The manga crafts a world so dark and gritty, you can practically feel the blood and sweat dripping off the pages. Norihiro Yagi's art is like a twisted ballet, where monster designs get more wild as it goes on.
Towards the end, the story kinda loses its mojo. Suddenly, there's this parade of super-powered monsters, and you're like, "Really? Another one?" It starts feeling like the mangaka is just pulling stuff out of a hat, which can be a bit of a buzzkill.
Also, Raki stays loyal to Claire through thick and thin, even when they're miles apart for what feels like forever. But why? It's like the story forgot to give him a reason or something. Dude deserved more spotlight especially considering the power he attains towards the end.
But hey, despite its flaws, Claymore still packs a punch. The characters, especially Claire, go through some serious development. The overall story is near a masterpiece but just felt a little too long winded for what it wanted to tell for me.
So yeah, Claymore has an amazing ramp up followed by a huge plateau that over stays its welcome a bit but it's still one heck of a ride. If you're into dark fantasy that's equal parts guts and glory, give it a shot. Just be ready for a few detours along the way.
