7 Shonen Manga That Had Better Endings Than Black Clover

Black Clover manga has been concluded with a total of 392 chapters. Asta finally achieved his goal of becoming the Wizard King, and a two-year time skip showed a time of peace. However, one thing that made this ending polarizing is that, somehow, even the characters who died came back to life.

Let’s dive into some more shonen manga endings that do not contain the flaws that made Black Clover’s end polarizing, discussing what actually made them better.

TITLE	Black Clover
PUBLISHING DATE	Feb 16, 2015 to May 1, 2026
ORIGINAL CREATOR	Yuuki Tabata
MAL RATING (as of May 24, 2026)	7.85 / 10
WHERE TO READ	VIZ Media

1 Demon Slayer Had a Proper End for Each Character

Demon Slayer manga ended in 2020 after four years run, and it had one of the most loved endings. In the final battle, many Hashira died, and all of those deaths remained permanent, which showed the real stakes.

While the epilogue showed the characters reincarnated in the modern world, it didn’t change the fact that in the original timeline, they were gone. This is something Black Clover failed to capture, as the deaths in it lost impact.

2 Attack on Titan Ending Is a Controversial Masterpiece

By the end of Attack on Titan, Eren started the rumbling and was ultimately stopped by his own friends. The main point of this ending was the endless cycle of war, showing that the stakes shall ever be the same – just because the titans are gone, doesn’t mean the war is over. While this ending remains one of the most polarizing itself, it was way better than Black Clover for its symbolism.

3 Death Note Ended on a Perfect Note

Death Note is the smallest story in this ranking. Light Yagami eventually gets outsmarted by Near in a warehouse and ends up dying on some stairs. This ending worked because it delivered the logical outcome of Light’s overconfidence that he developed after killing L.

The reason this ending is ranked better than Black Clover is that it managed to give such an amazing ending with much smaller buildup. While 300 chapters is standard for shonen manga, Black Clover’s hiatuses made it less immersive.

4 Jujutsu Kaisen Handled the Antagonist Like an Antagonist

The reason that Jujutsu Kaisen’s ending is better than Black Clover is the same as Demon Slayer. Jujutsu Kaisen had reality-bending supernatural elements, yet the deaths in this manga meant something. Characters died a lot, which directly impacted the protagonist. Furthermore, the final battle was much better. JJK‘s ending proved that power scaling does not require sacrificing stakes.

5 No Manga Handled Two MCs Better Than Fullmetal Alchemist

Just like Black Clover, Fullmetal Alchemist also had two protagonists. However, Fullmetal Alchemist objectively handled them better. Edward and Alphonse have distinct arcs, yet they rely on each other. By the end of Black Clover, the outcome of Yuno’s arc has been polarizing, as only Asta became the Wizard King.

Many fans argue that, since Yuno was a prince himself, his end could’ve been better as well. This was not an issue in FMA, as the author gave both protagonists the same goal that didn’t require one to be sidelined.

6 My Hero Academia Ended With a Boom

The My Hero Academia ending was pure hype. While not a lot of characters died, the ending of Deku was perfect. He sacrificed his powers to defeat Shigaraki. He achieved his goal but paid a permanent price. The ending forced a compromise. Black Clover gave Asta everything he wanted without a comparable sacrifice, making My Hero Academia‘s end much stronger and more grounded.

7 There Is No Shonen Ending Better Than Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone managed to make the plot bigger and bigger, like Black Clover, scaling up from simple stone tools to space travel. Yet, the ending of this anime was much more cohesive. Every character arc was resolved, something that Black Clover couldn’t do. Even Eiichiro Oda pointed it out, saying that he needs an epilogue.

TITLE	ORIGINAL CREATORS	MAL RATING (as of May 24, 2026)
Demon Slayer	Koyoharu Gotouge	8.10 / 10
Attack on Titan	Hajime Isayama	8.56 / 10
Death Note	Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ohba	8.69 / 10
Fullmetal Alchemist	Hiromu Arakawa	9.04 / 10
Jujutsu Kaisen	Gege Akutami	8.18 / 10
My Hero Academia	Kouhei Horikoshi	7.95 / 10
Dr. Stone	Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi	8.20 / 10

This does not mean Black Clover’s end is bad. There is also a factor of delays between chapters that broke immersion and disrupted pacing during the final arcs. Reading the manga in one go may result in a different experience. Furthermore, who knows, it may feel better when it gets adapted into anime.

Which shonen ending is your personal favorite? Let us know in the comments.