Claymore

In the beginning, I had believed the artwork to be crap. But after some time I had a change of heart, I come to realize it was just something I wasn't familiar with and this is exactly what the creator had in mind; a sort of Romanesque approach, it was nicely done. What won me over eere the plethora of action sequences that were produced with great detail. The gore in this particular anime had me mesmerized.. the amputation, decapitation, and the all around mutilation scenes were brilliantly done, I couldn't turn away from the screen for a second even if I wanted too. The ... storyline was bent on revenge from the jump, nothing too uncommon, it could've used a little tweaking in that department, needed more of an elaborate plot. If it were up to me the protagonist would have been Teresa and have the storyline revolve around her instead of Clair her protege, it would have made for a better show since she was a bad ass and whatnot but her 15 minutes of fame were brief but sweet nonetheless. I would even say the flashback episodes of her story that was covered under 4 episodes were better than the entire anime itself but thats just.my opinion. One thing I didnt like was Clair's companinion, if you want to debate about who is the most useless character in an anime he would most likely be a nomineee. But all in all, this anime was nothing short of epic, the creatures and yoki powers were awesome!

Story - 9.1/10 (A-)
The plot is supremely well made. A female warrior, known to all as a Claymore, fighting the demons "Yoma", who are actually part of the species that they kill. It's a oddly interesting relation. Sure, we've all seen our share of "Female kicking a** and ending up becoming the goddess" animes, but Claymore brings it in. Having to deal with a small companion that you saved from the Yoma, having to deal with the loss of your mentor by solemnly holding her decapitated head. It's just the kind of show that "goes there". Some of the episodes might be too gore-filled, just ... a heads up.


Animation - 10/10 (A+)
Every scene, every detail has the beautiful animation i've always longed for. The battles are intense and well played out, the heartache drama that follows is also well animated, even the death of Teresa is a scene that'll always pull me in. Claymore, you deserve a standing ovation.

Sound - 8.7/10 (B+)
While Claymore has a superb taste of blending it all together, it seems FUNimation (they really need to take out the "FUN".) always has to ruin something they license. Clare's voice in the english dub is good, something i can stand, something i can listen to. Raki sounds like the damzel in distress who always seems like he's gonna get ex'd off the show. I had to include the dub along with the japanese version. Everyone else is borderline. Now go watch the Japanese version, it sounds more intense. I've always been the "sub" kind of person, but a dub can't hurt once in a while. That said, Claymore along with most animes has a fairly decent (occasionally excellent) voice cast. I recommend buying the Intimate Persona CD, with vocals by the cast. Really worth it.

Character - 9.6/10 (A)
Each character is unique to the story, making that more fun to watch. From the child dealing with the death's of his family in front of him, from the misguided Priscilla with a score to settle, from the heroine that is stuck between what's right and wrong and from the mother figure known as Teresa. Really well done.
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Enjoyment: 9.8/10 (A)

A solid A for Claymore. As a fan, i always have Claymore somewhere in my heart. A show for the ages, something that can age over time and still feel new. The Claymore experience was a blast, and every minute felt like a year. Every anime fan, no matter what your preference is, should watch Claymore. Give it a chance, and you'll soon be forking out the DVD money.

Overall Averaged: 9.4/10

Theres no need for a long review. As you can read on all the previous reviews, which already explained it very well.

I just wanted to add that i enjoyed this Anime very much and it deserve the #1 spot in 2007. The fight scenes and storyline is amazing. I never felt bored of the storyline and there was so much action in every episode. After every episode I would say "WTF this episode is over already?!!" Claymore definitely deserves a 10, although the sound could use a bit more work, but then again no ones perfect!

In the world of Claymore, humans are hunted by creatures called “Yoma”, which possess the bodies of humans and use them to infiltrate society. some times they will shed their human shells and become monsters that no mortal man can stand up against. To combat this an organization is created which employs specialized warriors known as “Claymores”; young, beautiful women who have been imbued with the blood of the Yoma.

Story: 7/10
One of the things I enjoyed most about Claymore’s story is how it utilized women. Unlike most anime (and most forms of entertainment in general), the women in Claymore are not presented in a sexual ... manner. While attractive, they maintain an almost sexless air about them, and at least on the surface, they seem not to be preoccupied with romance or the pleasures of the flesh. No skimpy outfits, no watermelon tits, no naked bathing scenes. The Claymores are just badasses who kill things, and do so without constantly reminding you that they are women. In stark contrast, the men in Claymore are all virtually helpless. I feel that this is a nice and much needed role reversal for anime.

Art & Animation: 8/10
On the technical side of things, Claymore is equally impressive. As a Madhouse production, you are pretty much guaranteed top notch animation. The show remains consistently smooth throughout its run, with perhaps a bit of emphasis placed on the fight scenes. What really sells the presentation, however, is the art style. The shading, lighting, and use of color work well in making Claymore as fittingly dark and dreary as possible. Being based on a beautiful graphic novel-quality manga, Claymore had big shoes to fill in terms of its visuals, and it completely achieves success here by capturing the look of the manga perfectly.

Sound: 7/10
Another thing that carries Claymore along is its great music, a mix of haunting instrumental pieces and visceral metal. Some of the themes here are very memorable, particularly the incredible ending song, Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~, a symphonic rock hybrid with beautiful lyrics.

Character: 8/10
Claymore is great low-fantasy at its finest. The bulk of the show consists of Clare traveling from one Yoma battle to the next, but there are some great introspective explorations of the characters, most notably Clare. When we begin, Clare is frigid and emotionless. But through her interactions with Raki and her encounters with other Claymores and Yoma, specifically the transcendent Yoma known as “Awakened Beings” and her increasing knowledge of the relationship between all of these elements, Clare begins to change rather dynamically.

Enjoyment: 8/10
However, as nice as the story is, Claymore is foremost an action show. The fight scenes are the core of the show, and if you are not a big fan of action, gore and the staple “technique-talk” of shonen anime, there is a good chance that Claymore will not tickle your fancy. But if you do appreciate amazing fight scenes when you see them, Claymore will be absolute bliss. You will be hard pressed to find a show more violent and brutal. Even Berserk does not compare. Hell, even Hokuto no Ken does not quite elicit the same cringes that Claymore gave me. As much as I am a fan of character development and great narrative, I would be lying if I said the fight scenes in Claymore did not fill me with boyish glee.

Overall: 8/10
Claymore is a great show, but it is not for everyone. If you are into more poignant stuff and are not enamored by fight scenes, you may want to pass up Claymore and watch Berserk instead. But if you love action and brutality, Claymore just might be your ticket to a great time. In all, it is one of the best all-out action/fantasy shows I have seen in a long time.

The first half of Claymore was fantastic. But as the series went on it became more and more action oriented. Not that there's anything wrong with that but after a while the fights became repetitive and lacked any real intensity. As the show progress's we are introduced to more and more Claymores and other characters but I only found Clare and Teresa to be interesting. We also never really learn anything about the Organization thats behind the scenes who control the Claymores. I thought that would be an interseting aspect for the show to explore but it never panned out.

I feel I'm being very generous ... when I rate this show an 8 overall. But the first half was so fantastic that I feel it makes up for the weaker second half of the show. Fans seemed to really have wanted a second season but I feel they did everything they needed to do with one full season. A season two would probably have been overkill for a show like this. I believe it said all it needed to say.

The first anime that caught my attention so much that it actually made me read the manga... In general I really like fantasy especially with strong female character and here you'll find a whole buch of them ! The story is well developed and intriguing, I have complains only with the ending - it's defferent from the manga which made the continuation of this anime difficult, which is very sad.
Art graphic is very very good. I like how the characters don't look the typical manga humans with large creepy eyes but look quite normal and believable.
Characters are outstanding to me - every heroine ... has something typical about her and has poles in her personality. Teresa was may be my favourite - in the beginning so cold and heartless and after meeting Clear - she just transformed in a warm and kinder person. I usually don't enjoy only good and only bad characters so I loved the fact that Prissila is not the ultimate evil monster - she also has a gentle side and was thought so much in her childhood it's quite normal how it came out with her...

Claymore is one of the best anime series I've seen. I watched in literally in a night and I'll watch it again and again for sure!

When i first was going to watch claymore, i was expectating just a ordinary anime with warriors defeating monsters full of blood and gore with nothing special. After watching few episodes(untill episode 9) i just started to believe about how wrong i was about the series. For most old it is, this anime never fails to suprise, bringing things that make it different and unique, becoming one of the best series that i have follow in my life, even with the flaws, the show/manga itself, is amazing and worthly to check out. Yet, the show is not perfect, i have praised it a lot but ... i must be sincerity that i have to tell a lot of things about the show(principally the anime), without wasting time, Lets start shall we?

Story: 7/10
The story focus on the medieval era, where a new threat comes to haunt and end the humanity, monsters called Youmas that devour humans come spreading the horror and the terror in the life of the humans, destroying and killing every human that see. The result is in the panic and the lose of hope where everyone is afraid to die and no one is reliable since youmas can transform into humans and live between them for after devour and kill them, also them are more fast and strong than the humans. In order to put a end in this situation, a organization is founded to create warriors for fight with those monsters, where they put blood and youma guts on them in order to becoming a hybrid race of human and youma and fight with the monster in equality, those are warriors are called Claymore, warriors of blonde hair with silver eyes(99,7% is female, somehow, females are more compatible with the blood and guts of youma). The story starts with a young boy called Raki, that is attached with a claymore called Claire that saved his life by killing the youma that murdered his family, and somehow they become like partners where Raki always accompanies Claire no matter where she go and as soon the story goes, a deep relationship is being made between them. By Hearing this, you can say that the story is a typical monster slayer story with few romance into it right between the hero and the fragile girl right? WRONG! is very very different, Claymore is not really focused in only warriors fightning monsters or the romance between the characters, is not like that. The focus of the story is the horror, melancholy, and the sadness that involves the characters in most of the situations where they react very well in determinated situations such as Dangerous, Sadness etc. Also, what make the story more good is the events on it, principally involving claymores that are a mixed of human and youma. You would trust in someone that have 50% of humanity and 50% of monstroity? I guess not. This is a other thing that makes the plot very captivating, the prejudice and the fear that the humans have for both youmas and claymores(even if they are half human) and you somehow you feel sorry for the claymores because you see that some of them are not really bad or even deserved to be treacted like this, is not like a fantasy anime where everyone root for the main character, praying for him/her to win, this one, they must support everything in their backs like the fardue of fightning monsters and hate of everyone. Claymores may not express any emotions in most of the scenes, but you can see inside their eyes, the sadness and the melancholy of their fates. There a lot of things that makes the plot enjoyable such as the background stories(principally claire's) of the characters that somehow locks you into the character and you can't do nothing than root for him/her complete his/her goal. By everything i say, you may disagree of note as 7, since by what i said, is a very good dark story BUUUUT lets not stick only to the good side. There also some bad points aswell, the story itself is not original and like many animes, the events on it makes enjoyable, but also the anime have somethings that disappoints. Unfortunally, i really wanted to give a higher rating since the anime somehow is loyal to the manga with very few things changed or deleted, but i must say that the final of the anime is what affect the anime and makes it bad. I'm not saying you shouldn't see the series, but for you be prepared, since the manga ended in 2014, and the anime finished in 2007, there was a lot of things missing and hopes are increasing for a second season but unfortunally it was just a illusion, since with the alternative ending of claymore, the hopes just turns down because is very different from the manga. You can watch it and trust me, you will enjoy it, but be prepared since in the last episodes, you will see something different from the manga and it may make you a little frustrated since we all want a anime with a decent adaptation. If it actually adaptated pretty well and made into two seasons, it could have been better, since we could expect to understand more things if does have a second season but since it doesn't have, there a lot of things missing in the story.

Art: 8/10
I Really like the art of claymore, principally the eyes of the claymores that is really beautiful, the facial expression is not that "BEST" thing you have see, but is really good, plastic and in some parts very detailed. I also like the designs of the characters and their details principally the armor of the claymores, and also the effects in the fight moments, its all beautiful. What i really missed is some more details in the face expression, since there were a lot of panic and despair moments of the anime, just for cause some reality and feel in the character's expressions, but overall, is very good.

Sound: 9/10
One of the best things of the anime are,no doubts, the OSTs, I love the OP that gives that melancholy theme of how sad the characters are and the fardue that they carry on their back involving in a lot of situations, risking their lifes for the humanity's sake, and also i loved the ending that makes everyone hype that somehow describe the stories/fates that most of the characters had. Thats something i really liked of the show, the epic soundtracks like the rocks/guitar mixed themes in fight scenes and the melody and compositions flutes, violins, hornpipe, piano etc., that give that medieval feeling, creating a amazing atmosphere for the anime and also describing some sad events involving all the characters.

Characters: 7/10
This is will be a mixed point. The good side of claymore, in terms of characters is all of them are unique and somehow memorable in every scenes that they actually appears. They react very well in most of the scenes, showing reality in their faces and you can see and feel the despair, sadness, fear and horror when they are facing somthing. You will feel bad for them for most of the things that have happened to them like loss, traumas etc. The problem of claymore is, most of the background stories are very repetitive and annoying with a character losing someone close(friend, parents, brother etc). 1 or 2 characters having the same fate is understandable but a lot, is very weird and i know those monsters are the principal responsable for the horror and despair of the characters but i think they could have worked more in with BG stories of the characters and turn them more enjoyable to watch, because is pretty annoying when them went into flashback and show parents or anything like that dying and they complain about it.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Claymore overall, is a pretty good anime. The story may be unorginal and there are some predictable things but you can't do nothing than just keep going enjoying and wanting to see more about the everything in the world of claymore and the events that helps building a story with memorable characters where you will always root for them and feel bad/frustrated when something happens to them.

Overall: 8/10
Claymore is a very good anime and if you plan to watch, you won't regret it. Unfortunally, the anime itself had potential to be one of the best ones with a very good adaptation but somehow, disappoints near of the final. I Recommend you after finishing the anime, read the manga since there are things different and more things to show after the ending of the anime. Do not read it in the chapter where you stopped in the anime, read from the start.

Pros:
+Amazing Soundtracks that fits with the atmosphere and enviroment of the anime
+Memorable Characters
+Epic Visuals Effects with Decent Animations
+Amazing Horror/Melancholy/Action Atmosphere and story.

Cons:
-Most of the background stories of the characters are repetitive
-Disappointing Final Episodes

Short answer: Watch this. Watch it now.

Longer answer: The manga is almost entirely translated and volumized now, just waiting on the last book. This anime is great. The story is great, character design is great, and it's just awesome. My only wish is that the last few episodes stayed true to the manga. It's apparent they rushed it to kill off the series, even if you haven't read the books. Other than that, it's just a badass show with badass chicks doing badass things. Raki can seem like a whiny bitch, (and he is), but he's actually a good character later!

If you like blood, and ... nice art, or even anime in general, try this. This was the first anime I got my girlfriend to watch and actually really love!

Claymore is a kind of an enigma for writing a review. For many people I discovered it was mostly hit or miss. For me this show was a hit but the flaws are completely understandable.

The premise of the show centering on a woman named clair who is a claymore; a being that is half monster half human. She works for an organization bent on ridding the world of monsters for a price.

I think the show had a few noticeable flaws like the main protagonist being Raki, a stray that Clair picked up on her travels, lacking development in his character. Additionally, all the ... claymores that we are introduced too have a lack of distinction between them since the colors used in this show are few and the animators for whatever reason decided to make them all have grey-ish blond hair coupled with their already cold personalities.

However, the show was extremely root-able and the backstories for all the characters were quite memorable to say the least. I was crying I was cheering and the ending (though leaving questions afterwards) made me feel mostly satisfied.

This is definitely entertaining if you can get past the fact that some claymores look a little robotic at some points. I give it the green light!

The world of Claymore is a harsh and brutal one, and that's exactly what got me hooked on the series in the first place.

The story should appeal to every fan of Witcher series (and, in general, all series that involve hunting monsters) - a lonely, well-trained and mutated warrior travels around the world, fighting demonic Yoma. It gets even more interesting when we get to know more about protagonist's past and how it influences her current actions. What's more, the nature of Claymore's power forces her to constantly limit herself and not let the monster inside take over. The border between a huntress and her ... prey is very thin, and she has to stay vigilant all the time in order not to cross it.
The plot and Claire's inner fight kept me thrilled for the first half of the series, but then it started being monotonous. The same can be said about the characters; captivating at first, but quickly boring due to lack of development. Unfortunately, somewhere around the middle of the series the plot stops advancing and Claymore becomes a marathon of power-ups and endless fighting.

'What would you expect from shounen anime?' you may ask. I'm completely fine with fight scenes, but only if they are well animated and exciting. At first, I really liked how brutal and gross the battles were, but once the characters got more powerful, the fights turned into ridiculous (yet boring) fiesta of cut off limbs and streams of blood. The animators failed to show rapid attacks and movement in a proper way - continuous slashes often look hilarious when it's only character's hands that move, making her look like a human blender.
On the other hand, I really loved the fact that every victory comes at a price and requires cooperation. Death in battle is common and atrocious - in Claymore, one doesn't die in a beautiful way, but rather is shredded to pieces. What I also liked are the unique powers of each Claymore. They are quite original and you can easily see that mastering them takes a lot of effort and pushes the warrior to her limits.

What I found the most exciting is the setting itself. The Claymore universe is covered in shroud of mystery - we know nothing about the Organization, the history of this world, the nature of Yoma etc. It is a cruel world, where people live in remote villages surrounded by dark forests, deadly deserts and frigid snowplains, under constant menace of Yoma, beings of pure evil, depraved to the core. The surroundings give you unsettling, horrifying vibes, and thanks to all that, Claymore may sometimes even resemble a horror story. Think of the atmosphere in Dark Souls games and you'll get the general feeling of Claymore universe.
Another huge advantage is the audiovisual side of the anime. It mainly makes use of shades of grey and white, strongly contrasting with bloody red and pitch-black (Sin City instantly comes to mind), creating gloom, mysterious and somewhat melancholic mood. The music is unconventional, but subtle and nicely complements the art.

I had mixed feelings and really hard time rating Claymore. It's biggest problem is that it doesn't live up to expectations that it creates in the first half of the series and the viewer can quickly get bored during the second. However, in spite of all the cons I've listed above, I really enjoyed watching it, even though I'm not really shounen type. If you're into dark, gothic fantasy spiced up with some gore and you don't mind mediocre characters - you should definitely give it a try. And if you liked any of the Dark Souls games, it's a must-see.

One of the best dark fantasy action animes I've ever seen. The atmosphere is THERE. The characters are THERE (well, mostly). And the action is cool and doesn't seem silly. I loved Clare's character and her relationship with Teresa and her fellow Claymores. In fact, the friendship and camaraderie between the girls was def one of the series' highlights for me. Clare's evolution was also entertaining to follow along, she's the type of main character you can't help but root for.

The one bad thing I have to bring up is the character of Raki, Clare's sidekick. I didn't feel like he added anything to ... the story, honestly Clare would've been fine without him. He's supposed to represent the "heart" of the series, but if there needed to be someone to plead to Clare's humanity and try to save her from becoming a monster, I think Jean (who we are introduced to later) would've done a fine job at that without the need for Raki.

Would absolutely recommend if you are an enjoyer of dark fantasy and women warriors! Will be picking up the manga next, myself.

This review may contain some mild spoilers so read at your own risk. Although this review is concerned with the anime, i will be referring to the manga as well. I have written a review of the complete series as well i.e the manga, so be sure to check that out as well.
Alright, Claymore is a dark-fantasy anime with a lot of violence,bloodshed and gore. Although it is tagged as a shonen series, it has all the traits needed for a seinen anime.The anime has a lot of depth in the story, characters are well developed,fight scenes are well balanced and pacing of the story ... is perfect.If you want to watch a show with a serious tone, with absolute zero comedy and no fan service this one's for you.The one thing which i truly loved about claymore is that the characters are not over sexualised.

Story - 10/10
The story of claymore is fairly simple and direct which is not a bad thing as many anime falter by complicating the story.The story gets more intense in the manga after war in the northern arc but retains its general flow. The first four episodes are pretty decent nothing that impressive but quickly picks up after episode 5 when teresa is introduced. This anime instantly became my favorite after episode 5, so be sure to watch at least first 6 episodes before saying that this anime is trash. The only problem is with the last 3 episodes as they are non canon and are just plain garbage so you can avoid them.

Art - 9/10
The art style is beautiful, don't know why some people think it is ugly as it perfectly suits a dark anime.Considering that the manga had pretty decent art style for the first few volumes, madhouse did extremely well in adapting it.The only problem i had was with the character designs as the characters looked sometimes pale and less polished.Nonetheless it's not bad at all.

Sound - 10/10
All the OST of claymore are simply epic. They all have that eerie feeling which perfectly blends with atmosphere of the anime. The opening is pretty good but the ending song is a masterpiece,seriously one of the best ED i have seen so far.

Character - 9/10
The characters of claymore are all well developed and all are very likable.The protagonist, Clare is a very compelling character and not to forget she is a total badass.Clare is generally cold by her outer appearance but in fact she is very caring which can be seen after she met raki. She has always been mentally broken ever since the death of someone important to her as she always held herself responsible for the outcome. Then there is Teresa who is by far the best character of the series and also my personal favorite.She is very cool minded and extremely powerful in fact she is the strongest claymore of all. Teresa is the soul of the story as it can be inferred from the manga where she plays key role in the ending of the series. Now raki gets a lot of hate which i understand, but seriously some people drop this show just because how annoying raki is ,which is seriously lame. He is more like a bystander so you can ignore him.He is fully developed by the end of the manga but unfortunately in the anime he hardly gets any characterization.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Claymore is very enjoyable for those who want to watch a serious show with action packed sequences and a great story.

Overall - 9/10
The only thing which truly stopped claymore from becoming an amazing anime was the massive cliffhanger ending.The final 3 episodes clearly messed the show as there is almost no resolution to the main plot. The anime caught up to the manga and so we got an alternate ending which failed miserably and this series never recovered from that. I see everyone rating it 6 or 7 and find it to be unfair cause clearly the show is incomplete and for the time being ending was pretty average as at least Teresa's wish came true in the end. Why this show never got a sequel is beyond me but i still have faith it will adapt the manga completely one day.I highly recommend you watch this anime and then read the manga from the start as you would be able to know the complete story and it is definitely worth your time, cause the manga has an epic ending ;)

Whenever I see or hear the word Claymore, from my knowledge it reminds me of:
1- A large, two-handed sword from the medieval ages.
2- An anti-personnel mine.

But, now that I've completed it, the word Claymore should have forged one more meaning into my own personal dictionary.

3- A GOOD shounen anime with a dark atmosphere and solid storyline.

Claymore is animated by Madhouse, a well-known studio which animated many popular shows, their works which include highly praised anime such as Death Note but also released poop-tier anime such as Mahou Sensou. Let me first say that, Claymore's plot doesn't bear anything too innovative: An Organization with half ... human, half monster women are hired to get rid of monsters called Yoma who feasts on humans' entrails. These women are given the name Claymores - pretty much named after the greatswords they lug around. Each of them have their own respective emblems and ranks which signify how much experience they have exterminating Yoma. What's Clare's rank in the Organization? I'm not telling! However, if you know the video game Hitman, then you may had already guessed it. Each of the Claymores inherits one or more superhuman abilities giving them feats such as regeneration and/or lightning-fast movement capabilities. Lastly, talking about designs, Yoma don't have the most unique monster designs I've seen, as a matter of fact most of them closely resemble ghouls if not, gargoyles.

I recall reading one chapter of Claymore in a Shounen Jump Magazine, back in 2006? I don't remember the exact details. As I began watching, I only started with the first couple of episodes. My initial thoughts? It's not too bad. Granting, I believe that I wasn't going to enjoy the show very much. Then slowly, I began watching even more, up to 7 or 8 episodes a day. It was definitely getting more better. Before I knew it, I already reached the finale. Claymore clearly went above my expectations - it's pretty solid. About halfway in the series, the pacing accelerates thus the overall storyline becomes even more engaging. Claymore's premise doesn't bring anything far too unique to the table, yet it's the execution, pacing and storytelling which is very nicely done. 26 episodes for a shounen seems more than enough, but there are times where I don't mind having more. I felt a little bit disappointed with the ending though. It doesn't feel entirely "accomplished".

Dismemberment is very common in Claymore. Obviously, the main attraction of typical shounen anime is its action. From my personal view, Claymore doesn't provide the best action entertainment out there, and to be frank, I found even more spectacular and intense action scenes coming from passable anime such as Eiyuu Densetsu - Sora no Kiseki: an anime OVA with poor introduction and storytelling but makes up for its excellent action scenes. In summary, Claymore's action: it does the job, but not close to perfection.

Clare is a solid female protagonist; her past holds several nice twists and is pretty interesting stuff. She also shows good development throughout the anime. While many Claymores are introduced later in the series, but Clare and Teresa are the two most interesting ones. Speaking of Teresa, her actions practically reminded me of Accelerator from Toaru Majutsu no Index; Protecting your helpless loli. Why the fuck not? She's my second best character in Claymore. Lastly, there's Raki, the male protagonist; a character whom I didn't particularly hate or liked.

In terms of visual/animation, Claymore's visuals may take a little time to adapt to, especially for people who have grown accustomed to watching colorful, bright anime. However, I didn't find it repulsive whatsoever. The animation quality is still satisfying, even during this year, 2014. Clearly, it isn't on par with today's anime visuals but fits the dark and moody ambience of the anime. Characters' faces(especially Claymores) have a doll-like semblance and can look semi-creepy at first, but doesn't look too bad.

"Raison d'etre", the opening theme which is performed by Nightmare is pleasing enough - since I'm a dedicated fan of rock and metal themed songs. Also, some nice rocking background music fades in whenever the battles get intense.

In conclusion, Claymore is a solid shounen anime set in a dark universe. The storyline is filled with many interesting twists and is pretty absorbing as well. Action scenes in Claymore are good, however its not outstanding. Visuals are nice but for some people it may take some time to get used to and the first few episodes might be a little tedious to watch. But by continuing, you might actually end up enjoying the way I did. If you're a die-hard shounen fan, then you're missing out.

So basically everyone and their grandmother has seen Claymore. I think I was one of the few people who didn't know about Claymore when it first came out but I also chose not to watch it until it was completed, either way I'm usually pretty behind on the curve when it comes to the latest and greatest anime for this very reason....I hate being held in suspense for weeks while they come out with new episodes. Especially if it's an anime with a lot of fillers because then you are held in suspense indefinitely. Luckily Claymore is not that type of show. It's 26 episodes ... of pure action, pure gore and no fillers....prepare for a wild ride!

~art
This is a relatively new show [2007] but the animation isn't really dazzling. I couldn't detect any CGI which is a shame [Don't get me wrong I really hate CGI when it's used for visual art, but it's excellent for motion]. There are some excellent fighting scenes nonetheless, probably due to animators great sense of angling and proportions, their clever use of special f/x like slow-motion and blur but also by capturing the right level of fierceness in the characters' faces while in battle. Just their faces and their screams alone kept me riveted to the screen during the fights.
The art style I really enjoyed, the coloring and shading gave Claymore the overall appearance like you were reading a graphic novel, very dark and gritty. All the towns were modest and medieval looking, the forests were foreboding and the beasts were downright scary.

~audio
I watched this show both in Japanese and English. I'm pretty comfortable with watching it either way...but I do tend to watch dubs because I'm a terribly slow reader and I would be reading the captions the whole time and never once get the chance to fully take in the scenes or see characters' faces. But I did watch Claymore in both formats and I did enjoy the English dub mainly because the language was rough and real, there's no nice, censored fluffy language in this one....yes!!!! All the voice actors were very serious and intense, the females all sounded like fierce warriors and were to be taken seriously, no one sounded cutesy or “princess-like” in this anime.
The sound f/x were also great for this series, I liked the sound of of the swords clashing at high speed, the sound of steel grating against the yoma's claws and the whistles of the pyrotechnics and the boom of a building being smashed... I even liked the roars the monsters made. So I would say the audio and visual aspects of the show worked well together to make the show dark and gritty without being too gloomy or depressing.
The musical choices of the OP and ED could have probably been better. I think that they do match the overall tone of the series but I just wasn't too crazy about them... but the music they use within the episodes are pretty cool like that one freaky,warped sounding song that they play whenever something is about to happen like a battle, that song I love. Every time I hear it I'm like “Oooooh ssssshhhiiiiiitt, something's about to go down.”

~story
A good story is one that gets you hooked, feeling compelled to know what happens next. A good story evokes emotions from the viewer like sadness, anxiety, tension, laughter and all the rest. A good story will even make you forget that it's a story. Claymore is that type of a good story. I think what works for me with Claymore is the equal combination of emotion and action. I really dislike shows that seem to just have a lot of senseless action that leaves you wondering why they're all fighting in the first place...same thing goes for shows with excessive emotional drama [and there were a few points in this show when I wanted to grab that boy, Raki, by his hair and yank him out of the scene with his constant crying and sniveling]. I don't mind people crying and stuff but the constant whining or overly anxious people get on my nerves. Claymore tends to find a nice balance between the two.
What I also liked about this story format was the use of flashbacks that extended for 3 or more episodes, especially since it gave great insight into Claire's mind and also understanding the importance of Theresa. And since Claymore is a much longer running manga series, the animation company too the practical approach and focused on Claire's story which offered a decent conclusion. Whether or not they decide to continue the story about “The Organization” or the other Claymores isn't that important...because we still had closure for Claire's story.

~characters
This is one of the few anime shows out there that falls into the shonen category considering it's a predominantly female cast. I'm not saying that there aren't shonen anime shows out there that don't sport a majority or all-female cast for example, there's Mai Hime. But even with a show like Mai Hime, you can clearly see that it was made with a cuter, more girlie sense of aesthetic compared to the much gruesome and violent Claymore. Also most noticeably with Claymore is the absence of feminine sexuality. Going back to the Mai Hime example, there were all the requisite breasts jokes/comments, “panty shots” also a swimsuit/beach episode which is pretty common for a shonen anime with female leads but Claymore steered clear from all the anime cliches and kept things as realistic [within the context of this particular story] as possible. Some of the female demons walked around bare-chested and even that didn't seem exploitive, ecchi or hentai-like.
Claymore has a fairly large cast mainly due to the fact that we see a large number of these “silver-eyed witches” throughout the anime, all varying in skill and rank. But even with all these claymores walking about I found it most commendable and a credit to the character design team because even though all the claymores are tall, thin and beautiful with blond hair and silver eyes, they manage to provide each claymore with their own unique appearance. It's fairly easy to distinguish one claymore from another, some had different bodies while others had differently shaped eyes or hairstyles. And as I say this I find it funny because this show manages to pull off having distinguishable features for a large cast while other anime shows have much smaller casts and their characters all look alike [whether they're related or not].
Since the cast was too large it doesn't make sense to speak about all of them on an individual basis here in this review and most likely you will become attached to Claire since she is the central character of this series.....but I also liked Theresa of the Faint Smile very much.

~verdict
This show gets more than a passing grade in my book and I have watched it multiple times. So I highly recommend it for those who enjoy the adult side of anime.

Nice anime, very much in line with the story of the manga version, at least for 20 and a half episodes, the last 6 and half...well..... they had (or maybe I have to say "wanted") to conclude the anime version while the manga version was still (and IS still) being released monthly, so they pretty much f****d the rest of the story.
I mean, they could at least make it a 12 episodes season series, so that every year they could release a season while other 12 chapters were released.

Anyway, i repeat, is a good anime and maybe it can stimulate you to buy and read ... the manga.

I hope someone will find this review helpfull, and I apologize for my English :p

A brilliant anime which boasts strong female lead characters, strong music scores, and a very dark storyline. The struggle that these characters go through, the thin line which separates their human and yoma side is constantly blurred throughout the series. Th struggle to keep their human minds and push back their darker side. A very good anime scoring itself a high 9/10

Enjoyment: yes. An ending: no, like most of the "short" animes. It offers a great variety of everything you would want in an anime: action, battle scenes, a little bit of romance (not too much) and the idea of the anime is just something that sucked me in into watching half the anime at once. Is it worth watching? I would say yes. Now let me tell you why.

The story is just stunning. The idea, the big picture behind it offers you a world that you discover with the anime piece by piece. The story flows most of the time, of course there are confusing ... moments, but it settles in a while. However the ending...oh the ending. It actually is a decent ending. It gives us some good thoughts about life, the characters that are rather in the front get their piece and the story is about to go on. I would say a nice ending. OF THE SEASON. NOT THE ANIME, OF THE SEASON. It leaves a large hole in the story and the story could have evolved into more episodes then there are now. But up to that point I was on thorns and enjoyed every second I watched the anime. STORY: 9.

The art is enjoyable. You can see that this is not something, that was just thrown together over night. You can see a lot of detail in it, however it is not the best that I have seen. There is a dark aura present the whole time in the anime, that makes it appear sinister, somehow dark, just to boost the thrill of it. ART: 9

Sound is pretty good I must say, some of it could not fit in better then it does now. However some music was just kind of forced in, in my opinion, it didn't fit in at some moments. All around, very unique tracks. SOUND: 8

Every characters is a story on its own and that is what I like about it. Some of them blend together like water and wine and some are just like oil and water, very realistic from my point of view. What bothers me is that some of the characters a left unexplained and mysterious while it seems crucial to know of their whereabouts. However you can not expect this to be a miracle in 26 episodes. What also bothers me is that different characters have the same wounds and home can heal them some just can't. Why? (cricket sounds in the background) Clere improved through the whole anime like A LOT, while Raki, who was a partly (imo) main character, improved like 0 or close to it. He just wines about everything and is of almost no use. It remind me very much of Ganta from Deadman Wonderland, he just lacks the impulsiveness. But what do you know, he manages to somehow save Clare (actually Jean saves her but let's say that without Raki things would not have gone into the right direction) and it turns out that he is sort of useful.
And while we learn a lot about each individual of the "Claymore family" we actually learn nothing very useful of the Organization. We just know that some sinister guys work for it and they boss around the Claymores. Nothing more, nothing less. CHARACTERS: 9

OMG did I enjoy that show. Some of the characters can really grow to your heart but remember the first rune of animes: never get attached. Some episodes end in a way that you just have to keep watching. The twists are spectacular and not everything resolves as expected, just a nice reminder that it's not a fairy tale. ENJOYMENT: 9

To sum up, I recommend Claymore to everyone who wants to watch a new anime, loves battles and is not bothered by too much blood. Yes you can say it is a bloody anime, not overkilling it but it gets pretty rough. If would have rated this anime according to the ending it would have probably be a 7 or so, but the anime wasn't accepted that well in Japan and the company just probably decided that it was enough and decided to put and end to it... Sadness and sorrow I know, but that is how business rolls nowadays. Despite a lot of us want another season, the chances of getting another one is close to zero. I am grateful that they gave us this (close to a) masterpiece, if even a glimpse to the whole story, it was satisfying yet disturbing because of the ending.
I haven't read the manga yet but the anime really encouraged me to read it.
And guys remember: you can suppress everything if you just try hard enough. In addition with friends around you it can be a lot easier.

Its been a long time since I've watched a quality action packed anime.
FYI, I watched the english dub.

The story is amazing. Even though the anime turns around a simple goal: revenge - the story is full and has lot of depth. Female characters look similar to each other, too similar to be honest, but their characters feel so different yet so alike.

Not only that, but an anime where the most important main leads are female. The male lead is weak and needs protection, and has some important roles but even though he is described as a main character he feels like a supporting character ... for the main female. I'll leave you to watch and decide for yourself, but I felt like he had importance in the first 10 episodes but after that his significance was meh.

You will be satisfied with the constant limb-tearing, bloody combat. And there is a lot of it. The closest anime I can link this one to is Berserk. And you know what that means, if you watched Berserk. Yup. Demon slaying goodies. Only unlike in Berserk, the main antagonists and protagonists are the same people. I don't want to spoil the story for you, watch it and you'll understand why I said that.

The art is kind of old, but is really well drawn. The only complaint I might have is the music.
You have some triumph music, then irish pipe melodies, then some strange dub-step and Mortal Kombat like music. Idk how to explain it, but the music feels off in many scenes. I feel they could of done a better job there.

Other than that, this anime is superb.
I HIGHLY recommend it to brutal combat seeking fans.

clare fate, and lot in life within this world is a tough one. She walks a very thin line as a silver-eyed slayer. One who is both, yet neither. Of course I want to see where the rest of her story and that of her comrades leads to! this is a great story of revenge , if your looking for something with blood, war revenge, hatred, anger, madness, all that is in this 26 episodes of claymore. it start off with blood it ended in happiness. this story keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more. the more you watch the ... more each of the women tie in together the weird part is they all meet. i don't want be a spoiler but that's all i will say. the characters are amazing there roles was superb. never seen or heard a story like this . this is a story i will recommend to anyone that just getting off into animes.

This anime deserves 10/10 rating! Its dark, gritty, gore level (High) and the story is engaging to say the very least! If you have never seen Bezerk its quite similar and by far one of my absolute favorites! Claymore made it to the list very easily after a few episodes! Im not big on female leads usually because its hard to relate or get into the story but with claymore I was content and later on its gets even better not to say too much but the guys get some actions too so the male race isnt completely incompetent in this anime. I give ... it such a high rating mainly due to the fact its so different than all these other animes it doesnt try to be family friendly and be funny or have a bunch of filler comedy that takes away from the story. Its a never ending rollercoaster ride that when it does end you wanna ride it all over again just to re experience it! I cant say it doesnt have its problems like all animes they are only perfect to some peoples eyes.... if you want to watch an anime that doesnt seem like it was made for your children watch claymore! It is everything you been craving for if you dislike anime where people never die....