendship, and introducing the Magic Knights and the Clover Kingdom. The pacing can feel brisk — a lot happens between episode 1 and 51 — and you’ll see the art and music hit some genuinely exciting beats as the series finds its footing. If you want a viewing tip from me: give it a few dozen episodes before you judge it harshly. The payoff in character moments and a few standout fights is worth sticking around for. I still smile thinking about certain scenes from these early quests.

To answer your question, my friend, 'Black Clover' does indeed have fillers but they're not as extensive as you might think. According to many fan-based resources, about 11% of the entire series can be classified as filler content. However, I must add that these fillers aren't necessarily boring or pointless, some of them help in character development and can actually enrich your understanding of the anime's universe.

Counting episodes for 'Black Clover' feels like mapping out a long road trip — here's the straightforward split so you can plan your binge. Season 1 runs from episode 1 through 51, so that’s 51 episodes in the first chunk. Season 2 picks up at 52 and goes through 102, another 51 episodes. After that the show extends into Season 3, which covers episodes 103 to 154 — that’s 52 episodes — and then Season 4 wraps things up with episodes 155 to 170, giving you 16 episodes in the final stretch. Add them up and you get 170 episodes total across the four seasons. People sometimes see different season labels on streaming sites because platforms group cours differently, but the common broadcast breakdown is the one above. Personally, I love how the pacing shifts across those blocks — the mid-series expansion (that 52-episode run) is where it really stretches its wings for me.

Counting episode totals for a long-running show like 'Black Clover' is one of those nerdy comforts I enjoy keeping track of. The TV anime ran from October 2017 through March 2021 and clocks in at 170 episodes in total. Those episodes cover the anime's main televised run across multiple seasons and a handful of arcs that follow Asta, Yuno, and the Black Bulls through increasingly intense battles and world-building. Beyond the 170 TV episodes, the franchise also expanded with a theatrical release, 'Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King', and a few special or OVA-style extras that floated around as bonus content. If you want a clean watch-through, the 170 episodes are the core serialized experience, and the movie is a standalone spectacle that fits as extra viewing rather than an essential continuation. Personally, I still get a rush rewatching Asta's training scenes—those episodes never fail to hype me up.

The 'Black Clover' anime has been quite the ride! As of now, there's a total of 170 episodes spread across 4 seasons. The first season kicked off in 2017 and ran for 51 episodes, setting the stage for Asta's journey. The second season followed with another 52 episodes, diving deeper into the Clover Kingdom's conflicts. Then, the third season brought 51 more episodes, ramping up the magic battles and character arcs. The fourth season wrapped things up with 16 episodes, though it felt a bit rushed compared to the earlier ones. I still rewatch some of the epic fights—Yami vs. Dante was pure hype! Funny how the anime caught flak early on for Asta's voice, but it grew into its own charm. The filler arcs were hit or miss, but the canon material? Chef's kiss. If you're into shonen with relentless energy, this one's a gem. Just wish they'd animate the rest of the manga properly!

Got sucked into 'Black Clover' hard, and if I'm honest the season 1 fights are what kept me glued to the screen. The show opens with the Magic Knights entrance exam and a whole bunch of smaller skirmishes there — those early duels are where you first see Asta's ridiculous anti-magic showmanship and Yuno's composed wind magic. They’re not epic cinematic clashes yet, but they set the tone and show how different their strengths are. The biggest chunk of memorable action comes during the dungeon/Seabed Temple arc: Black Bulls and other squads versus members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. This is where you get the heavy team fights and emotional stakes. Vetto’s battle is a standout — brutal, loud, and the kind of fight that forces characters like Noelle and Charmy to grow in real time. Yami’s brutal, get-things-done style also shines here, and Asta’s anti-magic blades disrupt everything in a very satisfying way. By the end of the season you’ve seen both personal one-on-ones and large-scale squad brawls, and it all lands because it ties into character growth. I left the season hyped and ready for more.

If you’re tallying up everything from the TV run to the extras, the most commonly cited total for 'Black Clover' sits at 173 episodes — that’s 170 televised episodes plus three officially released OVAs that are often bundled as special episodes or OADs. The main series aired from October 2017 through March 2021 and clocks in at 170 episodes for the core story arcs most people binge or rewatch. Fans usually add the OVAs on top of that when they want a complete count that includes the bonus content released alongside manga volumes or as limited collector’s items. Those extra bits are where counts can wiggle a little depending on what you consider an OVA. The three OVAs most commonly included are special releases that weren’t part of the weekly broadcast schedule — they were extra episodes packaged with certain manga volumes or released as specials. Some databases and fan lists also lump in short promotional animations, festival shorts, or very brief web-only clips, and if you include those the total can creep higher (some lists will show 174 or more). But for a straightforward tally that includes the full broadcast run plus the packaged OVAs, 173 is the number most people use. Beyond the cold numbers, I love that those OVAs exist because they give little character moments or side-story scenes that don’t always fit into the main pacing of the anime. They’re the sort of thing I’ll pop on after rewatching a big arc just to see characters relax a bit or to get tiny canon-adjacent pieces that the TV series skipped. So if you’re putting together a watchlist or showing a friend the series, I’d treat the 170 TV episodes as the main course and the three OVAs as tasty bonus episodes — together they make for a fuller 'Black Clover' experience, and that extra content is as fun as it is collectible.

If you're counting the full TV run, 'Black Clover' has 170 episodes and, happily for dub fans, all 170 episodes have official English-dubbed versions. I was thrilled when the dub kept pace with the subtitled releases back in the day — Funimation handled the English dub rollout, and after the Funimation/Crunchyroll changes, the dub stayed available on streaming platforms, so you can binge the entire story in English from Asta's earliest, loudest yells to the final climactic fights. The series ran from 2017 to 2021 and wraps up its main TV narrative across those 170 episodes, and the dub coverage reflects that complete run. Beyond the core 170 episodes, there’s also additional content worth mentioning: there’s the feature film 'Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King' which received an English dub too, as well as a handful of OVAs and specials that have seen English-language treatment in various releases or as extras. Availability of those OVAs and extras can vary by region and by platform (some are bundled on home video, others appear as streaming extras), but if your goal is to watch the main story in English, you’re covered for all 170 episodes. Different regions have also gotten dubs in languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and French depending on licensors, so non-English dub options are often available as well. One practical note from my own experience bingeing the dub: platform availability can change depending on licensing deals and region, so while the dub exists for all 170 episodes, you might see differences in how easily you can stream them in one place. In my case I hopped between services until I found the most complete collection with the dub intact. Also, casting for the English dub did a great job capturing the energy — Asta's voice, the knights, the antagonists — it kept the series' punch even outside the original Japanese audio. If you're trying to track down physical releases, most western home-video releases include dubbed tracks as well. So, bottom line: 170 TV episodes of 'Black Clover' have English dubs (plus the movie and some extras that also received dubbing depending on release), and you can watch the whole main arc in English. It's been really fun following Asta's progression with dub voice work that matches his boundless energy — makes marathon sessions way more entertaining.

If you’re trying to get a neat tally for 'Black Clover' including everything beyond the regular weekly TV run, here’s the quick math I usually go with: the TV anime itself runs 170 episodes (that classic 2017–2021 stretch), and when fans talk about “including specials” they commonly add four extra OVA/special episodes — bringing the commonly quoted total to 174 episodes. Those four extras are the kinds of short or bundled pieces that didn’t air as part of the main weekly broadcast schedule but were released as OVAs, festival shorts, or bonus episodes alongside home releases or events. Different streaming services and databases sometimes list those bits separately, so when people add them in the grand total you’ll often see 174 as the combined figure. Beyond the raw numbers, it helps to know what’s usually being counted and what isn’t: the 170 is the full TV series count, chronological and story-complete for the anime’s original run; the “specials” that push the count to 174 are side material that gives little character moments, gag shorts, or promotional story extras. The theatrical film 'Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King' (released later) is not part of this episode count — it’s a standalone movie, so don’t fold it into the episode total. If you’re using a streaming service or a collector’s guide, double-check their episode list because some services separate out recap episodes, special clips, or bundled OVA content in different ways — that’s usually why you’ll sometimes see slightly different totals across sources. Personally, I love counting the specials because they give tiny, delightful detours from the main plot — the kind of extra scenes that let you grin at silly squad interactions or see side characters get a moment to shine. If you’re planning a binge, think of the 170 episodes as the meat of the journey and the four specials as little appetizers and post-credits scenes that make the world feel fuller. All told, 174 is the number most fans toss around when someone asks for the complete episode + special tally, and that’s the figure I usually tell my friends when we trade watchlists. Happy watching — the ride with 'Black Clover' is a wild, loud, and oddly heartwarming one, and those extras just make it feel more cozy to revisit.