Thoughts: With this the series has ended, although I’ve been hearing people’s complaints about how the anime adaptation began to fail when it started to deviate from the manga, admittedly it’s not as good as the manga, but perhaps it’s not as bad as people claim. But before that, I would like to share a few thoughts on the final episode.
The ending was rather “open”, obviously this leaves room for continuation. In terms of characters who survived, it’s surprisingly close to the manga before the time skip. Except they did completely neglect the claymores who are left at Pieta. Other than that nothing really felt out of place, although I wish they made a bigger deal out of Raki’s and Clare reunion, after all it was still Jeane who helped Clare return from her limit.
Story aside, I thought the execution of the episode was pretty well done, especially when Jeane sacrificed herself for Clare (which coincidentally is the only part from the manga), also how they brought back Teresa through flash backs and the little bit at the end. That final scene did really feel nice, probably because its the ending, but the scene generally appeared to be much brighter which really contrasted with the rest of the episode (and series).
Series Overview: Claymore was not one of the shows I was excited about when the new season started. But surprisingly it was very exciting, in fact after just two episode I started reading the manga. Which may have been a mistake since I did spoil myself, even then the show was enjoyable. There are some really nice elements in Claymore which made it good; the mysteries behind the organization, the claymores themselves and many other things. The story was one of them and it’s very enjoyable to watch as the plot always manages to surprise me.
The characters were equally as interesting, of course being a shounen show every character has their own specialty but I feel that Claymore does this especially well. Teresa and Clare arc was awesome and even by the end the effect is still there and as mentioned above, it’s nice to see them remind us of Teresa at the very end.
There are a lot of criticism about how the series sucked as it started to move away from the manga, and of course there are a lot of bad things to poke at but really it’s not a total failure, I mean at least it’s an ending. Having said that, it really is a shame to see them toss away that potential, even if the ending is open for a continuation a lot of it is already wasted. The animation is pretty stable and at a fairly high standard through out the 26 episodes. The OP and ED are absolutely awesome! Perhaps a little bit of a let down at the end, it was still an enjoyable ride. And as Wrex said, you should really check out the manga
RK
P.S- This is the first series I’ve blogged from start to finish, Hurray!.
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I don’t know why exactly but I absolutely love that scenic view behind Helen and Deneve. The backgrounds in Claymore were superb - almost makes me want to travel with a Claymore if I get to see sights like that. ^_^
Yo, that’s a fine review, glad you didn’t bash the ending. I got so engaged to Claymore on Ep 12 and couldn’ wait for the nest ep that I did a manga marathon overnight. I didn’t feel spoiled, I was quite excited actually, as I would always prefer motion over static drawings. I thought Madhouse did well with the anime despite adding their own stuff in it. I liked the ending too.
I’m glad someone’s NOT bitching about deviating the manga. I kind of feel sorry for Madhouse and the circumstances they’re under even if the ending they threw us looked more suited for Busou Renkin rather than Claymore. Overall I think Claymore is a good, enjoyable series.
On another note, I’m happy Raki finally got to confess :-P.
I was really annoyed with Raki’s preventing Clare from her revenge thing, mainly because his argument was cliche and flawed and it seemed like they were preserving Priscilla in case they make a second season or OVA. First of all, he says that Clare shouldn’t kill Priscilla because that’d just make her a yoma but technically, Priscilla is just a psycho-confused-homicidal YOMA who has very strong powers and could go haywire TO HARM MANY MORE PEOPLE BY EATING THEIR GUTS ANY TIME SHE WISHED AND/OR DESTORY WHOLE CITIES WITH HER BUDDY ISLEY. I’m not bitching about deviation from manga, I’m just talking about the weakness in the ending. Second, he says that people who’ve lost loved ones to yoma shouldn’t be fighting each other…well yeah, that’s because he has some misplaced pity for Priscilla but he hasn’t fully witnessed her fully awakened homicidal bitch state where she thinks everyone killed her family and wants to kill them. It’s not the fact that Clare shouldn’t be getting revenge, it’s mainly, as I repeated, that Priscilla is fucking dangerous…and should be got rid of. Jeez. Now, any more deaths by Priscilla is on Raki’s head. Whiney.
I have to agree with jo. One can completely disregard the manga, and how much better it was, and instead focus purely on the anime and still arrive at the conclusion that the anime failed on its own. It felt too forced and suddenly generic, as if the producers suddenly thought “Oh no, we can’t have a show where women are able to solve things on their own, we MUST insert the useless male whiner!” It just didn’t flow at all. At least before they lose themselves to the Awakening, virtually ALL the actual Claymores want to, if nothing else, at least die with their humanity in control instead of as a Yoma. Raki, even after seeing all sorts of shit, still just takes the retarded “no, LOVE AND TEARS SOLVES ALL” stance, which particularly feels out of place in this show after all they go through.
Also, the whole thing really cheapens the deaths of Flora et al. Not compared to the manga, but on its own, I felt the Claymore anime really went downhill big time, mainly due to sudden use of the exact same generic annoying cliches we’ve seen a hundred times before and the ignoring of important and interesting character interaction in favor of boring filler. Disappointing because it started so well and had a lot going for it. Oh well.
@Arakan7, Indeed, the backgrounds are really nice especially in the final few scenes. The colors suddenly got much more …er… colorful, I think it’s a really nice touch.
@Max, When I read the manga I felt a little bit spoilt but even then every episode was brilliant, perhaps it’s because claymore isn’t one of those talking shows like death note. Since I read the Death Note manga and never really got back into the anime again.
@kiseki gurl, of course there are bits I didn’t like about the ending but this ending is expected, really. Afterall, I am sure you guys have heard enough bitching from else where, not to mention the finale isn’t that bad considering the previous episodes that lead up to it pretty much forecasted this already.
@jo and anon, I have to agree that Raki seems a bit out of place, he has always been annoying with his whining but in this episode really feels like he doesn’t even need to be there. Priscilla’s survival was more of a , as my friend would say, “save her for another fight” thing. but at least we can be happy that the ending suggests there may be a continuation of some sort.
sequel sequel sequel~
Hi,
I believe that if Clare were to give Priscilla the final blow, she might have gotten killed by Easley (just consider what he says after he picked Priscilla up and consider the meeting the other Nr.1 (forgot her name sorry)). Of course I’d have felt better if she were to get her revenge, because it was what one would expect.
It was quite annoying how Raki prevented Clare from getting her revenge. That kind of makes several deaths among the Claymores invain. Besides: Priscilla did not spare Teresa and used a very cheap trick to kill her - I was quite mad at that episode (8 if I remember correctly). If Teresa let herself awaken a bit, she’d probably be so powerful, that noone would be able to withstand her.
Overall the review is fine. I agree on most of the parts. Probably because I haven’t read the manga and don’t intend to as I don’t like reading stuff. However I also look forward to a sequel, because I’d like to know more about the organization, their reasons to lead this fight and well yeah the outcome of Priscilla and Clare. I hope that the organization won’t get into clichees such as “world domination” - because that’ would be most retarded.
I agree, but I think they had to let Priscilla live in order to make the ending as open as possible to make room for a sequel, or at least the option to do so. Even if the manga differs alot, it is possible to carry on the series, but either way i dont think its going to be in the near future.
I really think you should make an exception and read claymore, simply because it’s amazing. Right now the story is getting interesting and more of the orgainization’s goals are being revealed.