Review of Claymore By FUNimation
-== What is it? ==-
Claymore is a high fantasy anime television series released by FUNimation. It is directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka. Madhouse is the animation company that produced the series. Claymore was release between April 2007 and September 2007.
Claymores are a group of female warriors who roam about the countryside killing Yoma with their massive blades. Yoma are essentially humanoid demons. The series follows Clare, the lowest ranking Claymore. (She is rank 47.) Clare has a dark past that harbors a lot of pain and deep rooted vengeance.
There is some very brief nudity, an extremely light rape scene, and no sex scenes. The series has a good amount of blood but very little gore. The series is rated “17+” at RightStuf.com and I think that rating is actually a bit high. I would suggest “15+”.
I purchased the Claymore DVD Complete Series Box Set (Hybrid) version in standard definition. There are a total of 26 episodes which total roughly 620 minutes of content.
-== What I Like ==-
Probably the most compelling aspect of Claymore is the story. There are three important elements that I think are really intriguing. The first is that Claymores are actually half-Yoma/half-human. Thus they are essentially half-monsters who are tracking down full blooded monsters. The second is that the most powerful Yuma are actual Claymores who have succumbed to their Yuma half. These creatures are know as “Awakened Beings”. These two elements let the writers play around a lot with the big question of what it means to be human. You also get several scenes where Claymores are essentially hunting down their own members. The final plot element that I think is intriguing is that the Claymores are run by a secret organization with an agenda of their own. During the whole series their secret agenda is not revealed but the organizations is presented as being very devious if not downright evil.
I particularly enjoyed episode 4 and episode 8. Episode 4 is called “Clare’s Awakening”. It deals with Clare helping out a church that has been getting attacked by a Yuma. The episode has a great plot and great fight scenes. Episode 8 is a flashback episode called “Awakening”. Awakening tells the story of Clare’s “mentor” the infamous rank 1 Claymore known as Teresa.
The art style in the series is very nice. Madhouse produced an anime style similar to Basilisk or Cowboy Bebop in it’s reality. It is an anime art style that I very much enjoy.
Finally I think the end of the series is quite moving. It is a strong ending but leaves some open questions. Very climactic.
-== What I Don’t Like ==-
My biggest complaint by far with Claymore deals with character exposition. The characters in the story will often think things that the viewer is already observing on the screen. Essentially the inner dialog is telling someone who is watching the show what they already know. For example, Clare might expose how powerful a Yuma is after he takes down another Claymore. “Um…I think we can see that he is pretty powerful if he ripped apart another Claymore.” It happens frequently in the series not just in combat.
Another issue I had with the series is that at times I felt like some of the fights were over too fast. This is especially true in some of the early episodes when the viewer really wants to see what the Claymores can do.
The series starts off a bit slow but really picks up the pace around episode 4. If you decide to watch the series give it some time to get legs.
-== Summary ==-
I thought Claymore was a thrilling fantasy romp. If you like monster hunting adventures then you should definitely check this one out. The $50 price point is not bad for such a large amount of quality content.
You can get the boxed set at RightStuff at this URL for $48.99. The Blu-ray boxed set can be obtained at Amazon at this
I give it 7 out of 10 paws.
