In a world rife with deadly creatures called "youma", a young silver eyed woman, Clare, works on behalf of an organization that trains female youma halfbreeds into warriors with the ability to destroy these creatures. Considered a rogue for picking up a stray child and almost losing herself to her youma side by "Awakening", she is constantly assigned rather dangerous missions. The last Anime I've really enjoyed must have been Death Note which impressed my with it's overall genius plot and the character development. Although Claymore clearly cannot reach this (well actually it's kinda cruel comparing 2 Animes of different categories), it sure has some really good moments as well. The main focus of this series lies, obviously, on good old sword combat mixed with some really impressive ideas on how to swing, slash and bash a Claymore-sword in almost every way possible. While the story seems to start slow, there is definitely a certain appeal, which I've missed on several other Anime series I've tried for the last two years. If you manage to stay with the story until the first twists and turns you start to get into the characters and what first seems to be another bad half-Hentai porn (just by judging the fact that the title is presented by full-laden blonde "girls" on the cover) turns out to be less sexistic and more action-laden like any other Anime you've watched for quite a long time. I'm very picky about the animes I watch and even more picky about the animes I actually like. So for this one to get a high score from me is no small feat.<br/><br/>Claymore at its core is a dark action fantasy.It follows a human/demon hybrid warrior named Clare and her gary-stuish morality pet Rocky(he's not that annoying) as they go from town to town to fight demons as giving to Clare by her boss the organization. The name Claymore derides from the huge sword she wields. The plot from the first few episodes seems like its a boring monster of the week show,but by episode 7 that thought will change.It will turn into so much more and won't let up.<br/><br/>There's a lot of secrets in this show.What happens to a claymore when they go over their yoki(demon)limit? Hmm let's just say that they get more bad-ass(which is not much of a feat since they're already that) that's for sure, but it comes with some…consequences. Another would be why are all the claymores female?If there were male claymores what happen to them?If you want answers watch. The show is rather gory. I mean blood and limbs getting detached is like a common theme for every episode. So if you're squeamish I wouldn't watch this.<br/><br/>Pros <br/><br/>The Characters- are so badass it's not even funny. Literally the first few minutes of the first episode will clue you in on just what kind of main character you are dealing with, and the dark fantasy tone has been set. You will not find a mary-sue/damsel in distress in this anime. Which is surprising in itself this being from Japan and all. However,I found that the manga's, that this is based upon, author is female. That would explain a lot of things. You would have to play where is waldo or in this case where's the mary-sue to even begin to find one,and seriously good luck with that. Also character development on Clare and the rest of the claymores is skimpy but memorable.<br/><br/>Voice Acting-top notch quality. Very good.<br/><br/>Animation- very nice and the battles are fluid.<br/><br/>Music- creepy and fits the mood.<br/><br/>Cons <br/><br/>Skimpy Character Development- Even if the character development is memorable it's still skimpy. Some characters are literally introduced in one episode and then gone by the next few. They might show back up at the end.Or not.Clare herself is not spared this.<br/><br/>Clones- What I mean by that is all the main characters, the claymores, look like each other. They all have white blond hair, silver eyes that turn into a catlike yellow complete with slit when they use their powers, the same uniform, and while the few odd ones out might have long hair all the rest will have a tomboyish bob. This includes Clare. I mean seriously I have mistaken Clare for other claymores more than once. The only way you can really tell them apart is by their personalities. Would it have hurt to give them at-lease different colored hair? Their silver/yellow eyes and their demonic powers were more than enough to tell us they are not fully human.<br/><br/>My kunfu is better than yours-This happens when a character likes to talk about their attacks/powerups before,during,and after an attack. While it's not near the level of Bleach, and of so I've heard Naruto and Dragonball Z, it's still annoying regardless.<br/><br/>The Organization- They give the claymores their orders,but who or what these characters are(besides the claymores) that make up the organization is never explained. I hear its not explained in the manga either.<br/><br/>The Ending- Way to open ended. A whole lotta lose ends and characters are never given closure. This can be rectified in a second season, but that'll probably never happen.
Dallijan replied
372 weeks ago