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Claymore is set in a alternate world that is plagued by creatures called Yoma. There exists an organisation that creates and trains half human half Youma female warriors who specialises in hunting down and destroying these creatures. These fierce female warriors have Yoma flesh and blood implanted into their bodies and are identifiable by their distinct silver eyes and the claymores, large double handed swords, that they carry into battle. It is this weapon of choice that lend them their call name.

- Claymore Full Opening Theme -

During one of her missions, Clare, a lowly ranked Claymore that patrols the country, meets a young boy named Raki. The boy’s family was killed by Youma and he was exiled by his village for fear that he would soon turn into one. Seeing herself in the boy and taking pity on him, Clare agrees to let him follow her as a cook.

This is because Clare herself was once an orphan and had been adopted as a child by another Claymore. Her benefactor, Teresa of the Faint Smile, was the strongest of the Claymores and well known for her ever smiling face even during tough battles. To protect Clare, Teresa kills a group of human raiders. Killing humans is against the organisation’s rules and Teresa was sentenced to death. She is hunted down by other Claymores. During a fierce battle, the second ranked Claymore, Priscila, loses herself to her Youma side and kills Teresa. Vowing vengeance, Clare requests that the organisation put Teresa’s blood into her and turn her into a Claymore.

Things start to change when Clare nearly loses herself to her Youma side during a mission. Somehow with Raki’s help, she manages to reign in herself and keep from “Awakening”, a process where Claymores fully turn to their darker side. As a result of her near awakening, her organisation no longer fully trusts her. They send Clare on a dangerous mission to hunt an Awakened Being (former Claymores that have awakened) with three other rogue Claymores. Surviving the mission, the four form a strong bond and vow to uncover the truth behind the organisation.

But for Clare, there is only one goal in mind. Hunting down the Awakened Being Priscilla and claiming vengeance for the death of Teresa. For this, she continues to travel the country and hone her skills.

Episode Listing
There are 26 episodes to the series:

• Claymore Scene 1 - Big Sword - Claymore
• Claymore Scene 2 - The Black Card
• Claymore Scene 3 - Darkness in Paradise
• Claymore Scene 4 - Clare’s Awakening
• Claymore Scene 5 - Teresa of the Faint Smile
• Claymore Scene 6 - Teresa and Clare
• Claymore Scene 7 - Marked for Death
• Claymore Scene 8 - Awakening
• Claymore Scene 9 - The Slashers (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 10 - The Slashers (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 11 - The Slashers (Part 3)
• Claymore Scene 12 - The Endless Gravestones (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 13 - The Endless Gravestones (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 14 - Qualified to Fight
• Claymore Scene 15 - The Witch’s Maw (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 16 - The Witch’s Maw (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 17 - The Witch’s Maw (Part 3)
• Claymore Scene 18 - The North War (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 19 - The North War (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 20 - The War in the North (Part 3)
• Claymore Scene 21 - Invasion of Pieta (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 22 - Invasion of Pieta (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 23 - Critical Point (Part 1)
• Claymore Scene 24 - Critical Point (Part 2)
• Claymore Scene 25 - For Whose Sake
• Claymore Scene 26 - To the Successors

Direct download of full episodes in Real Media format available from Reality Lapse.

Review
I haven’t read the manga so I don’t know if the anime stays true to the series or not. However, I have my suspicions that it doesn’t. From what I have read, the plot begins to diverge after episode 20.

I definitely enjoyed the initial episodes when the storyline and the anime style was still new and fresh. However, things started to decline after the revelation about Awakened Beings. The battles started to get repetitive. The blood and gore which was interesting at first started to flow too easily and too much towards the end. It got boring and overwhelming very quickly.

Repetitive aside, there was not enough episodes in the 26 episode run to complete the tale. We’re left with a weak open ended ending where the main characters go their separate ways and walk off into the sunset with a promise to meet again and to settle their differences on a different battle field. I felt cheated having sat through 26 episodes for a non-ending akin to Pirates of the Caribbean 2. That’s just asking for season 2. Maybe they are planning for Claymore 2 (reloaded). Would I pick that series up if it runs? Maybe.

I like Clare’s character. The cold silver eyed expressionless Claymore with an impulsive streak. Hot woman who wields a big ass sword and kicks butt. What’s there not to like. She reminds be of the character Saber from Fate / Stay Night. Especially when you look at her hair and facial features from the front and at an angle (don’t compare hair cause Saber has long hair).

I detest Raki, the weak boy who’s all words but no action. Aside from that, there’s little else to be said. The anime is mostly one battle flowing into the next battle flowing into the next battle. There’s little rest in between except to tell the story that joins the battles together.

There’s a lot of death in the series. Aside from the few main protagonists, you can’t hope to like a particular character. As soon as you grow attached to one, she dies (yes, it’s mostly she in this series). Sometimes I’m left wondering why they bothered to develop the character to begin with when they were going to kill her the very next scene.

The narration is a little jerky as well. At one point, the story line tells of Clare’s history and how she became a Claymore (during the Teresa of the Faint Smile arc). Since I haven’t read the manga, when I watched it I thought it was introducing another character who would eventually battle with Clare. Even when they revealed the name of the brown haired girl that Teresa adopted to be Clare, I thought maybe that was a coincidence and that the blonde Claymore Clare would be the one to hunt down Teresa.

All in, a rather enjoyable anime series. Excellent artwork and animation. I sat through all 26 episodes in a single day so you could say it got a little too heavy for me towards the end. If you watch one or two episodes a day, you might not feel it as much. I give it a 3 out of 5.