One of the ways I quantify a great manga is how quickly it reads; in that regard Claymore must be one of the best out there as the pages in this new shonen jump title – aimed at the older teen audience have an almost unknown swiftness.
Set in an unknown fantasy time period and location humans live in gear of yomas monstrous creatures that prey on them
Claymore is the name given by humans to an organisation that uses human / yoma half-breeds to hunt and kill the full-breed Yomas that prey on humans, the story follows a Claymore called Claire on a few missions payment is only received by a strange shifty looking fellow after the mission has been completed. Yomas are crafty creatures able to hide amongst humans while they prey on them. And the Claymores with their distinct silver eyes and formidable strength are feared throughout the land so always encounter some passive resistance when they arrive in a town to hunt – even when summoned.
In one town however Claire meets a boy called Raki, not afraid of her he’s more smitten and follows her round his whole family having already been killed by the yoma Claire was sent to hunt. Claymore’s aren’t exactly the talkative bunch Claire’s name isn’t even spoken until chapter two so much of the humanisation and accessibility into the book on a human level comes from Raki.
The final chapter adds a new layer to the Claymore organisation mythos but despite the books violence, Yoma-limbs and heads getting chopped off with big swords and humans eaten the book remains light. Artwork is conspicuous by how light and simple it is, lacking a certain level of kinetic energy – that said the book flows well from page to page.
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Book two is where quick-read turns into infectious, what you have here is the first five of a seven-chapter story – and you’ll want more.
First striking thing you’ll notice is the cover, a darkened shot of Claire in the full moonlight her silver eyes really stand out as VIZ have used the same reflective silver for the eyes as they have for the Claymore title and author credits.
Raki comes in handy here as travelling with Claire they are posing as brother and sister merchants selling antiques as they have to enter a holy city where Claymores are forbidden to enter, a handy refuge where a Yoma known as a “voracious eater” has been taking advantage. Claire having to work undercover has been forced to take pills to surprises her silver eyes but also suppress her yoma-detection powers so it’s down to hunting the old fashioned way, simple search at night where she attacks the attentions of two of the holy city’s elite guards, these guards are pretty tough and surprisingly able to hold their own against the (even suppressed) Claymore.
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A third of three very quick reviews for Viz’s Shonen Jump title Claymore. And I hate to sound hypocritical but this is where the brevity of the books starts to play against it.
In book three you have the final two chapters of the story of Clare’s battle with the voracious eater in the holy temple; in which Clare herself comes pretty close to becoming a yoma as she pushes her powers beyond their limits.
Then you get the first five chapters in a story titled “Teresa of the faint smile” about another Claymore called Teresa super powerful in what she does she has a near unmatched skill and with every yoma she fights she has a faint smile about the lack of challenge she’s facing. That is nothing to what she faces when a young girl a group of yomas were keeping as a pet latches onto Teresa the same way Raki latched onto Clare. The girl is mute and pretty scarred physically too, unwanted by the village and initially by Teresa she has a tough time of it as she follows Teresa like a puppy, but yes Teresa slowly warms up to her presence.
There’s another layer of claymore rules brought in as Teresa is hounded by a group of bandits, with the penalty of being hunted down and killed by all the other claymores as punishment a claymore can’t kill a normal human and the bandits know this.
Claymore book three ends one story and starts another leaving you hungering for more, there’s an addictiveness to Claymore that both works for and against it. This volume coupled with the previous two volumes isn’t enough to satiate my Claymore appetite. Unless you have a large quantity of material to a manga like this then it’s almost not worth reading just one volume. And that’s now where the swiftness of the read counts against it.
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"I really enjoyed the anime of Claymore and the manga is turning out to be no different but for completely different reasons Claymore is tightly written with minimum text and simple artwork, which for me is a major plus."
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