Alternative TitlesEnglish: Claymore Japanese: クレイモア
Information
Type: Manga
Volumes: Unknown
Chapters: Unknown
Status: Publishing
Published: May 6, 2001 to ?
StatisticsScore: 8.471 (scored by 19366 users)
Ranked: #1662
Popularity: #15
Members: 34,632
Favorites: 4,705 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action adventure fantasy shounen |
SynopsisIn a world constantly haunted by demonic predators known as "Youma", the everyday life of humans is full of fear and suspicion, as these monsters easily blend into human society to hunt their hapless prey. However, in this world, there is also a mysterious organization, employing half-human, half-Youma warriors to effectively track down and kill the demons. Called "silver eyed witches" or "Claymores" after the huge Claymore swords they carry, these female warriors are eyed with suspicion and distrust by most because of their inhuman powers.
But there are many currents flowing in the shadows, from the mysterious machinations of the Claymore "Organization" and the twisted ambitions of the powerful "Abyssal Ones" to the hopes and desires of each Claymore warrior. This story follows the fate of Clare, one of the Claymore operatives as she sails deeper and deeper down the currents of conspiracies and revenge. |
Related MangaAdaptation: Claymore
Reviews
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Siarus
84 of 102 people found this review helpful
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96 of ? chapters read
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Art |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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. read more
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KingsofLeon
18 of 28 people found this review helpful
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103 of ? chapters read
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Art |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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?) :) read more
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While Claymore may not be just as dark and gory as Berserk, it still holds plenty of bloody battles and monsters. The characters are interesting, and so is the story.
And Claymore is full of nice women. Just so you know.
Violent action sword fighting manga that is extremely well drawn.
Monster fighting, not always ends well, dark ambience.
claymore is basicly a less explicit version of berserk except claymores characters are almost all female
Both Berserk and Claymore involve the main character battling against monsters that take the form of a human for the sake of revenge, however that is not the only thing that the two series' have in common. Both have a dark atmosphere and contain a flashback arc revealing the reasons for the protagonists goal of revenge. Aswell as that both protagonists are burdened with taking care of someone they care about. Chances are if you enjoyed Claymore, you'll enjoy reading Berserk, or vice versa.
Imagine Miura sensei working for a shonen magazine...yep that pretty much sums up Claymore. Only Claymore has more pretty girls.
Both stories are dark and violent. Both main characters wield huge swords to kill monsters.
Both are placed at a medieval world with a lot monsters.
Berserk has a superior art and gore level, but Claymore still pretty good.
Both are set in medieval style fantasy setting, although Claymore has main female character and Berserk male, they both figth with big swords, slay demons/monsters from time to time... If you liked one of them you will certainly like the other because they`re so amazing that it can`t be explained with words without spoiling the content.
Although Berserk is senien but the killing and fighting is quite similar just is that Claymore is less dark and better IMO.
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Both series are relentlessly gory action-series that pit humans in an underdog position against a race of incredibly powerful creatures who are out for human flesh.
Although Claymore is not set during a time period where humans are driven to the brink of extinction by unknown monsters, this manga nevertheless shares some characteristics with Shingeki no Kyojin, a currently rising and largely promising manga: barren rock background, focus on the quality of story rather than art, and the fact that their respective monsters can not be killed using normal human means. While reading Shingeki no Kyojin, I was reminded of Claymore some times, perhaps owing to the potentially gory nature of the monsters' killings.
- Both are shounen with a medieval fantasy setting.
- Both are very gory.
- In both, the main character is seeking revenge.
- Yoma and Titans are similar; Both threat humanity. Yoma eat human's guts and Titans devour humans.
- In both manga, there is an organization to go against those creatures. In Claymore they use half-yoma half-human women and in SnK advanced weapons.
- In both, the world is unexplored with a lot of mysteries.
- The artwork is somewhat similar, but Claymore's artwork is better.
All of the things other people have said about these two manga being similar are true.
But I just wanted to add: both have extremely strong female characters, and would be enjoyable for those who prefer to read something that can pass the Bechdel Test.
In both, there are strange creatures that feed on humans. Humans live in fear.
There is organisation in both that train humans to fight the creatures.
Although in Claymore, all (but one, the main lead) are being forced. The organisation put fresh and blood of the creature (yoma) in the body of human girls in order to develop them into warriors capable to fight the yoma.
In Kyojin, they willingly train to fight (nothing is done to their bodies), using their developed gears and weapons.
As for Artwork, some said they are similar, but it's definitely not. Claymore's artwork is MUCH better. Many beautiful women and some handsome men :)
Both manga depict how weak human is up against a powerful predator
Claymore hav women who is half-yoma and half human to fight yoma and awaken being. And there is a plot twist in the story~~~
While in Shingeki no Kyojin there is human armed with different gear and weapon to fight the giant. With amazing background story!
Both of the series have similar artwork; dark, rougher with panel composition that isn't typically seen in shonen manga but seinen itself.
Much like Claymore, Shingeki no Kyojin finds itself on the border of the shonen/seinen genres by being a dark fantasy story which doesn't shy away from multiple deaths, limb loss and gore.
Both series takes place in a medieval like world where there is hell and chaos. That chaos and hell are caused by the monsters that resides in both series.
There are resistance against the monsters in both series who tries to eradicate and contain the threat. In fact, the main male and female protagonists from both series are part of such an organization to deal with the threat.
Both series contains graphic violence as well as shounen like battles. They also enforces some psychological and thriller like endings.
The main male and female protagonist from both series also shares a strange relationship but does get along well especially when events calls for it.
Both series also has similar artwork.
Both have gore and are placed at a mediavel world.
Shingeki no Kyojin has more psychological elements.Claymore is more direct.
In both manga, the characters are (eventually) pushed until they reach the point where it seems like everybody is just going to die because of some monstrous beasts that never stop reproducing(?).
In addition, the characters are a little bit a like. (Annie and Clare, for example.)
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