aloe, dream

This is more of a ‘Wrap-up’ post than anything. Really, honestly. Why would I lie?

I’m afraid I don’t have any imagery in the form of screen caps for Claymore, but I can attest that they would be of very little use in my advocation of the series for the general viewer. Why is this? For various reasons, Claymore has a different animation style, yes, but that is not the true reason for my dilemma of posting images. One reason could be that I marathoned 20 episodes yesterday and the final today on a different rig where I was not able to snapshot, but even beyond that reason, I don’t believe it is necessary.

There were many positive attributes to the series, and having not read the manga, I really would like to invest time in it to experience the story after these 26 episodes. Along with many positives, there is probably only one discouraging aspect to Claymore, and that would be the shounen aspect to it. It isn’t easy to counter this weight, because the shounen genre is everywhere in bits and pieces, Claymore has similar stereotypical powering up phases, levels, numbers, etc. If the viewer can bare with it, the ideas are vastly more dark, decrepit, and heartbreaking; the positives.

With only one negative, Claymore is one of the better series of the year in certain aspects. The emotional journey is dark and gory, but ultimately sad, yes sad. I enjoy relating media, and for Claymore I have to mark it’s similar feels to two popular series, D.Gray-man and Gunslinger Girl, especially G.G. I found Gunslinger Girl a sad one, and Claymore primarily relates because of the issue where girls are used within an organization, have been modified, etc. The D.Gray-man aspect comes from the often Gothic vibe (also Berserk) Claymore possesses. On the side, action was secondary to my experience, and I felt the end had more meaning, although I have no idea how I can cope with such feelings; I am torn, really. When I say this I do not mean the aspect of losing a friend, and while this is sad, the situation was overwhelmingly sad, and I’ve yet to ponder why.

Did I rush through this series with too much vigor? Mmm, I believe Claymore is an excellent marathoning candidate; my friend and relative actually sat down and watched the last 14 episodes because of the briskness (he was content with my feeble description of the first 12 episodes). Many of these episodes fly by in what seems like 10 minutes; marathon++.

Here and there I don’t feel very connected to the series, but what invoked the most disruption in my conscious was the organization. There is nothing good about it, and I’ll leave it at that. The girl-warriors were a plus for the story, for one there are a bunch of them, and two they do have personalities. I’ll be damned if I don’t claim that Teresa was my favorite, it’s possibly a given, but she was awesome. The backstory episodes 5-8 were the strongest part of the story, imo. Another notable warrior was Galatea, god she could have fit right in with any of the Clannad girls; she just had that spunk and appeal.

So that’s about it, I’ve run out of words for now. It was a good experience for the heart; sad and dramatic. Is Claymore recommendable? It’s a good question, I’d venture that the first 8 episodes are not to be turned down, after that it’s an arbitrary decision. I don’t feel my time is lost, but I would have wished that the backstory have been interwoven throughout the first 20 episodes, as that would have made a much greater impact in the telling.

Ryan A