Claymore {TV Series} - General Discussion Thread

[monir]

http://content.imagesocket.com/thumbs/claymorea19.jpg (http://imagesocket.com/view/claymorea19.jpg)

Production Company: Madhouse (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=producer&prid=15)

Genre: Action

Expected Release Date: April 2007

Website: http://www.j-claymore.com/

The show will be based on its manga counterpart by Norihiro Yagi which is serialized in the monthly Shounen Jump. Reading the synopsis doesn't make this show any more exciting, but the involvement of Madhouse does. Tanaka Hiroyuki (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=5861) is credited as the director whose resume reads he has mostly worked as the animation/assistant director for a few impressive series such as the Gokusen and Shingu. Two of the voice actors listed for the show are Kuwashima Houko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281) as Clare and Paku Romi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=7021) as Teresa (who also voices Temari in Naruto). The synopsis in the following is taken from AniDB (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4892):
The setting of the story is a fictional world of abundant towns where humans coexist with demons called Yoma. These monsters feed on humans as their main source of food, hiding themselves in human society until they strike.

A group of skilled warriors form a nameless organization to protect humans from these demons. These warriors are called Claymores, after their immense Claymore weapons. They willingly infuse themselves with demon flesh and blood to become powerful half-human hybrids. Villages in danger of attack hire warriors from the organisation for protection.

The story of Claymore follows the adventures of the beautiful Claymore warrior Claire, who fights demons and struggles to hold on to her humanity.

Long ago, the Yoma, the shape changing demons, took human form to live in disguise among human society. They feed on human innards, and take possession of memories from the brains of people they eat. These acquired memories help them better disguise themselves within human society.

In recent years, a secret society discovers a way of implanting demon bodies and body parts into humans, to create hybrids more powerful than the original demons. Hybrid`s standard abilities include faster healing, limited shape modification, the ability to detect other demons and hybrids, and overall enhanced physical prowess. Almost all hybrids are created against their will; they are typically survivors of families attacked by demons. The only exception is the lead character, who volunteered to become a hybrid to avenge her family. The society sends hybrids to towns that can afford their fares to kill demons, although not every hybrid does so willingly (this is implied in the manga.) The society is often strict and harsh; hybrids who break the rules risk being hunted down by their fellow hybrids.

[NoSanninWa]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A friend of mine just lent me 5 volumes of Claymore last week. I gobbled them down like candy. When I was done I told him it would make an absolutely incredible anime. The char designs, the intensity of their feelings, the incredible battles. It is just made to be animated. You have just made me a happy moderator by passing on this news.

I can't wait to find out who will voice Clare.

[Nightengale]

Read above, NoSanninWa. It's Kuwashima Houko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281) as Clare.

When I heard that Claymore was getting an anime adaption not too long back, I was iinitially excited and worried, as Claymore's pale atmosphere in the manga expressed with it's art style and tone can be oh so easily botched by animation. But seeing Madhouse as the animator eases me a little, as they've proven times that they're very capable in catching the essence of the manga and translating it perfectly, even improving it as animation. Death Note, Monster, Black Lagoon and BECK are some quality examples.

It probably won't have too great of action sequences since Madhouse is still madhousing their animations like there's no tomorrow (( SaiMono 1/2, Death Note, Devil May Cry, etc )) , but hey, who am I to complain?

Edit : Apparenty NoSanninWa did an edit after a reread. :P

[NoSanninWa]

Ah. I can't wait to hear Kuwashima Houko's Clare. Personally I imagined Mamiko Noto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3166)'s gentle, but intense voice for the role. Hopefully I'll like Kuwashima Houko in this part. Thinking of how she portrayed Kirika, it might be very well cast.

[monir]

Oh my! If you are saying this, then the show has something to look forward to.

[NoSanninWa]

It is an intense and suspenseful action manga with a very intense, very complicated human element. It was just born to be animated. And with 11 volumes out in Japan, the length of this series might be quite decent.

[White Manju Bun]

Wow, the summary sounds awesome. And then I see that Paku Romi is in it and now Im offically sold! Sucks we have to wait til April

[Same_Shark]

Can't wait for the anime! Clare looks kinda skinny though.

[Xellos-_^]

Ah. I can't wait to hear Kuwashima Houko's Clare. Personally I imagined Mamiko Noto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3166)'s gentle, but intense voice for the role. Hopefully I'll like Kuwashima Houko in this part. Thinking of how she portrayed Kirika, it might be very well cast.


The few roles i remeber Mamiko Noto doing, i just don't see her as Claire.

When i was reading the reading i had Ayako Kawasumi (Aka Sabre) in my head for Claire's voice. However I also love Kuwashima Houko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281)'s work, she has a incredible range of voices.

Claymore has a very berserk like setting. Dark, low magic and very violent. It is also one of the few manga i seen that have severl female characters and doesn't use big boobs to sell.

[NoSanninWa]

I imagine Clare with a very gentle soft voice. That's why Mamiko Noto comes to mind.

Claymore has a very berserk like setting. Dark, low magic and very violent. It is also one of the few manga i seen that have severl female characters and doesn't use big boobs to sell.Not "low magic" it is more like NO magic. As for the darkness of the setting, the opening lines of the Bastard OVAs come to mind, "Human beings were miserably inadequate."

[Xellos-_^]

I imagine Clare with a very gentle soft voice. That's why Mamiko Noto comes to mind.

Not "low magic" it is more like NO magic. As for the darkness of the setting, the opening lines of the Bastard OVAs come to mind, "Human beings were miserably inadequate."


There are some magic. If there is no magic the girls wouldn't be able to beat the demons.

[ashefatal]

Just wondering. Is the manga worth buying? Or is it a borrow from a friend and read their copy? material. It looks interesting from what I read on the internet (is talking about summaries and what not, not scanlations) so I was wondering whether or not to invest in buying the volumes.

[Xellos-_^]

Just wondering. Is the manga worth buying? Or is it a borrow from a friend and read their copy? material. It looks interesting from what I read on the internet (is talking about summaries and what not, not scanlations) so I was wondering whether or not to invest in buying the volumes.

I wouldn't say anything other read it first and decide for yourselve. My taste might not be your taste. I always read a manga first before buying.

[Haohmaru]

Read above, NoSanninWa. It's
It probably won't have too great of action sequences since Madhouse is still madhousing their animations like there's no tomorrow (( SaiMono 1/2, Death Note, Devil May Cry, etc )) , but hey, who am I to complain?
So true. I haven't seen any great action anime (tv series) from Madhouse.
I mean Hajime no Ippo wasn't bad but it didn't have great animation either. Same with Black Lagoon.
Madhouse movies and OVA's on the other hand look spectacular. The lastest 2 movies Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo & Paprika looked awesome.

[NoSanninWa]

There are some magic. If there is no magic the girls wouldn't be able to beat the demons.I don't see any magic involved. I believe that the only thing involved is surgery. It is even possible that the youma are merely awesomely dangerous lifeforms, not magical at all. At least I haven't seen anything yet that screams magic to me.

Just wondering. Is the manga worth buying? Or is it a borrow from a friend and read their copy? material.
I think it is worth buying, but your milage might differ. Borrow a friends and read it. If you like it, then purchase your own copy. That's what I'm doing.

[Zu Ra]

Its action oriented yes the name Claymore says it all . Dumb Q : Is Claymore like Berserk ? Can we expect something in the lines of that

[Nightengale]

It has the same "feel" as Berserk does on some basis such as a psuedo-medieval setting and demons, even though Berserk's feel is more of black, black, black toned series while Claymore employs a tone of gray-ness.

And although it's just a personal opinion, Claymore just doesn't the same epic~ scale that Berserk holds. It's best to not compare Claymore and Berserk or most people would just end up dissapointed.

[Anh_Minh]

Arms that regrow in a matter of minutes are magic. I mean, just from a conservation of mass point of view, it should not happen. And let's not even talk about the greater transformations.

[NoSanninWa]

Its action oriented yes the name Claymore says it all . Dumb Q : Is Claymore like Berserk ? Can we expect something in the lines of that
While there is some slight resemblance, I would say that they are not alike. Berserk is about epic evil with a protagonist who exists only to fight. Claymore is a much more human story.

[psycho bolt]

I hope this won't be a flip flop anime. I am really hoping for this anime to be interesting; I've been waiting for a good fantasy setting anime since Berserk.

[Hunter]

Great new! Thanks monir ^^

[ZODDGUTS]

I'm looking forward to this anime I've read the first 6 volumes and it's good. Hopefully Madhouse does a decent job with the action scenes because there's plenty of them in the manga.

[NoSanninWa]

Sadly most Madhouse (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=392) shows do not have many action scenes, such as Death Note, Paradise Kiss for instance and I don't much like the action in some of their other shows like X. However they did do Getbackers and Gunslinger Girls so I am hopeful. With a record like that we won't really know what we're getting until it happens.

[Nightengale]

Madhouse's not one to be consistent on their action animation scenes. Saiunkoku Monogatari for one has some of the worse action scenes I've seen in anime. Black Lagoon's action quality increases and drops depending on the episode, but it's nothing epic for a one-cour show. However, shows like Sakura Taisen, Getbackers, Hajime no Ippo are also testament to how they can produce quality action scenes when they feel like it...or rather when they aren't killing their staff animators by telling them to draw scenes for 10 animes at a time. :P

If anything, I'm slightly worried at how they're planning to end Claymore. The manga-run at this point is far from ending, and there's only one point in the manga currently that could work as a standalone to-be-continued ending without feeling too out of place. But naturally, even that answers nothing.

[wao]

Huh? Wasn't Getbackers by Studio Deen?

I think it's not quite fair to judge a particular studio for not being able to come up with action scenes. While some studios build up a particular image and do have a forte in certain things (like Ghibli and BONES) I don't think Madhouse is one of them since they do such a humongous range of things in very differing quality. The same studio did Tokyo Godfathers, Death Note, Kemonozume and Okusama wa Joshikousei - all extremely extremely different shows in terms of aesthetic and content...

I might be wrong, but I think with Madhouse it depends more on the main creative staff, and depending on how much control they wield over the individual episodes' staff, then it's also up to those people.
Then again the production of anime's more complex than that, it also depends on the demands of the producers and the budget and schedule too...

[duckroll]

Wow, for people to say that Madhouse is not good with action anime just shows how ignorant some people are of what Madhouse is. Madhouse is Kawajiri's studio, famous for movies like Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll, X and TV series like Trigun, Gungrave, Ninja Scroll TV and X TV. They're also the ones behind the animation for the Animatrix shorts World Record and Program.

If there's anything that Madhouse *is* famous for, it's for intense action packed anime. Just because they handle about 6 shows per season and their recent projects aren't action packed types of show doesn't mean it's not their speciality.

[Haohmaru]

Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust=Movie
Ninja Scroll=Movie
X tv=Pretty good action scenes but very short most of the times
Trigun=ok animation
Gungrave=ok animation
Ninja Scroll=ok animation

Madhouse has really good animation when they put effort in it. They show this in their movies. But I haven't seen fights that blew me away in their tv series.
X tv came closest with that. I loved X tv's action scenes but they were so short.

[a_nevels666]

Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust=Movie
Ninja Scroll=Movie
X tv=Pretty good action scenes but very short most of the times
Trigun=ok animation
Gungrave=ok animation
Ninja Scroll=ok animation

Madhouse has really good animation when they put effort in it. They show this in their movies. But I haven't seen fights that blew me away in their tv series.
X tv came closest with that. I loved X tv's action scenes but they were so short.


Hajime no Ippo is easily of the best action anime TV series there is, with some of the best fight scenes out there and consistently good animation.
Madhouse = king of action scenes.
The main problem with TV series is that there isn't always enough funding.

[7Th]

Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust=Movie
Ninja Scroll=Movie
X tv=Pretty good action scenes but very short most of the times
Trigun=ok animation
Gungrave=ok animation
Ninja Scroll=ok animation

Madhouse has really good animation when they put effort in it. They show this in their movies. But I haven't seen fights that blew me away in their tv series.
X tv came closest with that. I loved X tv's action scenes but they were so short.

Watch Paranoia Agent and Kemonozume. Best Madhouse animated TV shows.

[Haohmaru]

Forgot about those. I've seen them. Hajimme no Ippo was awesome because of the characters and story. Action scenes were good (like the guy with the shotgun who beat that dude, awesome fight), but not all the fights had good animation. A lot of re-used animation too.

Kemonozume wasn't that hard to animate since it has no to little detail. Fights were nothing special IMO.
Haven't seen Paranoia Agent.
But you're right about the funding. Madhouse has shown that they're really good. Why not trust them and give them a bigger budget.

[Sonhex]

Some nifty screenshots from the anime ...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore04.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore06.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore07.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore08.jpg


I assume these are from the first episode.

[BluWacky]

Kemonozume wasn't that hard to animate since it has no to little detail. Fights were nothing special IMO.

...words fail me.

Anyway, Madhouse with budget and Kawajiri/Rin Taro = awesome fight scenes, Madhouse with no budget and Korean outsourcing = speedlines at dawn. Here's hoping it's the former (Claymore has pretty decent circulation, right? Should be able to get some decent sponsors)

[monir]

Some nifty screenshots from the anime ...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore04.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore06.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore07.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore08.jpg


I assume these are from the first episode.
Screenshots look pretty nice, though I admit my skepticism toward a show that features monster won't go away until I see a few episodes of it. I won't even ask how did you manage to get your hand on the screens., or will I? :thinker:

[Sonhex]

Screenshots look pretty nice, though I admit my skepticism toward a show that features monster won't go away until I see a few episodes of it.

Same here really. I have zero expectations (never read the manga) but the screens look promising - the character design is quite detailed, the action appears blood thirsty so that may be a bonus. The monsters do look a bit basic though, but these things are always hard to guage by screenshots alone.

I won't even ask how did you manage to get your hand on the screens., or will I? :thinker:

Found them on my travels at GA News (http://ga.sbcr.jp/news/0702/099/index.html) (they seem to be getting scoops on new anime lately it seems). There's also some photos of the seiyuus on the last day of recording on that page for those interested in such things. :p

[Crystal_Method]

Some nifty screenshots from the anime ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore02.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore03.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore04.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore05.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore06.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore07.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/sonhex/claymore08.jpg
I assume these are from the first episode.

Looks like the show will live up to the manga's action. Also the character designs were done very well, so I have no complaints.

I don't think those screens are just from episode 1, it wouldn't make sense if they had Clare fight an awakened claymore right in the first episode. Also is that other claymore supposed to be Clare's friend who sends her the black letter? Doesn't really look like it.

[NoSanninWa]

If those screenshots are all from episode 1, then they are mixing up the order of the story.

Putting that aside, the screenshots look great.

[Drytchnath]

If those screenshots are all from episode 1, then they are mixing up the order of the story.

Putting that aside, the screenshots look great.

Yea i noticed the jumbled timeline shown there as well...lets hope it doesnt go overboard. And in that last shot Clare's profile looks all kinds of messed up with her nose, its almost double the size of the manga design and very angular.

Hmm, maybe my expectations are a little too high?

[DangerMouse]

I think her overall design in those shots looks great, but I haven't really seen an awful lot of the manga since I'm more of an animation person. That angle always seems to be bad for human noses lol.

I really like the rather unique (I can't even think of the right descriptive word, since I know so little about art) style of the designs for the human characters displayed in those shots, and detail and shadow work on them, the style and the color palette seem more like the style used in anime movies rather than tv shows which I think is going to be a treat.

If the third shot is reminiscent of the action scenes I think this show is going to be awesome and well funded. It looks like perhaps the "weighty" shots will be augmented with something much more cinematic than speed lines and at the same time will keep the real background and thereby not take us out of the environment, I love this style and it's pretty rare for obvious reasons. Scrapped Princess often did this for the sword fights and I loved how smooth and exciting it made the action flow by not taking me out of the moment.

From these screens it certainly wouldn't surprise me if that were the case, I love the more movie-like camera angles like in shot #5 and the close personal shot in the last one since there's just something about it that I think makes it feel heavier than usual, perhaps it's the color and line work, almost making it feel more detailed than it really is. (Then again these are shots and not screenshots from media player heh)

Perhaps someone else can put it better into words (when looking at the last 5 shots), but there's just something great and different thanks to the adaptation artist and the original manga artist, camera choices, and colors that gives the look of the show something a bit more "anime-film like".

Edit: I don't mean that they'll be able to do it like an feature, since that's just asking for disappointment, but more in that style than the typical TV series, if that makes any sense :)

[Quajafrie]

Whoa, these shots are love. I think that, with Madhouse, it goes like this: Manga is good -> Anime is good (and sometimes better). They've become experts with adaptations, having exciting direction tricks and different camera methods which bring the manga to a new level (examples: Death Note, Monster, NANA?). Let's hope they'll do the same with Claymore.

Kemonozume wasn't that hard to animate since it has no to little detail. Fights were nothing special IMO.
Okay...

[Manatsu]

Yea i noticed the jumbled timeline shown there as well...lets hope it doesnt go overboard.

I checked and that actually looks like chapter 3 of volume 1.

Any news about the anime series length? I have read till volume 10 of the manga, I don't remember any point where it's suitable to put an ending.

[nadare]

Really its chapter 3? I thought she wont be fighting an awakened being till that church incident...

[Crystal_Method]

Chapter 3 is the scene with a youma disguised as a claymore to trick rakki. The church incident also wasn't an awakened claymore incident, it's just that they believed it was a voracious eater which later you find out most of the time is an awakened claymore. However the only reason why it ate a lot was because it was a youma in a corpse. The first time you are introduced to an awakened claymore is in volume 5 chapter 27, I think, when Clare has to team up with number 6, 15, and 22. It's the first time Clare had to fight one too.

[NoSanninWa]

Let's not get into too much discussion of exactly what heppened in the manga since this is a TV discussion thread. Such discussion is either annoying or spoilers for those who haven't read the manga.

[Keirn]

Is there a promo video for this anime? (I don't know if ALL animes have a promo, but most I have watched have had a promo video)

[aohige]

I wonder what the manga series is gonna do...

Monthly Shonen Jump is ending publication (!!!) with the July 2007 issue released on 6/6.
The magazine has been running print since 1969.... but publisher Shuueisha is planning to focus on Weekly Shonen Jump, and decided to end publication of monthly Jump.

It's somewhat understandable, as there aren't any popular manga other than Claymore and Beet that's running in it.... No word yet on where the manga series serialized in Monthly Jump are moving to. :upset:

I wonder what kind of ramifications this could have on the anime series....
If Claymore takes too much time finding a shuueisha magazine to serialize on, that's less time anime has to catch up to it. :(

[NoSanninWa]

Since Claymore is one of only 2 popular manga in Monthy Shounen Jump, I suspect that Suisensha will get them into another periodical ASAP.

Is there a promo video for this anime? (I don't know if ALL animes have a promo, but most I have watched have had a promo video)
Not at this time. Maybe in the future since there are still a few month before it airs.

[Nightengale]

Madhouse isn't like Sunrise, Pierrot or Toei Animation. I highly doubt it'll get that treatment. Besides, should Madhouse even get to where the manga currently is at this point, they'd be taking a lot of liberties since the manga is NOWHERE close to a sign of ending, and the current arc isn't a suitable place to tie in an anime original ending either.

Most likely it'll go the Black Lagoon route.

I believe the anime will end prior to the timeskip. It's a suitable place to end with it's heavy climax and battles worthy of episode finales.

[Drytchnath]

Madhouse isn't like Sunrise, Pierrot or Toei Animation. I highly doubt it'll get that treatment. Besides, should Madhouse even get to where the manga currently is at this point, they'd be taking a lot of liberties since the manga is NOWHERE close to a sign of ending, and the current arc isn't a suitable place to tie in an anime original ending either.

Most likely it'll go the Black Lagoon route.

I believe the anime will end prior to the timeskip. It's a suitable place to end with it's heavy climax and battles worthy of episode finales.

I'm confused, are you praising or putting down Madhouse? I thought they were regarded pretty highly but maybe I'm mistaken?

[Nightengale]

It's a praise. Madhouse has a very good, solid track record of manga adaptions. The comparison with other studios is just to indicate that Madhouse isn't the type of studio to explicitly create fillers for incomplete mangas just to wait for the mangaka to draw more material or even randomly pull out an anime original ending, especially when it's possible for the anime to stop at one particular point of the manga without being extremely bad.

[Drytchnath]

I see, If they go the Black Lagoon route that'd be great, maybe make 3 to 4 12 episode seasons with breaks in between to avoid filler.

[ashefatal]

Picked up the first volume, and the veridct is I can't wait to get my hands on the second volume, I'll be looking forward for the anime :)

[Jazzrat]

The youma/demons in the screenshots looks rather generic. I wish they would put more creative efforts in them, then again, the only one manga that i honestly like the monster/demon design was Ushio & Tora (which is like from the 1990 :heh: )

Is this like one of those "monster of the week" kinda story? or is it something deeper/darker?

[NoSanninWa]

deeper/darker.

It only pretends to be doing the "monster of the week" thing at the beginning while the characters and setting are being introduced. That way the action doesn't distract from more important things. Once you know which way is up, then things start getting really interesting. And the monster designs start getting much more interesting too.

[Joojoobees]

I was curious about this title, so I looked at the first volume of the Manga. It seems to be a bit "deeper/darker" as the hero is herself considered a monster by the villagers in the first story. Apparently the way the monster-killers acquire their power is by consuming (?) some of the monsters themselves (thus becoming half-monsters). I suspect this sets up the deeper tension in the show.

[masama]

Saw the covers of the Claymore manga and thought it looked interesting and gave it a shot. it started off a bit slow and predictable but little did i know I ended up spending my saturday reading all volumes and chapters to date. I'd have to say that was well worth it, I really enjoyed it and a very good manga indeed. :) Monthly Shonen Jump is ending publication (!!!) with the July 2007 issue released on 6/6.
I wonder what kind of ramifications this could have on the anime series....
If Claymore takes too much time finding a shuueisha magazine to serialize on, that's less time anime has to catch up to it I doubt the anime will ever catch up with the manga since it'll probably end early, but still let's all pray Claymore'll be serialized on weekly jump :bow:
and the current arc isn't a suitable place to tie in an anime original ending either.
I believe the anime will end prior to the timeskip. It's a suitable place to end with it's heavy climax and battles worthy of episode finales.
thats about ~ch60 right? ditto, that'll make a great ending but at the same time it'll annoy the hell out of people as to what happened to Clare and co. Though if they do end it like what happened in the manga then at least it'll leave leave possibilities for a second season.
about Berserk and Claymore similarities... I think they are similar in many ways, especially the way the stories unfold. Like how the Gut/Clare kick ass at the start, their sad past stories, some kind of time skip, and now second part of the story. Claymore is like a smaller scale version of Berserk with no orgies.quite frankly I'm looking forward to the next chapter more than the anime, probably because of the cliffhanger as of ch70, a month wait... ahhhhh the anxiety.
Anyway in general I do find the anime to be less interesting if I read the manga already, but the animation might prove otherwise.

[Daniel E.]

I was curious about this title, so I looked at the first volume of the Manga.

Same here (already starting with Vol. 2). Looks interesting. More than willing to check the anime now. :D

[Sonhex]

Footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0) from TAF on Youtube. Not the best quality video, but it gives us an idea of what Claymore looks like animated. With all the trailers and PVs floating around this one didn't leave much of an impact on me tbh, but that could be the crap quality of the video. It's not the best material to form an opinion but your mileage may vary...

[Skane]

Footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0) from TAF on Youtube. Not the best quality video, but it gives us an idea of what Claymore looks like animated. With all the trailers and PVs floating around this one didn't leave much of an impact on me tbh, but that could be the crap quality of the video. It's not the best material to form an opinion but your mileage may vary...
Madhouse does it again. :D They nailed the manga-artstyle down pat. I recognise those scenes too... looking forward to the first episode very much. :)

Woot!

[Daniel E.]

Footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0) from TAF on Youtube. Not the best quality video, but it gives us an idea of what Claymore looks like animated. With all the trailers and PVs floating around this one didn't leave much of an impact on me tbh, but that could be the crap quality of the video. It's not the best material to form an opinion but your mileage may vary...

I am expecting much from this show. Here's hoping the whole thing doesn't bomb in our faces. >_< !!

[Joojoobees]

Footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0) from TAF on Youtube.

Yeah, it's hard to tell anything based on that. Thanks for posting the URL anyways, as I am very curious about this series. The artwork I have seen from the manga is interesting; I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but it has a certain refined (elegant?) quality to it. It appears that will come through in the animation, which is encouraging.

I only read the first 1/2 of the first volume of the manga, so I don't know anything about the plot, and that clip was completely useless as far as getting a sense of the sound, so there is still no telling how this one will turn out. Still, aside from Seiri no Moribito, this is the series I've got highest hopes for in the new season.

[ZODDGUTS]

Looks like are animated good enough so my worries of it ending up just like Tenjo Tenge (good art but stillshot action scenes) lessen.

[Shinndou]

I am sucker for dark medieval/fantasy stories, so I'll probably be watching this, especially after having seen that promo video. And I am glad Madhouse is taking care of it, I do hope they'll reserve the same treatment they did for their recent series (Black Lagoon, Death Note), because this could turn out to be a true badass title. :)

P.S. I'd be really grateful if anyone could eventually find and share any scan (from the anime, rather than the manga) of this serie, if there was any scan available of course. (from magazines most likely) :)

[monir]

Footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0) from TAF on Youtube. Not the best quality video, but it gives us an idea of what Claymore looks like animated. With all the trailers and PVs floating around this one didn't leave much of an impact on me tbh, but that could be the crap quality of the video. It's not the best material to form an opinion but your mileage may vary...

While I'm in the same boat as Sonhex there in regards to getting my hopes up yet, I must say Clare looked superb ( :love: ) even in this crappy quality footage. And not to mention the other scene where she slices that monster..... :eek: The quality of the video couldn't hide the high quality animation in that particular scene. April should be a fun month.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Saw the first chapter in a Shonen Jump and didn't really care much for Claire. Though now that I have a chance to see the whole series I'll see if she gets any less withdrawn since I don't like that brooding and withdrawn character archetype. From what I've read on Wikipedia it reminds me a lot of Hokuto No Ken, only with a woman.

[DangerMouse]

Finally got to see that video, I think I'm really going to like this. I haven't read the manga and have only skimmed it, but I've read about the storyline and think it should make for a great show.

And I don't know if it's just me but as I said when those early screenshots were posted, I personally love the unique art style and character design style (and color selection) Madhouse has put together for this show! In all of the shots Claire (is that how she's spelled in the manga translation?) looks so awesome, definitely my kind of dark fantasy lead. I don't have a clue about "camera" work, but to me they are using some neat dynamic camera moves in those action shots and these character designs look great in the closeups especially on the faces, like the awesome closeup at the end of the video and the zoom in on the eyes as they change, that animation was really nicely done by them.

Madhouse is always great at this kind of show so I can't wait for this to start.

[monir]

...............I don't like that brooding and withdrawn character archetype.
So says an avid mecha-fan! :heh: Kaioshin is such a kidder. :D

[7Th]

So says an avid mecha-fan! :heh: Kaioshin is such a kidder. :D

Nah, most mecha main characters are either cry-babies, emo teens or hot-blooded idiots.

[Kaioshin Sama]

So says an avid mecha-fan! :heh: Kaioshin is such a kidder. :D

I think you may have got me there. I'm not sure what it was I didn't like, perhaps it was the lack of any real connection between the boy and Clare. Since discussion of the manga is likely forbidden in these types of threads I'm not going to discuss it. We'll wait till after episode one and the refresher it brings. The first impression it had on me was mediocore though compared to Gintama and Death Note which were also previewed once in Shonen Jump, that's why I approach the series with caution.

[Nightengale]

I think you may have got me there. I'm not sure what it was I didn't like, perhaps it was the lack of any real connection between the boy and Clare. Since discussion of the manga is likely forbidden in these types of threads I'm not going to discuss it. We'll wait till after episode one and the refresher it brings. The first impression it had on me was mediocore though compared to Gintama and Death Note which were also previewed once in Shonen Jump, that's why I approach the series with caution.

I think I get what you're not liking about Claymore now, even though I think that Claymore does pick up it's pace more than what you previewed.

You're probably not enjoying the character interaction dynamics of Claymore. I'll be honest here, that is one part of Claymore I didn't think was very good as well. It improves later on, but I suppose the fact that most of the characters are 'monster-destroying half-monster females" does hinder that. It does limit the richness of the cast, for the sake of realism within the Claymore context.

Well, aside from the bad quality of the cam-trailer, (( and an even shitty audio )), I'd say that on the respect of the atmosphere, Madhouse had pretty much caught Claymore heads on. Like I previously worried about, one of Claymore's manga style is the broody, gray atmosphere of the manga in a strangely half-barren medieval world and the colours of the anime really reflects that strongly. Well, the part of the trailer with the long-haired Claymore does seem a bit contrasting with the rest of the more rich, moodly vibrant colours of the trailer, but it'll depend on the context of that. And looks like at least the animation will be good, with solid use of camera and effect-add ons.

Looks like it'll be another Madhouse adaption that enriches the manga experience even more.

C'mon, Madhouse, do Red Eyes next. :P

[DangerMouse]

I think I get what you're not liking about Claymore now, even though I think that Claymore does pick up it's pace more than what you previewed.

You're probably not enjoying the character interaction dynamics of Claymore. I'll be honest here, that is one part of Claymore I didn't think was very good as well. It improves later on, but I suppose the fact that most of the characters are 'monster-destroying half-monster females" does hinder that. It does limit the richness of the cast, for the sake of realism within the Claymore context.


Nice, sounds pretty unique. Does that mean we'll actually get a rare case of getting to watch a strong moody character without a common romance-building arc masquerading as character development breaking up the plot and "real" character development, atleast for a while?

One thing I'm curious on, does most of the character development come from "real time" or "flash backs"? It's fine either way but it'd be cool if the character backgrounds add richness to the characters but doesn't contain all of the meat other than what sets up Claire's story and what she's like ofcourse. :)

[Sheba]

C'mon, Madhouse, do Red Eyes next. :P

It'd be so fcking awesome.

[masama]

Saw the footage and I'd have to say it looks amazing, quality animation with great light shadow contrasts from what I can tell.
One thing I'm curious on, does most of the character development come from "real time" or "flash backs"? It's fine either way but it'd be cool if the character backgrounds add richness to the characters but doesn't contain all of the meat other than what sets up Claire's story and what she's like ofcourse. :)Clare and most other characters tend to have flashbacks, except Raki (that boy you see in video) I guess.

Anyone knows when is the exact release date? I know it's April but I can't seem to find the exact date. Sorry if it was mentioned before.

[DangerMouse]

Saw the footage and I'd have to say it looks amazing, quality animation with great light shadow contrasts from what I can tell.
Clare and most other characters tend to have flashbacks, except Raki (that boy you see in video) I guess.

Anyone knows when is the exact release date? I know it's April but I can't seem to find the exact date. Sorry if it was mentioned before.

Ok I was just curious, flashbacks can certainly be awesome, as long as the current story is eventually just as good as what happened in the past.

ANN and the Japanese Claymore sites show it as starting April 3rd :)

[Dandruff]

I have April 3rd circled on my calender xD I'm enjoying the manga, on volume 3 right now and I like the look in the screenshots and the footage. Color really does enhance a picture.

So yes it's going to be awesome for a lack of a better word to see the story animated, 'be brought to life'..etc ^o^

[Ioriya]

Anidb has it marked as 4/4/07, but the main Japanese site has as 4/3/07.

http://www.ntv.co.jp/claymore/

This series and Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is what im looking forward to in the next season of Anime

[NoSanninWa]

Anidb has it marked as 4/4/07, but the main Japanese site has as 4/3/07.

Not really a contradiction. It is scheduled for 25:26 on 4/3. That is how they list the schedule for really late night TV. It is shown as an after-midnight hour on the previous day. We call that 1:26 AM on 4/4.

[Vexx]

I guess the make-or-break for me will be the quality of the swordfights and the animation of them. Real swordfighting is quite different from the silly stuff that infests a lot of braggart shonen shows. I've seen excellent animation of japanese-style swordwork in Tsukikage Ran.... so I'm curious to see what they're able to do here. The fantasy level is very high though so this item is on my "marginal but give it a chance" list.

[Xellos-_^]

I guess the make-or-break for me will be the quality of the swordfights and the animation of them. Real swordfighting is quite different from the silly stuff that infests a lot of braggart shonen shows. I've seen excellent animation of japanese-style swordwork in Tsukikage Ran.... so I'm curious to see what they're able to do here. The fantasy level is very high though so this item is on my "marginal but give it a chance" list.


Form what i seen of the manga the sword fights are closer to the a chinese martial novel then real life sword fight.

[DangerMouse]

I guess the make-or-break for me will be the quality of the swordfights and the animation of them. Real swordfighting is quite different from the silly stuff that infests a lot of braggart shonen shows. I've seen excellent animation of japanese-style swordwork in Tsukikage Ran.... so I'm curious to see what they're able to do here. The fantasy level is very high though so this item is on my "marginal but give it a chance" list.

Another show that does it very good is Jubei-chan (and Jubei-chan 2), the sword fights are usually rather quick but man they are smooth as silk.

I do agree though the animation of the action is going to be key, I love the look of the anime but if they can't animate the fights better than a "200+ ep shonen show" it just won't keep that coherent feel that this show looks like it should get from the visual-style alone (since I don't know the storyline in detail). Fortunately the almost anime movie-style camera angles and animation enhancements (to me the speed-"line" enhanced clip in the trailer where she's charging the monster scene doesn't look like the usual cheap speed-lines but the more fitting kind and that there is an actual background during it as well) make me hopeful it will have nicely animated action like Madhouse is usually reliable for, but some trailers are misleading so I guess we'll find out when it airs, please be kind Madhouse, this show looks perfect for you :)

[Drytchnath]

That little video snippet has alleviated a few of my fears surrounding the quality of the show in general. Hopefully it'll be consistent unlike shows like Blood+ were the 1st episode was absolutely beautiful but took a sharp dive in quality from ep.2 and just got progressively worse as the show dragged on.

[Shinndou]

That little video snippet has alleviated a few of my fears surrounding the quality of the show in general. Hopefully it'll be consistent unlike shows like Blood+ were the 1st episode was absolutely beautiful but took a sharp dive in quality from ep.2 and just got progressively worse as the show dragged on.

Sorry but I fail to understand how can a trailer prove that the animation will be "consistent" if this anime hasn't even started airing yet. I guess it'd be wise to talk about consistency only after having viewed a good portion of this serie (like the first half of it) to be able to give such a bold judgement like that one, don't you think? The trailer was good, but we cannot really say that the quality will remain consistent (we can only hope on that so far) until we get to watch a good number of episodes. In any case I do hope it will be consistent, although I do also expect that some episode might possibly not have the same quality (it did happen with both Black Lagoon and Death Note already).

[Crystal_Method]

The trailer didn't give much of what I expected. It looks good, but it seemed like there wasn't as much gore and action as I thought there should be. Then again, it's only a trailer so obviously I can't make any conclusions. Also I couldn't hear any of the background music which usually gets me hyped up. I hope Madhouse did a good job animating the action scenes, the trailer only showed like 2 seconds of battle scenes.

I have to say all of the new shows coming out this year seem to look really good in terms of visual quality.

[Stoke]

Sorry but I fail to understand how can a trailer prove that the animation will be "consistent" if this anime hasn't even started airing yet. I guess it'd be wise to talk about consistency only after having viewed a good portion of this serie (like the first half of it) to be able to give such a bold judgement like that one, don't you think? The trailer was good, but we cannot really say that the quality will remain consistent (we can only hope on that so far) until we get to watch a good number of episodes. In any case I do hope it will be consistent, although I do also expect that some episode might possibly not have the same quality (it did happen with both Black Lagoon and Death Note already).

Drytchnath never said it would be consistently high quality, he said the clip was good and he hoped it would stay that way unlike Blood+. I think you misunderstood his post.

[Nightengale]

Trailers almost always look great, since they're meant to entice potential viewers into watching or salivate existing fans of the material. Generally, the worst quality of a trailer (( in this case, not including the long-haired Claymore part )) is generally the more consistent general quality of the anime, but this is Madhouse, and we'd get some lower-than-usual qualities occasionally. Not that we can blame them, since they're like involved in the production or in-between jobs of probably 583 animes at a time.

Not to mention this trailer isn't extremely impressive animation-wise (( there's not that much of fluid action scenes in it )), but rather the atmosphere and apparent visual directing (( storyboarding )) that is involved in the production of Claymore is what stands out more for me. I'd comment on the music as well, if only the audio didn't suck so bad.

And Vexx, this show has females weilding Claymores with one hand, along with monsters. Think Black Lagoon level of realism, only with swords.

[Joojoobees]

Plus, what I saw didn't really look like a trailer as much as a couple of random clips put together. Trailers are often edited to provide a single viewer experience (the trailer for Darker than Black is a good example).

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this title, but we really haven't seen anything to base an opinion on yet. It could suck, it could be pretty good, one could still hope for the best.

I think it is fair to say that the show has potential, and that nothing that has been released is conclusive that that potential will go to waste, but until we see a decent quality clip of reasonable length (with proper audio!) all we really have is speculation.

[Daniel E.]

Trailers almost always look great, since they're meant to entice potential viewers into watching or salivate existing fans of the material.

Couldn't stop thinking about the Disgaea trailers after reading this. :heh:

[dreamless]

Since I first started reading the Claymore manga more than 2 years ago, it instantly became one of my favorite manga series up there with Berserk and Inhabitant of Immortality. And Madhouse is one of my favorite anime studios for manga-to-anime conversion. I'm really looking forward to this anime now, just hope they don't be too cheap with the animation.

[Sheba]

Inhabitant of Immortality

You meant Blade of the Immortal, right?

[Vexx]

Couldn't stop thinking about the Disgaea trailers after reading this. :heh:

ouch.... talk about hexing something :)

[Shinndou]

Drytchnath never said it would be consistently high quality, he said the clip was good and he hoped it would stay that way unlike Blood+. I think you misunderstood his post.

If that's what he meant then yes, I completely misunderstood it. :heh:
Anyway, the manga is farly good (not at the level of masterpieces like Berserk, but it's still rather nice) so I do hope Madhouse will remain faithful to its original style and plot as much as possible.

[Nightengale]

Couldn't stop thinking about the Disgaea trailers after reading this. :heh:

I never saw this trailer...but I presume it's bad? Note that I said almost always. In my opinion, Sunrise too generally aren't the best trailer previewers around. Most of their short trailers aren't exciting, but they mostly deliver for most part. In comparison, I think Gonzo does awesome trailers, but half the time, the trailer exhumes more promise than the series itself. :heh:

Like I said, this Claymore trailer isn't exactly Dennou Coil, Bokurano or Darker than Black, which all gave a solid, strong idea on how the animation will look like consistently, a feel on how the series will work in execution and also the atmosphere of the series. It's not very impressive, but it gets the neccesary message of Claymore across, which is good at this stage.

Nice to see I'm not the only guy who thinks Red Eyes is sheer freaking awesomeness. Especially the part that showed how the manga got it's name. Badassery of Alucard proportions.

[Daniel E.]

I never saw this trailer...but I presume it's bad?

Oh no, quite the contrary. The Disgaea trailer was pretty awesome in the eyes of many, and it give fans of the game something to really get excited about.

And then, the anime started....... :(

Mind you, I have a lot of faith in Madhouse, so hopefully we wont have to deal with another Disgaea horror anytime soon. :)

It doesnt hurt to be cautious about the trailer though. :p

[Vexx]

I own a cute little Etona figure courtesy of the Disgaea trailer and the first couple of episodes... and then the bottom fell out of the show ... ohhhh the bad...

Fortunately, my Etona figure is still cute. She guards my home fileserver.

Yeah.... I'm sure we've all seen the movie trailer wherein *EVERY* single action shot or gag that was actually not garbage is in it --- so when you actually see the movie you walk out before the end it was so bad.

Therefore I'm usually suspicious of trailers (though the 5cm was so out there that I figured the first episode could be completely plotless and we'd watch the pretty pictures - fortunately it measured up to the trailer).

[DangerMouse]

I never saw this trailer...but I presume it's bad? Note that I said almost always. In my opinion, Sunrise too generally aren't the best trailer previewers around. Most of their short trailers aren't exciting, but they mostly deliver for most part. In comparison, I think Gonzo does awesome trailers, but half the time, the trailer exhumes more promise than the series itself. :heh:

Like I said, this Claymore trailer isn't exactly Dennou Coil, Bokurano or Darker than Black, which all gave a solid, strong idea on how the animation will look like consistently, a feel on how the series will work in execution and also the atmosphere of the series. It's not very impressive, but it gets the neccesary message of Claymore across, which is good at this stage.

Nice to see I'm not the only guy who thinks Red Eyes is sheer freaking awesomeness. Especially the part that showed how the manga got it's name. Badassery of Alucard proportions.

Character design and art wise I was very impressed and showing the cool camera angles usually reserved for anime feature films I personally think could be great for this show (but might just be used ocassionally), but yeah I agree we didn't really get a taste of an extended action/fast-movement sequence like some of the other trailers do to really show us whether or not the show will have good actual animation or just be nicely directed. With the great art style of Clare's design I hope the high motion animation is as good as Madhouse can do, the style of this show seems just like the type of show they usually do good action animation in, so I hope they keep up that track record.

[Adventury]

How long till it airs?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Plus, what I saw didn't really look like a trailer as much as a couple of random clips put together. Trailers are often edited to provide a single viewer experience (the trailer for Darker than Black is a good example).

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this title, but we really haven't seen anything to base an opinion on yet. It could suck, it could be pretty good, one could still hope for the best.

I think it is fair to say that the show has potential, and that nothing that has been released is conclusive that that potential will go to waste, but until we see a decent quality clip of reasonable length (with proper audio!) all we really have is speculation.

You saw an anime trailer. Uhhmm. That's an anime trailer, randoms clips with music from the show put over it. Uhmmm. Get with the times bro. Generally you hope by the end of it you can kind of piece something together, its usually a crapshoot, but more often than not I get good and bad vibes at the same time.

Me, I'm just checking up, I didn't like the preview chapter I saw of Claymore in Shonen Jump and am in no way interested in seeing any more of it in any form, but I'll do my usual information brokering and logical analysis when I can help.

[MrProphet]

How long till it airs?

It already has.

[Adventury]

It has? I must have missed it... Well, thank you anyway.

[Joojoobees]

You saw an anime trailer. Uhhmm. That's an anime trailer, randoms clips with music from the show put over it. Uhmmm. Get with the times bro.

No. As I stated, that wasn't a trailer, it was just a couple of clips from the show. That is why I said that it "didn't really look like a trailer". They lifted a couple of scenes from the show, but didn't make an attempt to give an overall impression of the show, as trailers attempt to do. Also, they didn't put music over it. The reason I said the audio wasn't "proper" was that the video was captured by a camera in the crowd at the event at which the clips were shown, and the crowd noise completely drowns out the audio from the clips.

Happily this won't matter for long, as raws should start appearing in a few hours, and then we can determine what kind of quality we are going to get.

[Crystal_Method]

While I totally agree with you on the audio(totally wish I could see the trailer straight from the site), I believe you are contradicting yourself on the definition of a trailer. A trailer is exactly what you said (see first line on second paragraph here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_%28film%29)). And anyway for tv shows usually most of the clips they get are from the first episode, so you can't really expect that much from it other than the visual quality and animation.

With that aside, I'm getting paranoid trying to get the raws of the shows I want to watch today. Man if only I had something to keep me occupied for the time being.

[Sonhex]

Found a few screens from ep 1, so go ahead and spoil yourselves if you can't wait for the raw.


http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6086/claymore01ky5.th.jpg (http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=claymore01ky5.jpg)


Comments were a mixed bag on Futaba (it didn't generate anywhere near the same interest as Kissdum). The screens look promising though and I'm off raw hunting :p

[Joojoobees]

While I totally agree with you on the audio(totally wish I could see the trailer straight from the site), I believe you are contradicting yourself on the definition of a trailer. A trailer is exactly what you said (see first line on second paragraph here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_%28film%29)).
I don't think this is a contradiction. I have been saying "clips" and "scenes" meaning that they showed longer clips than is typical in a trailer. In the wikipedia entry you reference they use the term "shots" instead, which I take to mean shorter than "clips" and certainly shorter than "scenes". Perhaps I'm partially responsible for this confusion, because I thought people would be looking at the video I was describing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaviD8xYB0), and see for themselves that the pacing of the clips shown look like they are lifted in tact from the show, instead of having the sort of intensity that you would expect from the definition in the Wikipedia: "these excerpts are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and without producing spoilers.".

At any rate, I hope we get to see the real thing soon, which was the original point of my post (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=879003&postcount=85).

[Shinndou]

The raw is out!

[DangerMouse]

I will have little idea what they are saying but I'm downloading it anyway lol.

I've seen some more screens from ep1 and I'm even more assured that I really like the character designs and the way they do the shadows on them. I can't wait to see the animation.

[Daniel E.]

I usually dont watch raws, but I may well do and exception here. :p

[lommm]

slow speed seeding torrent.... arrrrgghhhhh!!!! it's enough to make me be consumed by my inner yoma!

[hi no ken Jebus]

Hmm good start things were faithful enough although it kind of skipped chapter two and went straight to three. The gore was kept intact which I was afraid would get toned down along with the occasional nudity but we'll see. Music fits well but kind of weird going from heavy metal riffs to flutes and such. Clare's VA does a good job oddly enough I liked Raki's brother's VA for him better than the one he has. Since the story kind of starts off slow and doesn't pick up till much later I can see why they might move things around not that I mind either way I have faith in Madhouse.

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3530/cm01rm1.th.jpg (http://img501.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cm01rm1.jpg)

[Srin Tuar]

It seems interesting enough to watch more of.

The bad guys are kindof plain, and the all female claymore is predictably grim.
The fight scenes are the standard skip-the action style of choreography.
But the fact that she picked up a little assistant is interesting. I think I'll watch to see what happens to him.

[lommm]

It seems interesting enough to watch more of.

The bad guys are kindof plain, and the all female claymore is predictably grim.
The fight scenes don't have the standard skip-the action style of choreography.
But the fact that she picked up a little assistant is interesting. I think I'll watch to see what happens to him.

the yoma stop being so predictable after a short while. they are just standard beasties early on so you can understand the world of the series. they get complex shortly.



yeah, no ch2, but i'm sure they'll get to it since we need to know some of that stuff. no big deal. it was quite faithful to chapter 1 and 3!! i was worried when the yoma bled purple, but then suddenlt there was red blood everywhere so i wasn't worried anymore. they are definitely not afraid of doing all the blood and guts. hopefully they will stick with it. it could end up being like berserk anime.

i also have faith in madhouse! i look forward to the coming months of claymore!



two questions:
is this scheduled for a finite # of eps or is it ongoing?
is there a claymore vid game yet?

[aroduc]

I'm not familiar with the manga, but I wasn't overly impressed honestly. The background art was great, but I found the character art pretty ugly, especially the way that Claire's armor made her look so highly sexualized. The fights were decent, but not really wowing, and I'm not really certain how much of that was the show actually having a budget, or the fact that 90% of the episode was talking heads.

So... at least to me... it was a pretty meh beginning.

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5439/untitledso4.th.jpg (http://img396.imageshack.us/my.php?image=untitledso4.jpg)

[Jazzrat]

Interesting episode 1, the animation and style resembles Berzerk but color and tone are softer. Though, i didn't read the manga but i think it's appropriate for it's fantasy medieval setting.

The music are ok, the OP, ED and some part of the anime sounds a bit weird to me but it's not bad.

Actions are pretty gory but the animation in it is ok.

Not much to say about the story here, episode 1 is more of an introduction of the main character (Clare and Lucky?).

Seems like a good series to follow, i like the graphical feel of this anime.

[Joojoobees]

So... at least to me... it was a pretty meh beginning.

I guess I'll agree, although I'll stick with it for a few episodes to see how it goes.

I thought the artwork was a little uneven. The faces were interesting. They have an unusual pouty quality that intrigued me, and sometimes they used strong lines in a nice way. On the other hand, I wasn't as impressed by the backgrounds as thought I would be, and the color scheme seems to flip back and forth between very thin (low saturation) to extremely unsubtle.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4207/claymorethinxm3.th.png (http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=claymorethinxm3.png)
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/65/claymoreunsubtlemo1.th.png (http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=claymoreunsubtlemo1.png)

[Crystal_Method]

Yea, it's basically an introduction of Claire and Raki. Pretty good episode, seems like they will be totally following the manga (it was basically an exact replication of chapters 1 - 3).

I expect the first few episodes to not be too exciting, remembering the beginning of the manga, but it's definitely going to get very good once the anime reaches the Theresa arc.

[froinlaven]

I've heard good things about the manga, but I couldn't really get into this. Like I was bored all the way through, except for the super gory parts. Does this get better? Like soon?

Full first impressions here (http://www.basugasubakuhatsu.com/blog/2007/04/03/claymore-anime-first-impressions/).

[Mentar]

Very solid beginning, and a very good adaption so far.

The deceiving thing about Claymore is that the more the story unfolds, the less it's becoming clear who the good and the bad guys are. What sets Claymore apart from most other Shonen stuff is that there's a background story which carries the show on its own.

Claymore will probably forever be the show which had the biggest mood swing for me between trying it raw (meh! gory and yet another blonde girl slicer, yawn) and reading it translated (so that's how it is... aha... okay... now gimme the other ones. Right away!)

Let's hope that Madhouse manages to stay consistent with the amazing artwork.

[Kaoru Chujo]

As it started, I was totally freaked out by the animation, which seemed so bad to me. Then I realized it was actually pretty good, just a strange style. The rhythms were good, and Kuwashima Houko was so great to listen to. I really don't like monster shows, but somehow this may transcend that. I'm glad to hear there's some depth to the monsters, as we go on. The human relations were interesting, especially Raki and Claire.

[Key Board]

Just wait for the Theresa arc. It should start rather early

That's when I shat bricks in awe

[wrex_japan]

Wow, I see lots of extreme reactions for this anime. I myself liked it, especially since I like bad-ass girls with big swords. Summary and screencaps. (http://wrexgrafix.com/anime/blog/?p=467)

It's good to hear that things do pick up later, because this first episode's story was a bit simple. Of course, it's just an introductory, so you can't really expect too much.

[flou]

I actually (surprisingly) liked the first episode of Claymore as I read the first chapter of the manga and wasn't that impressed by it. I'll probably check out the manga now :D.

While I'm really not fond of the character designs even though I usually have high tolerance to these sorts of things, the animation was lovely and really fluid, especially the fight scenes. The transition between the first and second half of the episode was slightly rushed, but overall, I ended up letting that concern go after the Claire versus Youma fight began :D The opening and ending were both good (I really liked the ending and the animation that accompanied it).

Overall, I think it's worthy of being checked out at least, despite the character designs, and I'll probably end up following this in the end :D

[DangerMouse]

Finally got and skimmed through the raw, I personally liked it, I can see some complaints about how it's not overly complicated yet, but it's the first episode it's just an introduction, everyone familiar with the story says it gets pretty fantastic so I'll give that part time to develop.

I admit the character designs may not be for everyone since they are an usual style, but I really like them a lot the style definitely works for me. It's been a while since I've seen a dark fantasy show like this so I'm looking forwards to this once the subs come out.

[7Th]

Finally got and skimmed through the raw, I personally liked it, I can see some complaints about how it's not overly complicated yet, but it's the first episode it's just an introduction, everyone familiar with the story says it gets pretty fantastic so I'll give that part time to develop.

I admit the character designs may not be for everyone since they are an usual style, but I really like them a lot the style definitely works for me. It's been a while since I've seen a dark fantasy show like this so I'm looking forwards to this once the subs come out.

I like the character designs in paper but think they're badly executed in animation, highly uninspired and inconsistent, at least if the series keeps the mood in the opening. Is the actual motion and art inside the series better than the one in the introduction video? If so I may give this a chance...

[issei]

the anime is, as expected, a by-the-book (no pun intended) adaptation of the manga. it's worth checking out for anyone interested in dark fantasy and unfamiliar with the source material, but as an anime, nothing is really added to the experience.

thus far, the fight scenes involve little more motion than seen on the pages of the manga, the music is barely noticeable and therefore inconsequential, and the voice actors' performances are serviceable but unimpressive. unless there's a sudden sharp incline in quality, this series will end up as just another average manga adaptation -- there's nothing wrong with it, per se, but there's no real motivation for readers of the manga to watch it at this point.

[monir]

Screenshot for episode 1:

http://content.imagesocket.com/thumbs/claymore_1bd9.jpg (http://imagesocket.com/view/claymore_1bd9.jpg)

Claire: You aren't afraid of me like the others?
Raki: Why should I be?

Later as follows

*When Raki goes home, his brother attacks him. His brother is the demon/yokai who has taken over his brother's body when the last time a demon killed his parents, but spared both of the brothers; and now is killing/eating people in the village in a daily basis. It's now Raki's turn. Enter claire through the roof. Raki gets the vip seat as the massacare unfolds in front of him, the courtesy of claire. Claire takes a side glance toward Raki after the deed is done. And Raki....

He can only whimper as he makes himself as small as possible.*

I just chuckled because now he knows why he should have been afraid.

I am in! This is by no means a mind blowing episode, but it has left me intrigued nontheless. I'll be following this closely.

[Level E]

I saw the RAW. Impressions: MAD HOUSE ftw.

Actually, I feel it was a bit censored but that can't be helped.
Kurashima Houko's voice is going to take sometime getting use to. Her monotone Clare voice isn't exactly what I thought her voice would be like, but I guess it fits. I was bit surprised they went slightly out of order but I guess the anime needs to keep a pace to develop the Lucky and Clare relationship especially early-mid and latter parts of the series when the other characters start popping up and things take an interesting turn.

I guess the next EP is the Death EP already?
BTW is it just me, or has Lucky grown a bit taller from his manga version? :heh:

[Daniel E.]

Need to see a few more episodes before deciding anything. >_< !!

Didn't like the intro btw. :(

[Level E]

Need to see a few more episodes before deciding anything. >_< !!

Didn't like the intro btw. :(

^^;
That was another thing that got me too.
An all blond OP with swift changes in aired-personalities is hard to follow even if you are a fan of the series.

[Shinndou]

I saw this yesterday but since it was damn late and I was too sleepy I preferred to not type anything about it until now. :heh:

Anyway, I loved it. As Mentar said, this felt like a solid first episode. Madhouse well adapted the first chapters (skipping the second though, but I guess that was a forceful decision so that they could show some of the fight with the Yoma) and they remained pretty faithful to the original character design of the manga (which I love). They even managed to well convey its mood by making it look quite dark and use a contrast of pale and dark colours in it, giving the right "dark medieval/fantasy story" kind of atmosphere (the only scene with a bit more of colour is at the end when they're walking towards the sun). Animation-wise it was good, and consistent, although not a lot of movements were animated (but I liked the part where Claire and the Yoma are litterally rolling on a side of a hill), and yeah I wish the parts where she uses her sword weren't the classical "sword->slashing line->damage", but whatever, it was alright anyway. I also liked the background art and the attention to details on it (although the raw I watched was rather poor in quality, sadly), but that's expected from Madhouse' recent works.

The music during certain scenes felt a bit weird to me, but I guess I'll wait some more episode before giving a more clear opinion on it. As for the voice acting, while I wasn't totally sure on Kuwashima Houko being Claire's VA, I have to say I wasn't actually disappointed, but I wasn't impressed either, yet. Fortunately when they'll get to cover volume 3 of the manga we might have the chance to hear how she'll perform. :)

Conclusively, this is really my cup of tea. A dark medieval fantasy based show, a genre that's become quite rare with the overload of moe these days, and which I've probably missed since... Berserk? Oh well, I'm going to keep watching this for sure, and I do hope some fansubbing group will pick this show. :)

[NoSanninWa]

I am in! This is by no means a mind blowing episode, but it has left me intrigued nontheless. I'll be following this closely.

I'm glad to hear that. The story starts off rather slowly so if episode 1 has gotten your attention, then your mind will be blown once you see Theresa's arc...

[MrProphet]

Now that was very nice. I came into this expecting some kind of Fate/stay night meets Monster fare, and was pleasantly surprised.

Relatively retro style illustrations, compelling characters, solid, if not exceptional, animation. This was definitely promising and the shades of Berserk definitely helped.

I can't say i was completely satisfied, as the character animation seemed to fluctuate, but still, it was a good start. I loved the OP/ED for this show. So very fitting.

[dutchman]

I really loved this first episode. It was following the original manga very closely (with the exception of a few minor details).

I have high hopes for this series. And I really hope that they will do justice to the upcoming (around ep. 3-4?) flashback arcs about Clare’s sad past. Because the story will then start to become more action packed with more room for dramatic character development.

Well anyway this week the highly anticipated volume 7 of the translated manga will also be released in the U.S.A So hopefully in another week I will finally receive my version which I pre-ordered online 6 weeks ago:- )

I am still wondering how they will manage to express some of the later fights in the manga. But since Mad House did good work on the action sequences in Black Lagoon I have high hopes that they will succeed in making it work.

Also I assume based on the current existing raw manga volumes (around 11?) That this probably/hopefully will be a 24 eps length series?

[Shinndou]

Now that was very nice. I came into this expecting some kind of Fate/stay night meets Monster fare, and was pleasantly surprised.

Relatively retro style illustrations, compelling characters, solid, if not exceptional, animation. This was definitely promising and the shades of Berserk definitely helped.

I can't say i was completely satisfied, as the character animation seemed to fluctuate, but still, it was a good start. I loved the OP/ED for this show. So very fitting.

Unless you don't want to spoil yourself a bit, you should defintely read the manga as well, the comparison with Berserk is really close, especially artisticly-wise (although Berserk still remains unrivaled, in my opinion). Anyway I am glad this serie ended up in Madhouse hands, they have been good so far in manga-to-anime adaptations and this first episode of Claymore so far confirmed the trust I have towards them.

[lommm]

@Level E: Lucky/Raki does seem taller/slightly older than he did in the first chapters of the manga. but it could just be because the characters are moving and allow for more perspective as to their size...


i agree with what a lot of you are saying... the music was a little lacking... i expected more out of the music end somehow... maybe they will develop better themes as the episodes progress.


does this air in HD in JP? just wondering cuz i hope one of the subbers will put out a nice HD version for me to feast on...


ALSO, i wonder how the fansubbers will go with the Raki/Lucky choice... does the US version of the manga call him Lucky? the scans i read used Raki, but i have seen both so i dunno....


and i chuckle when i read a couple of you saying that the action was a bit stiff or didn't add much past what was in the manga... i chuckle because i know what is coming...




EDIT: i just realized that this series is why Houko Kuwashima is not a voice in El Cazador! while i think she is good as Clare, i can't help but be a tad disappointed that she is not voicing Ellis, as that would have been her character in El Cazador. oh well, this one is obviously a better job for her since this series could go on for quite some time and EC will end at 26....

[Budweineken]

Viz uses Raki.

[lommm]

Viz uses Raki.

good to know! considering his brother was Zaki, Raki always made sense to me.

[Budweineken]

It's a bit wierd, in this type of manga it's best to use Raki because of the dark atmosphere and how "Lucky" would really dumb down the situation. In the site they use Katakana to write the name.

Yet, when you go to the site of the anime "Lucky Star" they use Hiragana for the title.

As we know, Katakana is usually used for foreign names etc.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

If not mistaken Lucky is Rakki and Raki doesn't mean Lucky.

[Shinndou]

Yeah, the boy's name is Raki.

[mouhitori]

good to know! considering his brother was Zaki, Raki always made sense to me.

Maybe it's Lucky and Zucky :p

[lommm]

Maybe it's Lucky and Zucky :p

LOL that's hilarious!! why didn't i think of that?

[Skane]

Lucky & Sucky? That would be a very bad pun. :heh:

Cheers.

[toxic_trance]

Well...this is the first anime i have watched after having read the manga..although i have read up only till chapter 6, since it has been scantalated only till there. I really liked the Claymore manga because i felt it had great characters and great character development. The starting might not be exciting, but once we get to Claire's past, it will be really great. Neway, i m impressed with the animation. The characters look great. The only problem is with the different angle views of the characters. But i cant blame MADHOUSE for this since they are following the mangaka's style exactly and his artstyle for the characters from side angles is definitely a bit weird.

Well...all in all, i m impressed. I wish the OP and ED are better. Waiting for the subbed version...Hope this anime gets better n better. GO CLAIRE

[Jazzrat]

I think that's because the characters have a more prominent nose compare to your usual anime.

As for the Lucky/Raki, if i m not mistaken, in nihongo, there's no "la" sound.
"R" is often used to substitute "L" when it comes to converting english to japanese.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I saw the RAW. Impressions: MAD HOUSE ftw.

Actually, I feel it was a bit censored but that can't be helped.
Kurashima Houko's voice is going to take sometime getting use to. Her monotone Clare voice isn't exactly what I thought her voice would be like, but I guess it fits. I was bit surprised they went slightly out of order but I guess the anime needs to keep a pace to develop the Lucky and Clare relationship especially early-mid and latter parts of the series when the other characters start popping up and things take an interesting turn.

I guess the next EP is the Death EP already?
BTW is it just me, or has Lucky grown a bit taller from his manga version? :heh:

What relationship? What Multi-Tone? It sounds like things are proceeding correctly and she nailed Clare's lack of character perfectly. Sounds like a lot of people had the same impression of the opening segment as me, more boring than the usual shounen fair. When NoSanninWa says the series starts slow he means it. I just don't have the patience to wait and see if it gets better because I don't like any character in it muchly, especially Clare who makes Heero Yui in episode one of GW look like Judge Freaking Rheinhold. Sounds like the anime didn't make things much more exciting for the first episode.

[MaCgRaDy]

Hmm i am still wondering who would sub this anime!The manga was great i really enjoy reading it so i hope that the anime would be as good sa the manga!:D

[Crystal_Method]

I remember reading somewhere that shinsen-subs will be picking this up, but I'm not sure.

[BiZz]

There are 5 teams who will sub this series so don't worry...

Shinsen-subs, Froth-Bite, A-keep, Eclipse, Jigoku-Fansubs

[Kaioshin Sama]

There are 5 teams who will sub this series so don't worry...

Shinsen-subs, Froth-Bite, A-keep, Eclipse, Jigoku-Fansubs

Of course.... :( of course the show I don't care about gets the five subbers (really though, its no surprise based on the bizarre popularity of the series). Should have picked this one in the oversubbed thread. Then again it wouldn't be any if I knew the answer already. Well then I hope the subbers at least enjoy doing it and receive credit, that's all I can hope for. Good luck groups.


I honestly can't see the draw of this show though, its got such a boring lead character with seemingly no room for growth as she's apparently not been taken over by a demon yet killing of her humanity. I don't even need to describe how annoying learning that fact was. The boy isn't much better in his reasoning, the villagers are what you'd expect, the wandering mercenary saviour plot aspect has been done a thousand times before and with much better leads I would say and I can't even guess at where they might go with the plot or why I should bother reading to find out without even the slightest hint of anything intriguing to come. The hook was dull shall we say and it hit me and bounced right off to me feet, and the hook is key with new franchises when you are just being introduced like I was

[Sheba]

Don't watch it? Durrr...

[Level E]

Viz uses Raki.
Well, I stand corrected spelling his name ^^;
Just thought it would be weird if he's the only name in the series that's not using proper characterization. Lucky does fit his character imo, b/c that boy sure has luck on his side especially when he gets sent north.


What relationship? What Multi-Tone? It sounds like things are proceeding correctly and she nailed Clare's lack of character perfectly.

She does. I'm not saying Kurashima Houko is a bad. She's a good seiyuu. But I just imagined a bit higher voice then the deep monotone voice portrayed in the anime. Especially later on in the series...

[Budweineken]

She does. I'm not saying Kurashima Houko is a bad. She's a good seiyuu. But I just imagined a bit higher voice then the deep monotone voice portrayed in the anime. Especially later on in the series

The voice should develop just as the character develops... Once a character becomes more outgoing as the series progresses, the voice should chance slightly too... it happens too often in other series to not think that it will not be the case here.




I honestly can't see the draw of this show though, its got such a boring lead character with seemingly no room for growth as she's apparently not been taken over by a demon yet killing of her humanity. I don't even need to describe how annoying learning that fact was. The boy isn't much better in his reasoning, the villagers are what you'd expect, the wandering mercenary saviour plot aspect has been done a thousand times before and with much better leads I would say and I can't even guess at where they might go with the plot or why I should bother reading to find out without even the slightest hint of anything intriguing to come. The hook was dull shall we say and it hit me and bounced right off to me feet, and the hook is key with new franchises when you are just being introduced like I was


You couldn't be more wrong. There's plenty of room for growth, especially with her new human companion and 11 volumes, ongoing, worth of content seems to suggest otherwise too.

[Kaioshin Sama]

If you've ever heard what Haman Khan in Gundam sounds like, that's what I pictured for Clare. Cold, deep, and lacking emotion.

[Sheba]

She does. I'm not saying Kurashima Houko is a bad. She's a good seiyuu. But I just imagined a bit higher voice then the deep monotone voice portrayed in the anime. Especially later on in the series...


Does she sound like Washimine Yukio (another Houko's voicerole) in Black Lagoon season 2? Because I am picturing she sounds like her from the way you describe her.

[toxic_trance]

I dont get why people continue to complain about a show. If u dont like it..simply dont watch it. I have seen my share of animes and movies, and even though this concept aint very new where a person saves another and gradually his/her heart opens up but still...its not always about the story, but rather how you present it. The manga did this beautifully i felt. I m no major action-buff, but i loved the manga for the way the characters developed and also with so many plot lines.

Lets hope that MADHOUSE makes a good adaptation. This is the first series where i ll be watching the RAW as it comes out and then the subbers. Its been a long wait for this series and its great to see CLAIRE again :)

[mouhitori]

I am happy to hear the plot will become more intriguing in the future.
Currently, it does not stand out much, as people pointed out.

Also, I think the ending song is pretty good, coming from Riyu Kosaka, who had some good songs in Lumines too.

First eps summary & screenshosts (http://mouhitori.blogspot.com/2007/04/claymore-1-large-sword-claymore.html)

[BluWacky]

I dont get why people continue to complain about a show. If u dont like it..simply dont watch it.

It's only the first episode; how are you supposed to know if you like a series or not until you've seen some of it? I mean, sure, you can tell straight off from artwork or story concept whether a show might interest you, but things such as animation style, art quality, voice-acting, music etc. can't be gleaned from an 100 word synopsis really.

[Budweineken]

It's out by Eclipse.

[Shinndou]

If you've ever heard what Haman Khan in Gundam sounds like, that's what I pictured for Clare. Cold, deep, and lacking emotion.

She's not like Haman Khan. I am sorry that you got this wrong impression but she is a character who does develope quite much personality-wise, and that's also one of the most interesting part of the story as well (discovering the truth about certain things and facts, although I don't want to spoil anything). Anyway, if Madhouse is going to closely follow the manga, you'll see development, and you'll also see an interesting story with it as well. But if it's not your cup of tea then just don't watch it, although your description of Clare was really really off, trust me.

[Daniel E.]

There are 5 teams who will sub this series so don't worry...

Shinsen-subs, Froth-Bite, A-keep, Eclipse, Jigoku-Fansubs

You forgot to mention Toriyamaworld and A2000A; Both were looking for a translator for this show not so long ago.

Then again, I just read that A2000A is having second thoughs about working on this show. >_< !!

[Crystal_Method]

If you've ever heard what Haman Khan in Gundam sounds like, that's what I pictured for Clare. Cold, deep, and lacking emotion.

I wouldn't say Claire is lacking emotion, it's more like she's repressing her emotions. Also why can't you see her not having room for development? A lot of characters that give off a cold hearted attitude usually change the most. I agree with Shinndou on what's basically to come.
It's not too hard to connect her flashback (when you see small Claire almost getting eaten by a youma, but Theresa saves her at the last second) with the decision she made in the end of the episode (she decides to let Raki stay with her until the next village she crosses). Next episode I believe should be about the black letter. That's where you learn that claymores will be overtaken by their youma trait sooner or later.

[toxic_trance]

Well..i do know its too early to judge, but people seem to be giving negative comments about the plotline already..so i think that should be avoided. The first episode might not be impressive but that is not a reason to discard this series

neway..i think i love this manga so i m a bit too attatched to this series. ITS great to see that Eclipse has released this series. Eclipse is a great group. They did an awedsome job with Kanon, by releasing great quality video within almost 24 hrs. Hope they do the same with Claymore.

ECLIPSE U ROCK :D

And yeah...trust me..Claire does change a lot in the series. From her childhood to her present and also into the future. As i have told a million times, the manga is all about character development. The whole Youma thing is to add action and just supports the development. Plus, I think the Seiyuu did a very nice job. Dont see why all the complaints. Claire is pretty emotional as u ll see in the future. Maybe as the series proceeds, u ll come to agree

[Shinndou]

I wouldn't say Claire is lacking emotion, it's more like she's repressing her emotions. Also why can't you see her not having room for development? A lot of characters that give off a cold hearted attitude usually change the most. I agree with Shinndou on what's basically to come.
It's not too hard to connect her flashback (when you see small Claire almost getting eaten by a youma, but Theresa saves her at the last second) with the decision she made in the end of the episode (she decides to let Raki stay with her until the next village she crosses). Next episode I believe should be about the black letter. That's where you learn that claymores will be overtaken by their youma trait sooner or later.

Yeah. Well I guess people who are following the manga know what kind of characters and developements we'll get to see in this show (though I wonder how much they'll manage to cover within 24 episodes, if that's going to be lenght of the anime), so they're not worried nor bothered by the presentation in of Claire as a cold-hearted and apparently "flat" character, in this first episode. But atleast people who haven't read the manga and who are still interested towards this should definetely give it a couple more episodes before labeling Claire so fast.

[Ch1kane]

seriously at first i was quite skeptical about picking up this anime. but i really like the drawings so i ask myself why not and well it catches my attention. i really like how the story goes it would be really interesting how Claire (was it her name?) fight that demon part of her (i dont really know how to put it sorry ^^") and of cos other Claymores!

[toxic_trance]

Yeah. Well I guess people who are following the manga know what kind of characters and developements we'll get to see in this show (though I wonder how much they'll manage to cover within 24 episodes, if that's going to be lenght of the anime), so they're not worried nor bothered by the presentation in of Claire as a cold-hearted and apparently "flat" character, in this first episode. But atleast people who haven't read the manga and who are still interested towards this should definetely give it a couple more episodes before labeling Claire so fast.

hmm...hmm..totally accepted. I think this show needs to be given a bit more time than just being labelled as a pure action from episode 1. As for the amount they cover, they finished the first 3 chapters by altering a few things, since they almost skipped chapter 2. The overall is the same though, so the changes werent any big. At this rate it might cover 10 volumes since it is 6 chapters a volume.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I don't get why people like Clare, that's what I don't get. If anyone has ever seen M.D Geist that's the kind of show she seems to belong in. I've seen the unemotional lead character that opens up plot set up so much better in other shows is what I'm saying. When the set up itself falls short you have a problem. To me she holds the whole thing down from the get go by being such as dry character (basically I get the impression she isn't even surpressing any character traits and that what you see is all there is). They could have at least set it up by giving her the slightest even most discreet hint of intrigue in her character, but when they fail at that its going to be very hard to do sudden or even discreet character development for a character later on, it will seem jarring and out of place (like a complete rewrite of the character, not a revelation).

Then we go with Raki. Why in gods name is he interested in following this woman around, it doesn't make sense to me and seems like they've just decided to go with the natural progression of the young impressionable boy follows strong traveller on a journey. If you've seen Hokuto No Ken where this same thing happens though, Kenshiro is given some character development in the opening segments through dream sequences and you are shown that their is another side of his character and that the two kids can see the humanity and heroisim in him that others can't. I didn't get that with Clare all I got was "I kill demons" and then Raki was "I'm going on the journey with you" completely out of the blue.

Seriously, go watch M.D Geist where this same thing happens and see for yourself how that goes and you'll know why I'm kind of wary about the whole Claymore thing.

Basically my main issue is that they went overboard on setting up Clare as a hardlined Claymore to the point where I don't get the impression that she has surpressed her emotions and put up a dominant character trait of stoicism, but that the dominant character trait is all there is. Unless, by the next episode we have some hint, no matter how tiny or discreet at another side of Clare its going to be a rough ride.

[toxic_trance]

I don't get why people like Clare, that's what I don't get. If anyone has ever seen M.D Geist that's the kind of show she seems to belong in. I've seen the unemotional lead character that opens up plot set up so much better in other shows is what I'm saying. When the set up itself falls short you have a problem. To me she holds the whole thing down from the get go by being such as dry character (basically I get the impression she isn't even surpressing any character traits and that what you see is all there is). They could have at least set it up by giving her the slightest even most discreet hint of intrigue in her character, but when they fail at that its going to be very hard to do sudden or even discreet character development for a character later on, it will seem jarring and out of place (like a complete rewrite of the character, not a revelation).

Then we go with Raki. Why in gods name is he interested in following this woman around, it doesn't make sense to me and seems like they've just decided to go with the natural progression of the young impressionable boy follows strong traveller on a journey. If you've seen Hokuto No Ken where this same thing happens though, Kenshiro is given some character development in the opening segments through dream sequences and you are shown that their is another side of his character and that the two kids can see the humanity and heroisim in him that others can't. I didn't get that with Clare all I got was "I kill demons" and then Raki was "I'm going on the journey with you" completely out of the blue.

Seriously, go watch M.D Geist where this same thing happens and see for yourself how that goes and you'll know why I'm kind of wary about the whole Claymore thing.

Basically my main issue is that they went overboard on setting up Clare as a hardlined Claymore to the point where I don't get the impression that she has surpressed her emotions and put up a dominant character trait of stoicism, but that the dominant character trait is all there is. Unless, by the next episode we have some hint, no matter how tiny or discreet at another side of Clare its going to be a rough ride.

Well i havent seen the animes u mentioned so cant comment on that. But I think its a bit too early to pass a remark on Claymore. I dont wanna give out spoilers about her, but if its hints u r speaking about, think about the scene where Claire has a flashback about her past. Its shown very less in the anime, but it does show that there was something about her past. If even that doesnt intrigue u, well i would recommend u watch out the next 3 or 4 episodes and then decide.

As for Raki, he is definitely better looking than the manga. Maybe its the color. Plus he looks a bit matured too. Anyway, he wasnt following Claire initially. He was wandering aimlessly because he was thrown away from the village. He pursues Claire only after he is caught by the Youma in the end. Since she has saved his life twice, i think its pretty obvious that he wants to be of some help to her.

[ThoHell]

This anime looks actually pretty good, or so the animation does anyways. First subbed episode out today....time to watch!

[Jazzrat]

Talk about oversubbed :p
Didn't know Claymore is that popular to gain so many subber but we ll see how many stick with it till the end.

[Mentar]

I find it more likely that the Claymore train will gain extra steam beginning with episodes 5+

That's when the story fully takes off.

Of course it's definitely not everyone's cup of coffee, and many people will watch one episode and say "yuck" and turn away - but who stays after eps 2+3 will stay till the end, I'm sure.

[Shinndou]

People who like Claire are people who have read the manga and know her character. I'll repeat it, Kaioh, you're assuming and throwing labels too quickly only after one episode. You are free to convince and illude yourself that Claire is the kind of character you are portraying, but that's wrong, and not because it's my opinion, but because it's a FACT, proved and portrayed by the manga throughout its volumes so far.

You can compare her to whoever character you want but so far all your speculations on her personality are totally off.

[NeoSam]

After Monthly Shounen Jump gets discontinued on June 6th >.< Claymore manga will be continued in Weekly Shounen Jump for a short while before it moves to the new manga magazine that Shueisha is going to launch.

Read about this here:
A Letter from Shueisha on Monthly Shonen Jump, its Serializations and A New Magazine (http://comipress.com/news/2007/04/04/1764)

[DangerMouse]

Yeah. Well I guess people who are following the manga know what kind of characters and developements we'll get to see in this show (though I wonder how much they'll manage to cover within 24 episodes, if that's going to be lenght of the anime), so they're not worried nor bothered by the presentation in of Claire as a cold-hearted and apparently "flat" character, in this first episode. But atleast people who haven't read the manga and who are still interested towards this should definetely give it a couple more episodes before labeling Claire so fast.

I'm also not bothered by it because "that was the intention". Not every main character has to wear their emotions on their sleeve or reveal everything to people they first meet, especially when they are not exactly just a regular person and in a dark show like this. I really think I'm going to like Claire's storyline based on the bits gleamed from the praise the manga received and Madhouse is good at this type of thing.

Eclipse was really good on the episodes of Pumpkin Scissors that I've been able to watch so far with good subs and great video quality so I hope they can do it again on Claymore.

[Level E]

(though I wonder how much they'll manage to cover within 24 episodes, if that's going to be lenght of the anime)

The length hasn't been defined get as far as I know. I hope it goes on a bit further.

I don't get why people like Clare.
You'll know if you stick along long enough (probably EP 5'ish at this rate) especially when the other Claymores start popping up and the character interactions start going with Claire's past being unrevealed. There is significant character development and a goal in the series.

But at its heart, it's a good brutal fighting anime for sure tho.

[Shiroth]

People who like Claire are people who have read the manga and know her character.
I've never touched the manga (though i plan to soon), and after the first episode i'm finding myself liking her a lot. Of course i can see more to come out of her in the future, but i don't think that is needed straight away to like her character.

[Vexx]

People who like Claire are people who have read the manga and know her character. I'll repeat it, Kaioh, you're assuming and throwing labels too quickly only after one episode. You are free to convince and illude yourself that Claire is the kind of character you are portraying, but that's wrong, and not because it's my opinion, but because it's a FACT, proved and portrayed by the manga throughout its volumes so far.

You can compare her to whoever character you want but so far all your speculations on her personality are totally off.

Please don't confuse "facts" with "well supported opinions" ... but yes, its too early to label or diagnose characters given what has been shown so far.

Unfortunately, depending on knowledge of the manga to present the story in anime is a poor way to run a series. So far, Claire is an enigma -- and, for anyone who watches anime or television or whatever... she hasn't been given much airtime to demonstrate anything other than "flat". One could argue that's a fail of the anime so far. Personally, I'd say wait 3-5 episodes before deciding whether this anime is going to do a reasonable job of presenting what the characters are about.

Some anime fail --- just because something is my favorite manga doesn't automagically mean the anime is a win.

[kauldron26]

so Eclipse will be subbing this?? Anidb says so...

[orion]

Ah, no love for Clare, Kaioshin_sama?

I peeked at the wiki since I know squat about this title. Clare seemed to be a tragic one as is the lot of Claymores apparently.

I look forward to her character progression and her fight to remain human. Raki definitely lives up to his name in this episode by narrowly escaping death 3 times. And definitely looking forward to learn more about the organization. They apparently aren't saintly.

But why is the blood purple in some scenes and red in others?

I definitely will be following this one. :)

[Budweineken]

Red blood = Human/Claymore...

Purple is from the Yoma.

[Crystal_Method]

Please don't confuse "facts" with "well supported opinions" ... but yes, its too early to label or diagnose characters given what has been shown so far.

Unfortunately, depending on knowledge of the manga to present the story in anime is a poor way to run a series. So far, Claire is an enigma -- and, for anyone who watches anime or television or whatever... she hasn't been given much airtime to demonstrate anything other than "flat". One could argue that's a fail of the anime so far. Personally, I'd say wait 3-5 episodes before deciding whether this anime is going to do a reasonable job of presenting what the characters are about.

Some anime fail --- just because something is my favorite manga doesn't automagically mean the anime is a win.

I agree with you, but lets not hope this turns out to be a bad anime.

Ah, no love for Clare, Kaioshin_sama?

I peeked at the wiki since I know squat about this title. Clare seemed to be a tragic one as is the lot of Claymores apparently.

I look forward to her character progression and her fight to remain human. Raki definitely lives up to his name in this episode by narrowly missing death 3 times. And definitely looking forward to learn more about the organization. They apparently aren't saintly.

But why is the blood purple in some scenes and red in others?

I definitely will be following this one. :)

It would make sense if claymore blood was a cross between red and purple, but I guess they kept it red to show that claymores were once human.

Btw I'm sorry for throwing people off on the spelling of Clare. I thought it was Claire because when I think of that name, I think about eclair... :heh:. I guess same thing with yoma too, I think about juuni kokki when I hear it (I think the beasts were called youma don't remember). Doesn't really matter though I guess.

[Budweineken]

There's nothing wrong with spelling it Claire or youma... Clare and Yoma is simply how Viz spells them, nothing really wrong with either way of spelling it, as far as discussions and fansubs of this series is concerned.

[Shiroth]

I need Teresa to hurry up and appear so i can have my share of Romi Paku love, its been to long since i've heard that beautiful voice (& no, this is not a post for people to tell me when she appears :3).

[Kaioshin Sama]

Please don't confuse "facts" with "well supported opinions" ... but yes, its too early to label or diagnose characters given what has been shown so far.

Unfortunately, depending on knowledge of the manga to present the story in anime is a poor way to run a series. So far, Claire is an enigma -- and, for anyone who watches anime or television or whatever... she hasn't been given much airtime to demonstrate anything other than "flat". One could argue that's a fail of the anime so far. Personally, I'd say wait 3-5 episodes before deciding whether this anime is going to do a reasonable job of presenting what the characters are about.

Some anime fail --- just because something is my favorite manga doesn't automagically mean the anime is a win.

This is probably the only time we'll ever disagree on something in its entirety. I read the teaser in Shonen Jump USA a while back (Chapter 1 and 2 I believe) and normally the teasers have piqued my interest and made me want to see more of the manga. Gintama, Death Note, I"s, Bleach, Whistle, Prince of Tennis, D-Gray Man (Which I can't stand now actually on account of blatent plagiarism) hell even Yugioh GX had teasers that made me actively seek out more of the series or lament the lack of more chapters in the magazine. Claymore and one other one called Zombie Powder (Which got cancelled in Japan, why its even licensed for U.S release is anyones guess) are the only two, but really one, that made me wish I hadn't bothered to read the teaser. It's a pretty big shocker for me when a teaser which is supposed to make you want more, disgusts you instead and makes you feel you wasted your time. If I were a publisher giving this a screening I would probably have turned the author down based on the first two chapters, but it got picked up. First impressions are pretty important for me and Claymore was the only manga that ever left a bad impression on me. Thinking I may have missed something I went to check the shows Wiki article and that didn't help one bit, so I'm not about to go out and purchase a volume of something to see if I was wrong about where its headed.

I think its wants to be the new Hokuto No Ken, but its not anywhere near as exciting or intriguing as that series was in its opening chapters. I was offended by HnK at first too thinking it was all violence and exploding body parts until I saw Kenshiro's dream sequence and learned his backstory. Of course within the first five minutes of episode one we got a brief almost unnoticable hint that I picked up on in the prison sequence, at the fact that there was more to him than met the eye, making me watch the second episode to find out that little tidbit in the dream sequence. I wouldn't have watched that second episode if it weren't for that hint. From there it just keeps building into a pretty darn fun action series. So I don't know, maybe Claymore just has the worst opening segements for a good series I've seen in a long time (possibly since Elfen Lied).

I like strong heroines and wish to god there were more of them, but not like this. I'm not even kidding myself into considering watching until this series hits episode 5 or so though. Yet even then it'll just cut off at episode 26. Sigh.... this is probably one of the toughest calls I'll ever have to make, but I really think I just don't like Claymore in any form, I don't want to read the manga because its hideous to me as a result of the female lead (Sorry Vexx), but I also don't want to see an anime series get cut off at episode 26 (and a voice for the character might be just enough to give her one).

[Aidan]

I've never touched the manga (though i plan to soon), and after the first episode i'm finding myself liking her a lot.

Same with me, I haven't read the manga yet. I thought I'd dislike Clare at first, but guess what I like her after seeing her in action. Some reasons why? Not telling her name just like that. A very cool things in my eyes, with an intelligent reason to boot. Shes' not stupid, but calculated. Not caring if she dies. Emotionless and yet she still has feelings, be it not because she feels, but because of the things she remembers. A lot of very attractive features. A couple of other psychological tricks are also there, but I'll leave them out.

[Jinx999]

Pretty good episode but I have a significant complaint-

:frustrated: All the expo-speak!:frustrated:

Everybody spent a lot of time explaining things to the audience. It may have been necessary to introduce us to the world - but please show us, don't tell us.

[Anacone]

I liked brutality of fights and as well as Clare's attitude and personality which supports quite well the image how it's possible to get harden to all sh** what you get by being different. Haven't read manga, just read about it from Omni's blog (http://randomc.animeblogger.net/) about new shows, sure you need more eps to see how things gets going, but I think they hit in nail with the overall atmosphere; I liked how things aren't on silver platter and world ain't fair. We need these kind of shows too, simple, gore, un-embellish(?) storytelling.

So once again I ended with Eclipse. :)

[DangerMouse]

I definitely do not think that this show is running in a way that requires familiarity with the material. Many shows like this do not make things clear right off the bat. I haven't read the manga but I'm going to assume the first couple of chapters didn't do much more than world-building and introducing Claire as a strong but withdrawn character. If the relationship between various "levels" of people/monsters is going to play a huge part it's a reasonable place to begin.

I agree you have to give a character like this a few episodes. I don't know where they are going with her character since I'm not much of a manga fan only that there seems to be a lot of "world details" that are well thought out and not haphazardly thrown together involving herself and the other Claymores. My classic argument for this is really the show is going to be atleast 20-something episodes, "oh no ***-character is an enigma after one 20 minute episode"....if you expect to understand the character that quickly the viewer is better off watching anime films or overly shonen adventure series or harem shows where you can read the entire character based on their design and/or quirks.

I don't read much manga, but nothing annoys me more than manga fans badmouthing good anime because it doesn't just animate the panels.

Some reasons why? Not telling her name just like that. A very cool things in my eyes, with an intelligent reason to boot. Shes' not stupid, but calculated.

Both reasons I liked her as well.

I too like the brutality of the action. One of the best parts of dark fantasy and they nailed it. Hopefully the tougher opponents will allow for Madhouse to give us some more lavishly animated fights. I like the style of the animation in the fight and I love the camera angles of the last action scene.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I definitely do not think that this show is running in a way that requires familiarity with the material. Many shows like this do not make things clear right off the bat. I haven't read the manga but I'm going to assume the first couple of chapters didn't do much more than world-building. If the relationship between various "levels" of people/monsters is going to play a huge part it's a reasonable place to begin.

I agree you have to give a character like this a few episodes. I don't know where they are going with her character since I'm not much of a manga fan only that there seems to be a lot of "world details" that are well thought out and not haphazardly thrown together involving herself and the other Claymores. My classic argument for this is really the show is going to be atleast 20-something episodes, "oh no ***-character is an enigma after one 20 minute episode"....if you expect to understand the character that quickly the viewer is better off watching anime films or overly shonen adventure series or harem shows where you can read the entire character based on their design and/or quirks.

I don't read much manga, but nothing annoys me more than manga fans badmouthing good anime because it doesn't just animate the panels.

You don't understand. I would have been happy with an enigmatic Clare if that is there attempt, but I didn't even get that. My friend mentioned to me that what I might have seen in Shonen Jump was an unpolished One-Shot like that which they present to the publisher for first reading and initial approval and not in fact the real touched up first chapter (basically Shonen Jump USA got lazy if thats the case). As such I might give episode one a chance and see if that gives me the enigmatic Clare I wouldn't mind seeing. The problem really is that I got the impression that the Clare in the preview is Clare and there is nothing else to see, in other words, in whatever it was I read they botched their apparent attempt at creating mystery surrounding the character and presented what we saw as the real deal without even a hint of intrigue that there might be anything (and I mean anything, tragic backstory, supressed emotions, different character traits, anything) more to the character. Now I'm not sure what I read, so I'm giving the anime a chance to see if it may have succeeded in that regard.

[Ashlotte]

Well frankly i'd never even heard of the show until I watched it today, but I saw eclipses name pop up as the sub group so I thought id give it a shot. :p


Pretty glad I did...The first episode edged alittle towards the cliche side but the animation was spot on and I find clare a pretty interesting lead, so I think ill keep up with it and see where things lead. ;)

[masama]

what can I say. So much I want to talk about episode 1 but I guess one word sums it all - nice :p

[DangerMouse]

The problem really is that I got the impression that the Clare in the preview is Clare and there is nothing else to see, in other words, in whatever it was I read they botched their apparent attempt at creating mystery surrounding the character and presented what we saw as the real deal without even a hint of intrigue that there might be anything (and I mean anything, tragic backstory, supressed emotions, different character traits, anything) more to the character. Now I'm not sure what I read, so I'm giving the anime a chance to see if it may have succeeded in that regard.

I see what you don't like, but I dunno, I like that there is finally another rare character that doesn't give that all away and hides everything to strangers and isn't bi-polar or a badass with multiple levels of softness or a tough chick shooting off a sob-story right off the bat. While I want her to grow and change I don't want her to be suppressing sad emotions all the time for angst purposes I'd like to see her be serious and calculating and eventually sympathetic. Given that she's not exactly human anymore in the first episode I would think there's going to be a rather dark tragic backstory.

[StrawHatLuffy23]

This show is the best spring 2007 anime I've seen so far.

[Sheba]

There are still a lot of anime that have yet to be aired this spring.

I've watched the first episode of Claymore, it was catchy to say the least. Houko Kuwashima did not sound like Kirika, Kagura or Yukio, so it was sort of nice to hear another shade of her voice range.

There were enough blood to make me go into Fantasy B-movies fanboy mode, music was alright. For a first episode, it delivered, as expect from Madhouse (I love this studio since the Kawajiri Golden Era).

[lommm]

wow all this discussion about clare not not being enigmatic enough or not having proper emotions and all of that.... people are making the strangest assumptions based either on:
A) the first couple chapters of the manga
B) the trailer !!! (never a good idea to judge characters based on trailers)
C) only the first ep (also not a good idea)


i really feel like this deserves spoiling but i think that the people who are complaining about this aren't going to watch the show no matter what we say so spoiling would only hurt people who like the show. suffice it to say our main character is not what you think. plain and simple.



as to the blood being red, red/purple, or purple... well, i know that human blood will be red and yoma blood will be purple. i like the theory that claymore blood should be red/purple and i would say that just because clare's blood was red doesn't mean that other claymore blood might not be red/purple. can't say anymore without treading into major spoiler territory, but that would be my theory...


i'm glad eclipse picked up the show. that means quality speed subs in dual formats!! sweet!! i love you eclipse!!

[Jazzrat]

I see what you don't like, but I dunno, I like that there is finally another rare character that doesn't give that all away and hides everything to strangers and isn't bi-polar or a badass with multiple levels of softness or a tough chick shooting off a sob-story right off the bat. While I want her to grow and change I don't want her to be suppressing sad emotions all the time for angst purposes I'd like to see her be serious and calculating and eventually sympathetic. Given that she's not exactly human anymore in the first episode I would think there's going to be a rather dark tragic backstory.

Well, first episode gave away a bit on her "tragic" backstory.


Looks like her family was killed by a youma as well. She was saved by a Claymore.
Interesting enough, the youma that tries to strangle her was cryin as well. I guess Raki's situation reminds her of her past as well.


Are Claymore women only? Or is it just mostly women?

[Saber Cherry]

I really like the Claymore manga, and love Houko Kuwashima, but I can't say I found ep1 particularly good. Bad OP, bad ED, mediocre voice-acting...

It's watchable, but I hope it gets better.

[Xellos-_^]

Well, first episode gave away a bit on her "tragic" backstory.

Looks like her family was killed by a youma as well. She was saved by a Claymore.
Interesting enough, the youma that tries to strangle her was cryin as well. I guess Raki's situation reminds her of her past as well.


Are Claymore women only? Or is it just mostly women?


Major Spoilers

Currently all Claymore are Women. There used to be male Claymores but male claymores are more unstable compare to female claymores.

The following spoiler should be reveal in the next ep.
Claymores are human/demon hybirds. When using the demons powers there is incredible rush that makes it very hard to stop. Claymores who can't stop using their demon powers and go over their limit become Awakening Ones, a hybird demon that is much more powerful then normal demons.
Female claymores can withstand the urge to used the demon powers better then male claymores.

[Crystal_Method]

awww... Xellos beat me to it. I hope there might be a chance for a new male claymore. I only got to read up to volume 6, so idk if one is introduced beyond that point.

maybe Raki will follow Clare's footsteps into becoming a claymore? That would be interesting.

[ZODDGUTS]

For me this was a solid episode really liked it. The manga does start off a bit slow so I have no problems with the first episode speeding this up. I really like Clare's character she does seem a bit flat at first but as the story goes on her character progresses you'll really get to understand her and as to why she is that way. She starts to open up a bit more with her time with Raki.

Anyways overall I liked how Madhouse handle the first episode hope they stay consistent witht the animation through out the series. BTW The series will get better and better starts off a bit slow but when it gets going it really gets good. :)

[EadTaes]

I just watched the first episode and this series seems very good. And i am so cyrriosu to knwo more about it i don't wanan wait for the eps. Does anyoen here know were I can get the manga?

[Xellos-_^]

I just watched the first episode and this series seems very good. And i am so cyrriosu to knwo more about it i don't wanan wait for the eps. Does anyoen here know were I can get the manga?

The bookstore.

It is license

[lommm]

maybe Raki will follow Clare's footsteps into becoming a claymore? That would be interesting.

i think you're probably right. it makes sense dramatically if he does this sooner or later... probably later... dunno though.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Well, first episode gave away a bit on her "tragic" backstory.


Looks like her family was killed by a youma as well. She was saved by a Claymore.
Interesting enough, the youma that tries to strangle her was cryin as well. I guess Raki's situation reminds her of her past as well.


Are Claymore women only? Or is it just mostly women?

I can most certainly guarantee that that did not happen in the early manga chapters I read. Something like that is really all I was looking for anything even slightly intriguing or mysterious about the character other than the fact she exists and kills monsters (That might have flown for something like an 8-bit games plot, but we're talking an action-drama series here). Good stuff then. Alright I'm in for an episode.

[Key Board]

Raki

is the Tate (of Mai Hime fame) of the story

Don't expect much from him.

[toxic_trance]

well frankly i think the reason people arwe commenting on this show is because they are intrigued by it. Let it be those eho didnt like it and those who did. Claire is a very fine character and her past and everything will come soon. For the first few episodes I think we should enjoy the action and see beautiful Claire in action.

As for the characters., Raki is very important in the character development of Claire. The manga made these 2 compliment each other really well.

I dont think spoilers are needed so early on. Nothing much has happened. We can wait with the spoilers for another 3 to 4 episodes. And people, peopl...those who supposedly hate Claire..please reserve ur comments for some time..u dont want to regret on them later on.

[BabelFish]

Been reading the manga as they become available in English, so far the first episode has me excited for more. The manga -> anime transition has been done well, catching the initial characters personalities and the world setting accurately. And even without that, it's looking darn pretty. :)

Now I just hope they don't pull a berserk and end the series half way though the manga.

[nadare]

I think they'll end the anime at volume 10. just before the new arc. The new arc i bet will be on season 2 if there is one.

And about why they chose female over male. You'll find out why soon, or you could go to the manga forum and read my explaination why.

[Shinndou]

I can most certainly guarantee that that did not happen in the early manga chapters I read. Something like that is really all I was looking for anything even slightly intriguing or mysterious about the character other than the fact she exists and kills monsters (That might have flown for something like an 8-bit games plot, but we're talking an action-drama series here). Good stuff then. Alright I'm in for an episode.

I am not sure that next episode might cover that part of the story, but it'll be covered soon enough anyway.

[Cyz]

Seen episode 1.

-> The story is really dark. Claire's attitude is, well like everyone said, almost robot though it's not completely. Anyway, it has violence but I already expected that coming. Anyway, now to wait for episode 2

[Joojoobees]

Now that a sub is out I thought I'ld give this a rewatch. I didn't see anything really see anything tht made me change my mind, although I liked the music a little better this time through.

I'm still suspending my final judgment based upon comments here that the story gets more interesting soon.

[Budweineken]

I can most certainly guarantee that that did not happen in the early manga chapters I read. Something like that is really all I was looking for anything even slightly intriguing or mysterious about the character other than the fact she exists and kills monsters (That might have flown for something like an 8-bit games plot, but we're talking an action-drama series here). Good stuff then. Alright I'm in for an episode.
You just didn't pay attention carefully. This happens at the end of chapter 3, and in more detail. I think you should stop reading those piece of shit teasers. For one, if you can spend all this time arguing with us, you can certainly waste that time reading a handful of chapters from different mangas that seem interesting to you, instead of reading things that don't really capture the essence of the series, and in times giving you a false impression on a series.

Man, you people sure like your spoilers, makes me remember why I don't like to discuss series in this forum. Thankfully I'm up-to-date on Viz releases for Claymore, just volume 7 to go that just got released.

[toxic_trance]

I think Episode 2 will show that even Claire has feelings...after all it is about the Black Card System. As the series progresses, we will get to see her much more as a human and how much she hates her Youma side

[johnishida]

Just watched the first ep. Pretty Good! Definetly gonna watch it to the very end!

The atmosphere of the show is what I like the best though, some parts are just too dark to see what's going on but, since most things move so fast you can't even see something happening, it's ok.

[Shinndou]

For the sake of the anime watchers we should totally avoid spoiling anything anyway (I'm referring to the people who've read the manga). Although it's safe to assume that Madhouse will remain faithful to the manga I don't like to ruin other people's experience. I think we've spoiled even too many particulars, willingly or not, in these last pages. :heh:

[TougeSil80]

Just watched ep.1, it's not bad. I'll reserved judgement for a few more eps tho.

[Wosho128]

Holy crap! The anime proceeds pretty damn fast from the manga. There were lots of quick transitions.

I thought the 1st episode was good, not great. I love the ending song though despite people not favoring it. =P

I think there's a possibility of this series getting better. The fight scenes were pretty fluid. I think the pacing needs work though.

How many episodes will this last? Can someone guesstimate?

[Crystal_Method]

i won't exactly give a spoiler since this is the anime thread, but i wanted to tell Crystal Method that the above spoilered question is on the right track...

well, since you haven't read up to 10 or 11 (whichever the last one was) you don't know what's been happening... Raki might actually have to do that. he hasn't yet, but he is in a somewhat dangerous situation, only he is unaware of how dangerous it is, and he is totally cut off from clare. so without her protection he might have to do that. at least, that's where it feels like the story is going. no way of knowing really, but with all the parallels between raki and clare, i'm sure they intend for raki to continue down the same path. it makes sense dramatically anyway...


Wow I'm surprised I was on the right track, I was actually saying that thinking/knowing it can't happen. I guess I was wrong, anyway don't say anymore then what you already have. I tend to give in too easily to spoiler tabs... :heh:

[Burner of Anime]

I believe I can sum up many of the female characters in this show as follows:

They have been abandoned by their various communities.
They are sexually frustrated [try having it and risk turning into gut eating monsters]
They fight monsters for money [none of which they'll ever see].
They are all expendable by the organisation they work for.
In order to battle monsters, their training and conditioning is such that their emotion centers shut down.

Basically, you have a large crew of pissed off, repressed and frustrated half-demon women capable of giant sword death running around. The only thing controlling them is the overeaching fear of turning into monsters and eventually being hunted down by their peers. Therefore, everyone has a walking deathwish.

At the moment, Claire is working alone. Add a few more Claymore girls and this becomes a recipe for suspicion and paranoia. Include the fact that not all Claymore's are born equal, now bullying and dominance start appearing. The abuse creates both inferiority complexes and some really gigantic egos.

Mix, shake and serve the above for insane amounts of awesome.

Last bit, the Claymore girls are also capable of great compassion and love. The starvation of affection amongst them has created the most terrible of monsters, and those who yearn for it so much they become the most resolute of humanity's protectors.

Best keep in mind, Demons and Angels come from the same place.

[WanderingKnight]

^Umm, if that's from the manga, why didn't you put it in a spoiler tag? Unless it's your wild guess, of course, but you should have clarified it, though.

Well, watched the first episode. Nice animation. One of the best things is the way they deal with light and shade in the coloring, very nicely done. The only thing I don't like are the designs, but oh well.

And the music is freaking awesome.

[Budweineken]

Alright, this is all I'll be visiting this thread... Seriously, it's no fun discussing anime here when all you guys do is discuss the manga and spoil unnecessary crap. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the series, it's one of my favorite mangas so hopefully the anime will do it justice.

[WanderingKnight]

Since there's so many people interested in this (and it was the fastest sub of the season to come out), why don't we get a separated subforum in the Current Series forum? I mean, that way all the manga readers can keep spoiling away in their separate thread.

[Daniel E.]

Now that a sub is out I thought I'ld give this a rewatch. I didn't see anything really see anything tht made me change my mind, although I liked the music a little better this time through.

I watched it again as well, and while I still dont like the opening song, I think I can actually get to like the ending one. :)

[Taylor--]

Well, watched the first episode earlier and I really enjoyed it. Can't really comment on the story thus far since we've only seen one episode so far. The combat seems pretty good so far.. if anything the battles are a little too short but I'm sure they'll speed up as the series goes on. The animation and music was really well done and I'm really impressed. OP is meh, ED is really good though IMO.

[NoSanninWa]

Since there's so many people interested in this (and it was the fastest sub of the season to come out), why don't we get a separated subforum in the Current Series forum? I mean, that way all the manga readers can keep spoiling away in their separate thread.

The manga readers ALREADY have a separate thread to discuss the manga in. It's right here: Claymore (manga)

Here's a little message to everyone who wants to talk about the manga here: Knowing the future of this story doesn't make you cool, so get over it. Telling others about future episodes of Claymore makes you a jerk.

[physics223]

Please don't spoil the manga ... it's irritating, to say the least.

[Zu Ra]

Anxiously waiting for the ep to download 4 months of wait has finally paid off : D

[Skane]

Random Thoughts on Ep01:
---- ----

Holy fast-forwards, Batman. I suppose Madhouse wants to get to the meat of the story ASAP, but the rapid pacing was a bit jarring. Thankfully, according to the preview, the pacing should calm down soon.

The 3rd Arc is all kinds of awesome, but the remainder of Arc-01 and Arc-02 are pretty nifty too, and important for fleshing out the world of Claymore. Unless you action-addicts want an episode filled with NOTHING but exposition. *shudder*
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I have no complaints about the VAs. I especially like Raki's VA.
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Despite the majority, I actually liked the BGM. Non-intrusive BGMs are my favourites, as it does not detract from what is important. The animation unfolding on the screen itself. BGMs should enhance the experience, not distract from it. This is after all, an anime, not a music video.
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I do have one complaint about the anime though. Damn, it's dark, and I'm not talking about the atmosphere. :heh: It was annoying to have so many scenes obscured in darkness, making it very hard to discern what is actually happening.
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Theresa in the OP! :D :D
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They really glossed over the details in Clare's flashbacks. :p

Looking forward to more of Claymore in animated form. This was the series I was looking forward to the most this season other than MSLN StrikerS.

Cheers.

[Burner of Anime]

:heh: Opps, first penalty in a long time though some of Claire's character is pretty obvious from the first episode. Girl has a soft spot for hard luck cases no matter what sort of ice queen she appears to be.

Thing is, she is now dragging a boy several years younger than she is like some sort of pet or toy. The fanfiction possibilities are simply endless :rolleyes: It's pretty rare to have a story where the female lead is WAY more mature than her opposite. The dynamics from the age difference itself should prove interesting. At the very least the shota-fanfics should rejoice at the pairing.

Now, how long will it take for this show to be given a section of it's own.

[Fenrir_valindri]

I believe I can sum up many of the female characters in this show as follows:

They have been abandoned by their various communities.
They are sexually frustrated [try having it and risk turning into gut eating monsters]
They fight monsters for money [none of which they'll ever see].
They are all expendable by the organisation they work for.
In order to battle monsters, their training and conditioning is such that their emotion centers shut down.
[/Snip]



From what I have read of the manga (up to vol 7 and seen the RAWS up to 11) only 2 out of those 5 statements are right, I do not wish to clarify more in fear of handing out spoilers, spoilers are bad for new fans afterall. :D


On the first episode; I do believe they did a good job overall for the introduction episode, in all honesty the Claymore manga did not really grab me until volume 3, so I can understand why some people are not raving mad over the anime this early on. All I can offer is try to give it a few more episodes and see if it catches your interest further, it only gets better.

The music wierded me out at first, with its constantly changing styles, but the ending song was great imo.

The dark atmosphere in several of the scenes was quite well done too, it gave the Yoma a much more intimidating appearance that they lacked in the early volumes of the Manga.

So overall I liked it alot, hopefully they do even better on the later episodes!

[toxic_trance]

Orewa atarashi Claymore thread no hoshi....I think its pretty obvious with the number of replies that this series needs to be in the Current Discussion thread..am i wrong???

[Quajafrie]

Awesome. I want more. I love Madhouse so much.

[Nightengale]

Not...bad.

There was something somewhat missing in the anime experience of Claymore. I can't quite grasp what it is...

Regardless, for it's worth, it's a decent episode. Sure, it didn't have l33t animation or what-not, but the accompanying BGM and the atmosphere in the non-dark scenes (( which was as bad as some D.Gray-Man episodes )) was chillingly fitting for the world of Claymore. It had the sense of gray-ness that I liked in the manga. Not so much faithful, but I'm not complaining.

[lommm]

i wonder how this will do in Japan. does anyone know when tv ratings come out there? i'm curious how this was rated.


i have a question: is the series really this dark or is that some degredation during the capture->raw->sub process? if it's that dark, it must be torture for encoders...



AND A BIG APOLOGY TO EVERYONE!!

i was one of those who was discussing manga here (even under spoilers) and i realize there's a manga thread for that discussion. so you will get zero more new posts in this thread from me regarding anything in the manga unless it's animated equivalent has already aired. hopefully the other readers will do the same.

[Daniel E.]

i wonder how this will do in Japan. does anyone know when tv ratings come out there? i'm curious how this was rated.

Dont know if there are ratings for the first episode already, but you may want to keep checking this thread (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=11958&page=4) in case someone post them there.

[Mentar]

i have a question: is the series really this dark or is that some degredation during the capture->raw->sub process? if it's that dark, it must be torture for encoders...

It is so dark. There's no degradation in the encoding process responsible for the colors. And I don't believe in artificially "lighting up" the footage, I prefer to stick with the original the artists intended. Other releases might disagree there, though. We'll see.

A general problem is that the show has a very atypical frame balance. The backgrounds are extremely detailed (look at wood and stones), therefore it's nearly impossible to use normal encoding chains with smoothing/deblocking, because this would massively degrade those background details and leave a strange "artificial" look. That's why I was extremely apprehensive early on, because in the ultra-dark hi-motion scenes, blocking couldn't be avoided, and for the reason outlines above, I could hardly combat it. On the plus side, one raw was relatively clean with only few blocks in the dark, so a strong deblocking wasn't even necessary.

So, I wouldn't say it's "torture" for encoders, but it sure is no walk in the park either.

[Saber Cherry]

It is so dark. There's no degradation in the encoding process responsible for the colors. And I don't believe in artificially "lighting up" the footage, I prefer to stick with the original the artists intended. Other releases might disagree there, though. We'll see.

A general problem is that the show has a very atypical frame balance. The backgrounds are extremely detailed (look at wood and stones), therefore it's nearly impossible to use normal encoding chains with smoothing/deblocking, because this would massively degrade those background details and leave a strange "artificial" look. That's why I was extremely apprehensive early on, because in the ultra-dark hi-motion scenes, blocking couldn't be avoided, and for the reason outlines above, I could hardly combat it. On the plus side, one raw was relatively clean with only few blocks in the dark, so a strong deblocking wasn't even necessary.

So, I wouldn't say it's "torture" for encoders, but it sure is no walk in the park either.

The first episode was much better (encoding-wise) than the first half-season of D.Gray-man, in which half of the actions scenes appeared to consist of some gray blocks filmed on a moonless night. But I did notice that it was very dark overall, which was an odd artistic choice as it makes all the detail and action hard to see.

[NoSanninWa]

Orewa atarashi Claymore thread no hoshi....I think its pretty obvious with the number of replies that this series needs to be in the Current Discussion thread..am i wrong???
It's much too early to say. Previously some series have started out with a lot of discussion and ended up with very little. We're going to wait a bit before we make up our minds.

[lommm]

It's much too early to say. Previously some series have started out with a lot of discussion and ended up with very little. We're going to wait a bit before we make up our minds.
methinks thou speakest of Pumpkin Scissors & Asatte no Houkou, among others. :P

So, I wouldn't say it's "torture" for encoders, but it sure is no walk in the park either.thanks for that response. it told me a lot. i realize now that the framing balance was what felt strange when i watched the raw (definitely no the more common "more than half, less that half" approach to light and dark balance). i'm going to go watch the sub now and pay close attention to this. it's interesting to me.

Dont know if there are ratings for the first episode already, but you may want to keep checking this thread in case someone post them there.
thanks for pointing me to that thread. such a big discussion over there. it will take me a while to get caught up on that thread...

[Mentar]

It's much too early to say. Previously some series have started out with a lot of discussion and ended up with very little. We're going to wait a bit before we make up our minds.

I see your point, but I believe that Claymore is so popular that it will definitely keep going. Shonen Jump is a major booster.

Also, we're talking about 25.000 downloads 19 hours after release...

[Crystal_Method]

I hope to god that this show stays popular, but it's hogging all of the fansubbers. If only one of those fansub groups would go and pick up overdrive instead...

[Skyfall]

Well, it was not bad for a first episode. The pacing was trough the roof, but hey - i guess they want to get the main plot rolling as soon as possible. (Any idea how many eps this is, any one ? :( )

But somehow it felt...lacking. I can't pinpoint exactly what. Perhaps the color palette ... perhaps the music (Which was so unmemorable that i can't remember any of it while writing this, though i finished the ep 10 min ago :heh: )... perhaps it was lacking in atmosphere due to turbospeed pacing. Can't say i was very fond of the purple blood either.

Overall it was pretty good and it is definitely a keeper for me, but i hope it gets better. Didn't like the OP much ... ED, on the other hand, was very much to my liking.

[Anh_Minh]

Agreed on the music. I remember kind of liking the OP and being indifferent to the ED, but I can't for the life of me remember what they sounded like.

Also, I thought the Claymores' hair would be white. Blond is too human.

[Shiroth]

Blond is too human.
Well, they are half human --- so sticking to blond hair makes more sense, and looks better in my opinion.

[Zu Ra]

Extremely well made anime I haven’t seen such beautiful visuals and complementing music endowed up an anime in a long time. The story and the characters gel no where do they go stray, the concept is interesting though not unique viewers are intrigued what’s going to happen next

The detail of art blew me away it set the right mood for a Medieval/Elvyn series. Long time back I had asked is Claymore somewhat similar to Berserk after watching the anime my queries were answered its even better : D

[Daniel E.]

Also, I thought the Claymores' hair would be white. Blond is too human.

I actually though every girl would have a different hair color. Wasn't expecting that all of them would be blondies.

[Skane]

I actually though every girl would have a different hair color. Wasn't expecting that all of them would be blondies.
Well... Claymore is not really in a "Japanese" setting. :heh:

Cheers.

[Goofus Maximus]

I liked the first episode of this, though, unlike some, I wasn't at all impressed with the musical side of things. I'm probably spoiled by Nodame Cantabile! ;)

[Jazzrat]

Well to be fair, Nodame Cantabile had a orchestra behind em for music plus most of it are written well know classics. :)

But i agree Claymore's music is rather mediocre judging from episode 1.

[Daniel E.]

Well... Claymore is not really in a "Japanese" setting. :heh:

Cheers.

Even so, I still think it's a bit odd for all of them to be blonde.

Then again, it could just be me trying to get his green haired girl fix. :heh:

[Crystal_Method]

I bet they chose blond hair because blond or silver hair looks best with silver eyes. They probably chose blond over silver because when claymores go into youma mode their eyes change to gold.

[WanderingKnight]

Why didn't anyone enjoy the music on the show (aside from the OP/ED)? I found it so experimental, but yet so fitting to the setting...

I must be getting old.

[Skane]

Why didn't anyone enjoy the music on the show (aside from the OP/ED)? I found it so experimental, but yet so fitting to the setting...

I must be getting old.
Eh? You must have missed my post then.

ADD] And if you're old, I'm grampa. :p

Cheers.

[WanderingKnight]

Eh? You must have missed my post then.

ADD] And if you're old, I'm grampa.

Cheers.

Well, yes, there's you, but there are a lot of other people all over the thread who've said the music sucks.