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.
