THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS.
Claymore by Norihiro Yagi is an awesome experience. What could be catalogued as a simple underdog-becomes-overpowered story has so many touching matters and heartfelt moments in-between. It blows my mind how in 160 chapters, a story could have such amazing characters, such tense plot and stellar artwork.
One of the reasons I picked on this manga initially was due to how overlooked this was compared to the other famous Medieval/Dark Fantasy mangas like Berserk/Vinland. While both of these touch on amazing topics like pacifism in times of war and creating your own destiny, what I can define Claymore as, and what makes it stand out is its main theme of “Companionship and dealing with trauma”.
So without further ado, let’s have a look at this manga.
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So what is Claymore exactly?
Humanity is settled on a very large but unknown island; for several years they have been attacked by these monsters known as “Yoma”. Defenseless against these creatures, an organization was created to make the ultimate warriors to defend humanity. If you’re familiar with the novels and games “The Witcher” you’d realize that this is sorta similar to the premise of the Witchers. Warriors known as “Claymores” were such inventions of the organization, using Yoma blood, these female warriors draw in superhuman strength and speed to face these creatures.
The Claymores however, are more like lone wanderers of the land, who get their “quests” by mysterious men on black who tell them about the towns which have these monsters. Once a Claymore finishes her job, the city must pay them. If they fail to pay them the sum, they will not be there for another Yoma attack.
The story focuses on Clare, the Claymore Number 47, the weakest of her generation.
Clare became an experiment of the organization due to her past and how she became the only volunteer to offer herself to become a Claymore.
Throughout the story, Clare meets different friends and companions who teach her about human values and valuing her own life for a purpose.
So, is the story amazing? Yes.
The story is a strong point in this manga, it's a complex story filled with twists and dark secrets. Not only does it fit the seinen ambiance of sheer and brute violence and force, but also shows how twisted aspects of science and experiments to fulfill human desires reach.
Nevertheless, the story is not flawless, it suffers from pacing issues and really likes adding flashbacks as one of the only methods to develop certain scenes and characters. It was very troublesome being cut from epic fights to a calm or sad story flashback most of the time.
Even so, if I initially praised the manga for delving into the humanity of these initial "mindless" killing machines, the other half of the story that delves into the cruel and cold nature of humanity is another point to praise this manga for. Issues and everything, the story is great.
The characters are the main point of the story, and also the best part of it.
It would take me very long to describe why our protagonist, Clare, is very well written in this story. She fits perfectly with the themes that the story portrays. Clare is not just a simple underdog protagonist, but her payoff at times feels way more rewarding because of the connection formed throughout the story.
The rest of the cast is also a highlight, most of the characters all exist to fill a role in the overarching story and also help our protagonist Clare with her road of revenge and self-discovery.
That is not to say, that all are perfect, this manga does bring a lot of characters to the table and that of course leaves many of them with lacking development. Nevertheless, Yagi does manage to solidify chemistry not only between the protagonist and the secondary characters, but also the relationships between secondary characters themselves. For a manga which mainly focuses on the protagonist, seeing chapters that develop the relationships of secondary/tertiary characters properly is a joy to read.
Picking favorites will be hard, but definitely ones like Teresa, Miria, Priscilla, Deneve are in that range. All of those characters have their badass times to shine and also share sad and heartfelt moments, they definitely are essential parts to this amazing story.
Usually, a story about characters is what makes it good, and this manga is no different from that.
It mostly speaks for itself.
The artwork is another highlight of the show, and the one that makes Claymore stand out from many other manga. Not only is the artwork amazing for a monthly shōnen manga, but it helps to truly capture both the horror of some of the creatures of this story, and the sheer power of the battles that take place in this world.
Truly one of the reasons that both Vinland and Claymore initially hooked me was because of some of the amazing artwork that the panels had, and this manga really shines on this aspect.
As a side note I have over a hundred panels saved for this, it's hard to pick my favorite ones of this series.
This manga was made almost 20 years ago from now, and it just has a special place in my heart for the beautiful yet dramatic story it tells. Reading the manga enough, you realize this is a story about characters mainly, and how their companionship and leadership makes them understand their humanity.
This manga does no attempt in covering the brutal gore and violence displayed in this fight with monsters, it's very similar to Berserk on that matter. On the other hand, if you dislike gore heavily, this manga is definitely something that isn't for you.
The story is not long, even with some glaring pacing issues the manga never feels dragged on. It concludes various points satisfactorily and is definitely a manga that needs a better anime adaptation.
This manga is amazing, and it needs more of a spotlight. Kudos to those who reviewed this manga thoroughly before. I cannot recommend this series enough.
8.8/10
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