Just finished the series *SPOILERS*
Just wanted to share some thoughts! I first read up to probably somewhere around chapter 60-70 a long time ago, got distracted, and never came back to it. Thankfully, I decided to reread the whole thing this week.
I just wanted to share some thoughts on what I think this series gets right and what it gets wrong.
The good:
- The art is fantastic. Seriously, the series is gorgeous, and it’s just visual food the whole time. The landscapes are typically detailed, but they act wonderfully as canvases to show off the badass protagonists and incredibly cool monsters. One of my favorite panels is the first double page reveal of Isley’s awakened forms. It just feels like an alien, something so different and potent than anything we’ve seen before.
- Character design and emotions were great. Most character moments are compelling in both dialogue and action. I think the author did well to juggle so many characters who are inherently similar and making them feel distinct.
- Cool factor is through the roof. Whether it’s resolve on Clare or Miria’s face, Galatea being a fucking G, Riful and Dauf being terrifying, or inventive ways at using physical attacks and swords, the cool moments are endless. When you couple that with incredible art, it’s almost impossible to hate something like this.
- Loose ends get tied up and details are mindfully written. I think that the author did a good job of including little hooks throughout the story to keep people guessing. When a character speculates something, the answer will come with time. In other words, every Chekov’s gun I can think of in the story does go off at some point.
The bad:
- This one is tricky to leverage as criticism, but hardly anyone dies. Look, I know there’s actually an abundance of death in this manga, but after the war in the north we have nearly zero impactful deaths. I cannot believe that Helen and Deneve survive all of that. I can’t believe Audrey and Anastasia and Cynthia and Yuma and so many other characters can be presented with such crazy threats so often and just live.
The series produces amazing stakes in the first half, and then the reveal at how those seven survive is absolutely fine. It’s understandable that Miria survives the first assault on the org, and the explanation is sufficient, but then we see her take huge slash after huge slash against Hysteria. Miria should have died in that fight shortly after Hysteria awakens, in my opinion. The emotional fuel and impact on the remaining warriors would highly benefit the story.
The perceived higher stakes from the first half sustain the series throughout, and of course some characters do die, but it’s almost never named Claymores after the war in the north, and it’s never any of the seven (except one) after. I personally think that more deaths would have elevated this series further for me, because there’s so much to love.
- Asspulls. Wasn’t a fan of how the awakened yoma surround Rabona towards the end. There was no indication that so many of them existed in the first place, no detection by the party approaching Rabona until they’re right there, and I felt like they inflated the amount of distraction from the real end goal. That being said, they were cool, and I think just a pinch of setup would have made them perfectly fine.
Then you have Dauf and Riful fusing. I love these characters, but it ended up as just another convenient block for Priscilla that I found unnecessary. While there’s some material to offer an explanation for how emotions plus power could equal fusing, we are only given that in a truly compelling way with the destroyer and later Priscilla absorbing enemies, in my opinion. And with Clare.
I think Teresa being Clare’s awakening is a dope idea, and I’m pretty satisfied with the ending, but I wish we had juuuust a little bit more on how a quarter yoma Claymore is able to do this.
- Couple of things that don’t make sense. Early on, it was said that the more you use Yoma powers, the more likely you are to go past the brink. We barely see this, and instead it becomes the greater percentage of yoma powers in a given moment, the greater the likelihood of going past the point of no return. I think it would have been very interesting for it to stay the former, and for the characters to have more moments threatening their lost humanity.
I was under the impression that, unless you’re like Teresa and you fight without using Yoma powers, your time as a Claymore is limited no matter what, because you’ll eventually succumb to these matters. That would be a better supplement to the sheer volume of awakened beings we see.
I think the male warriors were handled poorly, and I would have loved a clearer idea of the history and timeline of the org and its warriors.
Finally, Raki just… makes no sense. I actually like his character and everything with him just fine, but I really have to suspend my disbelief for a human character to even pierce an awakened being, let alone the one thing that’s stronger than an abyssal one.
———————————————
There are plenty of other good and bad things alike, but make no mistake, I loved Claymore.
Overall, I’d say it was a strong 7.5/10 for me. I am really glad I came back to it and finished it! Would love to hear from anyone who agrees/disagrees or has anything to add.