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Studio : Madhouse Studios
Licenced by : FUNimation
Length : 26 Episodes
Year : 2007
Genre : Horror - Drama - Fantasy - Action
Synopsis :
The countryside and towns are in terror as their inhabitants are devoured by the "yoma", powerful demons who can disguise themselves perfectly as humans. The only ones capable of recognizing and defeating these demons are the so-called "Claymore", silver-eyed warriors who are half-human and half-yoma. But their origin also makes the Claymore objects of fear and distrust for the villagers.
Young Raki has lost his family to a yoma who infiltrated his village, who is in turn eliminated by the Claymore Clare. Fearing that his contact with the Yoma might have transformed him into another monster, the villagers expel Raki who now joins Clare as her cook, following her in her travels as she fights against the yoma.
Additional Notes: This series ranked #1 in Anime-Source's Best of 2007 poll.
Added : 2007-04-04
Synopsis by : leoxjm
Last update : 2008-09-03
Last update details : Seiyuu modified
Score : 8.31
Number of reviews : 29
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Avex's Claymore Website (Japanese)
Official #2 : NTV's Claymore Website (Japanese)
Official #3 : Official Claymore Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Nightmare - Raison D’être
Ending #1 : Riyu Kosaka - Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky
Release(s) :
2008-10-30 -- Episode(s) 26 by Eclipse. BT Link
2008-10-30 -- Episode(s) 25 by Eclipse. BT Link
2008-10-30 -- Episode(s) 24 by Eclipse. BT Link
Found 112 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
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Posted by : Kimmie-chan
Posted on : 2009-12-23 
Well I finally got around to watching Claymore and I'm so, so glad that it didn't disappoint me. I certainly understand why it was the number 1 favourite in 2007.
For me, I was under a certain mindset for Claymore. I knew it had something to do with women in armour with big swords that slay monsters, call me shallow but that was enough to catch my attention; I knew of Clare and Teresa, and that was the extent I knew of Claymore. From the opening I was expecting the story to go certain way; what made Claymore so enjoyable ... yet depressing for me, was how it didn't meet that expectation and took it made it into something completely unexpected; something pretty damn awesome. I stayed up till 430 in the morning marathon-ing through it.
So story-wise, Claymore is pretty simple, they presented it well. There wasn't much of an ending; WE NEED SEASON 2!!!
Animation; I have no complaints. The flashing swords did remind me of Dragon Ball, made me chuckle a bit, but aside from that pretty good.
The opening song was pretty lame, though the sequence itself was good, I didn't pay much attention to the ending, but I did notice they didn't roll credits... which I found a little odd. BGM was good, some scores were memorable; I particularly liked the one with the bagpipes ^^
The characters of Claymore were certainly the strong point for me. Teresa very easily became my favourite character; Romi Paku is awesome. Clare is also a favourite, she's pretty easy to like. I grew attached to a few of the other Claymores but it was very sad when they didn't stick around for very long. The down fall of Claymore is Raki. Eff he was annoying; his voice grinds my nerves, he's weak but for some damn reason he thinks that he'll be able to protect Clare, I don't know where he pulls that idea from (reminds of Emiya Shirou from Fate/Stay Night). The episodes without were such bliss.
I definitely recommend it to anyone who can stomach a little bit of gore and impalement.
Posted by : FireWorks
Posted on : 2009-11-14
It's been a while since I finished Claymore. I recall my excitement when I heard that one of my favourite manga series would be serialized. Claymore is about half-demon women called Claymores created by an organization hired to kill demons that plague the land. My thoughts on this series are below.
Story:
It's a great story! It just draws you into the world of Claymore. I was initially happy to see it closely followed the manga. That is, until the last two episodes where they drastically changed everything. The ending was abrupt, not to mention appalling. There were countless ways to finish the series but they just had to screw it up. Inspite of many unexplained plot elements, there can be no continuation for this series.
Characters:
If you can get attached to the characters you can overlook their shortcomings, this goes for the protagonist Clare. All characters had depth, strength, easy to attach to and quite well developed. Everyone's unique personality added to their charm. Raki was portrayed as a weak and annoying brat, but he does develop though the series. But having read the manga I could never see Raki as a total loser like some others have here.
Animation:
The dark animation set the right tempo for the series. The towns and villages were well drawn with enough detail. I liked the beautiful character designs of all the Claymore warriors. The demons (or yoma) looked pretty cool, I enjoyed the smooth battle scenes and didn't mind the gore. Pretty good overall.
Music:
The OP was good, the ED forgettable and I can't recall any of the background music. This doesn't speak well for the tracks.
Good story, great characters, entertaining action and amazing animation are the where this series scores. The music and the poorly chosen ending is where it falls short. I would recommend this series, if only so it could get you into the manga.
Posted by : joem20 
Posted on : 2009-05-25
Story
The story about silver eyed witches known as claymores were very interesting, a half human and a half monster. It becomes more interesting when the dwellers of the deep appeared and they learned the concept of awakening into awakened beings. In each episode, the story gets better and better.
Animation
For me, the best animation way back in 2007 and certainly one of the best animations of all time. The movements are really detailed, fighting scenes are flawless and what I like the most are their silver eyes. Each time their eyes will turn to yellow, expect good things will happen. Even if the color selection of this series was poor, it reflects what the series was all about, dark and sad.
Characters
Each character has a good character development. All the characters are really strong and have unique abilities. Even their enemies, the dwellers of the deep are really strong that you can love them too. All the characters are lovable except for Raki, I found him quite annoying and so trying hard. After all, you will love Teresa, Clare and the others.
Sounds
What else can you ask for, a Nightmares’ song in the opening, a very enchanting ending song and superb sound effects. Each clash of swords makes my heart jump. Awesome!
Overall
It was a great and a must see anime. Even the ending is not that great as expected, it will leave you craving for more episodes. It is certainly a stepping stone for a new generation of animation. I really love it.
Posted by : kevinchaosvs
Posted on : 2008-07-27
Story/Dev: 67%
Characters/Dev: 58%
Claymore is overrated. Well, at least for an anime crowned the top of 2007 at this site, I felt that Claymore didn’t live up to what I had expected. With that being said, I do not think that this series is bad; it just wasn’t worth the hype and praises.
Storyline wise, it wasn’t anything really impressive either, but I won’t be too critical on that. Basically the Warriors have to take the blood of the Demons, thus gaining similar Powers, to become Claymores to fight the Demons. However, the humans that they save weren’t grateful for their help, branding them as outcasts instead, for they too feared the Claymore for their powers. While it’s true that the Claymores were in a very sad plight, I just can’t seem to side with them; their personalities weren’t very likable to begin with. Yup, I like none of the characters in there. Not even Claire, the heroine, whose personality doesn’t really leave much impression in me.
Music: 80%
Animation/Graphics/Design: 74%
The saving grace for this series? The animation quality is good and I particularly love the graphics design for the Silver eyes of the Claymore: they look so cool. The ED was the only thing in this series really memorable and worth raving. It is certainly one of my all time favorite EDs. I particularly like the style for the animation in the ED, which is complimented by the tempo and style of the music itself, combine to deliver Gothic and melancholic mood in the ED. It’s such a pity that they did not manage to translate that to the series itself, because the series felt dry, and thus another one of the reason why I don’t find the series engaging. Episode 8 (the look into Claire’s past) was the only scene that actually felt real, not matter-of-fact as I mentioned previously. The parts about the villagers beginning to accept the Claymores, and Claire beginning to see new perspectives in her life need more screening, as it is too little, and once again, too dry. Well, if they explored that in season 2, I might just be more interested to watch it.
And honestly, the ED is awesome and that is the main reason why I’m giving a high score for Music The OP is good too, though not as great as the ED. The bgm was decent, not really memorable though.
Summary:
Even though the story has not ended I wasn’t really hyped up to watch a season 2 (if there is going to be one), and that has pretty much shown how hooked I was on this series. There just wasn’t anything in the story that really made me want to continue with it. While it was considerably worth watching, it wasn’t really memorable. It was just decent. If season 2 does come out, I’ll probably be watching just to know the storyline progress rather than being addicted to it. On the other hand, I must say that the series wrapped up pretty well, considering the fact that the manga is still on-going. Lots of anime adapted when their manga counterparts are still on-going tend to mess up the ending episode, because well, the story has not ended so the series ended with things left hanging.
Personal overall rating: 63%
Posted by : xkrazydog
Posted on : 2008-06-05 
Claymore is a wonderfully crafted anime full of action and drama with an appeal that attracts both female and male fans. If you are a fan of either Elfen Lied or Berserk then Claymore is just for you. It's for more mature audience 15+ at least so don't bring any teenage Naruto fans.
Animation- The animation and art is very nicely rendered, with crisp style and smooth motion. It fits the medieval dark setting very nicely and battle scenes are always nice to watch and easy on the eyes. You can see some pretty impressive blood, Youma and Claymore alike. Each slash leaves a nicely animated cut with nicely animated blood. The Claymores are seen as beautiful warriors and the Youma are as ugly as any demon with their nice disgustingly evil beauty (Ironic, eh?). Also the backgrounds are beautiful - not an Elfen Lied, mind you - but with its various settings from mountains, to woods, to towns, to even deserts it is quite detailed, dark and nice to look at.
Although the claymores share some common features (Outfits, hair color and silver eyes) you can definitely tell them apart from their features, abilities, strengths and personality. Oh, the Claymore's silver and gold eyes are GORGEOUS, they REALLY stand out. I THANK the animators for those beautifully colored eyes.
Music- The background music doesn't really stick out; however, the OP and Ending Themes are very nice and synced nicely with the overall anime.
Characters: The cast is comprised of mainly females with the exception of Raki, the innkeepers, villagers, and soldiers. However, the Claymores themselves are quite likeable, and Clare, the main lead, is a great character. We get to see all of them evolve, even non-important characters. It's nice to see villagers finally understanding that Claymores AREN'T monsters. Raki grows more mature and has a nice relationship with Clare, and Clare's path to humanity also stands out. In addition, we see Priscilla's change to evil, Helen's change of view of Clare, and so forth. The characters are nicely cut and fresh.
Story- The story is decent; it has the whole exterminating demons theme that is quite common in Animes, but what sets it apart is the past setting as well as their environment. There is a lot of traveling since there aren't kingdoms but rather many individual independent villages and towns; also, the dark pasts of each character add to the drama and suspense of the story.
However, what sets the storyline apart is that an organization of FEMALE butt-kicking large-bladed women are sent to kill hideous monsters. And the suspense of the organization they work for as well as the 'Awakened Ones' they fight are also mixed into the brew. Did I also mention that these women can turn into the very creatures they fight? Ooh... the suspense.
The anime is also faithfully adapted from the original manga with the exception of the last two episodes. Although the ending left a somewhat strange aftertaste, it's still a great show.
Overall i give this a 10/10. Claymore is a great watch, enjoy it, love it, and fear the giant swords and the gore. Lots of gore.
Posted by : Terentius
Posted on : 2008-05-11
So Claymore was 2007's #1 show? According to anime-source, Claymore was better than the likes of "Seto no Hanayome", "Lovely Complex" and "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann"? This fact in itself was hard to digest and I had to wonder if Claymore really was deserving of this accolade.
Animation
Overall, the animation was excellent. The backgrounds were nicely done, but nothing too special. The character designs were a bone of contention with some viewers, with some saying that all the claymores were too similar (LOL… naturally they are all blond and silver eyed!). I felt that the visual appearance of each claymore warrior was different enough so that each was distinguishable from the other.
What really stood out were the gorgeous fight scenes. Intense, fluid and jammed packed with excitement. One thing I particularly enjoyed was the involvement of multiple claymores in despatching the tougher 'Awakened'. It was refreshing to see something slightly different than the usual one-on-one confrontations. Knowing that an entire claymore could slaughter with ease a brigade of well-trained humans was terrifying enough. Seeing that 4-5 claymores were needed against one 'Awakened' made you realise just how dangerous these enemies were.
Story
Much like it's ancient Scottish namesake, the story of Claymore was a double-edged sword. If you have never seen the likes of "Bleach" or "Berserk", I would have agreed that Claymore deserved 2007"s #1 spot. The story of one warrior getting stronger with each confrontation and battling impossible odds along the way, until the protagonist can fulfil their destiny of gaining revenge is a story arc that has been done to death. I could not help but think that the creative minds of Claymore were closet "Berserk" fans that looked at Guts and thought… 'hmm… nice story and characters, let's steal it!'
I have not read the manga (I intend to VERY soon), but the story itself was good albeit unoriginal. The flashback for episode 8 was perhaps the turning point for the show. Without this insightful interlude into Clare's past and motivation, the entire story would have gone up in smoke. The ending was my biggest grievance. I felt like smashing my TV when I saw the ending of "Berserk" and I nearly ended up doing the exact same thing with Claymore.
I am aware that the manga is still ongoing, but please don’t do a "Berserk" if you want to keep the fans happy. I’m still waiting for the next season of "Berserk" (after 11 years of waiting) and at this rate, I’ll be a grandfather before I see anything similar from Claymore. No matter what type of anime fan you are, trust me… you too will hate Claymore's ending.
Characters
WARNING THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Admittedly, I found the very strong female cast a godsend in a genre normally dominated by superhero male protagonists. All of them were serious, strong, able fighters with a painful history and back-story. Character development was generally good (even from the Terminator-esque Clare) and apart from Raki, I didn’t feel a sense of superficiality from any of the other characters. I’ll leave my criticism of Raki for later.
There was a pleasant change of character when Priscilla made her entrance (voiced by one of my all-time favourite seiyuus Aya Hisakawa). My first impressions of her were of being the most immature and childish of ALL the claymores in the entire series. I honestly felt that she could have been the joker of the pack for the claymores and if that had been the case, it would have destroyed the dark and serious mood of the show. Luckily I learned long ago not to trust first impressions! Priscilla was the show’s antagonist-in-chief and to see the reason why Clare was so determined to exact her revenge was gruesomely visceral. However, like all the female 'Awakened', I did feel a sense of sorrow for Priscilla.
Continuing my criticism of Raki, he was an absolutely despicable character. Why and how was he able to stop a rampant Clare from fulfilling her revenge with some truly horrendous lines right at the very end? It was just sheer stupidity on the part of the studio to have made a character as weak and useless as Raki. I was glad that he had disappeared for most of the second half of the series. Raki was perhaps the greatest disappointment of the entire show.
Music
The songs and score were good. The OP was your typical J-Pop song with elements of rock thrown in. The ED 'Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~' perhaps should have been used as the OP. It had a very dark, gothic feel with an impendingly fast tempo that perfectly matched the mood of Claymore. The score had Gaelic elements, with the occasional Gaelic wind and string instrument being used to good effect. Thankfully, bagpipes were not used as much as I had thought!
Summary
Claymore shared/plagiarized much of what made "Berserk" such an entertaining show, whilst combining the over-the-top search for more strength and power reminiscent of Ichigo from "Bleach".
For example, when battling the super-powerful 'Awakened', how many times did Clare say out loud "MORE…MORE…MORE…MORE!" (episode 23 onwards). If that doesn’t sound like a "Bleach" episode, then I’m a Hollow!
Overall, I found it entertaining and at times very exciting. Indeed it was a very good series and was one of the better releases of 2007. Whilst I can understand why Claymore was considered a good show by many, what I find difficult to stomach was its over-rated rank of #1.
Perhaps with a second season and a continuing story, I would be willing to amend my review.
This was so close to being a 4.5 rating. However, there were just so many flaws that clouded an otherwise entertaining series that Claymore would have to settle for a 4 star score.
Posted by : SleepyLafiel
Posted on : 2008-04-25 
To start off, ROFL at this getting the #1 standing out of 2007 anime. In a year full of forgettable anime spread wide with the help of torrents, Claymore is a deserving winner (underhanded compliment, for those that didn't catch that). It has everything fanboys could wish for: tight body suit wearing blonds, girls with huge swords, and the standard medieval flashback typical of these kinds of anime; basically, an inferior Berserk with a feminist agenda. With that said, 2007 was by far one of the worst years in recent memory for anime, plagued with poor manga adaptations and countless harem-detritus, culminating with the death of Geneon and the inevitable last gasp of an industry on its knees. But hey, Claymore won the popularity contest, right? Something to be happy about!
So yeah, Berserk, good series, although the divergence from the manga near the end ruined things, not to mention it didn't finish the story. Oh wait, reviewing Claymore here... pardon me. It was hard to tell, to be honest: A lone-wolf (fox?) journeying around killing monsters because a past event shaped them into taking the path of a half-demon type Swordsman/woman. Wow, original, except that it didn't tell a gripping story like the series that it draws so much from. The main character, Clare, pales in comparison to Guts, the protagonist from Berserk, and to be honest, she was an incredibly one-dimensional character spurred on by another bland character, Raki, not to mention her own questionable drive. Was she going for revenge? Probably not, from what we saw in the last part. Was she travelling to make herself better? Um, nope. So... what's her motivation? Hmm, not a good sign. The rest of the cast were almost completely pointless; they were introduced and literally immediately killed off, wasting both the audience's time because it spends 4 episodes building them up, and the time the series had to tell a semblance of story, which it failed to do properly. The worst thing about it was that the cast was huge, introducing cannon (monster?) fodder every episode, dozens at a time. This could work in a manga, but in a limited run anime, it's a questionable move.
In fact, the entire narrative relied on one arc of the storyline, and the only part that could be called solid: The flashback. It was the meat and potatoes of the plotline; just as we saw Guts' hate for Griffith in the beginning of Berserk and understood where he was coming from by series' end, Clare's journey was justified by her experiences with Teresa... except the ending provided little to no payoff, culminating in 2 fanservice episodes (much like Scryed) that was more pointless than the entirety of Lucky Star (another underhanded compliment! I'm on FIRE!). Why waste time with a meaningless duel that pushes what we've learned about the "Awakened" state toward illogical territory and destroys the credibility of the entire series? It's baffling, to say the least, not to mention that all the buildup (motivations of Clare among other things) leading up to that conclusion was ruined because of how the producers chose to end this particular adaptation.
To some degree, to compare this to Berserk is an insult, even if both animes had horrendous endings that would have been better had they followed the manga. However, to argue that would be comparing the two mangas... and there is no comparison there, with Berserk being far superior even from an objective point of view. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, after all, and Claymore does more than just imitate in some places, giving even more ammunition for victory to its male counterpart when juxtaposed. The animation and production values are also mixed, with bizarre techno beats (in a medieval setting, no less), and the drawing style never grew on me. Everyone looked like they had huge foreheads, and the faces/heads just did not seem right, especially on their bodies. The action, while good in some places, utilized copious amounts of reused footage (how many times do we have to watch two swords clashing in a blur?), and is consistently inconsistent. It was one of those rare instances where I harped on for fanservice, one to distract me from the boredom, and another because, hey, lots of material to work with, right?
There's a specific group that anime like this targets; the uninitiated. For them, scantily clad girls with huge swords fighting monsters while going DBZ DESERVES nothing less than a 5/5. These are the same kids that, when they were 13 (and some, even now), thought DBZ and Naruto were/are the most amazing animes out there, and were quite vocal about their preference. An embarrassment to the anime community, simply put.
In the end, I didn't hate Claymore, I just didn't like it. It left me with a "meh" of indifference, and I was neither better-off or worse because of it. Compared that to the two series that actually made an impact on me in 2007, Nodame Cantabile (amazing soundtrack and background storyline) and TTGL (possibly the most epic anime ever made... and I've seen a lot), Claymore was nothing. Nothing.
Plot: D+ for copying near verbatim from Berserk
Characters: C+ for copying near verbatim from Berserk
Animation: B- for being about as bad as Berserk... but that was a 1997 production.
Presentation: D-
Overall: D
Posted by : Chikage_Shampoo
Posted on : 2008-04-20
Claymore comes as a shining package of fight scenes.
Animation:
The animation of Claymore seemed inconsistent for a few episodes, but usually the series maintained a standard, especially for its fight scenes. The movement was more fluid than most, and the fight scenes, especially with the various fighting techniques that were present, kept me on the "edge of my seat," to be cliche. The animation of the fight scenes were detailed to some extreme, from twisting convolutions of the arms to a transmogrified face.
Character design seemed similar at times, what with all of the Claymores having blonde hair and silver eyes. But each did have her own distinct look, so I don't really have any complaints here, especially with the abundance of Claymores and the diabolical-looking yokai.
Storyline:
What storyline? There wasn't even an ending, probably because the manga did not complete yet in Japan.
The storyline was not that original, the main and most basic premise being that a girl named Clare becomes a Claymore in order to avenge Theresa. The interesting aspect of this was that she took Theresa's head and skin into her own body.
What I really enjoyed most about Claymore's story, was not her vengeance, but the explanation of Clare's past and how she came to become a Claymore herself. She remained an "unorthodox" one as, well, she did not follow the typical guidelines of becoming a Claymore.
All in all the storyline consisted of a bunch of fight scenes - missions - where Clare met other Claymores, leading up to when she faced her greatest adversary. But the series was also in the middle of an arc that was not explained.
Claymore needs another series to compensate.
Characters:
Raki seemed to at first be the protagonist, but as the series went on, he suddenly disappeared and the series shifted to Clare's viewpoint. He seemed as if he was there for a random romance scene between the two of them, and remained as the idealistic yet weak boy who wanted to become stronger, but of course he cannot fight against the powerful might of the demons.
Clare experienced a bit of personality change, especially when she realized that Raki cared for her and that his following her around mirrored her following around of Theresa. But she could have developed far more. What did develop though were her fighting skills. Kudos to that.
Theresa was probably my favorite character of the series, even though she was only alive for a few episodes. Beautiful, strong, and silent Theresa, remaining an inspiration for Clare up until now. And yes, her personality seemed to buttress this idea quite a bit. She did not seem like a typical "beautiful but silent" type. Rather, she had a charm about her that, like Clare, attracted and inspired me (to an extent) as well.
However, the rest of the cast seemed to consist of Claymores that either became loyal to Clare and/or were introduced and then killed off. They did not really experience any character development, but remained static.
Sounds/Music:
Rather, I can sum this all up: I liked the ending, which mixed modern, pop music with church-sounding themes.
The BGM was in general memorable and was above average.
Overall:
Claymore should be watched for its fight scenes and a few of its characters.
Posted by : ErwinRommel
Posted on : 2008-03-10
The Claymore universe is a place where you don't want to tell a dumb blonde joke.
Claymore is an action anime that spills blood in large quantities akin to Kill Bill and it does so without any regrets. I've never seen an anime that mutilates its protagonist quite like this anime (the whole arm swapping was really something). It is a fun anime and I recommend it to those who've enjoyed the Hellsing OVA, Berserk, Elfen Lied, etc.
It has moments of pure anime cliché. I cringed each time they brought up the idea of "yoki" or demon energy as a measure of power since it's prevalent in quite of action animes (DBZ, Bleach, and Naruto to name a few).
The plot is also nothing original. As said before this anime is akin to Kill Bill. The heroine became this half human half-demon super soldier to kill the one person that ruined her life, the end.
Now for the good qualities of this anime, Claymore is loaded with fight scenes that constantly defy my expectations. The fights could last the entire episode but it's not due to talking. It is because the antagonists were that powerful. The anime made sure the monsters that the claymores were battling constantly had the advantage. At one point the heroines had powered up their demon energies only to be swatted away like flies. It's not as good as Seirei no Moribito but the main character isn't all powerful and it is exhilarating watching her fight. Each fight has so many characters involved and each of them share equal amount of screen time.
Animation quality is excellent. The environment is superb and the characters looked wonderful. Music in the anime is on average excellent. It has a good mix of classical and metal tunes.
The amount of fighting in this series is where I give most of my score. It is good entertainment worth watching repeatedly even though it has a convoluted plot and some cliché moments that were funny instead of serious.
Posted by : du5k
Posted on : 2008-03-09
Wow. Most favorite series of 2007 isn’t it?
Perhaps the reason it’s the most favorite series of 2007, is that the plot of pretty simple and good enough for most people to appreciate and enjoy. Set in somewhat the medieval times, a all-female group of half-monster warriors roam and defend the lands. Main character Clare is usually expressionless, but her fights and her story being created from her most important person in her life, and being the weakest warrior is intriguing.
It’s a pretty shounen-type series; fighters with many different capabilities, many power-ups, yet they didn’t overdo it like Bleach or Dragonball. But even when I didn’t read the manga, it still seem like a mistake to include Raki in the final arc of the series; I had enough of Yuji in SnS, but Raki’s uselessness just gets to me, and his continuous whining just spoils the atmosphere of the series which it delivers so well.
The animation is good throughout the series, as they excelled in the fight scenes. The ending and opening themes helped creating the mood of the series, but I felt that it’s a little too short.
I find this a overall good show, although it’s wasn’t amazing in any sense. 4 for quality and enjoyment value.
Posted by : lonely_savior
Posted on : 2008-02-15
Love this series.
Story 10/10: This series was just too good. In the end, you could say the story was kind of lacking as it ended with making you want a second season because they didn't wrap up everything, but overall the story was just beautiful. Its about a world where demons (youma) roam around killing humans to eat their guts. In this world, the only people who fight back against the demons are claymores, which are half-demon half-human female warriors. It might sound like a lot of other series out there but this one definitely sets itself apart. The way the story progresses and evolves is amazing, and things happen that surprise you because you just never saw it coming. Very unpredictable anime, which makes it even better.
Characters 10/10: The characters are good. Very deep stories for the main characters, (except the little boy) and just makes you sympathize with them. Although a lot of the claymores look similar, you learn to tell which one is different by their personality and their hairstyle. EVERY claymore on this series has a different personality, but they all have some kind of sad story.
Music 10/10: The music was excellent. Most of the music seemed to match with the mood and was very well done. Sound effects were great and all the voices matched the characters well. In all, the music was wonderfully done in my opinion. They never a cheesy song. :D
Animation 10/10: Wow. Just wow. Animation is wonderful. The drawings were great and the blood (there is a lot of it) was done especially well. Characters were very well drawn, and you can just tell by watching that a lot of time was put into this anime. There are shadows on each of the characters and their armor shines in light. It just looks beautifully done in itself.
Overall 10/10: All in all, I would DEFINITELY recommend this anime to lots of people. its just really really well done. With so many turn and curves you never know whats going to happen next. You will definitely not be able to put this anime down once you start watching it. I give it a 10 with no doubt.
Posted by : rae214
Posted on : 2007-11-08
At first I found this anime to be interesting... and I have to admit I enjoyed it... yet I have to give it a so-so score. Why? Here are my reasons:
- Claymore is a good anime to watch, but the ending was kind of lacking. It was hanging, so to speak. It makes you long for a second season... which may or may not happen. I guess I am being a bit biased, but I think there should have been some sort of closure for the series, instead of leaving it as open as that. I guess this is the main cause why I am giving it such a score.
- The animation was... okay I guess, not as outstanding as some animes are but not really bad. I guess there was just something not proportional about their faces that turned me off a bit.
- The BGM and the songs were quite good, though.
- I guess a little more character development was needed... especially for Raki.
In all, its a good anime, but maybe just not my type. Giving it a try wouldn't really hurt, since even if I didn't like it that much, I still somewhat enjoyed it.
Posted by : sssl0202
Posted on : 2007-10-15
Claymore is another anime that could've been perfect if it just stuck with original manga story.
Claymore is quite interesting story. While it easily seems like huge anime cliche, that doesn't mean the anime isn't entertaining.
Claymore can't avoid being called cliche, because it is. Fantasy world where youma (demon? I guess comes close to translation) exists, and there are these female warriors called Claymore hunts them down.
The basic setting of the anime is not very different from what anime fans has seen before. In a way, Claymore is quite similar to Berserk, which certainly isn't a bad thing especially when main character is cute chick and group of cute chicks takes center stage.
90% of the series, anime follows the manga plot quite faithfully. Not only it follows the manga series, but it gives life to it with excellent voice acting and soundtrack. For the fans of the manga series, Claymore will do more than just please you until the last few episodes.
The animation does seem slightly stiff at times, but the style just fits extremely well compared to manga series. Also many of the female characters have very warrior like voice. Rather deep voice and very strong voice. It's certainly something anime fans aren't quite used to. Although I personally cannot get enough of kawaii~ voice, but the voice acting of Claymore is quite marvelous and really matches their characters well.
The plot of Claymore does have some mysteries to be answered and interesting balance of power in place. It does have that Noir like qualities except it isn't as mellow nor slow as Noir. Claymore has set of mood and really sticks with it. Your first impression will be the impression of the anime for most of the part.
Unfortunately, anime series end where manga series really starts to be something special. It is when manga series starts to evolve into something more than that strong sorrowful mood and action, and becomes quite tactical action as well. Also it is unfortunate that anime took different route from manga in the end to give that more of ending like ending, instead of leaving things completely unfinished. Thanks to that, it seems nearly impossible to anime to pick it up from where it left off and still haven't managed to answer many of the questions of the story.
It is quite a bit of a shame. I really hoped Claymore will last as long as the manga series because it has really entranced me, more than the manga. As it is now, it is still quality anime that is worthy of your time, but the loose end will leave some sour taste in your mouth.
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2007-09-28
So, I liked this enough to give it a high score with a "9". But I'm gonn' slice and dice and critique the heck out of this one more than any other "9" I can remember.
The artwork was stylish in a way fitting for this kind of serious, action-packed, Blood & Guts kind of Anime. But often times the characters looked stiff and the animation quality overall really could have been better. The sound was only OK, actually pretty cheap sometimes. The music wasn't anything special at all. The cheap moans and groans from the Yoma made me want to moan and groan. Towards the end, all the Craymores started to kind of look the same when the action was picking up, which was annoying. And yup, it's C-R-aymores (I'm on this "Engrish" kick nowadays). When there was talk about all the CRaymores and when folks mentioned the main character "CRare" (I watched it with English Subs), this made me chuckle on occasion, which I imagine the writers didn't really mean to do. There were a few slower episodes which made me consider the old fast-forward button on the old remote.
But despite these many short-comings, I was very interested in what was going to happen to the charcters involved. I looked forward to each up-coming episode, which says a lot. The action, for the most part, was pretty cool, and sometimes pretty crazy! There were some smart and intriguing plot twists, and genuine "What the Heck!" moments in this one! There were some strong emotional scenes which were appealing, although the artwork wasn't always the best at conveying the emotions with the characters' facial expressions.
So, this was some pretty graphically violent stuff. Not necessarily Elfen Lied calibre, but it's up there. Not for the younger crowd. If you're into the more intense and serious shows, give this one a shot. I enjoyed routing for CRare and the other CRaymores (BwaHaHaaa!). 4 1/2 STARS. 9 out of 10 Rating.
Posted by : saibotx
Posted on : 2007-09-27
I just finished watching this series and all I can say it's the most entertaining series I've seen in a while.
Story
The story starts out very slow in the first four episodes and seemed quite similar to other animes out there that we all know but soon after a certain character appears, it picks up from there and became a very engrossing tale of revenge, friendship and love (kind of).
Animation
I love the dark feel to this anime as it gives you the feeling of how sad the characters are, and personally for me I prefer dark themed animes. The fight scenes are amazing as they fit well with each character.
Music
What can I say, I love the way an episode starts with a cliffhanger then opening song begins as it gets me so excited and this is one of the animes that I never fast forward the opening song. The songs in the episode it self fit every moment in the anime especially before fights and flashbacks. The ending to me is also great as it is so dark and fits with the end sequence.
All in all, I love this anime although to me I feel the last episode was quite weak but I wasn't expecting it to be that amazing. It is sad it had to come to an end and I don't care if it stopped following the manga because this is still one of the greatest animes of all time.
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