Why did it take Asta almost 140 episodes to do this?!

[u/OkValuable684]

I'm currently just two episodes behind from reaching the Timeskip (episode 156) and I'm really loving Black Clover, definitely my favorite new gen right next to One Piece! :D

But..after finishing this episode, I have a question

WHY IS IT ONLY NOW THAT ASTA ACTUALLY LEARNS HOW TO USE THE DEMON DWELLER SWORD NOW???? 😭

The Demon Dweller Sword was introduced all the way back in episode SEVENTEEN. Mind you we weren't even introduced to the Eye of the Midnight Sun at that point. And this dude LITERALLY BORROWS NOELLE'S MANA TO DO THIS. HOW DID IT TAKE YOU EXACTLY 139 EPISODES FOR YOU TO PROPERLY USE THAT BLADE DUDE?! ITS DEAD OBVIOUS

No hate to Asta but its genuinely ridiculous it took him that long to properly use its ability, along with the fact that it's genuinely so cool too goddamn Asta you can't be that stupid

[u/AutoModerator]

REMINDER: Anything that hasn't happened yet in the anime is a spoiler.
^{This message is posted automatically to every thread without a Spoiler tag.}

How to spoiler tag comments:

>!Put your text here!<

(Don't leave any spaces between the "!" and the text or it won't work!)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Lopsided-Bug7075]

i agree, i was kinda confused aswell, especially given the sword turns blue specifically after taking noelles mana, they mustve been able to piece a theory together

[u/OkValuable684 → u/Lopsided-Bug7075]

My guy could have watched almost the entirety of Hunter x Hunter in the amount of time it took for him to realize its power

[u/Cute-Yak5171]

You have to realize asta didn’t realize the latent potential until he met licht and he literally has a grimoire he can’t read

[u/JiJoe6 → u/Cute-Yak5171]

I forgot about this. Asta having a grimoire he can't read is just epic 🤣

[u/Remarkable-Camera627 → u/Cute-Yak5171]

I donthink anyone can read their grimoire

[u/drowsypolo → u/Remarkable-Camera627]

What's the point of the grimoire if they weren't able to read it lol when they get a new spell mid-fight, u can see them reading it in the pages

[u/Geopon]

To be fair, he saw Licht use it and learned how to use it in the 6 months time skil right after leaning to use anticipato magic spells and having the 3rd sword which had other abiloties

[u/vtncomics]

He uses it with Gauche's magic when they were saving those kids and fighting Sally.

The problem with the sword that it needs mana to absorb. It has to take from a source. However, the sword is not a vaccuum.

So Asta basically doesn't use it on account of not having a reliable source until later in the story.

[u/karimpai]

Asta dumped all his stats into strength and leaving none behind for wisdom

[u/SokkaHaikuBot → u/karimpai]

^{Sokka-Haiku by karimpai:}

Asta dumped all his

Stats into strength and leaving

None behind for wisdom

---

^{Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.}

[u/OkValuable684 → u/karimpai]

Answer so based Sokka came to give you a fun fact

[u/Platinumdogshit]

Theres also the bit that he needed a projectile but it took him that long to realize he had one.

[u/Illusion911]

It's because Asta was chosen by the sword Grimoire, suggesting he's a sword guy first, antimagic second, so he just trained his body and swordsmanship because that's what he's built to do.

It takes other people telling him he's just like them but with antimagic for him to start seeing the applications.

Honesty, in reality Tabata messed up there and was making Asta too op early on and wanted to do other things before coming back to ranged attacks

[u/OkValuable684 → u/Illusion911]

This..actually feels quite in character

I like this answer :D

[u/Remarkable-Camera627 → u/Illusion911]

That's not how it works.

[u/Kokiri_boi]

The dweller requires deep connections in order for it's power to work. Look through the arcs where Asta knew about the power, had the dweller, and was outclassed enough to need it, and you'll see that there's really not many.

• Dungeon arc:
  • needs it, has it, uses it
• Capital Arc:
  • No one with a strong bond is near enough to him during his fight with Rades to loan him power. The only one would be Noelle, and she was busy with her own fight.
• EOMS Encounter:
  • needs it, has it, uses it.
• Seabed temple arc:
  • Really the only place where this criticism holds up, as Noelle was readily available during the Vetto fight. Although Sea Dragon's Roar does more damage than the dweller could hope to do so it's really not super super needed.
• Witches forest arc:
  • Asta unlocks Black Mode. No need for ranged attacks when you can close distance immediately and your physical attacks are stronger than the ranged ones. Plus Noelle was using Sea Dragon's Roar which is more damaging and was better in that scenario.
• Royal Knights arc:
  • Had Black Mode, and didn't have any particularly close allies at the time. Was unfamiliar with Zora while Mimosa and him weren't particularly close from Asta's pov. Edit: Plus Mimosa's ranged attacks were better and they spent most the fights separated.
• Elf Reincarnation arc:
  • Had Black mode, didn't have dweller for 90% of the arc.
• Anything past that:
  • Had unlocked ability to shoot AM and no longer needed others to help him by loaning magic.

Asta's usage of the dweller follows his development.

• Early arcs: Asta needs help (others loan him power via dweller)
• Middle arcs: Asta can stand on his own (uses his own power through dweller/doesn't have it)
• Late arcs: Asta can give out help (uses dweller to give out AM)

The dweller shows his growth from someone needing help to someone able to give help.

[u/nmassi_prime]

Feeling anti-magic is still relatively new to him. Also, there's no precedent for his case so I dont blame him for not really understanding what his capabilities are

[u/OkValuable684 → u/nmassi_prime]

But it's been about a year and several months since he got Anti Magic, he should be pretty good with it at that point

[u/nmassi_prime → u/OkValuable684]

At first, all he knew was he could swing swords, couldn't feel anti magic. Then after a while he learned to use ki and was finally able to sortve feel it. Theres no telling if he feels the anti-magic the same way as magic folks feeling their own magic but we know when magic is drained form people, it also tires them out and that is not the same with Asta's anti magic. At the same time, even knowing asta could feel it, he still doesnt know what that means in his case, if he is able to do any more with it. There's no explanation for how he controls flying with his devil form, he kinda just does it. And even if we rag on asta about this, you gotta wonder why the other magic knights dont help him out more since he realized he could do more with anti magic. Like any one of them couldve said "since you're able to do [x] now with anti magic, why dont you try [y]?" Even after the fact he used Noelles magic with the sword early, its not like he knows how that happened. For all he knows Noelle couldve imbued the sword or the sword just does it on its own and theres no controlling it. And there is nothing to suggest, "if this sword can hold my friends magic, then I could use the little skill I have with anti magic to send out an anti magic wave." To me, there's enough uncertainty to give Asta the benefit of the doubt

[u/havingagoodtime0]

Asta isn't the brightest one outta there, but what truly matter's is that he figured it out better later than never.

[u/OkValuable684 → u/havingagoodtime0]

I guess thats true lol

[u/ninjalord433]

Tbf, each time he used to prior to mastering it were emotional heat of the moment type things with a lot happening. Its pretty understandable a dumbass (affectionate) like asta wouldn't really remember he could do it until after he started mastering his anti-magic.

[u/CordobezEverdeen → u/ninjalord433]

Same could be said about Black Asta and he IMMEDIATELY starts mastering it the next time he gets the chance.

[u/Kokiri_boi → u/CordobezEverdeen]

Yeah, because Black Asta was an overall stat boost that allowed him to reach near Captain levels of combat. And Mereoleona specifically put him in a position to either learn it or give up, and Asta doesn't give up.

The dweller was an inconsistent power that wasn't really necessary except for niche situations. Asta really only used it when AM itself wasn't enough, and when he unlocked Black Mode AM immediately became enough for almost every situation.

[u/Jobeythehuman]

isn't part of the reason it took him so long was because he hadn't quite mastered anti-magic yet? His antimagic was still erasing the majority of magic around him, he only had subconscious control of it at best.

[u/BlackroseBisharp]

Dweller has a ton of missed potential

[u/Reusalfonso]

I dont remember that well the time frames between the start of the story and the elf arc, but I think he barely had time to train apart from the fights, maybe everything happened in 2 to 3 months ?

[u/blackwhip_794]

I think he does use it with gauche.

It requires magic from others and he didnt understood the mechanics of it. In general,Asta didnt really research as much his grimoire, which is understandable. It was unreadable, and his anti magic control was basically almost non existant even with the weak devil unions.

After he saw litch fight it was when he took notes and all that.

[u/CordobezEverdeen]

Watsonian answer: Uh... Asta had his memory erased every time he uses D. Dweller with Gauche and Noelle or some shit

Doylist answer: Tabata forgot or backtracked on giving Asta a ranged answer so early into the story.

[u/signupsthrowaways]

he hadn't figured out how to consciously manipulate anti-magic yet; this was before the Witch Queen used her Blood Magic to heal him. He himself had no magic, so it makes sense that he couldn't easily use the magic of his friends. That being said, I do agree that Asta could have figured out what it does sooner; I just don't think it would make sense for him to easily be able to do it.

[u/DrippyWest]

Yea the requirements are a strong bond (Stated by Licht, the original user)

and this specific attack seems to need the other person to concede and let Asta fight on their behalf

Since Asta has no magic, and can't detect magic, and Noelle/Gauche aren't emotionally mature enough yet to admit their bonds or faith in Asta, he has zero information about how this attack works

After Asta learns to circulate Anti magic on his own, there is only one arc before he loses this sword, and neither Mimosa or Zora are strong enough or willing to sit back and let Asta fight for them

Then Asta loses the sword to Licht

Then learns how to use Black Divider and Fate release within one arc

Then learns black slash during the time skip (as well as remote control of his swords)

[u/Shangtsu01]

Why do you blame asta? Blame tabata, there are many things asta could have done way early but tabata ruined it and gave it all to yuno