Genre Fantasy
Age Rating For Older Teens
Price $7.99

Seven years have passed since the devastating battle in Pieta, and now a new generation of Claymores carries on the fight against the Awakened Ones. However, the mystery of Claire's fate, and that of her comrades, resurfaces after a surprising discovery made by a young Claymore.

The first impression that Claymore gives me is that this is a huge fantasy epic and Yagi's art style helps support this notion. Characters, backgrounds, and monsters are drawn in a serious and dark manner so it's quite clear that this isn't one of those fantasy/comedy hybrids that plagues a lot of anime and manga (I love fantasy/comedy hybrids but with a few exceptions, serious fantasy is rare).

Reading volume #12, one of the difficulties I had as a casual reader is that the story is too plot-centric and there's no real easy accessible entry point. It's like reading or watching The Two Towers without prior knowledge of Fellowship of the Ring. The lack of an introduction at the front page doesn't help either (there's just a quick summary that gives you a gist of events but does not give you a handle on the various characters). And in many ways, this particular volume is very much The Two Towers as a bulk of the manga seems to be focused on pivotal flashbacks.

Those impressions aside, Claymore looks to be promising as long as you can follow the continuity. It has a good handle on character as the various personalities in the manga seem to have their own motivations and complexities. As far as the plot goes, for it to be this intertwined with the narrative, it's probably good pay-off for those who've managed to stick around this long--and promises something more to come. The action scenes are depicted with detail and Yagi knows how to maximize the medium so while he uses staple techniques such as speed-lines, he doesn't cheat readers out of the action and one knows what's going on. I also expect the large cast of female characters will appeal to a wide demographic, whether it's the feminist bent of the manga or simply guys reading about gorgeous, kick-ass women.

Claymore seems terrific but my advice is to start at the beginning of the series and not jump into the thick of things.

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