I will begin with saying that this is particularly true for Claymore. On the second hand i must note that this was the first of all anime I ever watched - my boat to the new unexplored horizons that awaited me...so this review might tend to be emotional, irrational, illogical, subjective and biased :) This is of course because it holds a special place for me among anime world.
Story (7): Revenge, conspiracy, redemption, comradeship, existence and purpose are the key motives of this story. Story of finding something that keeps you going on, something worth fighting for and ultimately give your life, one thing that is truly your own. It can be said bluntly that it's about hunting demons with big swords and shady organizations with evil intents but I observe it from another perspective-trough motivation, exposed and subtle meaning. This kind of stories tend to be vessels for character growth so light shifts to characters as the most prominent and strongest aspect of the show. This is by no means bad thing as Claymore is first and foremost story about Claymores themselves - beautiful silver eyed witches.
Characters (9): There are truly many memorable characters from Claymore. Clare is our main character and the "media" which links other protagonist, the future and the past. As a monster/demon huntress which are by the common folk simply called Claymores, she is on a path of self exploration, of finding something she lost. She is of unbreakable spirit, and as the twirl of events unfolds, she dares to hope, to hope that there is more to existence than staining her sword with demon blood. Raki, young boy who lost his family to Yoma (demons) accompanies Claire on her travels. As time passes he eventually finds way to Claire's inner-self and the feelings she thought lost long time ago being always a cold huntress! Bond of love, trust and friendship is forged between them but events get them separated and both of them struggle to unify with each other once again. Other characters also contribute to this great anime: Teresa, Irene, Jean, Miria...their motivations lead the story onwards. Character interactions, their intervened relations, conceive emotionally moving and warm moments thus for me are surely highlight of Claymore.
Art (9): Madhouse - there is no need, I believe, to specially introduce this studio. Their work speaks for themselves (Black Lagoon, Death Note, Devil May Cry, Hellsing Ultimate...) and Claymore is of course no different. Madhouse style is clearly present and so is the quality. There could be some nitpicking about consistency but overall nothing short of great. Must note that I watched also blu-ray edition whose clarity of picture and sound is excellent and pure enjoyment that really gives due credit to beautiful artwork and animation of studio Madhouse, same time giving anime new dimension.
Music (10): Excellent and memorable. Soundtrack for Claymore is one of the best of all times combining strong dark bassy tunes and then some soothing guitar ones, beautiful bagpipes sounds, folkloric flute melodies...rarely you will find soundtrack of such caliber. I deeply enjoyed every moment of it. Powerful opening and ending songs (Raison d'etre by Nightmare and Guilty sky by Riyu Kosaka) just add up to this awesome piece, also making one of mine favorite openings of all time.
Overall/Enjoyment (9):
I'm quite sure that i didn't cover all of the aspects of Claymore and as such this review is to be faulty in that manner. I humbly tried to present my view on enjoyment this anime provided to me and reasons for doing so, therefore I believe this could also serve as my tribute to Claymore - the first anime I ever watched and than after quite some time decided to write a review. Now I'm glad that this was my first venture in the world of anime because it sucked me in and presented me in best manner what that world has to offer: great artwork and style, beautiful strong music, emotional connection with characters, sense of immersion, tense and awesome battles...
As the whole is greater then sum of its parts so is Claymore as a whole more then just its artwork, characters, music... combined they make Claymore shine! As for me, on my anime sky, Claymore will always, like the Sirius, shine brightest.
Thank you for reading!
