Claymore

Naitred Dec 20, 2023

7.5

Well what can I say, it was a good read although I wasn't fully satisfied with some points, many say it's the female Berserk of manga, which I agree with, but let's go in order The plot was nothing special, the complex story is not what this manga wants to aim for, on the contrary, this manga wants to focus more on the cruelty of man, on survival and on the philosophy that distinguishes the human being, the beautiful part is that many times it leads you to think about very simple concepts such as life, friendship, family, etc... but doing so in a way that leads you to ask yourself questions about these themes which are often re-proposed during the course of the narrative, the Claymore they are mainly female human beings exploited by a secret organization to eliminate the Yomi who endanger people's lives, but soon there will be many revelations that will lead everything to take a different turn and to fight for something bigger... although I have not appreciated at all some forcing, some deaths and some lack of explanations such as the company that financed Claymore's creations (it would have been nice to have a narrative arc in which we discovered who they were and what their purpose was on another continent). The characters were very multifaceted starting from Claire the protagonist up to exploring many other Claymores such as Teresa or Miria, each with a different personality but with a characterization of their own, although, although I must admit that I found some characters a bit annoying such as Raki for example, but overall I would say good. The art for the monsters was really well structured, for the rest a little less, the thing I couldn't stand however was how the Claymores were drawn, they almost all looked the same and sometimes it was difficult to distinguish them during the course of the story, I would say it was decent art In all this I must say that as a story it left me speechless more often due to the situations that were created, the cruelty shown, the various challenges to face, the bonds that existed between the various characters... although the final part although it was a bit heavy to read, I can say that overall it was a good story, I highly recommend it

thor123 Nov 10, 2014

9.3

Claymore is one of my favourite fantasy manga. Oddly enough, it's by the mangaka of Angel Densetsu, which is a... delinquent comedy in a high school setting. Well, I liked that one too, and it shows versatility on the author's part that he can pull of both comedies and "darker" manga.  Story and characters On the surface, Claymore is a manga about the half-monster Clare who goes around somewhat merrily (since she never looks particularly happy), slaying Yoma, a kind of monsters. Or more accurately, it's about several women (yes, women - so if you don't like those you should get out) who slay monsters, after a gloomy organisation called "The Organization" (yep, I'm not kidding) had changed them. And because they wield big-ass claymores, the public calls them "Claymores" - or silver-eyed witches, because the changes give them silver eyes. This seemingly overly simplistic story where monsters get killed is all you get to see in the first couple of chapters. But it picks up. Boy, does it pick up. As I learned more about these Claymores, about this world, about the organization, I found myself unable to put it down. The plot showed itself, and it was a lot more complex than I initially expected. The characters were fleshed out and developed, making me actually care for them - heck, I even ended up liking Raki, a notoriously whiney broken record. And the fights were pretty cool too. Art The art in Claymore great too, especially when getting closer to the end. Scenery, monster designs, action scenes,... they all look great.  The biggest criticism I always hear is that the faces of the characters all look the same. While this isn't quite true, I have to agree that the differences are often quite subtle. The fact that the huge amount of female characters can't look too different because of plot-related reasons also plays a part in that. Overall Claymore is one of my favourite manga, especially when it comes to action/fantasy series. I strongly recommend giving this one a try.

Serddar Sep 1, 2017

7.5

All those good things they told you about this manga, it is true, up to a certain point. Characters are fantastic, each having a different personallity, motivation, flaws and fighting styles. There is a strong enemy behind the scenes, one that cannot be defeated, one that tears throught our heroes without even showing his face... And then puff he is dead and there is a new monster every volume that is stronger than the previous one... By the time you reach last fight nothing will surprise you as new abilities are made up to kick down a corner story has reached. Tens of new characters will appear and you will not care about them, besides few main ones, others are pointless and serve... Well I'm not even sure, probably again just to push story forward. Now, I do sound a bit harsh, I gave it 7.5 after all... Simply putt, Claymore is a great series at the start  and through the middle, but after volumes in the North, quality drops quickly, if story ended there and then I would give it 9/10 with ease, but it dragged on and became mediocore.