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Its what made me start reading manga cause I needed to see how it ended 😂😂😂now I'm like 14 years into reading manga and manwahs 😂😂more than I watch anime because it's very hard to find good anime these days ,its all so generic/copy paste backs in the day we had like 4 shows a season worth your time ,these days we have like 2 max a year and most of those shows that are on 2+ seasons already. At least with manga and manwah you have more option
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It's funny because your complaints about the series are 100% spot on, and they aren't just nitpicks either. There are huge cop-outs on major plot points. And yet....this is one of my favorite manga. I just finished my second read-through of the whole series a week ago, and I'll probably read it again in the future. I think what really makes Claymore shine in spite of its structural issues is Yagi's incredible sense of characterization and psychological depth. All of the characters have distinct personalities, but they aren't just one-dimensional archetypes - they're all complex and conflicted and they interact with one another in such real human ways. And don't even get me started on the crazy psychological aspects of Awakening.
You know I've noticed a lot more videos poppy up about Claymore. I was wondering why that was but then I realized... We all grew up became adults and have the skills to make videos essays now. One day I'll join in and talk about Welcome to the N.H.K
Ah, my childhood. Claymore was what got me into anime, actually. In fact, the first time I ever saw this anime was from an internet cafe. One of the employees was playing it on a projector screen, and I got instantly hooked
I have to disagree on the revived 3 number 1 not being relevant. The tale of Cassandra and Roxanne is just fascinating both are very fascinating characters... Hysteria is less though but her back story given us so more Theresa action is kinda worth the while
Roxanne is probably one of the few characters that is just evil from start to end. Cassandra was a nice girl with pride that matches that of number 1. Them getting revived to settle their score (without outside help) was exciting to see.
I literally have multiple tattoos related to this series because of how much of an impact it had on me when i first watched it. And IMAGINE my pleasure finding out there was an entire stack of volumes that weren't in the anime when i bought the complete set of manga
I always feel like Claymore being the more niche series conpared to Berserk was a double-edged sword situation. On one hand, it's kinda upsetting that this series is sorta left in the dust while Berserk is where everyone takes notes from when it comes to making their own dark fantasy settings. On the other hand, it not being part of the mainstream means that the fanbase remains passionate and closely-knit. Plus, you don't have to deal with whatever discourse that festers around it when non-fans/tourists becomes a major voice for the series.
Berserk was really left in the dust too, It is very influential but its not really as mainstream. Its also why all the anime projects get cancelled. Berserk 1999 got cancelled, 2016 was...what it was, the madhouse movies cancelled after golden age just like 99, there has been talk of a dark swordman anime since forever and its always cancelled.
Honestly, the white outfits were likely to help minimize how much shading was needed. IIRC, that was the same reason for Super Saiyan to have blonde hair: during the Namek Saga, Toriyama's colorist was getting cramps from having to darken in Goku's hair all the time, so they gave him blonde hair to lessen how much work was needed per page.
Just as a little mention; there is a game called "Soultice" that came out about 3 years ago that was heavily inspired by Claymore. I'd recommend checking it out.
Some things I heavily disagree with regarding Claymore's problems: - Priscilla coming back after getting teamed up on by Raki and Clare doesn't undo their victory. They still managed to defeat her as just a human and a regular claymore while Priscilla was the second strongest being in the story. That's still a massive W no matter how you put it. The only reason she didn't die there was because there was still a piece of her inside Cassandra that she managed to regenerate out of, something that Clare and Raki couldn't predict nor prevent at the time. Also, if Priscilla regenerating out of Cassandra hadn't happened to begin with, then we would have been left with a massive unanswered question of wtf happened with that piece of her, leaving potential of speculation on whether or not she's still out there in the story. -On that note, Teresa coming back wasn't just fan service. It was necessary for her to come back because nobody else could realistically defeat Priscilla at that point, she was just that strong. It's also explained how it happens so you can't argue that it's a complete asspull. It definitely is fan service, but to chalk it up to just that and nothing more is dishonest imo. - Miria indirectly convincing all the other warriors to join her in her rebellion makes sense and is consistent to how we've seen claymores act up until that point. Yes, some of them are assholes, even murderous towards each other, highly competitive, cold, distant, and fully compliant with the Organization's rule, but their camaraderie is an underlying theme throughout the entire story. They have always been shown to deeply care for each other in most circumstances. During the first awakened hunt we see, Helen, as much of a bitch as she is, still cares enough about Clare to want her to stay back so she doesn't get harmed. The girl that escapes from Riful's torture was still looking for help for the others while barely clinging onto life. The Northern War arc is all about the claymores sticking together. Considering all this, it makes perfect sense for them to be moved by Miria's actions and join her against their tyrannical leaders. - While I agree that the revival of the 3 past nr.1 warriors is definitely a low point in the story, Cassandra is nowhere near as forgettable and unlikable as the other 2 to me. We see her backstory, which is a pretty depressing one and it makes us fully understand why she hates Roxanne so much. And during the final battle when she literally rips herself out of Priscilla to fight Teresa 1v1, that's one of the most metal ass moments in the entire story.
I basically agree with your analysis of the series post-Pieta. The story has a larger scope, and the fights are more explosive, but it also lacks focus. The first part of Claymore is very focused on Clare's personal story. It has her and the other characters make tough choices that have consequences. Clare puts her personal goals at risk to try and help others, which gets her into trouble, but also wins her allies and makes her endearing. Clare gets upset after Jean's mortal injury, but her emotional decision to attack leads to Flora's death. Clare gains power at the expense of her humanity, it takes Jean sacrificing herself to bring Clare back. After Pieta, Clare becomes very flat. Apart from "will she get her friends killed by going to see Riful/Rafaela" she doesn't make meaningful decisions or develop relationships with anyone. This also ties in with Priscilla, as Priscilla's story is only personally connected to Clare. Miria takes over the MC role in all but name (MC plot armor included), making the decisions that drive the story forwards. I miss the likeable Clare from the first part of the series I actually love many of the characters introduced in "part 2" of the story. I do like Cassandra, Clarice and Cynthia in particular. I love the moment when Yuma saves Cynthia, as that moment actually delivers on the emotional side of things with the survivor's guilt of living through Pieta almost literally at random. I think these moments with are fine, and these minor characters are what makes me still enjoy the second part of this series as much as I do by delivering most of the emotional payoff. Even though the second part of the series is longer, due to the addition of more plotlines I wish we had more: - More of Miria vs the organization. Miria converts the rest of the Claymores too easily and quickly as you said, and the Org itself is toast after that. As nice as it was to see certain moments of that conflict, we could have had more of a civil war, we could have had consequences for Miria for leaving her comrades behind, we could have had Miria actually have to get her hands dirty by killing Claymores or awakening to defeat the Org,. The Org feels like it should be more of the main villain to me (partly because Clare gets flat as said above), and should have had more main villain treatment in terms of how difficult it would be to take them down. The Abyssal Ones the org creates provide great drawings and explosive fights, but not the character work that makes me love a story (Cass's backstory is great though). -more of Miata growing under Clarice so I can bond with her and their relationship -more of Clare herself, and development for her relationship with Priscilla
Honestly it was a good series but just haven’t had the time to read the manga which I know it’ll get better since i spoiled myself with a few panels but if the series had to come back I’m sure it’ll be good well if they got the right studio
So glad someone's still talking about Claymore. Now what about Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+, and Blood-C? 🤞🏾 Edit: never mind, I found it. You're a scholar and a gentleman.
I think the biggest issue with post timeskip is the math of the new generation. 1. Warriors/AB get stronger over time. 2. Warriors/AB get stronger when they overcome challenges or learn from other warriors/AB. 3. Teamwork/friendship is a vital attribute to retaining intelligence and personality over time as a warrior/AB. 4. "One" level power is so busted that everybody else is irrelevant. 5. Clare's *really* young relative age is only subtly hinted at throughout the manga by listing generations and other tells. (Or sloppy writing) Teresa was 88th generation and not quite the 200th warrior. She started as #6 and effectively killed Hysteria while still a child. As an adult, she is given the title of "One" and eventually no-diffs Rosemary after she awakens. The timeline is moved closer to when Clare enters Teresa's life, and also 10-15 generations later with napkin math of how hard it is to develop quality warriors after a bloodbath like Hysteria or Cassandra's purging. The age gap becomes more wonky when you look at how Clare looks closer to the "last generation" in age than Miria, despite being older than Raki, and not being a full AB. Priscilla became a "warrior" before Miria (127) but did not get her number "2" until Teresa no-diffed a purge squad, basically setting Priscilla to being 5-10 years older than Miria. And Miria was drawn and characterized as being noticably more experienced than Clare, and the generation gap of 23(!) would make her between 8-12 years older than Clare. Last nail on the age issue: Elena was a later generation than Clare, but was older. The same detail was emphasized in Clare's flashback when only Clare and her bullied survived their initiation to get a number. Clare got the lowest number (47) while wave after wave of less competent warriors died off or became sorry AB. Unlike the "Last Generation" after the timeskip, each generation was made to "re-up" after attrition. Each time enough warriors die, batches of trainees are made to fight/kill each other to become strong enough to get their number. If one batch is weak, they keep throwing bodies until they recomp to 47. This is part of what makes the series slower after the skip: Two characters have become "One" level and are working together when the majority of warriors either die or become awakened beings in 3-5 years while a few elites can go on for a few decades. Think about how powerful Clare's Quick Sword was pre-skip and compare it to the *suppressed* wind-cutter after the skip. Clare could slice an AB to ribbons and send Dauf (a 3) flying at
You should do a retrospective on Gunnm, aka Battle Angel Alita as well as its sequels, Last Order and Mars Chronicle. They have incredibly frightening, dark and relatable worlds with amazing art and concepts. There are manga panels that have been seared into my mind to this day because of how shocking/horrific they were. Berserk level shit with a strong focus on transhumanism and what it means to be conscious and alive.
Claymore also does a good job showing the power of will and tenacity in there refusal to awaken and they can turn back. Which most people say it's plot armour talk no jutsu speech. But to my understanding. It's more than that it's remembering what you stood for your ideals and beliefs are just as powerful as your strength.
i love female characters swinging around huge swords and Claymore is exactly that. Many of the poses and techniques of the warriors are very beautiful and artistic.
I would LOVE to see the entire series animated faithfully to the manga! Just imagine how those abyssal fights would look animated aaa rly hope more people will discover and appreciate this gem of a series 🙏
I recall getting shonen jumps as a kid and seeing this manga advertised. Always stuck with me as something to get back to, and a few years ago, I did. Even from the anime, this story was impactful all the way through. I’m glad the the stories epicness stays all through the manga, and I hope, one day, the anime is continued to be that epic.
I love Claymore! It was the first manga I read from beginning to end. I liked the anime, but the open ending caught me off guard, I wanted more, more! So I went for the manga. Since it was my first work, I decided to read it from the beginning, I noticed a small difference at the beginning. The part where the anime ends is completely different in the manga and that was a nice surprise!
if there are those who want more claymore like things, there is a game that released a while ago called Soulstice, very clearly inspired by this series and beserk funnily enough.
Either a Blue Exorcist treatment in which the production studio simply starts off where the manga and anime split apart or an entirely new reboot would be nice to see. The former to not tread over old ground and to get to the parts we all want to see animated, or the latter simply to see everything that came before in a more dynamic style before the previously unanimated portion.
I watched this title more than a dozen times, and every time it leaves a pleasant aftertaste from the plot and its dynamics, and the characters, who are interesting, even secondary, and most importantly, the style and atmosphere are unique and not repeated, it is a pity that there is still no remake of at least maega and its modification due to plot differences in anime and manga.
Love your commentary on the series, I was nodding my head the whole time through the anime review. I also like what you said about their tough choices getting solved too easily, it doesnt feel earned. Keep cooking! 😁
paused the video halfway to leave a comment because im impatient like that... you make very fair points. i remember how invested i got once Teresa showed up and how disappointing and underwhelming the ending felt. but the manga did it all for me. i think even though the manga has some aspects that can be criticized but Claymore got me into reading manga and it's my all time favorite. i highly recommend people read the manga after watching the anime.
What I love is the combat if Claymores that it it gives you jumpscares. The speed blitz in the manga is so downright terrifying the next page they will be unexpectedly in your face. That is how fast they are. So scary.
39:44 Claymore is really good, and I'm only here because I just finished the manga, but just to mention: Angel Densetsu is a God-tier delinquent comedy manga and I highly recommend it. I would have read Claymore sooner if I was aware the same guy made both. Please read it if you get a chance, because the premise is really simple and straightforward but it's taken to some really fun places. The ending was also really fun.
I love the Claymore Mangá! The fights are insanely good, with good pacing, the last 10 chapters are just freaking amazing! The ending is satisfying and the world is interesting
Watched this show on a whim because it looked so much like D. Gray Man, one of my favorite series of all time. Really enjoyed it, and even went and read the manga
Claymore is one of the first Dark Fantasy that I really click with, granted I read it when I was around 19 (its been almost a decade since its end and I feel old as fuck) but its very unique that til this date I still can't find anything like it. Honestly the first things I think of when I read it was The Witcher series, this is when I just finished The Witcher 2 and was still high on its concept (human/monster hybrid running around kill monster) and I was so glad that I found it. As times goes by and I often re-read it anually, there are crack starting to appear like you said how the first few chapter is a bit ruff, the fight scene can be a bit drag out and so on. But I also appreciate what I already love even more like how the art is fantastic, the monster design is top tier and oddly sexy? (its the H.R Giger school of design, which I think Hiro did said the's inspired by), and the undermind theme of the story age like fine wine. It's my favorite Dark fantasy of all time, I even spend like 3 years hunting down the offical artbook that is hard to find as fuck, but its worth it.
I remember how shocked i was when i saw how Priscilla evolved- since then i had even more passion for manga/anime and started to go into it much more seriously than before. Did lots of fanarts some more popular some less, it was a huge thing for me. Artstyle, bakemono characters and story was revolutionary for me as a kid and still inspires me greatly as an adult. also great clip with Revy, yeah frik you Priscilla
@@Lunatic_Wraith If we wanted to trace it all back further both berserk, Claymore and the witcher are heavily inspired by Elric of Melnibone. Makes sense as Moorcock stuff was was super populer in the 80s, that influence ended up in a lot of 40k lore too
Nah Claymore is its own, if you really want a discount costco Berserk read Ubelblatt. P.s. Its shit tier Berserk wanna be manga that aimed at edgy kids.
That anime ending is why I started buying manga. I loved the anime when I discovered it a decade or so ago, but the ending left me wholly unsatisfied. About a year and a half ago, I came across the claymore manga box set on Amazon and I fell in love with the story again. The anime didn't really do the story justice with all that was removed from it. So, if you're interested in claymore.....get the manga. now, when there are anime they don't finish in the anime, I look for the manga. Way too many great anime aren't getting a full series, but thank goodness for the manga that came before them to assist with that.
claymore is one of my all time faves. i watched the anime, skipped the last 2 episodes, then picked back up in the manga at the north battle. highly recommend
Claymore was so ahead of its time for a manga released in 2001. It tackled men controlling women's bodies, women being forced to fight one another, sezzual assault and loss of agency, how motherhood changes you, loss and disensitization, how we treat women in power as monsters and revere men in power, women fighting back the patriarchy.
Ah Claymore, the inspiration for one of my best pvp DS3 builds. The show is fun stuff, but definitely shallow. It's sad that if this series came out in 2024 it would be lauded as top tier, but back in 2007 it was just ok.
@@TheFireStarter1215 It's been like 8ish years so forgive me if I'm misremembering; but to my recollection it was a hybrid str/dex build with a claymore primary, and I'd switch to crow talons if my health dropped below half to represent the Yoma rage taking over. I wore the pontiff knight armor since it sort of looks like what the claymores wear.
Miria, Deneve and Helen were the backbone of this story - it suddenly git gud once the 3 of them showed up. There were points in the story where Miria felt more like the protagonist than Claire. While, sure, we were invested in Claire's revenge story, it was Miria who actually pursued and found the answers to the pressing questions we had about the story: "What is the Organization and its purpose?" "Where did the Yoma come from?" "How come the Claymore swords are indestructible?". Raki felt like a filler character most of the time - he had little impact on the story and his relationship with Claire was either rushed or wasn't fun to read because Claire was kind of bland :/
When I was reading the manga, I rather liked the portion where Raki establishes the killshot on Priscilla via sneak attack. I thought it was a good cap to his story arc. Then the mangaka killed it by making Priscilla survive and having Claire turn into Teresa. It was just too much in my opinion, and annihilated a potentially significant narrative bookend which the former conclusion seemed to be reaching for.
Claymore deserves a good follow up anime. I really love the manga and i liked the anime. The animation and fighting choreographies were awesome. But it needs an overhaul. It could be the next big hit if gets the attention it deserves
Gosh!! I think it was also the technology of that time that made the anime not as great as the actual manga. But I freaking love this storyline of Claymore, I wish they could redo the anime, its gonna be awesome. I can just feel it!!!!!
Ngl i really liked that the author used his limitations has an advantage on the claymore manga, im talking about the same face syndrome, im sorry but this artist has it and you can see pretty easily on his most recent manga, which doesnt really have the plot explanation to make it look better. I still like his art, but ngl it became a little hard to enjoy Ariadne in the Blue Sky when its hard to tell who is who, also the plot is kinda confusing and not in a good way. Overall i still think that either claymore or Angel Densetsu are his best works.
Yeah, I kinda wished that Claire had taken Riful’s offer, at least for some time, because Riful really was a super interesting character. She could’ve almost been another mother/big sister figure, a wilder one, if at all.
Please do Battle angel Alita (GUNNM in Japanese) next. It's a great cyberpunk sci-fi story which takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future and follows the main character Alita (Gally in Japanese). Alita is a female cyborg who was found on the junkyard underneath the flying city Zalem (Tiphares in some English editions). Her artificial body was mostly destroyed but her human brain was still fully intact. Ido, the person who found her, takes her home and repairs her. She has no recollections about her life or how she ended up there, but somehow she instinctively knows the martial arts combat style Panzerkunst, a fighting style which was believed to have gone extinct centuries ago. The manga follows her as she tries to find out about her past life while establishing a new life in the harsh, uncaring city which was built around the junkyard of Zalem. The story sees her go through happiness and heartbreak, hope and deep despair, as she grows as a character. She's not a hero and she is quite flawed in some ways, making her an excellently written female protagonist.
If I could, I would like to have a reboot of the series, but if that’s not possible, then probably a prequel if I could, I would like to learn what happened with the men in the experiment the first iteration of Claymore and then afterwards they continue growth of the organization. I don’t know something about that backstory kind of intrigues me more.
I dunno man. I loved Theresa coming back. But the Theresa death was epic. Great storytelling there. Just a great Manga all around. Phantom Miria for life yo.
This is the first anime i ever watched and even read a few volumes of! The ending of the series was always such a let down. Thank you for making this video mate 👍
Absolutely hate that whole "if you kill this obviously bad creature/person youre as bad as them" trope. It just reeks of the writer needing to keep the antagonist alive but writing themselves into a corner or not knowing how to do it in a way that makes sense. I hate seeing it when superhero stories do it and I hated seeing it in the anime. If anything the hero/protagonist is worse for letting ghem live because now theyre responsible for all the death and suffering they create after they escape. This was one of the earliest anime I watched, I struggle with focus issues so i don't do great with manga admittedly. Heard that the story divulged but never imagined it would be by this much, dang. The manga definitely seems better. I will say that the nudity in this manga personally never bothered me because jt doesnt feel sexualized. With the way its framed it doesnt seem like its there for titillation. The nudity actually wirks better for the monster designs sometimes because of how uncanny it looks seeing female features on such grotesque and bizzare beings. Towards the end though, the designs look a bit too out there tho I agree from what you showed.
even batman has acknowledged how stupid letting the joker alive is, they've used it as a plot device a few times and at least in a couple storylines Batman does kill Joker
@@j.2512 I don't read comics but the way Joker is not killed most of the time really gets under my skin. Yes I know it's Gotham's responsibility and the idiots keep locking him up in the asylum instead but Joker has killed and tortured so many people that plot point just isn't believable anymore. It becomes a Saturday morning cartoon where joker gets beaten, locked up, escapes again and starts killing people. Its painfully obvious that DC keeps him alive simply because he's an iconic character but it just makes Batman and the police look stupid. All those deaths are in them. In general I don't like characters that never kill, eventually they'll run into a villain that causes so much suffering because of their stupid rule. I'm not saying heroes should be psychotic murderers who kill even basic burglars, but they absolutely should have a limit to that rule and kill when necessary, like when the villain is irredeemable and keeps escaping.
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@CulturedCrusader Could you tell us the songs from 1:15:38 & 1:17:05?
Really great music in this video.
This series needs the FMA Brotherhood treatment.
Maybe one day...
The brotherhood < FMA. FMA needed to be cleaned up tho.
but FMA 2003 was better than brotherhood though
@@j.2512 perspectives vary, though I like both
Absolutely.
If claymore came out today it would be a massive hit imo
Claymore is THE series that got me into manga. It practically carried my sanity through undergrad.
Claymore was reason why I started collecting manga
Its what made me start reading manga cause I needed to see how it ended 😂😂😂now I'm like 14 years into reading manga and manwahs 😂😂more than I watch anime because it's very hard to find good anime these days ,its all so generic/copy paste backs in the day we had like 4 shows a season worth your time ,these days we have like 2 max a year and most of those shows that are on 2+ seasons already. At least with manga and manwah you have more option
@@fofao681 I agree, feel anime starting to be over hype and fans are getting disappointed if animation don’t live up like the manga
@@wereodd21 i dont think it has anything to do with anime being close to the manga mate lol I just think the quality truly is low
This got me thru junior high/middle school. Saw the anime in a cable channel and was hooked since
fuck yeah, Berserk's little sister
I can't take "Little sister" at face value anymore, the internet has ruined me...
Fuck, yeah! 👍
@@cro-magnoncarol4017get off the internet
Let's just hope that it won't get the same anime treatment with
'Claymore 2025'
@@TheGrunaldiis it really coming back?
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I trust the process
😏 What could possibly go wrong...
Did he ever
It's funny because your complaints about the series are 100% spot on, and they aren't just nitpicks either. There are huge cop-outs on major plot points. And yet....this is one of my favorite manga. I just finished my second read-through of the whole series a week ago, and I'll probably read it again in the future.
I think what really makes Claymore shine in spite of its structural issues is Yagi's incredible sense of characterization and psychological depth. All of the characters have distinct personalities, but they aren't just one-dimensional archetypes - they're all complex and conflicted and they interact with one another in such real human ways. And don't even get me started on the crazy psychological aspects of Awakening.
Claymore was an anime i watched super randomly, but it made me fall in love with this series, it's so underrated
It was the first anime I've ever watched. and subsequently the first manga I've ever picked up. What a ride.
finally a big video of claymore by someone. God I've been waiting for this
You know I've noticed a lot more videos poppy up about Claymore. I was wondering why that was but then I realized... We all grew up became adults and have the skills to make videos essays now. One day I'll join in and talk about Welcome to the N.H.K
Ah, my childhood. Claymore was what got me into anime, actually. In fact, the first time I ever saw this anime was from an internet cafe. One of the employees was playing it on a projector screen, and I got instantly hooked
I have to disagree on the revived 3 number 1 not being relevant. The tale of Cassandra and Roxanne is just fascinating both are very fascinating characters... Hysteria is less though but her back story given us so more Theresa action is kinda worth the while
Right? Cassandra and Roxanne backstory is fantastic.
Roxanne is probably one of the few characters that is just evil from start to end. Cassandra was a nice girl with pride that matches that of number 1. Them getting revived to settle their score (without outside help) was exciting to see.
I literally have multiple tattoos related to this series because of how much of an impact it had on me when i first watched it. And IMAGINE my pleasure finding out there was an entire stack of volumes that weren't in the anime when i bought the complete set of manga
I always feel like Claymore being the more niche series conpared to Berserk was a double-edged sword situation. On one hand, it's kinda upsetting that this series is sorta left in the dust while Berserk is where everyone takes notes from when it comes to making their own dark fantasy settings. On the other hand, it not being part of the mainstream means that the fanbase remains passionate and closely-knit. Plus, you don't have to deal with whatever discourse that festers around it when non-fans/tourists becomes a major voice for the series.
So true!
Berserk was really left in the dust too, It is very influential but its not really as mainstream. Its also why all the anime projects get cancelled. Berserk 1999 got cancelled, 2016 was...what it was, the madhouse movies cancelled after golden age just like 99, there has been talk of a dark swordman anime since forever and its always cancelled.
I thought the reason people in 2011s were so into Berserk because of Dark Souls game@@j.2512
Amen to that.
@@j.2512 studio 4°c****
Honestly, the white outfits were likely to help minimize how much shading was needed. IIRC, that was the same reason for Super Saiyan to have blonde hair: during the Namek Saga, Toriyama's colorist was getting cramps from having to darken in Goku's hair all the time, so they gave him blonde hair to lessen how much work was needed per page.
I love that a couple of youma just walk up to Raki and talk to him because they want to know about his workout routine.
Just as a little mention; there is a game called "Soultice" that came out about 3 years ago that was heavily inspired by Claymore. I'd recommend checking it out.
Almost veered into oncoming traffic trying to click the notification for this as fast as I could
"There's a very real war against edgers and gooners." I'm subbed. Finally, someone that talks about the real issues.
Just in time for dinner… you’re too kind! So excited to watch. I love claymore
Finally, a long vid!! I've been waiting for this!
Some things I heavily disagree with regarding Claymore's problems:
- Priscilla coming back after getting teamed up on by Raki and Clare doesn't undo their victory. They still managed to defeat her as just a human and a regular claymore while Priscilla was the second strongest being in the story. That's still a massive W no matter how you put it. The only reason she didn't die there was because there was still a piece of her inside Cassandra that she managed to regenerate out of, something that Clare and Raki couldn't predict nor prevent at the time. Also, if Priscilla regenerating out of Cassandra hadn't happened to begin with, then we would have been left with a massive unanswered question of wtf happened with that piece of her, leaving potential of speculation on whether or not she's still out there in the story.
-On that note, Teresa coming back wasn't just fan service. It was necessary for her to come back because nobody else could realistically defeat Priscilla at that point, she was just that strong. It's also explained how it happens so you can't argue that it's a complete asspull. It definitely is fan service, but to chalk it up to just that and nothing more is dishonest imo.
- Miria indirectly convincing all the other warriors to join her in her rebellion makes sense and is consistent to how we've seen claymores act up until that point. Yes, some of them are assholes, even murderous towards each other, highly competitive, cold, distant, and fully compliant with the Organization's rule, but their camaraderie is an underlying theme throughout the entire story. They have always been shown to deeply care for each other in most circumstances. During the first awakened hunt we see, Helen, as much of a bitch as she is, still cares enough about Clare to want her to stay back so she doesn't get harmed. The girl that escapes from Riful's torture was still looking for help for the others while barely clinging onto life. The Northern War arc is all about the claymores sticking together. Considering all this, it makes perfect sense for them to be moved by Miria's actions and join her against their tyrannical leaders.
- While I agree that the revival of the 3 past nr.1 warriors is definitely a low point in the story, Cassandra is nowhere near as forgettable and unlikable as the other 2 to me. We see her backstory, which is a pretty depressing one and it makes us fully understand why she hates Roxanne so much. And during the final battle when she literally rips herself out of Priscilla to fight Teresa 1v1, that's one of the most metal ass moments in the entire story.
Excellent response. I agree with everything you just said and thought he was too harsh in his criticisms also.
30 seconds in and some top tier memes already. I thought I could listen to this in the background, but this demands my full attention.
I basically agree with your analysis of the series post-Pieta. The story has a larger scope, and the fights are more explosive, but it also lacks focus.
The first part of Claymore is very focused on Clare's personal story. It has her and the other characters make tough choices that have consequences. Clare puts her personal goals at risk to try and help others, which gets her into trouble, but also wins her allies and makes her endearing. Clare gets upset after Jean's mortal injury, but her emotional decision to attack leads to Flora's death. Clare gains power at the expense of her humanity, it takes Jean sacrificing herself to bring Clare back.
After Pieta, Clare becomes very flat. Apart from "will she get her friends killed by going to see Riful/Rafaela" she doesn't make meaningful decisions or develop relationships with anyone. This also ties in with Priscilla, as Priscilla's story is only personally connected to Clare. Miria takes over the MC role in all but name (MC plot armor included), making the decisions that drive the story forwards. I miss the likeable Clare from the first part of the series
I actually love many of the characters introduced in "part 2" of the story. I do like Cassandra, Clarice and Cynthia in particular. I love the moment when Yuma saves Cynthia, as that moment actually delivers on the emotional side of things with the survivor's guilt of living through Pieta almost literally at random. I think these moments with are fine, and these minor characters are what makes me still enjoy the second part of this series as much as I do by delivering most of the emotional payoff.
Even though the second part of the series is longer, due to the addition of more plotlines I wish we had more:
- More of Miria vs the organization. Miria converts the rest of the Claymores too easily and quickly as you said, and the Org itself is toast after that. As nice as it was to see certain moments of that conflict, we could have had more of a civil war, we could have had consequences for Miria for leaving her comrades behind, we could have had Miria actually have to get her hands dirty by killing Claymores or awakening to defeat the Org,. The Org feels like it should be more of the main villain to me (partly because Clare gets flat as said above), and should have had more main villain treatment in terms of how difficult it would be to take them down. The Abyssal Ones the org creates provide great drawings and explosive fights, but not the character work that makes me love a story (Cass's backstory is great though).
-more of Miata growing under Clarice so I can bond with her and their relationship
-more of Clare herself, and development for her relationship with Priscilla
Honestly it was a good series but just haven’t had the time to read the manga which I know it’ll get better since i spoiled myself with a few panels but if the series had to come back I’m sure it’ll be good well if they got the right studio
So glad someone's still talking about Claymore. Now what about Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+, and Blood-C? 🤞🏾
Edit: never mind, I found it. You're a scholar and a gentleman.
I think the biggest issue with post timeskip is the math of the new generation.
1. Warriors/AB get stronger over time.
2. Warriors/AB get stronger when they overcome challenges or learn from other warriors/AB.
3. Teamwork/friendship is a vital attribute to retaining intelligence and personality over time as a warrior/AB.
4. "One" level power is so busted that everybody else is irrelevant.
5. Clare's *really* young relative age is only subtly hinted at throughout the manga by listing generations and other tells. (Or sloppy writing)
Teresa was 88th generation and not quite the 200th warrior. She started as #6 and effectively killed Hysteria while still a child. As an adult, she is given the title of "One" and eventually no-diffs Rosemary after she awakens. The timeline is moved closer to when Clare enters Teresa's life, and also 10-15 generations later with napkin math of how hard it is to develop quality warriors after a bloodbath like Hysteria or Cassandra's purging.
The age gap becomes more wonky when you look at how Clare looks closer to the "last generation" in age than Miria, despite being older than Raki, and not being a full AB.
Priscilla became a "warrior" before Miria (127) but did not get her number "2" until Teresa no-diffed a purge squad, basically setting Priscilla to being 5-10 years older than Miria. And Miria was drawn and characterized as being noticably more experienced than Clare, and the generation gap of 23(!) would make her between 8-12 years older than Clare.
Last nail on the age issue: Elena was a later generation than Clare, but was older. The same detail was emphasized in Clare's flashback when only Clare and her bullied survived their initiation to get a number. Clare got the lowest number (47) while wave after wave of less competent warriors died off or became sorry AB.
Unlike the "Last Generation" after the timeskip, each generation was made to "re-up" after attrition. Each time enough warriors die, batches of trainees are made to fight/kill each other to become strong enough to get their number. If one batch is weak, they keep throwing bodies until they recomp to 47.
This is part of what makes the series slower after the skip: Two characters have become "One" level and are working together when the majority of warriors either die or become awakened beings in 3-5 years while a few elites can go on for a few decades.
Think about how powerful Clare's Quick Sword was pre-skip and compare it to the *suppressed* wind-cutter after the skip. Clare could slice an AB to ribbons and send Dauf (a 3) flying at
You should do a retrospective on Gunnm, aka Battle Angel Alita as well as its sequels, Last Order and Mars Chronicle. They have incredibly frightening, dark and relatable worlds with amazing art and concepts. There are manga panels that have been seared into my mind to this day because of how shocking/horrific they were. Berserk level shit with a strong focus on transhumanism and what it means to be conscious and alive.
Claymore also does a good job showing the power of will and tenacity in there refusal to awaken and they can turn back.
Which most people say it's plot armour talk no jutsu speech.
But to my understanding.
It's more than that it's remembering what you stood for your ideals and beliefs are just as powerful as your strength.
"a war between edgers and gooners" has the be the funniest summary ive ever heard
i love female characters swinging around huge swords and Claymore is exactly that. Many of the poses and techniques of the warriors are very beautiful and artistic.
I would LOVE to see the entire series animated faithfully to the manga! Just imagine how those abyssal fights would look animated aaa rly hope more people will discover and appreciate this gem of a series 🙏
Claymore is actually more Attack on Titan than Berserk.
Angel Densetsu will forever be Norihiro Yagi's masterwork.
I recall getting shonen jumps as a kid and seeing this manga advertised. Always stuck with me as something to get back to, and a few years ago, I did. Even from the anime, this story was impactful all the way through. I’m glad the the stories epicness stays all through the manga, and I hope, one day, the anime is continued to be that epic.
I am so happy someone is talking about Claymore omg!!! I would love a remake!!!!!
Ill always be a bit bitter with how things ended with silver king isley, he could have been a great character with lots of development
A series that I liked a lot.
I like how Raki was with the main character and also spent time with the main villain.
I love Claymore!
It was the first manga I read from beginning to end.
I liked the anime, but the open ending caught me off guard, I wanted more, more! So I went for the manga.
Since it was my first work, I decided to read it from the beginning, I noticed a small difference at the beginning. The part where the anime ends is completely different in the manga and that was a nice surprise!
Tell me what’s the difference??
@@danielramsey6141 It has 400% better pacing, and if I remember right the outcome is different since the anime wanted to """"end"""" there
if there are those who want more claymore like things, there is a game that released a while ago called Soulstice, very clearly inspired by this series and beserk funnily enough.
Yup you can see the inspiration
Either a Blue Exorcist treatment in which the production studio simply starts off where the manga and anime split apart or an entirely new reboot would be nice to see. The former to not tread over old ground and to get to the parts we all want to see animated, or the latter simply to see everything that came before in a more dynamic style before the previously unanimated portion.
I watched this title more than a dozen times, and every time it leaves a pleasant aftertaste from the plot and its dynamics, and the characters, who are interesting, even secondary, and most importantly, the style and atmosphere are unique and not repeated, it is a pity that there is still no remake of at least maega and its modification due to plot differences in anime and manga.
Hitting the Like button right out of the gate. Already know we're in for a good time.
Love your commentary on the series, I was nodding my head the whole time through the anime review. I also like what you said about their tough choices getting solved too easily, it doesnt feel earned. Keep cooking! 😁
paused the video halfway to leave a comment because im impatient like that... you make very fair points. i remember how invested i got once Teresa showed up and how disappointing and underwhelming the ending felt. but the manga did it all for me. i think even though the manga has some aspects that can be criticized but Claymore got me into reading manga and it's my all time favorite. i highly recommend people read the manga after watching the anime.
Excellent video, I enjoyed it quite a bit thank you
What I love is the combat if Claymores that it it gives you jumpscares.
The speed blitz in the manga is so downright terrifying the next page they will be unexpectedly in your face.
That is how fast they are. So scary.
39:44 Claymore is really good, and I'm only here because I just finished the manga, but just to mention: Angel Densetsu is a God-tier delinquent comedy manga and I highly recommend it. I would have read Claymore sooner if I was aware the same guy made both. Please read it if you get a chance, because the premise is really simple and straightforward but it's taken to some really fun places. The ending was also really fun.
I love the Claymore Mangá! The fights are insanely good, with good pacing, the last 10 chapters are just freaking amazing! The ending is satisfying and the world is interesting
I started watching anime with claymore, and I wouldn’t have it any other way regardless of circumstance, Definitely sparked my love
You should watch NANA anyway
Also, nice Conan music 35:17 52:04 55:40 58:55
My favorite manga getting an anime recap too maketh me smile
PRAISE THE LORD, CULTURED CRUSADER MADE MY SHIFT ENJOYABLE
What a great choice for a series to cover man. This manga really reawakened(aha!) My love for manga. The creature designs alone are fuckin top tier
I really enjoy your videos I’m suprised this channel isn’t more popular
I’ve only ever seen the anime, cool to finally find out how it ends!
This is my favorite manga of all time 🥹🥹🥹
Watched this show on a whim because it looked so much like D. Gray Man, one of my favorite series of all time. Really enjoyed it, and even went and read the manga
Claymore is one of the first Dark Fantasy that I really click with, granted I read it when I was around 19 (its been almost a decade since its end and I feel old as fuck) but its very unique that til this date I still can't find anything like it. Honestly the first things I think of when I read it was The Witcher series, this is when I just finished The Witcher 2 and was still high on its concept (human/monster hybrid running around kill monster) and I was so glad that I found it.
As times goes by and I often re-read it anually, there are crack starting to appear like you said how the first few chapter is a bit ruff, the fight scene can be a bit drag out and so on. But I also appreciate what I already love even more like how the art is fantastic, the monster design is top tier and oddly sexy? (its the H.R Giger school of design, which I think Hiro did said the's inspired by), and the undermind theme of the story age like fine wine.
It's my favorite Dark fantasy of all time, I even spend like 3 years hunting down the offical artbook that is hard to find as fuck, but its worth it.
This was the best read for me back in 2022. I might give it a second go around for to experience the journey
Read the manga few years back, its kino
excellent work; always love your vids :)
The anime was so good. Unfortunate that it just wasn’t finished and wish someone would reboot it.
Edit: Raki sucked in the anime.
years later and I'm still hoping for the manga to get continued
I remember how shocked i was when i saw how Priscilla evolved- since then i had even more passion for manga/anime and started to go into it much more seriously than before. Did lots of fanarts some more popular some less, it was a huge thing for me. Artstyle, bakemono characters and story was revolutionary for me as a kid and still inspires me greatly as an adult.
also great clip with Revy, yeah frik you Priscilla
Claire awakening as Teresa is a special special piece of writing.
Soulstice the Video game really feels inspirited by Claymore I bet fans of Claymore will love it I know I did.
Top 1 anime right here, loved it.
Just found your channel, love the retrospectives! Please do Gantz next 🙂
For me this was kinda like discount Berserk, but discount Berserk is still pretty good
called discount berserk is an insult to Claymore
@@alanway5 most manga wish they could be discount berserk , its like saying discount lamborghini
I get what your saying but other than the general setting it's quite a bit closer to the Witcher and maybe AoT
@@Lunatic_Wraith If we wanted to trace it all back further both berserk, Claymore and the witcher are heavily inspired by Elric of Melnibone. Makes sense as Moorcock stuff was was super populer in the 80s, that influence ended up in a lot of 40k lore too
Nah Claymore is its own, if you really want a discount costco Berserk read Ubelblatt.
P.s. Its shit tier Berserk wanna be manga that aimed at edgy kids.
That anime ending is why I started buying manga. I loved the anime when I discovered it a decade or so ago, but the ending left me wholly unsatisfied. About a year and a half ago, I came across the claymore manga box set on Amazon and I fell in love with the story again. The anime didn't really do the story justice with all that was removed from it. So, if you're interested in claymore.....get the manga. now, when there are anime they don't finish in the anime, I look for the manga. Way too many great anime aren't getting a full series, but thank goodness for the manga that came before them to assist with that.
Fantastic work. Thank you;
claymore is one of my all time faves. i watched the anime, skipped the last 2 episodes, then picked back up in the manga at the north battle. highly recommend
A minute in and the editing is fantastic
Great timing boss 🤩
One of my favorite Anime’s that I wish hadn’t ended on some a major cliffhanger!
Claymore was so ahead of its time for a manga released in 2001. It tackled men controlling women's bodies, women being forced to fight one another, sezzual assault and loss of agency, how motherhood changes you, loss and disensitization, how we treat women in power as monsters and revere men in power, women fighting back the patriarchy.
Such a great manga i remember sitting in barns and nobles reading this in like 2008
Love me some Claymore! I hope they expand on this hidden gem. ❤️
Claymore has some of the single-best art in a manga I've seen
great review
This retrospective really made me think how much claymore and dgray man were similar in so many ways
when you watch claymore then a week later crusader drops the bomb
Ah Claymore, the inspiration for one of my best pvp DS3 builds. The show is fun stuff, but definitely shallow. It's sad that if this series came out in 2024 it would be lauded as top tier, but back in 2007 it was just ok.
What's the build...?
@@TheFireStarter1215 It's been like 8ish years so forgive me if I'm misremembering; but to my recollection it was a hybrid str/dex build with a claymore primary, and I'd switch to crow talons if my health dropped below half to represent the Yoma rage taking over. I wore the pontiff knight armor since it sort of looks like what the claymores wear.
Miria, Deneve and Helen were the backbone of this story - it suddenly git gud once the 3 of them showed up. There were points in the story where Miria felt more like the protagonist than Claire. While, sure, we were invested in Claire's revenge story, it was Miria who actually pursued and found the answers to the pressing questions we had about the story: "What is the Organization and its purpose?" "Where did the Yoma come from?" "How come the Claymore swords are indestructible?". Raki felt like a filler character most of the time - he had little impact on the story and his relationship with Claire was either rushed or wasn't fun to read because Claire was kind of bland :/
When I was reading the manga, I rather liked the portion where Raki establishes the killshot on Priscilla via sneak attack. I thought it was a good cap to his story arc. Then the mangaka killed it by making Priscilla survive and having Claire turn into Teresa. It was just too much in my opinion, and annihilated a potentially significant narrative bookend which the former conclusion seemed to be reaching for.
Claymore deserves a good follow up anime. I really love the manga and i liked the anime. The animation and fighting choreographies were awesome. But it needs an overhaul. It could be the next big hit if gets the attention it deserves
Gosh!! I think it was also the technology of that time that made the anime not as great as the actual manga. But I freaking love this storyline of Claymore, I wish they could redo the anime, its gonna be awesome. I can just feel it!!!!!
Ngl i really liked that the author used his limitations has an advantage on the claymore manga, im talking about the same face syndrome, im sorry but this artist has it and you can see pretty easily on his most recent manga, which doesnt really have the plot explanation to make it look better.
I still like his art, but ngl it became a little hard to enjoy Ariadne in the Blue Sky when its hard to tell who is who, also the plot is kinda confusing and not in a good way.
Overall i still think that either claymore or Angel Densetsu are his best works.
CLAYMORE CONTENT WOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I was so bummed this show never got another season
Yeah, I kinda wished that Claire had taken Riful’s offer, at least for some time, because Riful really was a super interesting character. She could’ve almost been another mother/big sister figure, a wilder one, if at all.
Just finished the manga, it was fantastic and a great ending! 8.8/10
35:19 best summation of how the very typical anime "revenge bad" makes me feel.
Alright fellas, time to claim your Claymorefu
For me, its gotta be Helen
I didn't say it in the video but mine is Galatea
@@CulturedCrusader
Good choice, she's probably my number 2
Nun Galatea is kino. But mine would be Flora
Teresa for me.
@@Warrirorr Nice
Spice & Wolf ost was a pleasant surprise
Please do Battle angel Alita (GUNNM in Japanese) next.
It's a great cyberpunk sci-fi story which takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future and follows the main character Alita (Gally in Japanese).
Alita is a female cyborg who was found on the junkyard underneath the flying city Zalem (Tiphares in some English editions). Her artificial body was mostly destroyed but her human brain was still fully intact. Ido, the person who found her, takes her home and repairs her. She has no recollections about her life or how she ended up there, but somehow she instinctively knows the martial arts combat style Panzerkunst, a fighting style which was believed to have gone extinct centuries ago.
The manga follows her as she tries to find out about her past life while establishing a new life in the harsh, uncaring city which was built around the junkyard of Zalem. The story sees her go through happiness and heartbreak, hope and deep despair, as she grows as a character. She's not a hero and she is quite flawed in some ways, making her an excellently written female protagonist.
That is correct you Criticise because you Care.
That is a Fact. Damn straight
If I could, I would like to have a reboot of the series, but if that’s not possible, then probably a prequel if I could, I would like to learn what happened with the men in the experiment the first iteration of Claymore and then afterwards they continue growth of the organization. I don’t know something about that backstory kind of intrigues me more.
I dunno man. I loved Theresa coming back. But the Theresa death was epic. Great storytelling there. Just a great Manga all around.
Phantom Miria for life yo.
This is the first anime i ever watched and even read a few volumes of! The ending of the series was always such a let down. Thank you for making this video mate 👍
Absolutely hate that whole "if you kill this obviously bad creature/person youre as bad as them" trope. It just reeks of the writer needing to keep the antagonist alive but writing themselves into a corner or not knowing how to do it in a way that makes sense. I hate seeing it when superhero stories do it and I hated seeing it in the anime. If anything the hero/protagonist is worse for letting ghem live because now theyre responsible for all the death and suffering they create after they escape.
This was one of the earliest anime I watched, I struggle with focus issues so i don't do great with manga admittedly. Heard that the story divulged but never imagined it would be by this much, dang. The manga definitely seems better.
I will say that the nudity in this manga personally never bothered me because jt doesnt feel sexualized. With the way its framed it doesnt seem like its there for titillation. The nudity actually wirks better for the monster designs sometimes because of how uncanny it looks seeing female features on such grotesque and bizzare beings. Towards the end though, the designs look a bit too out there tho I agree from what you showed.
even batman has acknowledged how stupid letting the joker alive is, they've used it as a plot device a few times and at least in a couple storylines Batman does kill Joker
@@j.2512 I don't read comics but the way Joker is not killed most of the time really gets under my skin. Yes I know it's Gotham's responsibility and the idiots keep locking him up in the asylum instead but Joker has killed and tortured so many people that plot point just isn't believable anymore.
It becomes a Saturday morning cartoon where joker gets beaten, locked up, escapes again and starts killing people. Its painfully obvious that DC keeps him alive simply because he's an iconic character but it just makes Batman and the police look stupid. All those deaths are in them. In general I don't like characters that never kill, eventually they'll run into a villain that causes so much suffering because of their stupid rule. I'm not saying heroes should be psychotic murderers who kill even basic burglars, but they absolutely should have a limit to that rule and kill when necessary, like when the villain is irredeemable and keeps escaping.