StruckByBelz Drops Black Clover and JoJo After Controversy and Gets Slammed Online
I enjoy watching reaction channels, and I follow a lot of anime reactors. If you’re into that kind of content too, you’ve probably seen StruckByBelz pop up at some point.
From what I understand, the channel is run by a couple who watch various anime and TV shows together, commenting on and reacting to each episode.
Recently, though, they found themselves caught up in a pretty big controversy involving Black Clover. And after that, things only got more complicated.
StruckByBelz Decided They Couldn’t Root for Asta Anymore
It all started when they reacted to a recent episode of Black Clover.
I don’t follow Black Clover, so I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on the story, but based on what was shown in their reaction, Asta has powers connected to a demon.
That’s when StruckByBelz said they would no longer “root for Asta.”
The channel explained that they don’t necessarily have a problem with consuming fiction, but they felt uncomfortable rooting for a protagonist who has such a direct connection to a demonic entity.
The explanation they gave was:
“It’s one thing to root for a character fighting demons. It’s another thing to root for someone who is also a demon. I can’t scream ‘Let’s go, Asta!’ anymore and mean it from the heart.”
Honestly, this means absolutely nothing to me.
It’s perfectly fine if they don’t want to root for Asta. Like I said, I’ve been watching reaction channels for years, and I’ve seen MUCH worse.
If someone watches a show and decides that a particular element goes against their personal beliefs, they can simply stop watching.
The Internet Turned It Into a Controversy
The problem is that several anime pages decided to take that statement and turn it into a huge controversy.
The channel started receiving A LOT of hate, and after reading some of the comments, people started making all kinds of accusations against the two.
And that’s when things completely got out of hand.
People started piling on StruckByBelz, and other shows they had planned to watch were eventually dropped as well.
One of them was JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run.
StruckByBelz Also Dropped JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
In the latest episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, Jesus appears in the story, and StruckByBelz decided to drop the anime.
In a statement posted on the channel’s Patreon — which was later shared by people who had access to it — they explained why they made the decision.
According to them:
“We were told that we should drop JoJo because not only could it be considered blasphemous, but Jesus also plays a central role in this season and is not always portrayed in a positive light. If that is the case, we do not feel comfortable continuing. As a result, we have privated the few remaining JoJo videos on the channel.”
So that’s it: they dropped JoJo.
And judging by some of the reactions, most people are absolutely roasting them over it.
Honestly? I think the controversy has been blown way out of proportion.
If they want to drop an anime or TV show for whatever reason, that’s their decision. You can think the reason is weird, completely disagree with them, or even find it funny, but turning that into a crusade against the two of them is another matter entirely.
For example, I’ve seen an anime reaction channel drop ReZero because they simply couldn’t understand the story. Every episode they reacted to required their chat to explain what was happening and correct their interpretations. Eventually, they got so annoyed with the comments that they dropped ReZero.