Anime Claymore

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][CENTER][IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/MetalSonic700/A7028-16.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

Okay, so, this is easily one of the best action shows I've had the pleasure of watching. If you're a fan of fantasy stories such as Berserk or Valkyrie Profile, I think you'll have fun with this show. Hell, anyone inclined to action whatsoever needs to be watching this.

The show's format is not unfamiliar. There is a fantasy world full of demons (called Yoma) and there's an all-female group of half-yoma warriors called Claymore who fight them. the story follows one of these Claymore named Clare who saves this boy (who's name escapes me) from a yoma (will not spoil more than that fact) and end up with the boy following her (as her 'cook').

Like I said, at first it's nothing unfamiliar, and the first 2 episodes will seem like this show is nothing special. The 2 part episode 3 and 4 is pretty cool, but from 5 and onward (so far it's at 13) are just plain freaking awesome.

This show is pretty dark in a cool way, but not overly dark like Berserk. The show isn't afraid to kill off it's characters, but it's also not afraid to let them live, lending it some sense of realism. The story is intriguing and is enough to pull you in rather quickly after ep 4, but the story isn't the main draw.

The best thing about this show is simply awesome battles. This show does not screw around when it comes to fight scenes. The fights can sometimes take the greater portion of the episode, and unlike certain action shows, it spends less time talking and more time with straight-up fighting. Not every fight scene is as spectacular as the last, but some of them wil have you on the edge of your seat.

As of ep 12, I am addicted to this show entirely.[/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]I remember when I was waiting for this title to get liscensed, I read a few of the mangas and it is quite good. I looked forward to seeing what the battles would be like in anime form, you say there are at least 12 episodes out, guess i've been slacking on keeping myself updated on this series. I'm going to have to check it out soon.[/FONT]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]Man, I'm up to Episode 5 so far and this Anime kicks some serious can. There's so much... [i]violence[/i] and [i]hot chicks[/i]. It's great! Better than Lucky Star any day.

I mean the hot chicks fighting demons aspect of this show really attracts my interests.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]@ [B]BK[/B]: Well, it still is far from liscenced, so you might be screwed. I havne't read the manga yet, but i intend to.

@ [B]White[/B]: I really don't think they're all that hot, but then again, that could be my lolicon senses. The gritty artstyle lends more to observing the coolness of the landscape than the hotness of the chicks. plus, nothing about their armor says 'take me' lol. Not that this is also coming from a person who has never been attracted to Makoto Kusanagi >_> in any event, the killing is very nice, but at least try to look at the plot too...[/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=2007DigitalBoy][COLOR=DarkOrange]@ [B]BK[/B]: Well, it still is far from liscenced, so you might be screwed. I havne't read the manga yet, but i intend to.

@ [B]White[/B]: I really don't think they're all that hot, but then again, that could be my lolicon senses. The gritty artstyle lends more to observing the coolness of the landscape than the hotness of the chicks. plus, nothing about their armor says 'take me' lol. Not that this is also coming from a person who has never been attracted to Makoto Kusanagi >_> in any event, the killing is very nice, but at least try to look at the plot too...[/COLOR][/QUOTE]


[font=tahoma]Never been attracted to her myself either, *shrug*. Not really the kind of uniform i like on my women. In any case, released eps are released eps, so not like i'll discriminate. I'm on Fate/Stay Night atm so when i finish that up i'll move on to whatever is out at that time for Claymore. The beautiful art work really comes to life in the manga btw, it was similar to the feeling I had when i saw the Bleach artwork for the first time.

White, if you made it passed the first 6 minutes of Lucky Star without severe brain cell damage due to head to desk bashing, I commend you.[/font]

[Fasteriskhead]

Yeah, Claymore was probably the biggest surprise of the season for me. I was just about ready to drop it after the fourth episode - the shaky animation, the fairly uninteresting episode plots and set pieces, and most of all that [i]annoying god damned kid[/i] all pointed to DOA. For some reason I kept watching up through the fifth and sixth episodes, though, when Romi Paku showed up and lent a new sense of class to the show and suddenly it became a completely different series (I'm with DB on this one). For a shining period of about four episodes (the length of the "flashback") Claymore was, I think, the absolute best action/fantasy series since Berserk. Since then it's dropped off a bit, but it's still one of the brightest gems of the season.

Are there things to nitpick about? Oh, definitely. Right now the show's advancing up the dangerous path of power level pissing contests (I knew something was up the moment they mentioned "ratings" for the claymores; by episode 20 I fully expect to hear a line like "IMPOSSIBLE!! Her rating is... zero point seven five!??! But why didn't I detect it on the rating scouter??!?"). It relies on cheap tricks to stretch out fights, technobabble is everywhere, and they drop a deus ex machina any time someone realizes that they can't let the main character get killed. Budget and quality are all over the place, and you can always tell when they had to pull in the c-squad to do an episode or two. If you were grading solely on the technics, Claymore wouldn't do so well. But what I love about it is that it's one of the only shows this season which really has a [i]heart[/i] (the other is Gurren-Lagann, but we've known Gainax were hot-blooded ever since Daicon IV). Dennou Coil and Darker than Black are masterfully made shows, much more well-crafted than Claymore, but Claire I actually [i]care[/i] about - she's just an eminently likeable character, especially after they begin to work through her past. The show has some other merits besides Claire, but she's the only real reason I watch it.

Claire's a hard-headed girl who's been thrown into a situation which is vastly, impossibly huge for her. Imagine a blonde, well-endowed Rocky, only in a world with flesh-eating monsters all over the place. What you have in her is much more than just an underdog: you've got someone who's been dealt the worst hand imaginable, but is dead set on winning the pot at a table where everyone else has three of a kind or better. Yet - and here's the important part - at no point does [i]pity[/i] ever enter the audience's mind. Claire really does have the air of someone who's lived for years as a dwarf among giants, someone who's used to failure and whose victories are few and always hard-won, someone who lives only for a dream (which she knows she is utterly incapable of reaching) and has fought for everything she has. I can't recall any anime character quite like her, and she's enchanting. It's impossible not to like her, or not to root for her whenever she takes on a heavy she has no chance against. In a state of the industry saturated in moe, where every character has to be reducible to a kind of faux-puppy state, Claire's self-reliance gives her show something unique.

Also: what's with all the Lucky Star hate? :animeangr

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Fasterisk, that's the most beautiful cap of this show I've read so far. Everything you say rings true, and I meant to mention that this show excells in havin only one annoying character, and he doesn't have much of the series' focus behind him either.

I find it hilarious that you mentioned DOA (assuming you were talking about the video game, if not, pardon me) because young Clare looks almost exactly like young Kasuki when she gets her new clothes. I think it was some kind of homage >_>[/COLOR]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]Well, you see the only animes I've ever watched an entire season of is the early Pokemon, the early Digimon and Fullmetal Alchemist. Other than that I've lost touch with anime but Claymore has really got me back into it.

So really any thing with cool fighting catches my interest, right now.

As for Lucky Star, I basically watched 7 minutes in and they were just talking about food and.. I don't know it was just so dumb.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Fasteriskhead]

[QUOTE=2007DigitalBoy][COLOR=DarkOrange]Fasterisk, that's the most beautiful cap of this show I've read so far. Everything you say rings true, and I meant to mention that this show excells in havin only one annoying character, and he doesn't have much of the series' focus behind him either.

I find it hilarious that you mentioned DOA (assuming you were talking about the video game, if not, pardon me) because young Clare looks almost exactly like young Kasuki when she gets her new clothes. I think it was some kind of homage >_> [/COLOR][/QUOTE]Having one annoying character is still a deal-breaker sometimes, although thankfully the staff seem to realize now that they should keep his mouth shut as much as possible. (thanks for the compliment, btw!)

And no, the DOA was in reference to the medical term ("dead on arrival," meaning the patient had croaked before the doctors even had a chance). As for Kasumi and the [i]other[/i] DOA, though... well, I'm sure someone will manage to fit Claire into a swimsuit at some point (I mean, we're talking about anime here).

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]As I watch more and more episodes I get more and more into this show. I'm making a small RP loosely based on Claymore if any of you are interested. If you want I can PM whoever wants when it's up in the Inn.

And what's with all the Raki (sp?) hate? The kid [spoiler]lost his entire family[/spoiler]! You've gotta feel sorry for him.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Raiha]

[font=times][COLOR=DarkOrchid]It's Raki, you're correct. Anyway, at this second, I would like to start hogging the credit for introducing White and DB both to Claymore. I however have to thank my friend Fortunado as well. [He also goes by Forty]. My favorite characters involve Deneve of the re-growing limbs, Isley the fanservice boy that can spear you into the ground without moving more than a fingernail, and Galatea the girl who can manipulate you.

I'd recommend the manga and the anime both, as the later is very close to the former. I find that reassuring. Episode 13 came out last night and is on Veoh.com. It's all about the insane ones![/font][/COLOR]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Oi, episode 13 was crazy aweosme - the entirety of the fight scene between [spoiler]Ophelia and Clare was great. Especailly all the delimbing. Is Calre seriously goes the rest of this show with one arm, this will be one of my favorite shows ever.

Also, holy gee to Irene still being alive.[/spoiler] Fasterisk, you were right about the insane amount of deus ex machina. This show's even better at god-modding than me...

[spoiler]So I guess Ophelia is an awakened one now? This ought to be interesting. Also, her insane babble at the end was great.[/spoiler][/COLOR]

[pbfrontmanvdp]

Yea I started watching this about a month and a half ago when it was on episode 4 or 5. Anyway though this series is really great, but once it hit episode 13 for me [spoiler] and Clare lost her right arm and is now being taught by Irene now (who should be dead I don't think any of the former Claymore's who faught Pricella should be considered 'alive') [/spoiler] just brought it down for me a little. I liked how Clare depended more on herself in improving in battle, but now shes depending on another? Guess i'll have to see what happens in episode 14.

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Just when you all started worrying about what Clare would do without her arm... Irene comes to save the day and the world from a very frightening Awakened.

Episde 14 was the **** as you might have imagined, although I think Ophelia's personality was almost completely responsible for the outcome.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Ellerby]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]Buahaha! My friends, I present to you my very first AMV (and Claymore, nonetheless).

[center][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB5p3MN5QHM]CLICK HERE[/url][/center]

All of this AMV creating makes me want to watch episodes 16+, aheh. Has anyone seen them yet? And are they amazing like all the other episodes? :P[/COLOR][/FONT]