Reviews for Claymore (7.58)

I don't know where to start. This is a good anime, a decent storyline and great action to boot. It is good on 75% of all the episodes, then it degenerated into something I didn't expect. Anyway, let's start with the ratings...

Animation 8/10

Remarquably, I liked the animation, from the start until the end. And the battle were decent enough to rivalize with Bleach or some other fighting of the same genre. Still, other than the different set of characters, environments and storyline, the fighting style is quite similar to what you've seen.[/b] The drawing[/b] for the characters are well done. It doesn't stand out like KyoAni, but I still applaud Madhouse's work[/b] for bringing a new style to anime genre. It is something like half Alchemist half Pumpkin Scissor.
Oh, another thing... It's gore. Well the first episodes, it's ok, but around the end, you need to accept seeing people cut in half... literally.

Sound 7/10

Sounds didn't impress me. I liked the OP and its ending too. But the music during the battle doesn't make me feel "engaged" as much[/b] as it should be. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but in comparison to other fighting anime, I did not feel the same maximum output of those battle. I just sit back on my chair and watch through it, since the battle scene are pretty good by itself.

Story 6/10

In a big picture, it's a world where creatures called Yoma are killing humans to eat their guts. No one know where they come from. To fight those monsters, the humans in towns need to request aids from an organization with women named "claymore". These women are powerful warriors with a large claymore, henceforth their name. Although they save the villagers from Yoma, they are actually feared by the common of humans, simply because they gained their strengh by being half Yoma themselves.
The main story tells about a woman named Clare that, like other Claymore at the service of the organization, kills Yoma to protect humans. During her journey, she met a guy named Raki (... I will come back to him). After a few episodes, Clare's motivation about her Claymore's job and her wish will become clear. And all the rest of the anime will focus on the evolution of her journey and her thoughts.

Personally, I really wanted to put a 3/10 or less for the story. But I rethought about the whole anime and asked myself : "Did I really hate the story that much?" Of course not. Pretty much because it got me intrigued and interested 99% of the way until the very end. I liked how it got structured. Basically, it's divided by chapters, and each chapter tell you an "event" that either explains a little more about the story, or a step stone helping the main character going near to her goal.[/b] It is well constructed, everything flowed nicely and I understood more and more about the plots to come.[/b] Then why I want to put a only-decent-score? I disliked the way it ended. The ending leaves an opening for a 2nd season.[/b]

Personally, I am one that believes a bad ending can literally kill a good anime. And it happens... again. First, it leaves too many questions unanswered[/b], which I believe will be explained in season 2. Second, the impossible keeps occuring. You know the style, right? "Impossible... OMG she survived!" repeated again and again. Actually it is so redundant that I didn't mind at a certain time that the main character actually... die. Oh cruel me.
I'm not done yet. There is also a guy in this anime that kinda annoy me, and I'm pretty sure he annoys a lot of other people too. Well, he will be in season 2. And though it is gore and people get sliced in 10, it is a happy ending that ~ makes sense.

Character 7/10

Well I liked every fighter in this anime. So that's a good thing to start with. I also like how well the main character is developping through new expriences.[/b] I liked how she became powerful. I liked the evil people in this anime.[/b] I liked about every Yoma, since they end up dead anyway. As I said, the main character is Clare, a claymore. She is traveling around trying to become stronger for one purpose, revenge on one specific "Yoma". It's about all I can say spoiler-free.

But I don't like the main male character in this anime.
His name is Raki (I told you I will come back on him). He is like er... -how to we say this- essential to the story line. He is the reason why the main character, Clare, travels around, looking for him, to eventually meet more of her destiny.[/b] Also, he affects Clare's reflection, about her goals. He is kind of nice, I guess. He will probably do anyting for Clare, etc... Why I disliked him? Well, let's picture it, if you haven't see the anime.

He is like an annoying little brother that really likes you.
He has godlike luck, seems to never die, when other humans should have.
He gets the attention of the two most important women in the story, for no apparent reason, or perhaps... luck? (wtf?)
Well he is the kind of character that says : "No don't do that, you can't! you CAN'T!!!" over and over again.
He can't help but still try to.

You see? Still can't? Watch the anime. XD

Value and Enjoyment

I don't know what's the real value of this anime. It has its morale, but it's too gore to watch it just for the morality. Personally, I am not the kind of person that wants to watch severals people got their guts eaten, to understand that kindness and memories can overcome anything. But I did enjoy most of the anime. Mainly because Raki isn't omnipresent. Despise his survival (...), I will still watch Clare in the Claymore, season 2, if there is any, mainly to answer all the remaining questions.

After everything said, you should have a pretty good idea what is on for you, if you choose to watch it. Well... it's less gore than Elfen Lied. That's all about it.

Rating is not expensive, and is like voting for elections. I ask for your vote! This review is based on the Eclipse fansubs, but I've also seen the R2 DVDs; aside from slightly better sound, the DVDs are the same. I may revise it when R1 DVDs are released.

Quick Take: Women Ronin. Cute blonde warriors in short skirts and big swords, women in shounen action fighting, a weak male with an older sexy female, a little fanservice and a whole lotta grudge. These are the main elements in Claymore, a Madhouse production and what it’s fans hope is the first series of two or more, from the great manga of the same name. It starts well, follows the Norihiro Yagi manga (mostly), but sadly in the end, it doesn’t really end; there are no good resolutions to the major plot threads. It’s very, very pretty, morally dark, and the voice actors are very able to match the series tone. But it’s the story ending (or lack thereof) which takes the most points away. Still, it's well worth the watch.

Story: Claymore is a plot that is tried and true: Claire, voiced by veteran Houko Kuwashima (Miyako Miyazaki in Bamboo Blade, Kagura in AzuDioah, and about 100 other parts including Rose Thomas in FMA) is a demon fighter who hides a secret past. She’s after monsters called Yoma who prey on a helpless human population, killing and inhabiting their bodies to move on to their next kill. Only the Claymores, female warriors (ed: I love turning Japanese history on it's ear with women ronin...) who have merged their blood and bodies with the Yoma, are capable of sensing and fighting them with the massive swords that gave them their nicknames.

The main character Claire hunts down and kills Yoma. She meets orphan boy Raki, voiced by relative newcomer Motoki Takagi (she was Aso Renji in ef - a tale of memories) who becomes a tag-along, and in the dark flashback series (doesn’t every dark series seem to have one now) you learn a little about her motivation both to care for him and to be a Claymore.

In the end, the flashback series of episodes actually is structurally necessary, as it allows the series to have an ending, if not a conclusion. This is because the anime was done before the conclusion of the manga series. It is arc-based (2-4 eps per arc) and follows the Claymore manga until it deviates to give it a 26-ep conclusion. Not much changes within an arc, to be honest; they are usually about action, the battle and not character development. I don't downrate for going a different way from the manga, as long as the change makes sense, and these changes, not so much. Story gets an 8.

Animation: The artwork is beautiful. Main characters are pretty, and even the townspeople are thin and beautiful. It is somewhat repetitive (towns, woods and mountains tend to look alike), and you’ll love the character designs and backgrounds (much of the key animation is Korean). Animation by Madhouse/Dr. Movie is 100% 2D cel-shaded CG animation, with a slight 3D feel at times, and many cinematic touches such as enforced perspective, focus blur and lens flare. It’s flashy and full of action when it's called for, but when they are walking and talking, it’s ehh; we watch for the action.

Yagi did some great work with action scenes in the manga, but left you wondering how they were going to do it in animation. Here, you see one way how it happens: anime physics, anti-grav, unreal poses and the ability to morph your body into whatever is needed, including the ability to recover from seemingly fatal wounds. Nothing groundbreaking in animation, but those Koreans are getting really good at backgrounds. Animation gets a 8.5-9, very pretty indeed.

Sound: Sound is moderately directional without front to back in my fansubs. Soundstage is wide, expansive, and foley work is very good. Op (“Raison D’etre” by Nightmare) is standard JPop, introducing us to the characters and their symbols in montage. Ed ("Danzai no Hana – Guilty Sky” by Riyu Kosaka) is more contemplative. Ambient sounds make it feel real-world and music (which is often reused) to let us know a fight is coming or a flashback is on its way. Music is used to tug the watcher in particular directions a little too much, but not obtrusively. Seiyuu (see above, and include the great Romi Paku as Teresa) are very good and match their characters well. In particular, I liked the un-subtle vocal ability of Raki; though the character can be annoying at times, the voicing is superb. Overall, rating is 8.

Character: Slight spoilers follow: Claire and Theresa, with the main/side character of Raki, are the most fully fleshed out and are mostly sympathetic. There is a lack of comic relief and a shortage (not lack, just not enough) of character development. I would have liked more byplay and maybe a little banter, and show Claire getting humorously irritated by Raki; it would have given her some more humanity (to be fair, it's not in the manga, but whoever said we're slavish to the manga?). That's NOT asking for comedy, just a contrast to the otherwise serious tone. We understand some of why Claire volunteers for the job, but she has become a monster, half-human, half yoma, and her control is always an issue.

It’s tough to sympathize with Claire, and to understand how she puts up with the privations of life as a wandering warrior. You want more character development. The ending is slightly too distant; it requires you to enter the mind of a monster, one you can’t understand. Ditto her love and sacrifice for her fellow Claymores, and that’s the series main weakness. Character gets an 7.5-8.

Value: the ultimate question: After watching the first half, would you watch the second? Or a second season? The answer will likely be yes, but with some qualifications. You may want to know more mythology and less about the yoma-of-the-week. You want to see the relationship with Raki develop somewhere. You need some comedy to lighten the series, some banter between friends. And you want it to stay closer to the manga, if you’re a purist. I'd say its a 9-


Enjoyment: I don’t doubt you’ll enjoy Claymore. Cute gals with short skirts? Big swords? Loads of action? Some mystery and really good animation? What’s not to like? Well, let’s hope they spend some money on story, and flesh out the characters in a second season. Enjoyment rates a 9


Conclusion: Hot Chicks with big swords. Bloody fighting, gore and guts. Great animation, lots of hot chicks fighting monsters. Gotta love it!

CLAYMORE
Version: 1.1
- Changed a feature of the review that was requested.

foreword: If you read this review at all, a little bit of critiquing // opinion-leaving would be highly appreciated.

~~~

In the world of Claymore, giant monsters run around called Youma, essentially demons, and happen to like eating human guts. The Claymores, warriors named for the weapons they wield, are half-demon demon slayers (a little like InuYasha, no?) made by an Organization in existence for an unknown period of time.


ANIMATION - 10-1 = 9

Oh my... Oh my, indeed. The job done here by Madhouse was arousing. The actual artwork and details put into the backgrounds and foregrounds were excellent: trees were trees; water rippled and flowed; and, for the most part, people looked like people. The part of this series with the most intense detail would have to be the warriors' eyes. If you take the time to actually look at it, it almost looks like Madhouse did eyes better than Kyoto Animation, and you know those people do a good job with eyes after watching Air (in which eyes > facial proportions).

On top of the details, there was a hefty amount of fighting in Claymore. There would be, of course, seeing as this is somewhat of a seinen/shounen action series. The action scenes were brilliantly crafted until the end. Movements were made totally fluid, special effects accompanied segments where the Claymores would "power up" with demon energy, and the transition from Silver Witch eyes to Demonoid eyes was always great to watch.

The Opening and Ending sequences stayed consistent throughout the series. They seemed to follow the stereotype of other shounen action series in that they showed viewers the primary villains and allies, mixed along with people along the way. In the intro alone, viewers see a One-Horned Monster (someone I refer to on Claymore-related threads as the superbitch) and another person with a Faint Smile. The quality of animation in both was somewhat higher than in the show itself, as is seen with many other shows.

SOUND - 8

The actors and actresses cast for Claymore did the series justice, and then some. They were, for the most part, fantastic, and matched their roles well. Especially radiant in performance would be Riful, a big bad little lady. She is, depending on how you look at is, portrayed as being someone with no real motivation to do things. She can be threatening and dangerous while at the same time maintaing a charm meant only for helpless girls in the snow. Her seiyuu, Mizuki Nana (Hyuuga Hinata from Naruto and Wrath from FullMetal Alchemist) somehow harnessed the traits of previous roles and manifested them as perfection to stand at the mic for Riful.

The other seiyuu performed to high standards as well, let's not forget. Everyone was unique, bringing their own unique vocal ranges and talents to the front. Romi Paku (Hitsuguya Toushirou, Temari, Edward Elric), armed with her vast repertoire of talents, brought Bishou no Teresa in as a brilliant heroine. Yusa Kouji (Ichimaru Gin) gave Easley the voice he needed to match his cool and collected manner. And even Galatea was given the "caring girl" archetype by Orikasa Ai, the woman behind Quatre Rebabba Winner and some some girl from Angel Blade (Punish).

Background music is next, I guess. It was, in a word, extreme. This can be taken with a grain of salt based on your own preferences in background music, but for me I happened to love it. The normal BGM was nice. It seemed to belong with the series, giving off a medieval vibe to match the medieval setting. It was in no way stuck to that single type of music, however, as proven with the BGM leading up to and during fight sequences. Going into them, I was bombarded with some addictive Heavy Metal, lacking in vocals, pumping up the atmosphere for the fight. During the fight, it's toned down a bit to be less extreme. Why? A personal theory would be that Madhouse wished to keep from drawing the viewers' attention into different parts of the episodes while they should keep their focus undivided. But for the pressure-building into-the-fight songs composed by Masanori Takumi, the rest of the soundtrack (also done by Masanori) conveys the emotion set with each scene. At times of peace, slow and melodic tunes would greet the viewers. During the more ominous sequences of Claymore, the music never failed to match.

Finally, we reach the part of the show that hasn't been brought up yet: sound effects. Everything from the swords clashing to the sound of the half-demons charging up their demon energy would go here, and go here it does. Everything was great: when the swords of fellow warriors clashed (they had their own little spats, too, mind you) it was almost never the exact same clash sound repeated for each and every sword impact for the whole series. They seemed to differ between each general encounter, which is to say that the same impact sounds were used during each individual fight. The only real other part of this section would be the noise that warriors made whenever they charged their powers up. It was described by a relative as the sound that "the laser guns in Star Wars" made. Not bad at all, but I don't see HOW this action would make a sound at all.

CHARACTER - 8-2 = 6

Deary me, Norihiro Yagi did a brilliant job with his cast of warrioresses here. Each and every one of the girls (and guys, endangered as they are in Claymore) was totally unique, failing to follow preset character archetypes for a vast majority of the series.

There is, of course, a massive amount of character development in Claymore. Strangely, however, it is distributed fairly evenly between everyone, failing to be done in a cheerleader form (in which one or few characters take up all the development of the series). As viewers, we are drawn closer to characters only to have them ripped away from us, leaving behind a sense of longing for more time with the people created for our pleasure. At other times, we take in the traits of the people moving around on the screen, wishing with every fiber of our beings that they GTFO!!!! as fast as possible for the sake of the computer that you just bought.

Perhaps the greatest character in the series (and my favorite), Bishou no Teresa, was fleshed out in nothing more than three episodes. These episodes were, of course, followed up with tons upon tons upon tons upon tons of allusions to the events that took place during these three episodes. She comes across as somewhat of a wolf in sheep's clothing, but we learn so much about who she is just within the span of time she tells her story. It just goes to show how well done the development in Claymore was.

One who could be called the series' lead heroine would be Clare. She's blonde, short-haired, and the lowest-ranked of all the Claymore of all the world. Despite the injustice done to her with the ranking, we easily find that she takes on the title of "BAMF" with nothing more than a break of sweat (Teresa wouldn't even have to move). It is because of her past, shrouded as it is in despair and pain, that the series follows her quest. It's a quest for a lot of things, really, loaning to the greatness of the story.

STORY - 9-2 = 7

And here we reach another strong point of Claymore. The story, as stated before, follows the path of Clare the demon slayer on her quest to find something. Along the way, we find out about the motive-questionable Organization that creates the half-demons, the origin of the villains of the world (specific villains, at least), and even whether or not Clare reaches her goal.

The story itself moves at a fairly fast pace, leaving no room for people who can't learn to grasp things that are further than a week apart. Clare's journey through the unnamed continent on which her story takes place is one that draws people in, never letting go with a deathgrip stronger than the otter Taggerung's hanging onto the Sword of Martin. On top of the latent captivation being awakened from just watching the first episode, there were no real plot holes to speak of in Claymore. Everything moved with the fluidity of thawed Alps snow down the throat of its drinker. It worked in a fashion built around minisagas, in each of which Clare would add some new ability to her arsenal, all the while pushing forward to meet the goal set before her. With all this, the story would be, of course, far from disappointing.

Surprisingly, however, with all my talk on how brilliantly done Claymore's story was, any random shmuck would be able to get the gist of it without any problems. Sure, it might take a rewatch to fully understand everything and to analyze the show to its nitty gritty guts, but the story works despite this simplicity.

As with any anime, there are episodes that stand out far more than the others. Most of it was worth watching over and over again, don't get me wrong, but a particular episode trio stood out for my far above the rest. These episodes would be *drumroll*: Teresa's story. For all the buildup, that's a really crappy way to sum it up, right? Anyway, everything about this part of the story was brilliant: the fighting, the story itself, voice acting, its purpose, and even the development for characters at the front and on the sides of the show. This is a must-watch portion of the series, by far its best.

Raki and the Volcanoe of the End

In other words, the flaws of the adaptation of Norihiro Yagi's work, and there were many.

For starters, we have the fact that the anime went off on a separate tangent from the anime. Though the source could be inaccurate (and on top of that remains unknown, even to me), I heard that this was because Madhouse was only going to do one season of Claymore. This did not have to be a bad thing, however, and I was almost looking forward to how a revised ending would work. Sadly, it was something that I did not expect. The ending even left me feeling like a baseball bat crashed across my head with the force of a swing from Nagato Yuki.

Next up would be Raki. Any list of hated anime characters would be incomplete if he weren't on it. I don't quite know why, but a vast portion of the anime viewing community finds Ikari Shinji to top their lists. Such is not the case here, as Raki could destroy Shinji with the hate he's fostered as the lead good guy of Claymore. Raki is the epitomy of the word "pathetic": his voice is annoying, capable of bleeding the deafest of ears, his attitude is far too one-dimensional, as are his goals, his voice is annoying, like a chalkboard being scratched with steel nails, and he does (almost) absolutely nothing to move the series forward. He even managed to jump into the ending of the series, telling you either how bad the ending was or how bad Raki was to put up with.

Third, we have the animation quality of the ending part of Claymore. When it was broadcast, I was expecting stupendous quality, something at least par with the work that KyoAni produces. "Too bad," I told myself. When I finally got to watching the end of the series, a lot of things were wrong. The "non-spoiler" fault would be that Madhouse began recycling segments of action during the finale and the bout right before it.

Lastly, we have plot holes. I shudder to think how much better the series could have been if Madhouse had chosen to end the first season and go into a series of OVA (in the same fashion as Hunter x Hunter, I think), but alas, they became the organized human form of PHAIL.

To begin, we would need background information. There are three entities in the world operating independently of the Organization, collectively referred to as the Abyssal Ones. Of this trio, two are introduced, and one is even included in the ending, but what of the third? This here would be the problem. The last member of this triumvirate remained unnamed throughout, only alluded to in the remotest of ways somewhere midway into the series.

To describe more would mean spoiling the series more than I may have already, so this will end here, but be warned that, as great as the series is, there ARE flaws in the series. The only way to fix such monstrous downfalls would be to do a second season that, apparently, won't be done.

VALUE and ENJOYMENT - 7

Well, here we are, ladies and gents, the ending of this little review of mine. Let's end it with a bang.

Claymore was, in a lot of ways, enjoyable for me. I've watched, rewatched, and watched again certain portions of the series, namely the aforementioned story of Bishou no Teresa. Episode eight would have to be my favorite of the series. Sadly, the rest of the series is far from being as rewatchable as this, mostly because this episode was packed with enough action to make Chuck Norris cry.

This is a series that I would DEFINITELY (in caps!!!) recommend to people looking for an action series. It may not be the best to tide one over during the wait between two desired series, but Claymore does more than a good job keeping men interested in women who could kill them with a flick of the wrist and the flash of a giant sword.


- I have no source for whether or not they're doing a second season. It's just something I read on the internet. If it's wrong, it's wrong, but doesn't change the fact that there were flaws in Claymore.

For many years Claymore was promoted as the second Berserk, because it was dark fantasy and we didn’t have much of that back when it was made. The similarities are surface level at best, since down to it Claymore is like Berserk, but with more boobs and less plot. It hardly does much with its potential and it’s average at best.

The art was very good as far as aesthetics go. High on detail with lots of filters and dark palette colors to transmit the feeling of a grim world overrun with dread and death. That aside, character designs were unappealing, with weird faces and very similar body types. I had a hard time telling apart the Claymores since they all looked and acted the same. Also common Yoma were drawn too simplistic and human-like and were closer to painted bandits with fangs, which was hardly making them scary.

The fight scenes were mostly about the gore than the action choreography, so it wasn’t exciting even back when it was made. Now it’s just plain and boring to look at. It’s extra insulting when you know it was animated by Madhouse, which back then was the king of anime studios. You would at least expect more fluent fighting scenes or creepier monster voices, but nah, despite the popularity of the manga it was based on, they did a rushjob. Most battles didn’t last much and ended in a dull way. There was very little actual animation to the fights as most slashes were nothing but frozen pictures with a silver line that was substituting motion. This was usually followed by excessive amounts of blood, which as cool as they may have been if you were not accustomed to the glorious goreporns of the 80s, they were not rewarding you for the boring build up and the disappointing finishing move.

Claymore’s strong point was not its story, which was simple, linear, and just like it happened with the first Full Metal Alchemist, not even a faithful adaptation, since it followed a small part of the manga and then changed the ending it in a way that made a continuation impossible. The premise is about fighting fire with fire and thus the monsters that plague humanity in this series are to be dealt by humans possessing monster abilities. It could have been an exploration around that and how you can keep your humanity despite having to act like a monster, but you hardly get much of that. This is no Parasyte or Devilman Crybaby, or even Tokyo Ghoul. The plot can also be easily divided into short arcs with their own set of monsters, which don’t explore the theme or the setting, as much as they offer some fairly basic characterization.

The characters are the selling point, since the monster hunters are a bunch of emotionless super waifus whose worst enemy ends up being their own selves, as they slowly turn to Yoma. We mostly see that through Claire, the main heroine, who moves from a heatless killing machine to a… heatless killing machine than has a will of her own and doesn’t go around killing stuff just because she was ordered to do it. And this is done through her interactions with Raki, an obnoxious idiot who is supposed to be a pacifist and what keeps Claire connected with her humanity, but comes off as a spineless idiot who is nagging, making unrealistic remarks, standing in the way, and generally causing more trouble than helps out. Nobody likes Raki; he’s a party pooper. As for the adversaries, the Yoma, they can hardly be called characters, since to the most part they are just mooks that exist to be killed as generic mini bosses. You will never get something to care about them, much less find out where they come from. They don’t even feel like monsters most of the time, since they come off as cosplaying cannibals with motivations that don’t go beyond ‘kill humans’.

I also didn’t like the dialogues, as they are very shonen for the subject matter they are dealing with. They infodump a lot, even during a fight, when they have no reason to say all that shit. All the Claymores want, is to kill Yoma, and by talking needlessly about what they plan to do, they give them a lot of information which can be used against them. And the Yoma talk like hillbillies without some voice alteration for making them sound like the scary monsters they are supposed to be. Also, Raki’s moral speeches are unbearable, as he keeps saying the most out of place things all the time. He is not the voice of reason or the good angel sitting on the right side of the brutal Claymores. He’s completely detached from the reality of the world he is living in, and thus quickly becomes a major mood-killer.

So, is there any value in this anime? Aside from nostalgia possibly, no there isn’t. You can easily find shows that do everything better, and don’t have Raki in them. The popularity of the anime was based on a lot of people who were easily impressed by violence and amoral characters, something which is nothing special and keeps repeating to this day every time an edgy anime comes out.

[ Story ]
The story is the journey of Claire the Claymore, a monster slaying hybrid. In her world exist demon-like monsters that feed on human guts and thus are on top of the food chain (if there's a top in a chain . The demons can disguise themselves well and live among the humans. Only the Claymores have the ability and power to find and destroy them by using their indestructible sword to slay their heads off. Claymores aren't born, they're created out of a human. The demon genes give them great power and change their eyes to silver in normal state and golden when they power up. When they use too much of the monster's power they risk to lose their humanity and change into a demon and become targets themselves.

Claire appears strong and often quite reckless. Tactic seems to be an unknown word to Claymores in general. It's quite a typical adventure that follows the common path of fighting, then appears the tag-along, more fighting, a little insight on both, the flashback for the deeper reasons, then stronger enemies appear and yet even stronger ones, that continues until the nemesis is met. So nothing surprising in the story development if you're used to animes of that kind.

Things I didn't like about the story was as mentioned the failure in tactic (or common sense in battles). They often got very good opportunities to attack with less risks for own damage or even THE chance to slay a very strong monster, but they fked it up. How? Well the typical, before they attack (or even in the jump to attack) they must explain what they do or plan to do. So of course the monster hears that there are still some left to fight back (which he thought he killed or disabled) and any situation when one or two Claymores could sneak behind the monster for a sneaky attack were ruined. Best ruined opportunity was even in the final fight when the enemy was kind of confused about who's her enemy and who not *sigh* If the demons weren't dumb or (more often) quite full of themselves and thus underestimated their attackers (can't blame them) then the Claymores would have long died out.

Another thing I didn't like was the absurd amount of blood. Seeing blood as the source of live within any body it can't be that in the fight some Claymore loses large amounts of blood and in the moment the fight is over she looks healthy again and can walk away normally. Totally unrealistic even in that world.
At least deep wounds do still have a weakening effect, but if not the head is chopped off then even a hit straight through the heart won't kill a Claymore or a demon.

The weak tag-along runs into situations he better would stay out, talking about to protect when it's always him, as the weak human, that needs protection. Can't complain to him since it's his age that he's naive. Can only blame the creators for adding someone like him. It didn't add to my entertainment at all. The opposite.

There's also more information about the organization of the Claymores missing to get more dragged to the anime.

Another tiny thing are the few gore moments that raise the anime on adults level. Either those scenes will be censored or the dvds will be x-rated. But for an anime for adults the story and characters have too many weaknesses and clichés (like the mumbling “I...”, “But...”, “He...”, “She...” - there were enough unfinished sentences that it irritated me).

What I'm glad about (seeing the things I didn't like) was the fact that none could instant heal/regenerate missing body parts like destroyed limbs (like you'd expect from strong monsters... arm chopped off and a little powering up and a new one grows out). And some of the good ones actually died too in this battle.
I liked their separating in attack and defensive types of the Claymores (don't know if the monsters or awakened ones have that too). Defensive types were better in regenerating wounds and offensive types, well were more for offensive stuff With that they even managed to pull out a strategy when they fought in small teams. But normally a Claymore fights alone.

That was much about the story, but I had to let it out.

[ Animations ]
It's nice to see how many animes benefited from good special effects, realized on computers. The Claymore warriors have expressive eyes in close ups, I really liked that. Also the golden demon eyes are catchy. The rest is on a good standard level of nowadays animes.
With all the improvements that are doable since the computer got used to render cool effects, some basics are still on a level from years ago. That are those little details that haven't improved significantly, for example, taken a horse with gear from an anime in the 80s and comparing it with a horse from Claymore, it shows no difference and it was already wrong in the past (like saddle and snaffle) and in all those years with all those great developments no-one cared about the details which also show the quality of work.
Most of the demons were dull stereotypes and quick victims to slay. Best what can happen is a Claymore to awaken. The demon forms of Claymores often looked extraordinary and were interesting. Some exceptions were there too, but that's to forgive. Those were side-characters in the background or the ones that were meant to die fast anyway.
Some scenes have low contrast and dull colors, like when the landscape is misty, just that it wasn't every time mist. I didn't like that either.

[ Characters ]
The characters were like the animation. They had ups and downs. I already said some things about it in the 'story' section, so this won't be so long.
The in my eyes most interesting character wasn't alive anymore when the story started and was only to see in a flashback. Yet she influences the whole story through Claire, the Claymore main character, who is quite an earnest and closed up woman with some moments of expected development. As closer to the end as better. She's a honest and straight character that you'll start liking even when she sometimes may appear dull. The fact that her rank was the lowest made her more lovable for me. She wasn't the super-power cliché I first feared her to be. And she deals so great with that... she just doesn't care. XD
To the downs. The worst is the tag-along Raki, a human who follows Claire all around on his own account. Causing some trouble here and there with his typical naive youth. He really disturbed me.
As for the enemies, the only one worth to mention is Priscilla and even she was disappointing. A stubborn brat at the beginning, a stubborn monster at the end. The awakened Silver Eyed Lion King also stayed in my mind, but more because of his look than of anything close to a development or depth.

[ Sound ]
The opening and ending songs are good pop music. Personally I preferred the ending and skipped the opening (thank you Eclipse for adding chapters in your videos).
Some background sounds were bagpipes and that always reminds me of something Scottish or Irish and mostly it didn't fit to the scenery at all. Beside that I can't remember anything else that got my attention, so the rest must be smooth or standard.
Some of the voices... it felt like I knew them already from elsewhere... I could swear one sounded like Usopp from One Piece and another one like Kakashi from Naruto. Whatever, the voice actors were okay.

[ Value / Enjoyment ]
The beginning is interesting but didn't get me excited. The ending is half open, much room for a second season. It has only little re-watch value for me because I've watched many animes and it takes more to impress me nowadays (which doesn't have to be great animation, but great characters and an emotional, understandable story already make the show for me). Since it also has no buy-value for me I rated the value part as low as a 5.
Even when I got bored after 2/3 of the show I'm a little sad now that it's over.
Because of the rather cold Claymores (except for Teresa and Claire none did warm my heart) and lame tag-along I didn't enjoy this that much, but enough to keep watching. I got it recommended from a (male) friend of mine and can only assume that this anime is more entertaining for male watchers because of the many women.

Excuse my English, I was a lazy pupil at school for foreign languages but that doesn't keep me from writing

A medieval setting of small isolated villages and intriguing characters gives you a warm feeling in your stomach from the very beginning. Similar to the first review, this was the first anime that I ever watched as it was released, and gosh it was tough waiting a week between episodes! As you enter into the world of Claymore you can't help but notice the distinct differences that Claymore accomplishes compared to the similar medieval feeling & animated Berserk. Claymore has character development with rich emotions and excellent voice acting as opposed the 24 episode killing spree repeatedly boasting a kill quantity in Berserk. If you are more geared towards the carnage and testosterone, Berserk is your show. If however like me, you like the mid-evil feel of Berserk but with deeper more intriguing character development with more from the anime series itself (not having to read the manga afterwards), Claymore is for you! Claymore didn't need to be females bashing heads in, but it was; and they did so masterfully and relentlessly.

As more and more plot reveals, so do more and more varying types of beasts, (youma) and Claymores (our sword-wielding heroines). Is every battle as effortless and simple as Clare's first? Is Clare the ultimate powerful Claymore-wielding creature in the world? Nobody expects a straight line to the end, but the level of diversity of the Claymores and youma throughout the series never fails to surprise and delight.

Animation - 10/10:

You can't help but be breath taken by the touches of brilliance in battles via:
the Slow motion slices.....
the body parts being sent all around.....
facial close-ups......
side profiles of the claymores running or strafing to their sides.
I can't stop thinking about the breathtaking scene where Clare is approaching a beast in slow motion via alternate animation styles, (similar to if it was night vision, or thermal vision) and in both first and third person perspective.

Sound - 9/10:

From the tiny sound effects, to the raw power of a being awakening, to the sword crunching, to the emotion inspiring OST I extensively enjoyed the sound. This is the first time I looked up a voice actress due to how well Clare’s voice matches her personality and how alluring she sounds! No prefect score given because when I tried to rock Claymore in my car I had to feel a bit embarrassed by the OP!

Story - 10/10:

I am a sucker for action-driven stories, but this wasn't (at least not the first half). Surprisingly, despite this Claymore was amazing for me that through the character development/ flashbacks/ emotions that I was constantly thinking about even during the week waiting for the next episode to be released! The character-driven build-up, traveling, and slow revealing of the plot all add to elements that allow you to deeply enjoy as Clare’s journeys unravel!

Character - 10/10:

I think that you will consistently find “character” getting high ratings from reviewers. Your impression of Clare’s powers fluctuates throughout Claymore. Her heart is powerful but her skills are easily on-par. Ophelia, Miria, Flora, Irena, Sophia and Priscilla are all distinct personalities allowing a sort of harmony via conflict.

Value - 10/10:

I suppose there is a fantasy involved here that such powerful beings are sworn to selflessly protect man kind, even while being ridiculed by those that they protect! Kindess, love, forgiveness, perseverance & etc. could be taken from Claymore. You certainly won't walk away from Claymore with nothing.

Enjoyment - 10/10:

The Claymores often become Claymores because their families were destroyed by youma. You will feel their relief as they avenge their families and friends. The intrigue of different rankings of Claymores as well the varied motivations for having become claymores will keep you coming back for more.

Pros:

The beauty and intrigue were powerful and though provoking enough to forget about insignificant questions like "Who is the current #1?!!!!" If you don't enjoy all of the characters you will at least appreciate several. The lion-beast evolving Rigardo, and mystically beautiful elf-eared quick-sworded Irene were my personal favorites. The most notable common Claymore characteristic throughout is how they self-sacrifice for others. Be it to save man-kind, save each other, or to simply pass on their legacy/advise. This is something that would be nice amongst mankind in our world. Due to the enjoyment from Claymore I think this will be the first manga that I will read.

Cons:

While I enjoyed all of the claymores (and various beasts) that I met, it was at times overwhelming to differentiate the Claymores due to their shared characteristics of elegant golden hair, sharp confidence and willingness to save mankind. Additionally, while I like boobies and I like animation, I don't know if that combination here was really necessary ( I would have preferred it’s absence, especially when it appears seemingly randomly in significant scenes). Though rawness of a person such as skin/nudity could add to the natural/realistic feeling of the characters, I think it might takes a little away from the true art of this series. That... and we would probably prefer to have seen Theresa in all of her magnificence…. if anybody!

Conclusion:

If only we could have selfless beings to slay our society’s criminals and beasts; maybe our world would be as livable as the claymores’. Our society doesn’t posses “Boondock Saints”, or “Death Notes” so we can’t thrive towards a true criminal-free utopia. However we can enlighten ourselves for ~12 hours of abolishing society’s shames in the delightful fantasy masterpiece of Claymore!

The world of Claymore is being threatened by Yoma - demons who feed off human flesh. However, people invented a way to protect themselves from Yoma. So, the half human, half yoma, only-female warriors were born. They are called Claymores after the swords they carry with them.
Everything starts when a Claymore called Clare comes to the village where Raki, an ordinary boy, lives. She kills a Yoma that has been killing people in the village, starting with Raki's parents. Raki is thrown out of the village because of others' fear. He joins Clare or her "journey". What is going to happen next? I hear a rumor of "Awakened Beings". What are they?

Animation
I've read a comment somewhere, that short skirts, long swords and blood = happy anime. I've really enjoyed all the various female characters in this series. The Yoma and Awakened Beings were cool monsters and looked great.
As about the other aspects, I'll have to quote someone again - the fights mostly consist of blurred motion and shooting tentacles. But don't get me wrong. This is only partially true. The fights were great and they deserve to be well-rated.
Overall, the graphics side was very good.

Sound
Claymore had great music that really helped the atmosphere. Only by listening to it, I could tell what kind of sequence is gonna come. The ending was super, too.

Story
The way events from the past were revealed throughout the story was great. All the characters were connected together somehow through Clare. There were many unexpected meetings.

Character
First off, Clare. She developed a lot through the series. Starting as a ratehr weak person, she gain a lot of power and experienced and worked hard towards her goal. She made unbreakable bonds with the other characters. And they did support her till the end.
Second, Raki. He is still a kid. He wants to be strong, but fear pulls him back. After all, he's got great survival abilities.
As for the other, I should mention Miria because she is my favourite character. Both because of how she looks, because of her skill and because of her character. She's the most knowledgable one out there. The team of Miria, Clare, Helen and Deneve (and Jeane) was great.
Some other characters (such as Rafaela) did not get enough apperance to show their true personalitites. We also did not see number one nor number two.

Value
Claymore is definitely a good piece. It has it's own world, complicated storyline, lots of action and just about everything you could think of (except for comedy stuff that wouldn't fit in anyway). I'd recommend it to anyone who's not spacing out when he/she sees blood on the screen.

Enjoyment
Claymore is the first anime I've watched in "realtime" from the first episode to the last one. I've been always looking forward the next episode. I recall myself shaking on the release dates for just when I could watch the next episode.
I will remember the Claymore world forever. It bring so much possibilities to work with. I could imagine myself making a fancomic or role playing set in Claymore world (if I had more skill).
I'm really looking forward to the manga where the story continues and I hope there will once be an anime sequel.

So go and watch Claymore before the Yoma get you...

Hey AniDB, so Claymore… another anime with no conclusion based on a manga that is (as of this writing) still ongoing. Seems to happen more and more these days… here’s my two cents of how this one went down.

Animation
Seems kinda hard to identify these characters
Yeh, it is. All the Claymores essentially wear the exact same costume… a white spandex bodysuit with silver shoulder pads, skirt and boots. They all wield the same exact sword (a Claymore is a two handed sword with a cross hilt if you’re wondering) and they all have silver eyes and blonde hair. There are little nuances in the faces on a few characters, but for the most part, it’s one character over and over again…

What about the content?
Well the coloring is good. Low saturation, very drab colors, looks good… and the line quality is good too. They do a good job of trying to capture the look of the manga… the manga characters look a little younger though. There isn’t an overwhelming amount of movement… lots of camera pans, flashes of stuff that are supposed to represent things moving fast. Trickery to keep the quality consistent and within budget ya know?

No, I mean what about the “content”... the gore factor man!
There is no shortage of flying limbs, severed heads, pools of blood… the gore details aren’t too descriptive… if that’s the right word. You don’t really see muscles, organs, or bones kind of details… just a juicy red (or purple) spray, or the old fashioned all one color with a little white bone in the middle of the limb…

Demon women with swords slicing stuff up sounds like it could be a fetish…
I think it is… but not here… there are females all over but there is no sex appeal at all… I think I saw a few purple demon nipples, I dunno.
• Looks/Visuals : 7/10

Sounds
How well did the voice actors perform?
There was no Japanese voice actor that stood out in my opinion. Hoko Kuwashima is our lead, and her resume is extensive (Inuyasha/Sango – Noir/Kirika) but I’ll be honest… her character Clare just didn’t have a wide range of emotions for her to work off of. The rest of the cast was just a bunch of over-tense screaming militant women. No memorable performances…

Anything else bad you want to say?
Yeh, there is… I was really bothered by the voices of the demons. All of them. They talked way too much, and they sounded stupid having just regular voices and being demonic or huge and monstrous. They needed some kind of effect to be deeper, and better dialog to sound more “larger” then a street punk talking smack…

Alright, well let’s hear something positive… the soundtrack?
Ah, this I liked. The music during the series was some fun “Kill ‘em All” old Metallica style distorted pop-thrash guitar riffs throughout. Get me pumped at least, I love hard rock and upbeat tempos. There were probably only 4 or 5 songs (they felt repetitive) but they were cool. No vocals. The music though wasn’t necessarily reflective of any part of the anime save it fits the violence…

Opening and Ending theme songs?
They keep the upbeat Marshall guitar sixteenth note barrage theme going strong… only one opening theme and one ending theme. Opening themes vocals stunk but the first guitar riff is GREAT. I need to learn it. “Reason for Being” by Nightmare (these guys also did the opening/ending for the first season of Death Note). Fun riff. The ending theme is by Riyu Koska… it starts a bit lame, but give it a moment and once the drums kick things off into punk rock speed it’s fun too.
• Score/Voice Acting : 7/10

Story
Okay, so it’s based off a Manga that is still ongoing…
Yep. And it is REALLY faithful to the manga, except towards the end… which uses many of the manga elements, but is changed a bit so that no new story lines (Dragon-kin, Black Claymores, etc.) are introduced… essentially, the last 2 episodes are semi-original.

What are the chances of a season 2?
Let me get my magic eight ball. The 26 episodes of the anime are the first eleven volumes (about 60 chapters) of the manga. As of May 1st 2009 the manga is up to volume 16 (chapter 92)… so the answer is… well, quite a while if it comes out at all.

So does it just end and leave us hanging like Berserk or something?
It’s not near that painful. Berserk (the anime) just ends right after a mega-super climax. This series I just don’t see being interesting for another 26 episodes… it follows in the same steps though… a billion unanswered questions still not answered in the manga… plot feels a bit lost towards the end, or maybe I just stopped caring.

From the story we do get, what of it?
Well right off the bat I can say one positive thing. Great pacing! The arcs are short (about 4 episodes) so it covers a good deal of ground. Our hero has quite the number of adventures and a few of them are really fun. Unfortunately the fun ends when the characters start to go “Dragonball”…
• Story : 6/10

Characters
So Clare is our main protagonist… a sword wielding female demon hunter of sorts right?
Yep. She’s a hybrid, half human half demon… works for a secret unnamed organization that hunts and destroys “Yoma”. She’s very militant and void of emotions. All the Claymore are for the most part. She reminds me of Sabre from Fate Stay/Night… only she doesn’t really get cool.

What about this “worthless male character”?
Oh my gosh I want to strangle Raki with his own hands… worthless is the only word for it. He’s a killjoy… he does to Claymore what that stupid “I’m a Mac” kid/actor did to Die Hard with a Vengeance. Sucks the fun out of every scene he’s in.

Well what about the villains?
Can’t spoil that… Claymores are their own worst enemy, struggling with the half demon within… that’s all I can say of this. I can say though that the other enemy… the endless demons… the weak grunt of the Yoma is drawn really poorly, but is humanoid… but the higher ranking ones for whatever reason start to look like animals… Turtles and Lions and stuff… I thought it came across very comical and didn’t fit….
• Characters : 5/10

Value
On what fronts does Claymore deliver?
Well, it delivers on all the tags… there is medieval action and adventure, demons, gore, superpowers, teamwork and secret organizations, tragedy to a degree…

What anime is it most like?
Claymore is probably the bastard child of Berserk and Dragonball Z… its uncle is probably Blood+ and its nephew Bleach.

Is it worth following the manga from the end of this anime?
If you like it’d it, sure! Like I said, it’s VERY faithful. Skip to manga chapter 55 or so and go on from there… but be warned, the manga is setting itself up for being never ending…
• Value : 6/10

Enjoyment
At the end of the day, how did you like it?
Well despite my mostly negative comments… it’s okay. The action scenes are fun. The heroes aren’t invincible and get a thrashing which I like. A few battles have some really neat elements… I like not knowing if a character necessarily will or will not live. That aspect is great! Now if they cut the Raki character out completely… made the villains look, sound, and act cooler and more mature and evil… and didn’t have the dopey “number ranking” and feeling power levels and super power attacks and going Super Saiyan thing with altered states, I’d probably like it more… despite the death and gore though, it is just too kiddie in my opinion.

Favorite moment?
Well the cannibalism in the cave was cool, but I’d have to say Episodes 5 through 8… fun story arc.
• Enjoyment : 7/10

Overall : 6.5

If you read it, please rate it, even if you hate it
Thanks!

Claymore is all about monsters and girls with swords, literally. While this premise may sound like the typical samurai-girl stuff or perhaps a rip-off of Blood+, what you're presented here is a completely different beast in many aspects. The girls with swords may be cute blondies, but they lack the sexual appeal common to school teenagers. The monsters are more horrific and powerful, providing some great moments of tension and never really allowing you to predict the outcome of a single combat. Whenever monsters and claymores (the girls of swords) clashes, you can expect some very nice moments filled with surprises and smart turns of events.

The show only had the bad luck of being released together with a bunch of other quality shows. You had many others with the same or greater quality released in 2007 and they certainly put Claymore in the background, not exactly because they were better, but because Claymore is not a flashy show filled with elements that can be used to lure teenagers, create brand of toys, TV merchandise, etc.

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Art & Animation
Claymore art style is very unique. I don't remind watching a similar show, perhaps with bits of similarities to Death Note and other Madhouse works, but still quite different, and that is remarkable. While the art is unique, it does not mean it's exactly gorgeous. The monsters are certainly superbly detailed and varied, with some mixes of fantastic and horror creatures that do not evoke fear, but are enough to show how strong and powerful they are. The humans, however, suffer from inconsistency and some weird characterization, they have bodies that sometimes feel more like barbie dolls instead of the typical japanese style and at other times look far more mature than the standard line. Regardless of the art style, the animation is good enough to deliver some awesome fights and the darker painting allow for a more serious and adult setting to be developed.

Sound
Not much to say in sound direction. Claymore's opening is very fitting and succeed in creating the necessary atmosphere for what is to come, the voice acting is mature and good, and the background music never present itself as an issue. Overall Claymore offers a very solid sound direction that never compromise the whole experience, but is somewhat lacking of helping to rise the show to higher grounds.

Story
Claymore's tale is about Claire, a member of the organization that hunts down the horrifying youma that scares villages and kill random citizens for their own bloodlust. She is defined as being the weakest Claymore of all as far as their internal rank applies, and suffers some kind of bully from her co-workers as she joins groups to hunt youmas. They don't know, however, that she started out as a normal girl protected by one of the strongest Claymores that ever existed.

During one travel though, Claire meets a boy named Raki and slowly starts to see the truth in the world. She learns that the biggest foes Claymores must face are not the youma out there, but themselves. Secrets about the past Claymores, mad experiments, betrayals, suicide missions, and many other events start to unfold as Claire struggles to look for her human side when near Raki or to her monster side when facing youma.

1. Good but Unexplored Setting
   Regardless of being a show with monsters, girls, and swords, Claymore delivers a superb piece of setting. It initially starts as some nameless land with nameless cities and countries that is only divided in regions, but as the secrets are exposed it grows more complex and enjoyable. We have multiple overpowerful beings ruling the regions, other minor characters with important roles, a dark origin surrounded by mystery, many past Claymores with interesting backgrounds and stories, etc. The anime, however, never digs too far in the setting as the manga, but that is an issue well covered by a good narrative filled with tense moments where the next turn of events is always a gory and different one.
   
   Ranking System is definitely nice for shounens
   Claymore's plot move in a very interesting way. It mixes bits of a sports show, giving ranks to the Claymores, labeling the top ones as truly strong but always making you wonder what exactly are her powers or who exactly are they. It also delivers a good set of epic powerful monsters and a story between them and the Claymores, making for some very nice scenes and outcomes whenever they clash.
   
   Nice Pace, but rushed alternative ending
   This constant presentation of Claymores, youmas, and other creatures of the setting allows for a superb pace and is almost sure to constantly grab your attention. While the plot is not exactly extraordinary or complex, it's good enough considering the genre. The greatest issue here is the fact that the end is different from the manga, somehow rushed and leaving many plot holes open, especially because the anime does not ommit the many powerful beings and other Claymores, making you wish to know more about them, but never doing so. Reading the manga makes everything better, but the anime alone suffers a lot from this lack of a true ending.
   

Character
Claymores are youma-infused women gifted with monstrous strengths and a few other unique powers. They are used to hunt youmas in the land whenever requested and sometimes act in groups to hunt bigger and tougher youmas. All the Claymores are the same, with backgrounds of misery or death, almost always involving a youma killing her parents or so.

1. Fanservice gal, but nice at least
   Claire's a bit different from they as it's presented in the first episodes. She becomes in fact a very good character on her own, never suffering from much of the typical protagonist problems. She has wits and courage but lacks power as usual, and because of that she is aided by other Claymores and characters most of the time, but she grabs other motivations as the show progresses and events occur. Ultimately she learns to use her own tricks to her favor, and although she gets god-powerful by the end to rush the series ending, her overall progression is far more believable than what you typically find in shounens where the next super-power unlocks whenever they face a stronger foe.
   
   Stupid monsters, nice villains, limited humans, lack of development
   The regular monsters are mostly mindless beasts, much like evil thugs with a desire for human parts, but the powerful ones are truly evil bastards who love torture and have little of their original personalities. They are great villains and could certainly be more used in the show besides the combats where they appear. Humans, however, are very limited here, never showing much progress and acting in ways that would better serve the typical commoners of medieval fantasy and not villagers of a world haunted by uber-power beings. Raki, in particular, is a very annoying piece of sh*t that never evolve in his resolve. What Claymore really suffers in its cast is that most of the time they are fighting and even though some are great characters, they get little time to show that and evolve their personalities.
   

Value
Claymore is different. You're unlikely to see similar shows with the same use of gore, monsters, tensions, desperation, etc. Berserk sometime falls in this category, but Claymore focus more on fights and monsters than war and intrigues. The cast is not exactly superb, but the small setting created by the show proves to be a very good one when the secrets are revealed, especially if you dig into the manga to catch up with more details in the part after the "ending" of the anime. Simply because Claymore is such a different and mature show, it's easy to watch it again and is hard to forget for those who experienced it fully.

Enjoyment
Claymore's fights are awesome. The tense moments are always there and the surprising turns of events never fail. Because of that Claymore can grab you and keep you watching episode after episode, wishing to uncover more about the character's pasts, to know more about the top-ranked Claymores, the super-powerful monsters, and so on. This constant lure to uncover more and more makes Claymore a show that lasts for a while after you watch it. The true only killing element here is the fact that half of the series you'll be watching a single scene (heads rolling...) repeat over and over, sometimes taking away some of the tension built. Those looking for great fights in a more mature scenario will certainly love Claymore, but if you expect ecchiness with the girls, comedy, or anything light hearted, get away because Claymore shows absolutely nothing of the sorts.

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Comments
If you liked Berserk because of its darker setting and the way it portraited monsters, you may truly like Claymore. While most of the show is more about fights and less about political intrigue, it grabbed my attention and got a spot as one of my greatly cherished anime. It's hard to find series with this kind of setting. Dark Fantasy is perhaps the rarest genre animes take, and the ones that try to recreated similar scenarios always fails because the typical japanese art is too "cute" to deliver the necessary tension and despair that is required or because they end up with some cheesy comedy or noisy characters. The unique art style and the lack of sexualization in its characters help Claymore in that, joined with the mixed super-power fights makes it a more refreshing experience and a show that most people should watch.

Claymore is one of the more popular anime of this year, and for good reason. Girls, demons, swords and blood. What's not to lose? Claymore delivers well on this premise, and despite my low expectations, I came out rather surprised.

The viewer is thrust immediately into the world of Claymore. The first several episodes are a fine example of good, visual storytelling. Almost no dialogue is devoted into depicting the anime's setting, yet just by seeing our protagonist, Claire, travel from town to town, you see more than just a glimpse of the desolate, harsh climate of her world. Animation is dark and slick, to boot, adding to the mood of the anime's storytelling. Much detail was placed into the eyes of the Claymores, and it's quite beautiful whenever they feature a close-up of them.

Oddly enough, sound isn't as great in corroborating the mood of Claymore. In the beginning, the show's songs start at awkward times, and detracts from moments of drama and dulls down the importance of a number of character intros. Thankfully, the creators picked up on this quirk, and begin to use music competently for the rest of the series. The songs themselves are good, and the metal OP/ED are decent enough to listen through. Songs range from classical fanfares to almost Autechre-inspired glitch loops. It's varied, but it still works.

Despite a strong beginning and a number of very engaging storylines, the series quickly turns into your average superpower storyline, with enemies getting exponentially stronger each episode, resulting in a seriously power imbalance between protagonist and antagonist toward the end of the series. Battles become progressively protracted, and can even surpass an entire episode length. Every villain also gets his/her cliched super-monologue, from the lowly bottom-feeder demon to the protagonist's archnemesis. It gets old real fast, especially for those who have seen DBZ. This all comes at a bad time, too, since there was so much happening at the beginning that you become genuinely interested in seeing the story through. Sadly though, it doesn't even end. After a long-awaited showdown with her primary foe, the series ends with more questions than answers, leaving the viewer unsatisfied, hungry for more.

Speaking of cliches, the series features one character type that has been done to death in the world of anime: the milquetoast male. Featured as Claire's sidekick and companion, this wussy of a supporting character goes through the easily-predictable motions of complaining of his weaknesses, running from opportunity, and foolishly meddling with situations he doesn't fully understand. The Claymores are actually varied and interesting, however. Each has their own unique personality, and the interaction between these characters are a strong point of the anime. There's even an explanation for Claire's stereotypical emotionless female warrior personality, and is thus forgiven.

Claymore has its little flaws, but most of it is due to the fact that its source material isn't finished. The story doesn't end at the end of the series, ushering in the likelihood of a sequel. The series is a fun watch, with an engrossing plot. I would suggest on waiting for the storyline to actually finish before watching. If that falls through, then give this unfinished anime a watch, and note the Berserk-like ending.