Quick TakeArticle at a glance
- Black Clover Season 2 premiered October 3, 2026, resuming Studio Pierrot’s anime after an indefinite hiatus announced back in 2021.
- PT on Saturday, October 3, 2026, with TV Tokyo airing it in Japan later that night.
- The hiatus wasn’t one problem, it was three stacking on top of each other.
Black Clover Season 2 premiered October 3, 2026, resuming Studio Pierrot’s anime after an indefinite hiatus announced back in 2021. Episode 171, “War Begins,” drops Asta and the Black Bulls straight into the Dark Triad’s invasion, with the original voice cast and director Ayataka Tanemura carrying the story toward an already-confirmed final season in 2027.
Crunchyroll streamed the episode worldwide starting at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday, October 3, 2026, with TV Tokyo airing it in Japan later that night. It’s the first new Black Clover episode since the original run ended at 170 episodes in March 2021 — a gap of more than five and a half years.
Why Black Clover Went Dark for Five Years
The hiatus wasn’t one problem, it was three stacking on top of each other. The anime had caught up to creator Yuki Tabata’s manga by 2021 and was running out of material to adapt. Tabata was also dealing with his own health issues that slowed the manga’s pace. And Studio Pierrot was burning out its own animators on a weekly schedule that the rest of the shonen genre had already abandoned for a gentler, seasonal release model. Taking the show off the air let the manga rebuild a lead and gave the studio room to actually finish episodes properly instead of rushing them.
That gamble paid off on the manga side first: Tabata wrapped the story entirely on May 1, 2026, with Chapter 392 in Jump GIGA’s Spring Edition, as Anime News Network reported at the time. The anime now has a finished book to adapt and a clear finish line — Season 2’s second cour is already titled “Final Season,” confirming Black Clover wraps up as an anime in 2027.
What Happens in Episode 171, “War Begins”
True to its title, the premiere doesn’t waste time catching new viewers up — reviewers noted it reorients the audience in under two minutes before moving straight into the Dark Triad’s all-out invasion. Asta and his devil partner Liebe get real training time, Yuno’s side of the fight gets set up, and the resistance movement against the invaders starts pushing back, all in a single episode that’s doing a lot of table-setting for the war arc ahead.
Who’s Back: Cast, Director and Studio
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere date | October 3, 2026 |
| Episode | 171 overall — Season 2, Episode 1, “War Begins” |
| Streaming | Crunchyroll (8 a.m. PT) / TV Tokyo (11 p.m. JST) |
| Animation studio | Pierrot |
| Director | Ayataka Tanemura |
| Series composition | Keiichiro Ochi |
| Hiatus length | 5 years, 7 months (March 2021 – October 2026) |
| Manga status | Completed May 1, 2026, with Chapter 392 |
| Anime’s planned ending | Confirmed for 2027 (“Final Season”) |
The Returning Voice Cast
Every major voice actor from the original run is back: Gakuto Kajiwara as Asta, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Yuno, Junichi Suwabe as Black Bulls captain Yami Sukehiro, and Kana Yūki as Noelle Silva. Nobuhiko Okamoto also returns as Liebe, Asta’s devil partner, who gets one of the premiere’s bigger training moments.
Where This Leaves the Story
With the manga already finished and Season 2’s back half billed as the show’s “Final Season,” Black Clover is now racing toward a confirmed ending rather than an open-ended adaptation. For a series that spent five years as an open question mark, that’s the biggest news in the premiere: this time, there’s an actual finish line.
Catching up first? Our Black Clover watch guide covers all 170 original episodes, and our Season 2 episode schedule has every confirmed release date. We also ranked the strongest Black Clover characters heading into the new season.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Black Clover Season 2 premiere?
Black Clover Season 2 premiered October 3, 2026, with Episode 171, “War Begins,” streaming on Crunchyroll at 8 a.m. PT and airing on TV Tokyo in Japan later that night.
Why did Black Clover go on hiatus?
The anime paused after 170 episodes in March 2021 because it had caught up to Yuki Tabata’s manga, Tabata was dealing with health issues that slowed the manga’s pace, and Studio Pierrot wanted to move off a punishing weekly production schedule.
Is the Black Clover manga finished?
Yes. Yuki Tabata completed the manga on May 1, 2026, with Chapter 392 published in Jump GIGA’s Spring Edition.
Will Black Clover get a Season 3?
No separate Season 3 has been announced. Season 2’s second cour is already titled “Final Season,” confirming the anime is set to conclude the story in 2027.
Who voices Asta in Black Clover Season 2?
Gakuto Kajiwara returns as Asta, alongside Nobunaga Shimazaki as Yuno, Junichi Suwabe as Yami Sukehiro, Kana Yūki as Noelle Silva and Nobuhiko Okamoto as Liebe.
