I don't know how many swimming pools of ketchup and grape juice would be spent if this was a live action show, but I have a feeling that it would be a lot. Amazingly inaccurate but even more hilarious bloody equivalents of oil well makes you either stare at screen with half smiling opened mouth or just yell "Yeeeaaah" and enjoy the adrenalin. This show doesn't screw around with its action sequences. Blood, gore and limbs fall as snow on Christmas and shocking scenes of several ends of human anatomy being chopped off sometimes resemble George R. R. Martins sudden twists.
It might seem like an overused formula at the very beginning. Monster hunter meets a boy and they travel together, learning things about themselves and growing closer with every adventure. But it's so much more than that. Episode by episode we learn more about mythology of Claymore world, silver eyed witches, rules that they need to abide, and what happens, when they don't. Claymores has a lot in common with Sapkowskis witchers and little something with Grey Wardens from Dragon Age series. The mythology is beautifully complex.
I started watching it in original Japanese and even though I enjoyed voice of Romi Paku in role of Teresa and got excited by recognizing Narutos voice in one of side characters, I switched to English dubbing. Dramatical acting of American cast is just breathtaking. Soft voices in quiet emotional scenes as well as intense heartbreaking screams of fighters being stripped of their humanity to become an Awakened beings.
Also props to making a lot of characters a lot more than you would expect. It is quite common in anime for even villains to have their reasons why they turned to the dark side. They are not evil, because they want to be. There are traumas and soul-crushing tragedies behind that evil persona.
Even though at times I had to force myself to watch it, I'm glad I had privilege to see and experience Claymore. It is an exceptional anime, with complex characters, hard-core messy infinite-blood-mod action and great emotional character interactions. William Wallace would be proud, Geralt would be jealous... and interested. And viewers satisfied.
