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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “The Claymore warrior Teresa has broken the cardinal rule that forbids her kind from killing humans. In time, a group of Claymores comes to kill her, and yet Teresa defeats them all with her superior skill and experience. But rather than slay the powerful ringleader, Teresa decides to spare her instead – an act of human weakness that will have devastating consequences for them all.” The Claymores are warrior women who band together to fight the Yoma, monsters who can transform into humans or vice versa. In fact, every Claymore has Yoma powers that can strengthen them through transformation, but minimal transformation is what keeps them on the side of good. True Yoma become distorted, grotesque evil beings who can cut down multiple Claymores with ease. While the setup isn’t anything overly unique, it’s the execution that stands out for Claymore. It isn’t necessarily significant in characterization no gender roles for the Claymores to be women; they simply happen to be women, and powerful women too. But the Yoma are exceptionally brutal, and it’s the surprising level of detail in the violence that shocks and thrills the reader. In a series like Berserk, intense violence is to be expected from the gritty and edgy style, but it came as something as a surprise to me to see limbs get hacked off left and right – female limbs, surprisingly. It’s really refreshing to see women play the protagonist roles without being afraid of getting their hands bloody – or lopped off. There’s also something slightly majestic and polished to the art that really enhances the feel of the book and reinforces one’s expectations that this isn’t going to be a bloody book. To tell the truth, there isn’t so much blood as there are simply limbs flying, but that’s another new and inspired stylistic choice. The world of Claymore is pure in both its bloodlessness and the clear division between its heroes and villains. Volume five isn’t the best place to get started, as one story arc concludes in the first half while another begins toward the end. However, it isn’t impenetrable nor is it difficult to grasp the gist of the stakes, which is more accessible than it would appear given the lack of character bios. Claymore shows a lot of finesse and even more promise. Comment on this review of Claymore v5 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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