Black Clover Season 2 premieres Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 11:00 p.m. JST on TV Tokyo (10:00 a.m. ET), and Crunchyroll is streaming it outside Japan. It isn’t a reboot. It picks up minutes after episode 170, and you don’t need to rewatch all 170 episodes to follow it.
That’s the short answer. The more interesting one is that the release date isn’t the number that matters most this season. There’s another number, surfaced in a leak just days before the premiere, that will decide whether this return feels like Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War or like a rushed finale. We’ll get to it once you have the essentials.
The quick version:
- When: October 3, 11:00 p.m. JST (10:00 a.m. ET / 7:00 a.m. PT), weekly after that.
- Where: Crunchyroll in most regions outside Japan. The exact stream time hasn’t been posted yet.
- Reboot or sequel? Direct sequel to episode 170.
- Rewatch everything? No. There’s an 18-episode shortcut, explained below.
- Is the movie required? No.
- How many episodes? Not officially announced. The reports are below, clearly marked as rumor.
- Manga: finished in May 2026 at Chapter 392.
One more thing before we start. If you’re thinking of reading the manga instead of waiting week to week, a lot of guides point you to a starting chapter that quietly skips part of the story. The right one is at the end of this article.
When and where to watch Black Clover Season 2
The season airs weekly on TV Tokyo, and Crunchyroll holds the international streaming rights.
| Where | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| TV Tokyo and affiliates (Japan) | Oct 3, 2026 | 11:00 p.m. JST |
| US Eastern (broadcast time) | Oct 3, 2026 | 10:00 a.m. ET |
| US Pacific (broadcast time) | Oct 3, 2026 | 7:00 a.m. PT |
| UK (broadcast time) | Oct 3, 2026 | 3:00 p.m. BST |
| Brazil (broadcast time) | Oct 3, 2026 | 11:00 a.m. BRT |
| Crunchyroll (outside Japan) | Oct 3, 2026 | Not announced yet |
| Japanese streaming services | Oct 4, 2026 | — |
| BS TV Tokyo | Oct 7, 2026 | — |
The US, UK and Brazil times are conversions of the Japanese broadcast slot, not Crunchyroll’s official release time. Simulcasts usually go live shortly after the Japanese airing, so check the Crunchyroll series page on the day. No English dub schedule has been announced as of this writing.
Wait, is this Season 2 or Season 5?
Both names are going around, and they describe the same thing. In Japan, all 170 episodes aired as one continuous run from October 2017 to March 2021, so the new batch is officially Black Clover Season 2. Streaming catalogs split that first run into several “seasons,” which is why some fans call this Season 5. Whichever name you see, it’s the same show picking up right after episode 170.
Where the anime left off: 5 things to remember
Spoilers for episodes 1–170 only. Four of these are context. The fifth is the one the entire premiere is built around.
- The Spade Kingdom is the enemy now. It’s ruled by the Dark Triad, the Zogratis siblings, who host the power of high-ranking devils. Their invasion threatens both the Clover and Heart Kingdoms.
- Yami and William Vangeance were captured. The captains of the Black Bulls and the Golden Dawn are in enemy hands, and so is the Heart Kingdom’s Queen Lolopechka. The next arc is, at its core, a rescue mission.
- Nacht Faust is the key ally. The Black Bulls’ shadowy vice-captain is a devil host himself. He knows the Spade Kingdom from the inside, and he’s the one training Asta.
- Asta and Liebe finally made peace. The last episodes revealed how Liebe, the devil inside Asta’s grimoire, is tied to Asta’s mother. Liebe went from fighting Asta for control of his body to accepting him as a partner.
- Devil Union is the whole game. Nacht’s technique fuses a host with their devil. Asta has to pull it off with Liebe, and Nacht made it clear they have almost no time. Everything in episode 1 hangs on whether they can do it before the Magic Knights march.
That last point is why the premiere feels urgent instead of reflective. The partnership that took 170 episodes to build now has to work under a deadline.
Do you need to rewatch before Season 2?
No. How much you rewatch depends on how fuzzy your memory is.
| Your situation | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Watched it all, remember it well | The official 10-minute recap on YouTube | ~10 min |
| Watched it all, memory is hazy | Recap + episodes 153–170 | ~7 hours |
| Dropped it partway | Pick up where you stopped; skip anime-original filler | Varies |
| Never watched | Start at episode 1. Season 2 opens mid-war and won’t explain the basics. | 60+ hours |
The middle row is the shortcut we promised. Episodes 153–170 are the stretch directed by Ayataka Tanemura, the same person directing Season 2, and they lead straight into the invasion. You refresh the plot and preview the new season’s visual style in one sitting.
Do you need to watch Sword of the Wizard King?
No. The 2023 film is a standalone original story on Netflix, and Season 2 doesn’t depend on it. It is, arguably, the best-looking Black Clover animation to date, which makes it a useful preview of what Tanemura does when he has time and budget. That’s exactly the question hanging over this new season.
Why this return could look very different
The first run had a structural problem: it was chasing a manga that was still being written. That’s where the filler, the stretched fights and the uneven animation came from, and why it stopped in 2021. It ran out of story.
Three things have changed:
- The story is finished. Yuki Tabata ended the manga on May 1, 2026, so the studio can plan arcs around real story beats instead of stalling.
- The director is proven. Tanemura helmed episodes 153–170 and the movie, the parts of Black Clover fans most often single out as its best-looking.
- The schedule is seasonal. Studio Pierrot made the same move with Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, which went on to produce TV’s highest-rated episode ever.
According to Tanemura at Anime Expo, Tabata’s request was to make the battles “extra cool.” He has already shown how far he’ll go to get there: episode 1 includes a scene Tabata never drew. More on that in a moment.
How many episodes will Black Clover Season 2 have?
The official count hasn’t been announced. Here’s the honest split.
Confirmed:
- The manga ended at Chapter 392, leaving about 122 chapters to adapt.
- Studio Pierrot is using a seasonal format instead of the old year-round weekly schedule.
Rumored:
- 26 episodes, split into two parts of 13. Part one would cover the Spade Kingdom Raid arc this fall; part two would adapt the Final Arc in 2027.
- Earlier leaks said 24. The leakers themselves describe the numbers as subject to change.
If a site tells you the episode count is confirmed, it’s ahead of the official announcements.
The number that actually matters: 4 to 5 chapters per episode
Here’s the number from the top of the article. If the 26-episode report is right, Season 2 has to adapt roughly 122 chapters in 26 episodes. That’s about 4 to 5 chapters per episode. The first run averaged about 1.6 (270 chapters over 170 episodes).
That’s close to a threefold jump in density, and it’s the main worry among fans right now. It isn’t automatically bad news. The Spade Kingdom Raid is fight-heavy, and fights adapt faster than dialogue. The risk is the Final Arc, which is packed with reveals and character payoffs, exactly the material that suffers when it’s compressed.
Our read: the fall half has the easier job. Watch how it handles the quiet moments between fights. That’s the best early signal for how the 2027 finale will land.
What episode 1 covers (light spoilers)
Skip this section if you want the premiere completely fresh.
The premiere has already been shown early, at Anime Expo in July and at a Crunchyroll theatrical preview in the US in September. According to Anime News Network’s report from the screening, it skips a lengthy recap and opens with Nacht training Asta and Liebe on Devil Union, with two days to get it right before the rescue.
And here’s the scene Tabata never drew: the anime adds the captains launching their assault on the Spade Kingdom’s castle, a sequence that isn’t in the manga. Tanemura’s reasoning was that a manga page can’t carry the impact a battle needs on screen. The loudest crowd reaction, though, reportedly went to Mereoleona Vermillion’s entrance.
Which manga chapter should you start from?
Start at Chapter 270, not 271.
This is the one many guides get wrong. Episode 170 adapts Chapter 270 only up to around page 13, so starting at 271 skips the rest of that chapter. Starting at the top of 270 costs you a few pages of overlap instead of a gap. The manga is complete at Chapter 392 and available in English on MANGA Plus, VIZ and the Shonen Jump app.
One honest caveat: read ahead and none of this fall’s big moments will surprise you. After five years of waiting, going in anime-first is worth considering.
FAQ
Is Black Clover Season 2 a sequel or a remake?
A sequel. It continues directly from episode 170.
Is the original voice cast back?
Yes. Gakuto Kajiwara (Asta), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Yuno), Junichi Suwabe (Yami), Kana Yuki (Noelle) and Hiro Shimono (Nacht) all return.
Who performs the opening and ending?
WANIMA performs the opening, “Kienai Riyuu.” ONE OR EIGHT performs the ending, “Yellow Brick Road.”
Will Season 2 finish the story?
The manga is complete, so the anime can reach the ending. Whether this season does depends on the episode count, which isn’t official yet.
Will there be filler?
None has been announced, and with the manga finished there’s little reason for it.
The bottom line
Watch the recap, revisit episodes 153–170 if your memory needs it, and keep an eye on that 4-to-5-chapters-per-episode pace. Everything that held the first run back, from an unfinished manga to a relentless weekly schedule, is gone. On Saturday, Black Clover finally gets the chance to finish what it started. If you’re building your watchlist around it, our guide to the most popular anime right now can fill the rest of the week.
