Manga4life's "Claymore" review.

Claymore. What can I say? This anime has been one of the most enjoyable and fun series I have ever watched and has left an impression on me that very few animated works have achieved. I'm going to start this review off with the story of Claymore and what you can look forward to seeing in this anime, but before reading on please keep in mind that this is just my feelings on this series and many may agree or disagree depending upon their personal taste so please don't take my word for it, go and watch it. The story kicks off with an angry monster called a "Yoma" wreaking havoc in a small village and killing many of it's residence, the town folk hired what they call a "Claymore" (Clare) to come and kill the Yoma before it kills off everyone in the village and through this event she becomes introduced to Raki, a young boy who's family was killed by the monster she is hunting. Raki begins to grow attatched to Clare and begs to come along with her on her journey as her cook, Clare agrees and the two begin to get closer and closer as the series progresses, eventually though they do end up becoming seperated only to find eachother once again toward the end of the story.

Throughout Clare's adventures she finds herself at odd's with the same organization that she serves and eventually falls into a group of girls who are beginning to see the twisted reality that the Claymore organization stands for and they make a pact to keep their motoves to themselves and to stick together, the group is targeted by the higher up's and are given a series of job's to kill some of the most powerful Yoma's in the world as punishment. These ultra powerful Yoma are referred to as "Eaters" or "Awakened Beings" and are the most dangerous of all Yoma, throughout the 26 episodes of Claymore you will see many Awakened Beings and some of the battle scenes that take place with these monsters are really some of the best and most exciting fight's I have seen in an anime, it's pretty spectacular in my opinion and I'm sure you will enjoy them too. One fight in particular that was really impressivee takes place between a group of Claymore's and a giant Yoma who is controlled by a young girl who is an ultra powerful Awakened Being but has not taken on the form yet, it was really impressive and very long so keep an eye out for that one. I would say that this is one of the rare anime series out there that takes it's action and story and blends it into a perfect mix and balances it out nicely throughout it's entire run, my hat's off to the creators for that and I wish more anime could achieve this.



The art in this series is a real strong point for me, I felt that the character designs were very well done and the animation was very fluid and looks good on my 47 inch television, so I have no complaints there. The music was also very well done, many of the tunes you hear in this anime either fit the scenes really good or makes the scenes all the more epic, so the composers really deserve some major credit in making a fantastic score that brings vital atmospheric moments to light over Claymore's 26 episodes. As a whole there really isn't many things about this series that aren't good, though I have heard some complaints about the blood and the way it sprays out of the injured as if a fire department unleashed their hoses on a 5 alarm fire, I have also heard people complain that the anime strays from the manga after a certain point. I think these complaints are kind of petty in some ways, blood does not always have to be realistic for crying out loud, especially in a fantasy setting, and not all anime series have to follow it's manga through and through, I believe that there is always room for changes and improvement and I like having multiple ways of looking at things. I don't think changing the story in an anime from it's original manga form is a major issue, it gives us alternative storytelling and it makes some anime worth watching, what would be the point in watching a series that is identical to it's manga which you have already read 2 or 3 times over? None.

Art & Animation - 9.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 9.0/10
Fun - 9.0/10
Overall - 9.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***