Story:
The story, in the beginning, progresses very slowly. As denoted in the quick overview, the anime focuses on Clare, a Claymore who fights Yoma. I was actually quite bored with the show (for multiple reasons) until I reached episode 7, where things finally started to pick up. But until you reach that far, you're basically just following Clare and Raki with almost no real story background and watching Clare slay basic Yoma; Yoma that are so basic, you can tell they aren't major just by the way they are drawn. The boring monsters, coupled with the lack of story and lame characters in the beginning was a real turn-off for me for this anime. But believe me, it picks up. You eventually learn of Clare's reason for fighting, and that's where the story takes off. It is the classic story of revenge, and from there more interesting monsters get involved too. You learn that the world doesn't revolve around Clare, and there is a bigger picture involved here. For once, as well, we have a protagonist that isn't created to be the most powerful person in existence, which is a nice change of pace. But speaking of pace, that was a problem I had with this anime. The pacing in the beginning was really slow, and I feel it was a waste of a good amount of episodes. Then, out of no where, it picks up and gets very interesting. At the end though, it almost seems rushed and ends with more questions than answers. I feel entirely unresolved now that the anime is finished, and the anime didn't interest me enough to pursue the manga to find out the overall ending. I would almost say I was disappointed in how the story turned out, but the end was still sort of pleasing and I really did love the mini-arc with Teresa. However, it feels like it ended half-way from where it SHOULD have been. It should have been twice as long. Overall, a good story.
Art:
The art was different than I am used to. I'd describe it as Victorian art style meets Anime art style. We have the beautifully drawn Claymores, that all look like the could be dolls, and we have the not-so-well drawn humans. They aren't bad, but not as good as the Claymores. The Yoma in the beginning, as aforementioned, were boring and not drawn in a way that caught the eye. However, when the more interesting Yoma get involved, the artwork really displays how good it is! One thing I did notice was a lack of consistency, with eye placement on a face or lip detail and other things that relate to the face. Nothing major, but sometimes distracting if you're overly critical with the art of an anime (as I am). They also don't censor much, and this anime is a bit gory. Overall, the art is one of the more fine points of the anime.
Sound:
There was nothing particularly good or bad about the sound, voice acting, or music.
Characters:
At first, I was REALLY annoyed. I actually disliked Raki and Clare as characters, because they had such a lack of depth for the first 6 episodes. Raki was just an annoying cry baby; I haven't even met a girl who cries as much as he did. And Clare was just a plank with no personality at all. Then Teresa's story came up, and I fell for her character first. Then we learn more about Clare, and Raki toughens up and becomes more likable. Clare also manages to be less of a Kristen Stewert and gains some emotion, which is always good for the protagonist of an anime. The other secondary characters also are a very nice touch. The girls we see in the opening credits (Miria, Deneve, Helen, and Jean) are really nice additions and contrast each other well, giving a nice variety to the characters. As it probably seems, my favorite character in the whole mix was Teresa.
Enjoyment and Overall:
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this anime. I liked the story, but it was slow and boring at times and left me wishing there was more (not in the good way, but in a 'this is rushed' way). I liked the artwork at times, but didn't at other times. The sound wasn't specially good or specially bad, and the characters were good but took a while to actually get to that point. I feel very stuck between a 7 and an 8. I'd give this anime a 7.4, but since there are no decimal ratings, I rounded overall to a 7. The anime was a decent watch, and considering how popular it is and the fact that it isn't long, it's worth watching. I wouldn't say it was one of my favorites, but if they were to make a second season I would totally watch it. Overall, a good anime.
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********SIDE NOTE! IGNORE FOR POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILERS**********
Something that I felt like I could not go without saying for this review was something that might be perceived as a minor spoiler: character death. I feel like this anime is the 'Game of Thrones' of the anime world. Characters die off so casually and often in this show, to the point where I almost never wanted to get attached to a character. It was nice knowing that the suspense of a battle was warranted because they may not actually come out alive, but the characters die so casually that they don't get the epic deaths I wished they would get. In fact, all of the fighting is treated really casually: enemy deaths, limbs being cut off (which happens A LOT), and/or friendly character deaths. Overall: violence is gory in this anime, but treated casually.
**********************END OF SIDE NOTE***********************
