Claymore

Claymore is a dark, fantasy anime that sets itself in the medieval world. Humans and monsters known as Yoma co-exists. Yoma feeds on human guts to survive, after which, they can take the form of a human to disguise themselves. No one can distinguish them from a normal human. Thus, a nameless organization created "superhumans" (only females) to deal with these Yoma. They don't have a name, however, due to the extremely big sword they carry around, the humans named them Claymores. Ok, enough with the brief summary. What I think is...

It sounds very fantasy like (or childish one might say), however, this is one show you don't want to recommend to any kids. It has a very dark tone, environment, theme, songs, everything in it (think the movie 300). If you are looking for comedy, relaxing styled anime, this is not for you. However if you can bear with gory and bloody scenes (Yoma eating humans' guts, Claymore chopping off Yoma's head, Claymore turning into Yoma, etc...) and sadistic atmospheres, then it is a great anime that would keep you watching for hours. It guarantees cool fighting scenes with big swords and a mysterious storyline waiting to be uncovered! The story too is definitely well directed/written. All in all, this is a great anime; a must watch!

The main character here is Clare. As you progress through the story, she is not just the typical Claymore, and she intends to investigate into the organization that 'created' her; their seemingly (dark) secrets. During the first episode, I wasn't too interested into girls (not babes) cutting off limbs and slashing heads off monsters (with blood spilling and splashing all over herself). The turning point that makes me want to continue watching is when she 'adopted' a normal kid, Raki in her journey. Their relationship goes from one of strangers to caring 'siblings' (?... they definitely don't looks like they will be lovers in any way!) and how Raki saved her once by supporting her emotionally.

Raki, a normal boy who tagged along during Clare's journey.

After the first few episodes, the story brought us back to the past. The number 1 Claymore named Teressa "of the faint smile". It is then learned why Clare chose to be a Claymore and what was her true objective. I really enjoyed watching Teressa's story. Too bad she had to die horribly.

Teressa of the faint smile. It is sad and pitiful to see how she was killed. (Episode 8)

Claymore vs Claymore (bringing cat-fights to a whole new level!)

Episode 11: The latest episode wasn't so much of a fighting compared to all the previous episodes; a boring one indeed. However, more of the secrets of Claymores and the organization (to a lesser extent) were revealed.


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