Reviews for Claymore (7.58)

A lost then found then lost girl seeks vengeance for the second loss. Except you don't really know that until about half way through and it turns out to be a far less interesting plot than the characters and events up until that point had hinted it could be. In the beginning there are Claymores, and they're individuals and unique, and their fights and abilities are novel and beautifully animated. In the background is a slowly brewing conflict arising from the one-sided relationship between the Claymore's and the Organization and it is intriguing. Then all of that takes a back seat to the classic quest for power where will and desire lead to an ever blossoming fountain of previously unknown and poorly explained abilities that exceed anything believable. Massive battles take place where the balance of powers that had been established get ignored, limits are surpassed, a decision must be made, a climax is reached, and it ends. None of the good stuff is resolved and neither is any of the bad stuff, everyone wanders off in a "we'll see you next season" sort of way and poof. Oh, and there's an incredibly obnoxious little boy with serious abandonment issues and delusions of grandeur who whines periodically when something sad happens that doesn't fit his bizarre view of how the world really ought to work.

The first 11 episodes are great, the next 6 are good, it slowly devolves throughout the next 7 before the last 2 ridiculous episodes. It's entertaining and well animated but my major gripe is it could have been so much more.