Claymore ~ Clare (main protagonist)
Hi dudes and dudettes! Donna here with a review on the anime Claymore. To give you a bit of information on the anime which was adapted by the studio Madhouse and licensed by Funimation Entertainment if you live in North America you may have caught it on Funimation Channel in the US in the year of 2007. The anime is based of the Claymore manga written by Norihiro Yagiwho who has focused on this manga a great deal. The storyline and character developed is not necessarily unique but a rather refreshing take on the many anime that we normally see out there. There is a list of 24 volumes in the manga if you wish to read it and 26 episode in the anime, which is too bad as it would have been a great series to keep going well in my opinion anyways. I haven’t watched anime’s in awhile let’s say maybe 4-5 years now and I still do reminisce a lot about the days when I used to and how many great anime I watched in those few years I did watch in high school. Some anime’s I have watched and some of the cotes infinis team have watched are Gundam Wing (which is Jan’s and mine’s ultimate favourite), Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny (my ultimate favourite – getting the picture here?), Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Naruto, Bleach, D.Gray-Man, etc. , I owe my anime addiction to Gundam Wing if it wasn’t for that day when I chose to stay up till midnight during the Christmas season of 2003, I would have never caught Gundam Wing and how anime had an everlasting impact on me. I still do enjoy my anime’s but these classic titles have always been given me a heartfelt connection to my teenage years and entertainment. I guess in a sense you grow out of certain things but you can always revert back and enjoy things your previously did which is what I feel is occurring right now as time passes by. So back to the topic itself, sorry for my rambling, my rating of the anime claymore is probably a 8.5/10, there are some faults to it but it is a deserving anime to watch out for if you are into that whole medieval look and heartfelt story and characters. Plus, my enjoyment of the anime has driven my need to find out what would go on after the anime series ended so in my spare time I will try to read the 24 volumes of the Claymore Manga and I may double up on a post about the manga to maybe compare and contrast the manga and anime and which I preferred over the other.
The plot of the anime series is based of a battle between humans and Yoma (humanoid shape shifters that feed on humans). A group known as the Organization wards of these Yoma by creating human-Yoma hybrids to help reduce the amount of injured and killed by Yoma attacks for a fee which the town must return or karma will get them if they don’t pay to the right person or pay-up to the organization. These human-Yoma hybrids are known as Claymores (which we learn is the general public’s name for them) due to their Claymore swords they carry as weapons or their other nickname Silver-Eyed Witches as these hybrids have silver eyes resembling witches (kind of has this St. Joan of Arc storyline into it – who blames them its set in the medieval ages). These hybrid harness demonic energy known as Yoki to give them different powers like speed, strength, shape-shifting, etc. If these hybrids or warrios utilize too much of the energy the demon inside them awakens literally and if this happens they lose their humanity (not necessarily all of it; as they are unable to control their physical self – the human inside them may be still fighting back but are unable to do so) and become an Awakened Being. 
The world the story takes place in has 47 districts in which 47 claymores are assigned a district whom are part of the Organization. They are ranked by level on their Yoki potential, strength, agility, intelligence, sensing and leadership. An freshman warrior may be able to overtake one of the top 10 if they do have a better ability than the previous ranked members. These warriors are trained to have their own sword technique, fighting style, and yoki ability. In the anime and manga you learn that some warriors or characters tend to hone a technique better than the other or have a balance in them. There are many arcs in the story as there are many characters’ stories the anime focused on (may contain spoilers):
Clare and Teresa
Main story arc is that of Clare who is the main protagonist of the story. Clare’s past in the anime is introduced near the beginning and we see her origin story of why she became a Claymore, although tragic it gives us a look onto her behaviour, actions and personality traits she expresses in the story. With that, Clare’s parents are killed by a Yoma who takes the form of her brother and ends up travelling with a Yoma pack to Teo village. Here we learn that the Yoma she was with abused her and we could see it on her physical body through the scars she holds. Her story aligns with the story arc of Teresa whom is a Claymore ranked#1 at her time. Her nickname Teresa of the Faint Smile was given to her due smiling when she defeats Yoma. Teresa is able to sense the Yoki flow in her opponents and is able to predict the attack of the Yoma which makes her a formidable Claymore against Yoma. Teresa encounters Clare when she enters the town of Teo and kills the Yoma pack that Clare was travelling with. Clare who is grateful attaches herself to Teresa, Teresa who is a Claymore doesn’t understand Clare’s persistence when she keeps smacking her to the ground as we learn that Claymores become more disattached with their human self and show a lack of emotion. Clare’s persistence wins over Teresa which in turn she adopts her. They face some trials and obstacles along the way but their attachment and relationship is strong as Teresa becomes the mother figure for Clare. At one point a town Clare is in gets attacked by thugs which angers Teresa causing her to break the one of the rules she must follow as a Claymore: don’t kill a human. This puts Teresa at danger and fuels the events to Clare’s decision on becoming a Claymore when Teresa makes a mockery of the Organization and refuses the punishment. Teresa decides that she wants to live as a human because she has found a reason to live: Clare. But this doesn’t look too well for our duo, the Organization decides to deploy their top ranks including the newly fresh graduate Priscilla who has surpassed many of the lower ranks and onto the number 2 slot. They are ordered to kill Teresa for her betrayal of the Organization, but this confrontation doesn’t bid to well to Teresa although this could have been avoided if Teresa who I felt was the most powerful out of the bunch as she took them on as a group could have stopped and left Clare living on a normal life, but that would give us the story and tragedy that we see in Clare in the present day. I won’t say what happens as you have to watch the anime to find out 🙂 (hehehe ^^)
The other story arc is that of the development of Clare in the present day as she meets a boy name Raki who reminds Clare of herself when she was adopted by Teresa. Clare takes on Raki as a cook and they go on Clare’s missions together. The duo have had lots of obstacles to face but their relationship held strong and continues throughout the anime although for a part they may have been separated due to a conflict that occurred. This arc is the main story as everything starts to unravel and be put into place . I won’t write as much about this because it would give away the story and it wouldn’t be a fun thing to do as you guys won’t be able to watch it :(. So I am going to leave it at that. Clare becomes stronger both as a fighter and as a person she learns the very idea of being human and how that triumphs over the evil inside her.
The thing I enjoyed about the anime is the way the character development occurred, although the anime was slow at first, we get a glimpse of the faults and strengths of each character and the characters are given more humanity which in turn give us the viewers an attachment that we like having when we get on these fantasy world. I will be giving you guys more of a main character list on the bottom to help your visuals. There wasn’t much action which I didn’t expect, if they put in a bit more of the fighting it may have helped brought interests by people, although I found the lack of action scenes didn’t bother me as I was more into the story and the character development hoping for the best of the so-called “good” guys rather than the “bad” guys but we learn that we all have faults, and mistakes and that we are human which makes the anime so argumentative for me deeming my interest in it. Like many Japanese anime’s there are some scenes that portray too much of the female human body and some implict messages like the “Awakened Beings” coming off as sexual images especially the introduction of male hybrids later on in the story. To put it this way to be awakened is to put these warriors onto an orgasmic state of euphoria just like many people get from having sexual intercourse. Although this may be in there, I didn’t find myself focusing on this so much I was interested more in the character’s destiny, behaviours and actions that I cared less that this was happening. Some people may not be able to look past it, but I feel that the issue doesn’t necessarily deterirorate the anime rather it helps you understand some views and themes that we may feel about certain issues in life. Remember, anime is created by people and it stems from our internal desires and thoughts, thus many of the issues and topics raised in the anime is probably what we feel about it in real life depending on the perspective we take. The visuals in the story where pretty good, the animation wasn’t too bad for its time as now the animation’s have improved. The characters were beautifully drawn showing unique features about them especially the different emblems they held encompassing a lot of the medieval culture which I enjoyed as not many animes, tv shows and movies for that matter embrace the setting. There aren’t many animes I have watched that undergo the medieval setting other than Escaflowne which is why I may have enjoyed this as Games of Thrones, LOTR, etc. has always put me in the mood to enjoy this time period specifically. The fighting in the story is kind of remniscent to a lot of other animes, in which it resembled bleach primarily as claymores and soul reapers have weapons to clash with their enemies. In general, this anime was a great pickup for myself as my brother (Jenno) and I were walking in HMV at Vaughan Mills and picked this up out of a whim and thought I would give it a try. Jenno has watched it before and enjoyed it the first and second time around. It was a great pick, although anime’s I have learned in DVD format is pretty expensive, it came up with a $50.00 price tag at HMV, but I am pretty sure you can pick the series for cheaper on Amazon or stream it over the Internet for that matter. So give this anime I try I am pretty sure you guys will enjoy it! Comment below to let us know whether you enjoyed it or not, or if you have already watched it and what you felt about it especially the ending of the anime. I may have been blowing up some steam in the ending as I felt justice wasn’t received but again always my decisions are always opposite to what occurs (*sigh). Also let me know what other animes we should watch right now I am getting back on catching up with my Vampire Knight 😀 but I would live to give Blue Exorcist a try. I think I have this anime addiction with robots (gundams) or things that fight unnecessary evil (Akuma – D.Gray Man, Yoma – Claymore, Hollow – Bleach, etc.). I think the whole idea of good vs. evil always appealed to me no matter what form it took. Let me know what other anime’s we should give a try sound off on the comments guys and girls! Enjoy!
The characters of Claymore
Claymore – Clare (main character). Rank #47 in the Organization. Lowest of the bunch but the strongest!
Raki, Clare’s cook who accompanies her on her Yoma journeys. He becomes the ultimate key to Clare’s humanity.
Teresa – Mother figure to Clare, Rank#1 (best of the best, hate her faith tho
Miria is the friend of Clare she is nicknamed the Phantom, leader of the group of rebels.
Helen the friend of Clare, part of Miria’s group of rebels. Able to stretch arms at great lengths, loves to eat and drink unlike many other Claymores.
Deneve is a friend of Clare’s as well and is part of the rebel group. She has good regenerative abilities making her more of the defensive t
Jean is indebted to Clare for saving her life and ends up as her friend. She becomes the ultimate friend for Clare. Able to puncture through hard things by using a hand rotation movement resembling a drill.
Hate this biatch! She tries to redeem herself. Number#2 of the Organization for a minuscule time. Find out in the anime what she did.
As you guys can tell Teresa is my favourite see what her faith is in the anime! Sound off in the comments who you favourite character is. We would be interested in seeing which character is deemed the best. Enjoy guys!
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