Now that the basic summery is out of the way, I can get to the review part of the freaking review. When I first started this anime, the first thing that hit me was the stunning art style of the world in it's characters. The art style favored a more realistic approach to the environment and the fine details of the people. Although I found it quite odd that people's noses suddenly vanished when viewed from the front, kind of like one of those perspective puzzle things. It makes sense that the art style was done this way, and it would just look un-even (is the word i choose to use) if it had the typical HUGE irises, cutesy type style that you see normally.
While the story was a rather typical one, "OMG I gotta kill this bitch, for the sake of love" and "your turning into the thing you hate most" (you know.... typical), the lore was very well developed, with details of the inner workings of the Claymore organization being explained in detail by the second episode. Now this is the part where I admit I made a huge mistake that made me feel like an idiot. There is a point early on that I thought was continuing the given story but just from another characters point of view, when it turned out to be a flashback on the main character. THERE WAS VERY LITTLE INDICATION THAT WAS HAPPENING, besides the fact that two different looking characters had the same name.
One of the strongest things about this anime was it's characters. The motivations for each major character were laid out early on, creating the feel that you supported them on their journey to achieve their goals. However, the characters were also probably the greatest weakness to this anime as well. Why do you ask? THERE'S SO FREAKING MANY!!! It seems to me that the Claymore's could have really done with a proper hair stylist amongst them (i'm a guy, WTF am i saying!?) because they all looked pretty much the same. They all had blonde/gray hair, with either bowl shaped or long wavy hair, wore identical armor, and all used the same goddam sword. I understand the anime is called Claymore for a reason, but can we at least get some variety going around.
There was also a habit in this anime of introducing a minor character, throwing in a few details to simulate character development, and than just killing them off (usually by removing limbs or being cut in half, and there is A LOT of that in this anime). You can't just do that and expect us to care about them when they die. As viewers, we care about the characters we have committed to the whole time, and feel a sense of emptiness when they die.
Despite it's flaws, as an action anime goes, it does it's job very well. It keeps the action sequences going while still making every battle feel fresh and different from the last. They are fun to watch, and fun to listen to as well because nothing makes a person look more badass when killing shit than heavy rock music! Overall, I give Claymore a 7/10. MY GOD RAKI's VOICE WAS GOD DAMN ANNOYING. AND STOP CRYING YOU BIG BABY!
