Claymore

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Story - well. It might be difficult to see any value in its story for the first few chapters. Initially it seems predictable and like a typical "let's watch as some badass kills monsters in this ~fantastical~ weird world" story, but with more interesting characters and concepts. It seems like it doesn't plan on doing anything special with the characters or the story. Yet it still has this weird charm to it that keeps you reading.

But it picks up quickly. Despite the predictability of these first chapters, I found myself pulled in. I typically have trouble getting into manga, since I'm more used to watching ... my entertainment than reading it, but I started reading the first chapter on a whim and found myself unable to stop. For all of its initial simplicity, it's still a page-turner, especially once the main character's past is touched on. It's the pivotal point where you realize that this manga really does intend to have some depth, and from that point on, it doesn't disappoint.

Its story does still have some predictability for... maybe half of the series, but it doesn't affect the enjoyment much. The reader grows an attachment to Clare, the main character, and after all she goes through you can't help but root for her and keep turning the pages.

But keep in mind that vast majority of the story is, in fact, played in battles. It's predominantly action, but the fights are far from repetitive. The fights have a clear purpose; they're not just crossing swords for the sake of LET'S GET SOME BLOODSHED IN HERE SO THE READERS STAY INTERESTED.

My only complaint is that I kind of liked the simplicity. As the story goes, it gets more complex, more confusing, and begins to lose the charm that the initial chapters had. Your mileage will almost definitely vary.

Art - difficult to say. The style is different enough to be a little eye-catching, but it's nothing spectacular. Fight scenes are coordinated well, and you seldom have trouble understanding what's going on. I'd hesitate to call it "gory" -- it doesn't go out of its way to show a lot of blood -- but it doesn't skimp on bloodshed or violence. The art has a nice balance.

Readers will appreciate that characters' facial features tend to be so different from each other's, and may be pleasantly surprised that Claymores aren't just ass-kicking beautiful waifs, as powerful female characters in other series tend to be. Some Claymores have long, large noses, some have no eyebrows, some have huge muscles, some have tiny eyes, some have absurdly pointy ears... seeing female characters with some actual variety in facial features is refreshing. Some Claymores are downright unattractive (while still being good guys! Amazing!), and it's just. Really nice to see that.

Character - Clare is a fantastic character, first of all. Her character is easy to understand, and she's a compelling character without being a tragic hero. It doesn't mean that her backstory is any less sad, but it's hardly uncommon in the setting. It's the way she handles it with her actions that sets her apart. Her character is believable, and... again, you just want to root for her. She may be stoic at times, but she's a far cry from emotionless. Don't get her angry.

Aside from her... Raki. Raki is kind of annoying in the anime, but the way he is in the manga is easy to sympathize with. He's lovable. His development, too, is believable.

And all of the other characters are interesting as well. Claymores in general tend to be cold, stoic, businesslike, and asocial, at least when around humans -- humans fear the very warriors protecting them, even calling them "silver-eyed witches" and "half-monster." This would (understandably) make them bitter, especially since no one becomes a Claymore voluntarily. The manga takes these things into consideration. Being outcasted from your village and from humans in general -- against your will, no less -- and then being forced to protect the people who fear and reject you in the first place? It would make most people somewhat bitter, yeah.

The ridiculous amount of characters can make some things confusing (a few times I had to think to myself, "-character-? Who's -character- again? Is that the one who..."), but other characters do have some distinctive personality traits. The other characters become more and more important as the story progresses, and though they don't develop noticeably, they're still interesting, subtle characters who don't (usually) get pushed into standard archetypes. Even the villains are quirky and understandable.

Enjoyment - I love this series. I read 96 chapters in one sitting, which... has never happened to me before. I've tried to read countless manga, but I seldom got beyond four or five chapters before getting bored and never picking it up again. But Claymore? I just couldn't stop. Again, it's a page-turner. I can't really explain why, but this series sucked me in like few series have ever managed to. The characters are compelling, the art is fairly enough, the setting is fascinating, the story is paced well, the action scenes -- scenes which I usually dread in other series -- are every bit as entertaining as the rest.

Overall - go for it. Claymore's far from perfect, but if nothing else, it's refreshing. The feel that Claymore has is unique. It puts an interesting spin on action/adventure.

Claymore is the incarnation of an RPG similar manga, the eerie atmosphere at times with just the right amount of gore and "Breasts" this manga truly stand out just like a well cooked mild curry dish, not too much spices and not too little.

1-Story 10/10
this is the most amazing part of this manga , the characters didn't really pop up but the story was more than sufficient to overshadow the shortcomings of them.
at most times the story wasn't really omnidirectional and it was more of a narrative type to me i think that this story might have been better in a novel type but ... it also worked just fine as manga.
the story as with almost most other manga of the same genre followed the POV of the heroine with emphasis on her tragic past which shapes the future maturing of her and the story, her past has the biggest impact on the story and it molds and shapes all of her actions as revenge and love.
the story stand out to me through the setting, it is placed in a semi medieval era which is my favorite type of setting thus i will be a little bit biased :)
the story isn't that much complex but it isn't just plain and simple, it had a good amount of plot twists and some really unpredicted events which truly surprised me .
the progression is fine but i would have liked it to be abit slower, the story seems rushed at times the impact is neglectable though.

2-Art 9.5/10
the art is beautiful and gives justice to the story, it was well drawn with a good amount of love and imagination poured into it.
at times i had some issues with distinguishing characters because they all dress the same uniform and all have blond hair and weird names & skill names.
on the other hand the art of the awakened beings is superb and unique, it really stood out as many other monsters in other mangas don't have this much detail and background.
the landscape was breathtaking with many beautiful European style plains and hills.
the reason i gave it a 9.5 was because of some battle technique slides where i wasn't able to distinguish what was happening because of the "high speed" attacks, you actually have to ficus abit to comprehend them, but it rarely occurs.

3-Charchters 9.5/10
the characters are great but not outstanding, the emphasis on their past is huge which i personally like but not many people do.
the heroine is a really well created one and the other characters are nothing but amazing, the only issue i have is the one or two pain in the ass ones which are portrayed as "evil" which the manga did not really need.
other than that the characters were well rounded with many unique skills and not much repetitive one, there are many characters to encounter on this manga and most of them are unique and you can tell that there has been much detail and back-story has been put into them.
most of the characters show maturity when they grow with the story and they really hold their ground and shine as they do so.
the villain is sort of a special case which i would like to leave unattended to, i would like of you to explore it on your own because i am 100% sure that you will be confused and interested , and plainly because if i said anything about it is a spoiler " the villain appears late into the story and not directly".

4- Enjoyment 1000000000/10!
i always say to my friend that this will be the ultimate anime if they get produced by bones , the battles , the enemies , the techniques , the high speed / phantom attacks... ahh how i dream about this .
the manga truly shines bright in my eyes because after i finished i felt like i just completed a well crafted piece of art RPG game, the vibe that this manga gives is what i have been searching for since i started watching anime anime and thus i see this as the ultimate manga.

5-Overall 10/10
i think that i wrote as much as i could about this piece of art, just read it , it is only 156 chapter؛ IT WILL BLOW YOU OUT OF PROPORTIONS.

This is the best manga by far. The story is about girls with big swords (called Claymores by others) hunting down Yomas (demons who plague the world). It's incredibly violent and bloody which is awesome. The story only gets more interesting once it reaches the Teresa Arc, which talks about Teresa, the strongest Claymore ever, and how she meets Clare (the main character). This story is interesting because of the many conflicts and plot twists that will keep you reading it over and over. There's mild nudity too, not bad.

Must read.

Okay Claymore is one of the best if not the best in terms of balancing action and plot development. The story takes place in a country where monsters called 'Youma' feed on humans and that is where the introduction to the main character Clare is made. There is an organization that recruits and trains young female warriors (half-human, half-youma) in order to fend off the population of Youma, however they do this service for a fee. Clare is one of the so-called 'Claymores' (nicknamed by the villagers because of the weapon they carry) and simply enough she carries out orders from the organization. However like ... I said, Claymore is an excellent example of a manga that excels in plot development, so the storyline splits into different perspectives as sub-plots begin to emerge.

Story: 10/10

The story is definitely the highlight of this series and in my opinion it just gets better and better. The first couple of chapters introduce you to the scenario and then details of the organization are revealed as well as new characters. You can never really anticipate the events in the next chapter, its really a captivating story. I'm not saying its far fetched even though it is shounen, but the logic behind the plot itself is amazing.

Art: 10/10

Nohiro Yagi is an amazing artist as well as a writer. He portrays the Youma as one would imagine them to be, but he does not spare the details. Each one is different and the creativity speaks for itself. The Claymores themselves are female warriors and they fit a certain description, so they all have similarities. The amount of artwork put into each chapter makes it really easy to follow the events so its not only captivating but also helpful.

Character: 8/10

This is the only section where Claymore does not get a 10/10 from me. The characters themselves are introduced, but not much about them is known, save a few like Clare and those close to her. For the most part, character development is lacking to some degree and I would like to see more personality from some of the Claymores. Some would argue that they are partially human, but they do have a human conscious and share the same emotions. Even though this is something that could be improved upon, its just a small kink in the overall aspect of the manga.

Overall: 10/10

As you read the manga, you will find that the character development shadows the story and art so that they are closely related. Everything in this series is perfectly intertwined and its definitely one of a kind. I might be biased because Claymore is the best manga I've ever read, but I assure you that it will not disappoint. It never gets repetitive and each chapter leaves you waiting for the next. Even though the chapters are monthly, its so worth the wait because there's nothing like it out there. I would recommend this for anyone who likes to follow a deep plot accompanied by some intense action..oh yeah and female warriors (did I mention that?) :)

Story:
Convenient. A lot of things take place for the sake of progression. There's no real sense of urgency or fear when reading this work, as each fight is recovered by an unknown savior stepping in at the last minute. With a work putting so much emphasis on the overwhelming power of the enemy, it's unfortunate to find it undermined by poor directive decisions.

There's a mishandling of dialogue and combat. This is a work that is plagued with characters pausing in the middle of a fight to take out the proverbial tea-table and chew the fat over some expositional dialogue. It can become very arduous and ... is what fills more than 70% of the pages.

This work is very event driven, and that works in some respect. The problem is that a world that is event-driven needs to be lively, and this world is rather barren. There's talk about different locations on this continent but it's never quite detailed what differs between them: if there's varied races, commodities, cultures. It's unfortunate for a fantasy work to pass up this opportunity.

The main villain is not all that compelling, and I don't mean to compare but since everyone says. "Claymore is the female Berserk!" then I feel comfortable saying that Claymore's main antagonist is nothing like Griffith. She is not nearly as interesting or engaging as the well-constructed character of Griffith. I found this incredibly disappointing, but I tried not to let it ruin my adventure through Claymore. In fact, I found myself enjoying her as a character during the last 30 chapters. It helped recover a bad taste in my mouth I had been nursing for a while.

In regards to some positives, a few of the events are quite intriguing. While I never feared the ensemble casts mortality, I did find it fun to see how they'd escape their perilous situation. There's something fun about the constant hurdles our cast endures, even if a majority of the conflicts seem unrealistic and downright stupid.

Despite the somewhat convoluted nature of this narrative, the finale is incredibly satisfying. As someone who felt that this work was going well beyond its worth, I was actually looking forward to the ending because I didn't want to see this work get worse. Thankfully, the ending was not only prompt but efficiently executed with a surprise that I felt was both believable and not a convenient cop-out.


Art:
The Awakened Beings of Claymore are very cool. They all have their own designs that are somewhat practical and otherworldly. My only issue is that despite their designs, they're never quite as humbling as I'd hope, considering there's always a convenient savior prepared to save our cast.

Connected to my issue with this world being quite barren, the backdrops of nearly every fight are boring and uninspired. Rubble and more rubble. Trees used as rubble. Mountains turned into a flat plane of rubble. And no, it's not just because the Awakened Beings are destructive, it's mostly because rubble is easy to draw. It would have been a lot of fun to see creatures fight in special locales such as a Spring within a forest, a vast underground chasm, or a cityscape. Yes, there are battles in dungeons and cities, but it's limited to a street within the city or a hallway within a dungeon, so it's basically like picking a level in Street Fighter where the design doesn't really matter.

Early art is disproportionate and characters are seen making the same motions during combat. It's quite uninteresting but the story itself has an interest that supersedes these issues. What becomes overly offensive is the failures during the later chapters, where sometimes it's difficult to actually tell what motions are taking place. This became very bothersome to me, as I wasn't sure who was going where, who hit what, why someone got damaged. Things like that. It merely became an acceptance that something happened and I needed the next page to clarify that event.


Character:
Tropes everywhere. However, when the narrative is based on events, I didn't find this overly offensive.

There's an ensemble cast in a narrative based more on events. It becomes nearly impossible to know who is who, even if they have different hair styles. Something that could have helped is laying off on the combat and including more quiet periods. Seldom are there breaks in the action. I would have appreciated a lot more cooldowns than there were. This would have allowed for more characters to grow in realism.

A big issue is the introduction of characters that our writer has no idea what to do with them. It's as though the author went, "This is a cool idea." Wrote it in, then had to write the next chapter for the following month and went, "Oh wait, jeez. What should I do with them?" This happens a lot, and there's many characters who are pretty darn interesting that get the back burner because we're already being overloaded with a group of characters.

Despite the many character issues, it makes it clearer when there are characters written correctly within Claymore. Though seldom, there were times where I thought characters were doing things sensible within their boundaries, but also endearing and relatable. Also, the way the characters were handled in the finale was exemplary. This can always be very difficult for writer's, as it can be strange handling the ending for everyone's character arcs. Thankfully, Claymore sticks to one narrative and one narrative alone.


Enjoyment:
Stable. I wasn't ever bored, though there were periods where I bordered it. Perhaps the biggest offense was the fact that things were too convenient. Because of this, fights weren't of interest to me. I begged for world building as I was getting past the 50 chapter mark, and I wanted an enemy that could meet our main cast with mortality in its grasp. There is an event that takes place that did it a little, but there isn't much of a follow up, and I felt cheated.

That said, I wanted to keep reading. There was something interesting. I can't tell you what, and I think that's a negative, in all honesty, but this narrative has a charisma to it, despite its glaring flaws.


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Claymore, unfortunately, falls short as a subpar, sub-mediocre, forgettable, and unimaginative read.

Its cast lacks any creativity, and the Claymore organization, which should be the highlight, features more than 40 female monster hunters that look, fight, and act the same. They are praised as great female representation, but the more you grow as a reader, the more you will realize that they are an absolute joke.

-The main character, Claire, fails to stand out, appearing like a recycled character from another story. Her arc revolves around being emotionless but learning to feel while traveling with Raki, who is arguably the worst character in the series. ...

-Raki's presence adds little to the story, he does nothing but create problems, lacks depth, and somehow ends up in a romantic relationship with Claire. His development is unsatisfying, as he drops out for training and returns able to face multiple Claymores at once, leaving readers unimpressed as all this “development” is offscreen.

-The main antagonists are equally underwhelming, with one becoming evil due to issues controlling her own power, said villain is also defeated through an asspull, and the disappointing revelation of the Yoma's origin ties to an unexplored region in the story, further diminishing the narrative's impact.

-The story's regard is not high. The beginning involves Claire and Raki battling monsters, with a middle reveal of the Claymore organization's hidden nature.

However, the end devolves into a battle frenzy resembling DragonBall Z but with Near Identical Lesbian Sword Fighters. The final stretch lacks strategy, relying on random power-ups, and resurrecting dead characters to resolve conflicts taking place in a setting which is nothing more than a mundane medieval backdrop.

In conclusion, Claymore's mediocrity outweighs its little potential. For a more captivating experience, exploring the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski may be a better choice. The Witcher offers a similar plot with a diverse cast of characters, a creative setting based on mythology, and the advantage of enjoying the story through books, games, comics, TV, and more. This story has political dramas, heartfelt moments between parents, magic, thrilling fights, and so much more than this unfinished paintjob of a manga.

Claymore is one of the most disappointing manga I've read. From chapter 1 to about 60 it is amazing, however, afterwards the quality declines little by little until by the end there is barely anything left to enjoy. Let me explain.

The story starts out fairly simple but gets more complex quickly as we see the past of the main character. We slowly get introduced to more aspects of the life of the claymores and how it affects them. We get to see what makes the main character special among all the other warriors and watch as she gets stringer and forms relationships with other people. ... All of this culminates in the best battle of the series. We get proper build up to the onslaught that is to come, recurring characters come back, the interactions between the cast are both sweet and terrifying because we know not all of them will make it, and then the battle starts and it is great. Claymore never even came close to recreating these chapters and it was certainly not for the lack of trying. So what went wrong?

There are some underlying problems with Claymore that were never addressed and eventually ruined the manga. The fact that some of the worst shonen tropes were present definitely did not help.

One of the things most praised about Claymore is the art. This is for good reason since the creativity in the monster designs of the monsters (awakened ones) is outstanding. However a lot of people don't acknowledge where the art falls short. The backgrounds aren't detailed enough and straight up absent in most fights, the character design of a lot of the claymores is very similar and it is not hard to confuse them because there are a lot of them, and most importantly, the fight choreography is lacking. Not that its always bad but the author abuses the "teleports behind you" moves and also the fact that the monsters tend to use projectiles is a shortcut for the author to draw white lines colliding with a character and not worry about making the fight look Cool. This doesn't always happen but the frequency of the fights doesn't help. The author also fails to establish a power ceiling which makes the stakes non-existent. At the beginning of the story we are introduced to the basic setting, the power levels of the main characters and what seems to be the power level of what the main villains of the series will be. The problem is the fact that it is a lie. As the series continues moving forward the author feels a need to one up each enemy with next. The villains who were supposed to be the final villains end up being footnotes to the actual villains of the later half of the series. the danger is lost because we know the characters will win no matter what and that the next villain will be a lot stronger but will still lose and get replaced with someone more powerful. Due to the sheer volume of fights, later chapters become a slog of identical looking women outspeeding monsters for hundreds of chapters in fights that feel the same.

The second big problem with Claymore is how after a while, the protagonist seems to appear less and less. This isn't a problem at the beginning because the side characters are solid but it keeps happening and the story loses direction. With nothing to do, the author decides to fill pages by making side characters fight powerful monsters that contribute nothing to the story.

The third (and biggest) problem with the manga is the overreliance on bad shonen manga tropes. I don't have anything against shonen. I think my scores for slam dunk and chainsaw man, however, I think authors writing shonen can sometimes fall into the realm of cliche and lazy writing. In Claymore, this manifests as the overuse of flashbacks. Especially to try and get an emotional reaction out of villains. I understand that writing complex antagonists is generally a good thing but when the setting of your story explicitly says that the monsters have left behind their humanity and are now just evil cannibals maybe you should chill with the sad flashbacks to their earlier lives. I understand doing it for very important figures but when you are trying to make me empathize with the dude I just met who has just finished gutting one of the best side characters in the story there is a problem. Also the time skip requires a lot of flashbacks to explain gaps which is really time consuming and unnecessary.

The final complain is the fact that the biggest plot twist which attack on titan apparently ripped off is actually meaningless. A more complex aspect was added to the story yet it was dropped for the entire manga until the final chapter where it suddenly comes back and is resolved in less than three pages. I don't want to criticize this aspect too badly since it probably was not the authors decision to cut short such a potentially large storyline however it still bothers me quite a lot.

All in all, Claymore isn't a bad manga. Just an incredibly disappointing one. Im not sure if I recommend reading it but I guess that you might like it if you... Like dumb action and don't care about plot, like horrifying monsters, want to experience the great first third of the story and then stop reading and pretend it ended at its highest point.

Claymore, a manga with lot of story arcs.

It starts off simple, with claymores (aka silver eyed witches) doing their job. A character bonds with one, and they do things together.

Things get a lot more complicated later on, but it maintains its general flow. The main problem I had with it is how long is dragged things on sometimes. I generally like to avoid animes such as Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, and all of the others like that for that very reason. Fights take forever, and there can be a lot of talking sometimes. So obviously if this will bother you, it might not ... be the manga for you.

HOWEVER, the long drawn out stuff doesn't occur until a certain arc.
I like to compare Claymore to Air Gear in this sense. Claymore and Air Gear both had their anime counterparts ended early. The reason I like to compare them is because they both start experiencing the long talks and fights after the stopping points of the anime.

I'm not entirely sure if I'd quite recommend it, as a lot of people (including myself) didn't find the ending very satisfying. This is a problem since it's a fairly long read, so be wary.

Plot development and storyline :
The storyline of Claymore is set up on a medieval island world, infested with monsters called “Youma”. Youmas can shift their shape, disguise and live as humans within society. They retain the memories and knowledge of the human body they reside in, so normal humans can’t recognize them in their perfect disguise. Youmas eat human innards to live and can’t resist the urge to eat innards more than two weeks. So eventually they end up murdering humans brutally, to eat their guts.
A mysterious group called “The Organization” creates half human-half youma hybrid female warriors who kill youmas in exchange of money, ... that is collected by The Organization.
These hybrid warriors are called “Claymores” because they fight youmas using large and heavy “Claymore” swords that they always carry on their backs. People also refer to them as “Silver eyed witches” as all of the Claymores have silver colored eyes.
Youmas and Claymores are powered by a demonic energy called “Youki”. Youki grants them extreme strength and shape-shifting ability. Only Claymores can sense Youmas disguised as humans and kill them because they bear Youki, the same power as youmas.
People despise Claymores, as they are also half monsters. So the claymores are quite anti-social, cold natured and sometimes maniac. Killing people is a taboo for Claymores as proof of them being allies of humans, despite being half monsters. Claymore warriors don’t require much food and sleep as normal humans and they don’t age. So they are very effective weapons against youmas.
The island world of “Claymore manga” is divided into 47 regions. There are warriors ranked from 1 to 47 based on their overall abilities and each one of them are assigned to a specific region.
Claymore has pretty interesting character development. It starts with the protagonist, organization’s weakest warrior, no.47 ‘Clare’ completing her missions as a claymore. As the story progresses, Clare’s tragic past, her reason ‘to live’ and ‘become a claymore’ gets revealed. She gains comrades, experiences deadly battles and life-turning events. As time passes, characters grow stronger and experienced, new mysteries pop up.
The origin of youmas, the actual identity of the organization and its secrets and lots of exciting stuff happen throughout the whole manga. The most powerful of Awakened beings, “The Abyssal Ones” and the one above them, ‘Priscilla’... the manga continues as the story gets more and more intense, revolving all those characters.
It starts as a simple action-supernatural manga, but slowly it draws in the reader. It’s true beauty unfolds with heart-breaking tragedy and intense battle scenes. There’s no useless part in Claymore. All of the battles declare “Survival of the fittest”. A little gory, as the whole manga involves a lot of bloodshed and death. The swordfighting styles and techniques used in Claymore are ‘Real’, just a little modified and made compatible with the supernatural stuff.
Art:
Claymore’s art is as good as it’s storyline. All of the action scenes are drawn perfectly clear. Then comes the eye-catching background art. In some pages, backgrounds are drawn so perfectly that it’d seem like photographic sketch.
At first, people won’t notice Claymore’s character designs particularly. There are a lot of Claymores (Characters) in the manga, who may look almost same as one-another. You may think bad of Claymore’s character designs, but i assure you that it’s exactly the opposite of what you think.
According to the theory, all of the claymores have silvery eyes, hair and they wear a specific type of dress provided by the organization. With these restriction in characters’ features, there remains a very little room to make changes for each Claymore character. Yet the mangaka, YAGI NORIHIRO Sensei fully utilized this limited range of development. With slightest of differences in their hairstyle, shape of face, facial arrangements and unique personailities, he created every single claymore character significantly different from another, with those restricted features as handicap. And he successfully continued the ‘nearly impossible’ task of drawing all those characters with their minimal differences unchanged through all the chapters of Claymore. Due to the storyline, Claymore has some gory scenes in it. But NORIHIRO Sensei pulled it off so perfectly that it won’t creep people out much, even though it’s gore.
Why people should read Claymore:
Extreme display of swordfight, splendidly drawn actions scenes. It’s captivating storyline would make you glue up with it until you finish (though it’s ongoing). Alongside excellent art, Claymore’s plot is better than many popular/famous works of literature.
So dig in as fast as you can, and enjoy it’s awesomeness!

Typically I am not one to watch or read many dark fantasy stories but Claymore was a rather intriguing experience.

The main focus of the story centers around an organization of Claymores fighting different monsters of varying strength and power. Despite what seemingly could become a rather formulaic plot, it manages to maintain a looming sense of mystery about the world slowly building on what's been previously established and adds many twists along the way keeping things unpredictable. There would often be moments of uncertainty if a character would make it out of a life threatening situation as there are many deaths throughout. The violence featured ... in Claymore, while at times can be a spectacle, is one that can instill legitimate terror. The story is markedly well-crafted as it manages to keep a consistent tone of being grim and depressing whilst maintaining believability. The flashback arc near the beginning provides a strong tether as from that point on, the story continues to build upon itself providing clear motivations for the characters. What I found particularly interesting was that the main character is not the sole initiator of the plot. There are many moving pieces in this world and sometimes there would be 3-4 events happening all at once creating some truly chaotic situations.

There are many interesting characters in Claymore. Clare is a strong but not overpowered protagonist. She is flawed in many ways and has a human side to her that makes her relatable and likable. Her growth is noticeable not just strength-wise but character-wise as well. There are many other companions that we meet along the way and while not all the characters get meaningful development, their interactions and motivations make them distinct and likable.

There is an easy to understand ranking system introduced which provides us a relative idea as to how strong each character is and how they match up against various foes which oftentimes instills a sense of awe and wonder as to how anyone is supposed to take down certain enemies. The power system is also rather interesting as each character has a special move unique to them that introduces some elements of strategy and tactics in the fights.

The artwork is one of the greatest strengths of the manga. While it does get somewhat confusing at times due to all the Claymores looking relatively similar in terms of hair and eyes, it doesn’t necessarily take away from the experience. The action and movement with speed lines keeps things engaging and fast paced. Many of the monsters, especially later on in the story have really complex and unique designs whilst also looking cool. There would often be showcases with a full page spread giving you a clear view at their features.

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this manga and would highly recommend it to others who want a well thought out and compelling fantasy. While I tend to stay away from overly violent stories, this one feels tame. It’s dark but not too dark and knows how to build upon itself in meaningful ways both with its setting and its characters. It managed to keep me engaged from start to finish with its creativity, story twists, and amazing artwork.

STORY: 6
Claymore is the story of the "Silver Eyed Witches", half-human half-demon beings who fight man-eating monsters called Youma. The main protagonist is one of these witches-warriors named Claire, and the majority of the plot is about her quest for revenge. Despite the basic premise, the story evolves to become a bit more complex; in the end I found it to be Claymore's weakest aspect, as it remains largely predictable. The one time it tries to surprise the reader with a big revelation it does introduce some unexpected elements, but the author did not employ the said elements in any other way throughout the manga ... (i.e. there are things that are mentioned but never or briefly shown), so it is rather disappointing in the end (especially with the fact that some explanations seem not so coherent and more aimed to perplex the reader than anything). There are some moments you definitely do not see coming and they are great, but more connected to the fights themselves than to the plot. Luckily, everything else is very good.

ART: 8 - CHARACTER: 7
The art is satisfying, with a great character design managing to keep every warrior different from the others despite all of them being similar for plot reasons and them being so many. The monster design also shines with some absolutely great looking and menacing demons. It's too bad that the environement are not drawn to their fullest potential as they could have been more varied and detailed (the Medieval setting had so much potential for this). It doesn't help that the landscape is always destroyed in the fights either. Remaining on the characters, they have not the deepest characterization but they are enjoyable nevertheless. Every one of them has little nuisances which make them interesting, especially the seven main Claymores who are the protagonists of the manga. The villains are a bit of hit and miss, since some of them are quite charismatic while others are too cliché with the standard high and mighty attitude given from the fact that they are incredibly powerful.


ENJOYMENT: 8
The balancing between action scenes and plot developing is one of Claymore's greatest point: fights are long and immersive and most of the time when you are just about to get bored from them they resolve just the right way and you can catch your breath with explanations, strategies and the likes. The rythm is, as a consequence, very engaging and you always feel motivated to continue the reading. Fights themselves are often dramatic, with high tension and filled with a little more blood and dismembering than your average action manga (by no means Berserk-level gore, but it still is something); they often employ strategy and this make them less predictable, though they are sometimes resolved with a convenient power up in shonen fashion. This is one of the thing I disliked the most: despite being basically a seinen, Claymore employs too many expedients and structures typical of shonen mangas (that is to say warriors with a number to represent their strength, convenient power ups, class of stronger demons and so on) which hinder the overall potential of this work. I would have like it to be more mature and anti-conventional in these details and it had the potential to do so.

So overall we have a fantasy action manga that does not particularly excel in any aspect, though some of them are great, but the alchemy of them works quite well and will keep you hooked if you are a fan of the genre. In fact, I was tempted to give this an 8, but considering all the flaws that I think there are in this work I opted for a 7, which is more fitting to my overall standpoint.

Claymore is an amazing manga, everyone who wants to read any type of shounen manga must read claymore!
It takes place in medieval times, but that doesnt even matter. I dont think that it would really make a difference if it took place in the year 2020. You dont really even notice the time period as you read it.
Anyway, first you must know what a claymore is. A claymore is a WOMAN not man for reasons explained in the manga, who is a demon, but has a human mind. Claymores are made by the organization, which is just called the organization. I dont recall seeing ... the heads of the organization, but the main person who talks to the claymores from the organization is this shady dude dressed in black. He gives the claymores their missions. their missions: kill yoma (demon). Now the claymores can kill the yoma because their bodies are those of yoma. The difference between a claymore and a yoma, the claymore has a human mind and can control their thirst for human flesh.
The story revolves around a boy named Raki. Raki, which apparantly means lucky in japanese, gets his entire family eaten by a yoma. This particular yoma is plagueing the town, and in response to this threat the town resolves to hiring a claymore from the organization to kill the yoma. Since the claymores are part demon, they are seen as a necessary evil, and feered by everyone. A claymore named Claire is sent on a mission from the organization to kill this yoma. As many ppl in the town are afraid of claire, Raki is not, but is actually grateful for her presence. All in all, Claire kills the yoma and Raki, w/ no family and rejected by the village, decides to follow Claire on her adventures. The story is about Claire, and her past and her main goal, and her reaching it. Events happen in the series which are both unexpected and ingenious. The only character whose past matters in this series is Claire, for most of the caracters have very similar pasts. The story line is broken up into arcs. There are so many elements in this manga, but all the mysteries are introduced at a very modest rate, to keep the reader in control over understanding of the mysteries.
The storyline shifts away from Claire's main goal, and moves twards a very large mystery. Claire unravels this mystery with the help of fellow claymores. The reason this manga isgood is because it is not just one person who is a claymore, nor by any means is this person the strongest claymore. And once again, it shifts away from being about Claire and her goal, and moves twards hidden motives of other characters. Bascially, it gets into how ppl are screwing each other over. Its really interseting. The manga is seen in the shonen monthly, so it only comes out once a month, and sometimes skips months. However, when they do come out it is worth the wait. The manga does not move at a rediculously slow rate. But the problem is that they keep switching view ponits from character to character. So lets say manga #45 is about claire, manga 46 will switch to another character. That is the only annoying part. But besides that it is a must read!
the art is really good, i always know what is going on, its not hard to see things at all. There is not that much blood as far as i can remember, but that is becasue blood usually makes it hard to know what the pictures are showing. So like in some mangas, o they are bleeding, to bad the blood is coverning up the face so i cant see who it is. Instead they just cut off limbs, which i think is good enough. And this is intense cutting of the limbs by the way.
So anyway, i love claymore, anyone who reads it will fall in love w/ it right away, and will just be drawn so much closer in by like the 20th manga because the story line heats up.
I do reccomend reading it when the series is complete though, or else you are just going to end up smaking yourself across the face because you just want to know what happens already.

“Die for others, live for others”

As the story begins there’s a little drama and horror beneath it that gave me a shot to continue reading. As I continue, the flow of the story begins intriguing and exciting, then soon I noticed that I have been hooked up in continuing reading it. Protecting and revenging are the main cause of this manga, they have been passed over to be able to live longer and do what is incorrect.
An action, sci-fi and adventure type of story that revolves on the life and belief of the main character. There are also mysteries and intrigues that I found ... out that makes me carry away.

Story: [10]

It's about girls that was abandoned or cast away from their past and then they have been adopted by some kind of organization for them to take care of and afterward they will become a warrior that enters in a survival like arena; those who left standing are able to continue while the others who don’t will sadly face their fate. Self-interest is the main purpose why they live so far; glory, fame and power such as. A bloody and sword-fighting scene that excites me through reading, that’s why I certainly love it because the story/plot is progressing and well developed.

Art: [8]

The art is detailed and captivating, every battle scenes, equipments, special attacks are shown on every chapter, and there's some mild nudity shown, but there are some chapters that disappoint me.

Characters: [9]

What I love about the characters is their personalities, different attitudes, and different ways of thinking, and also their battle techniques which are shown on how the way they fight. Every character has a unique power to show which add some effect to the story, but sadly to say it lacks on character improvement, few are really progressing and the others are like the way they are in the first place and sometimes they die quickly out to the manga.

Overall: [9]

Ten because it's story is not boring to read and quickly to adopt.

A nice manga to read, the story is progressing, an action thrilled story that gave me excitement, and the twist and intrigues about the story that brought me to read all the way, but there I think something is lacking and the sad part are few characters are improving, the art sometimes fail for me, and release date of every chapter takes long to wait which is the saddest part.

A kind of manga for those who want action, adventure and shounen just like me and people who have patience to wait for a long time on every chapter, worthy to try, as for me I like it a lot.

If you're looking to read a great shounen manga, then you must read Claymore, the best Shounen manga I've ever read. Claymore is an exceedingly long manga that's plot is dark, intense, interesting and overall very, very enjoyable to read.

The plot takes place in an alternative medieval world where humans coexist alongside creatures called Yoma (humanoid monsters that feed on human flesh). A nameless and highly secretive organization has produced a species of half-human-half-yoma warriors (All female, and it's explained why) to slay the nefarious yoma and protect humans, but for a large price. The people of this world refer to them as "Claymores" due ... to the huge swords on their backs that they use to slay the Yoma. Claymores were once humans, before the organization injected Yoma blood into their veins, giving them supernatural speed/strength, while taking away their humanity. Claymores are distrusted, feared, and hated by humans. Now, the actual story starts at a small village whose inhabitants are being butchered by a mystery Yoma. The village finally assumes that the city's butcher is the Yoma, and so the village saves up enough money to hire a Claymore to protect their village. When the Claymore arrives at the village to slay the Yoma, a young boy named Raki becomes interested in her because he is still innocent/pure and sees Claymore's as humans, and dreams of having a friend/family, since his entire family was killed by a Yoma. Raki grows a liking for the Claymore because he hopes that she will take revenge for him. The Claymore is surprised that Raki isn't scared of her, but ultimately states that she is there to kill the Yoma for money not for anyone's personal vendetta. She also won't state her name because she is convinced he will forget it soon enough (pretty depressing). The Yoma turns out to be Raki's brother Zaki, and after he is slain, Raki joins the Claymore on her aimless journey to protect humans and kill Yoma for the nameless organization. She tells Raki her name is Clare and the story begins. Out there, in the wilderness of reality, what challenges and mysteries await Clare and Raki?

At first glance, the plot seems all simple and dull. The entire premise is not original, predictable, and lacks a true central plot. Oh, there are half-human, half-monster beings that fight off monsters, and interact with humans over and over. Big whoop. The beginning actually starts off really slowly, with nothing much really happening. And in fact, the story honestly does just repeat itself, over and over. The at-first-glance weak main character, Clare fights evil to serve justice, then befriends other Claymores, protects the people, begins to have emotion and receive love (characteristics of human) for Raki (more of a sister-brother love though), and in the end her very own creation from the mysterious organization unravels gradually. But then on second glance... it's the same, there's nothing special or unique about the plot. Then why is it a 10/10? Vast diversity of great characters, and Pure enjoyment. Besides the slow beginning, the entire manga is an absolute treat. Although it may seem like it, the manga isn't 100% about fighting, Claymore also utilizes sub-concepts to build up the intrigue of the series. For example, the rankings of the 47 Claymores that exist, #1 being the best, and #47 being the crap (this is Clare's rank). Each Claymore has a unique and memorable aspect/ability to their character/fighting style. When a Claymore dies, they get replaced with another newly made Claymore. When Claymore's can't contain their powers, and exeed/go over their limit, then they become "Awakened Beings", Powerful Yomas. What I enjoyed about the storyline was that it played out like a warring-states war story. There are 3 almighty Awakened Beings (they were #1 Claymores during their era as a Claymore respectively) and they claimed the North/East/West (poor East, unclaimed), and they are sort of enemies, by which I mean they try to kill each other, but the plot cleverly connects the warring Awakened Beings with Abyss Feeders (Organization later creates with the blood of Awakened Beings), and the current Claymores, including Clare (& Raki). In addition, most of the characters have back stories that are interesting in their own right and don't slow down the pace of the story. This manga is definitely hard to explain why it's good, it's something that's better to be experienced.

The characters of Claymore are (exluding Raki, who is an annoying prick joke of a man but a tragic character in his own right), what's the right word... Amazing? No, that'd be an understatement... Well-drawn/Beautiful? That's true but not the best word to describe them... Let's go with Creations of Greatness. I don't think I've read anything with a large variety of [female] characters that I enjoy reading about every single one, and I like every single one (Monster had the best variety of overall deep characters though) as much as I did with Claymore. From Clare, to her mentor, Teresa (My Top 5 - 10 female character all time, and arguably the most OP and tragic character), to her friends: Galatea, Elena, Miria, Deneve, Helen, Jean, to her enemies, Priscilla, Irene, Rafaela, to the Great Awakened Beings: Isley of the Northern Lands, Riful of the Western Lands, and Luciela of the Southern Lands, to the mysterious organization that has some rather sinister beings/secrets, to all the other Claymores of different eras (there are like another 100 that are mentioned). Normally, too many characters would just hurt my ahead and have me annoyed and confused, but Claymore really makes it work; enjoyable and memorable.

Claymore's art is unorthodox in a fantastic way. The character artwork is clean for the most part, and adds a unique flavor to the entire story. The monsters (Awakened Beings are SO COOL!) designs are highly notable, for being unique, well shaded, and stunningly amazing. The backgrounds are also well done due to good tones and shading (sets a good mood for the story; omniscient). The Claymores were beautifully, drawn both in beauty looks and the way they fought/looked. oh my, I loved Claymore's art so much.

One can argue that the story of Claymore had a deep theme in it, one of sin - seeking forgiveness, harshness and sadistic side of reality, what it means to be a human, and fate/destiny of a person. But, I find all that bullshit, I honestly see Claymore as a source of pure enjoyment. But seriously, if you like shounen stories, then Claymore is one of the best. The MANGA (not anime, since that was a shitty adaptation) is on par with the likes of Gintama and Hunter x Hunter; masterpieces. I'd say Claymore is a great series that interprets standard concepts in a highly interesting way. It also has an interesting war-like storyline that will keep a reader's attention (so enjoyable). Though Claymore lacks any central themes or philosophy, the series has an enjoyable storyline. I don't know if I mentioned this, but Claymore is highly enjoyable. I'd recommend this anime to all people that love adventure/action/good mangas. And, to conclude this review, I want to mention something that I had forgotten in this review: Claymore is highly enjoyable.

Had I written this review a year ago, I would have given it a 7 or an 8. But unfortunately time has not been kind to this silver eyed warrior. I loved this manga when I started reading it. But thanks to an uncreative story line and horrible translations, I have lost my passion for it. I still read it occasionally, but it is not one of my must reads. This is one case in which the anime was prematurely ended while the manga continues to this day. At first I was furious at the broadcasters decision but now I can see it was for ... the best. The story line is now so far out there there is little left of the original flavor.

Claymore is a manga definitely worth reading.

When I first began, it looked alright to me. Not too interesting but enough to make me continue the series. As it progresses, you'll notice the fights get bigger and more destructive (not to mention super awesome).

From my viewpoint there, wasn't much character development; most of the characters stay the same. Though this doesn't have a huge impact on the story. The story is really interesting once you get farther, it surprised me entirely and had a twist I wasn't expecting. There's also the art, which is amazing.

This entire series hasn't failed to amaze me nor ... lose my interest. One of the few that I actually have kept up with despite the number of chapters. Give Claymore a read! You won't regret it.

Claymore was one of most enjoyable manga that I ever read from the beginning to the end. First, the story. It was so amazing. It did surprised me like I wanted.
It says in the manga that Yoma are the natural predator of humans and I did asked myself. Where does the Yoma come from ? They can copy the appearance of humans, act like them... The truth told by Miria about the Yoma and the Organization did let me in disbelief.
The characters was so much amazing, some of them were well written (Teresa, Priscilla, Clare...).
The claymore are half-yoma half humans and they are ... considered as yoma by the majority of humans, but the truth is that they are more humans than the humans itself, Teresa betrayed the organization to live for Clare, Clare did the same with Raki. They always protect humankind of Yoma but they are not appreciated by humans for that.
The Art was so so amazing. It's very old school, very linear but it was beautiful. The double pages are pieces of art.
Each chapters was amazing, it did brought information and revelations about the organization, plots twist was well brought, It was so enjoyable that I read all the 27 volumes in 3 days.

Claymore – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 6/10 – 6 x 0.275 = 1.65
Art – 7.5/10 – 7.5 x 0.2 = 1.5
Characters – 7/10 – 7 x 0.225 = 1.575
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2.1
Total – 6.825 -> 7

Story – 6/10
Story is not Claymore's strong suit. The story is linear and often predictable. What's more, it has the typical shonen tropes: the enemies grow in scale, with a normal enemy in volume 15 (for example) being much more powerful than its analogue in the first volumes. There are, however, a number of things that I'm sure inspired Attack on Titan: the story ... has a lot of similarities, except that Attack on Titan does them well. The similarities are much more evident in the middle volumes and fade as the story progresses. Another problem is the plot armour of some characters, which is all too evident in the final volumes. The ending is predictable but quite well made.

Art - 7.5/10
The artwork is superb and the action scenes are some of the best I've seen in manga. The scenery is detailed and carries with it an atmosphere befitting the manga. Why 7.5? Character design has a lot of problems, to the point where characters are only recognisable by their hair and, in one case, their arm (no joke).

Characters - 7/10
As I wrote in the previous section, most of the characters are not memorable and are almost impossible to identify in the manga. However, because of their importance in the narrative and their personalities, there are a number of characters that are memorable - such as Clare, Miria or Teresa. This is remarkable, as they are living proof that they have their own personalities to be individualised. From a technical point of view, it also helps that they often repeat the characters' names, which makes it easier when the art doesn't aid.

Enjoyment - 7/10
Claymore is an enjoyable reading experience. The overwhelming majority of the panels are combat panels, so it reads very quickly, allowing you to “switch off your brain”. The story is very easy to follow and is constructed so that your attention doesn't wander. If you're looking for a manga that allows you to unwind and relax, Claymore fulfils that function, but if you're looking for epic stories like Fullmetal Alchemist, Berserk or Attack on Titan, I wouldn't recommend it. Overall, though, it's a well-done manga that deserves a recommendation.

I would barely rate Claymore to be average, hard carried by a few characters. That's the ultimate issue with Claymore, among other things.

I was watching and reading Claymore and Ooku: The Inner Chambers, at the same time. I rated the Claymore anime higher than the Ooku anime, and I don't regret those scores. Claymore did have an interesting concept and some interesting characters. It had Teresa, her backstory, Riful, Isley, and a handful of other characters. It was giving us lore and world building. Meanwhile, Ooku was giving us a rather slow start with a centered point of ... view. As of now, the Ooku manga is a masterpiece that addressed all of the issues from the anime, and then some. Claymore started to get progressively worse. Their scores switched.

The issue with Claymore is that the main character is boring and has mostly boring people around her. They all look similar and have similar personalities. It's hard to even tell or remember who is who. It'd be okay if it was just a group of 5 or something, but it's like 40+ women who look and act similar.

Of course, there are some characters that are interesting and have different personalities from the edgy and revenge seeking one. The nun Claymore, the mother and daughter Claymore, and Theresa. Two of the awakened beings have nice characters as well. Those characters single handedly carry this score. Without them, this score would be a 4/10.

Do I recommend it? Eh, mixed feelings. It has some strokes of genius within the work. Riful and Isley are great villains with interesting personalities. There are some great characters and heartbreaking moments within Claymore. Though once again, it's bogged down by Raki (garbage character) and the 40+ claymores who all look and act the same. Bonus points for girl power, I guess. Though like... You're better off reading a girl power manga with women who have different looks and personalities, and each display a different type of strength and resolve.

This is my first review,correct me if wrong,and sorry for bad grammars :)

Dark fantasy manga with bunch of ladies hunting around monsters? why not? since i'm fan of manga with dark fantasy genre (not big fans),i thought this manga would give me a big shot,and thats work.

Claymore is about Clare,who want to revenge for someone who she loved so much,Teresa,who get killed by her own comrade. by joining the organization,she hunt for things that called "youma",the monster who eat a human guts. from village to village she wandering for killing that creepy things. one day,on the one village for killing Youma,she meet a boy named ... "Raki",his parents get killed by Youma who disguise as his brother. Raki now have no place to stay,so he decided to join Clare on her journey.

Then the story of the journey of them are begun.

I would recommend this for you who love reading fantasy manga with a dark story behind it.