Claymore Chapter 80

[chibamonster]

I know, the evangelion manga is taking forever. And not just that, it is almost exactly the same as the anime. Like the camera angles and everything. I often think, wait a second, did he just trace this from the show he made? The quality of art in the manga is phenomenal though... The technical detail of the Eva's and buildings he renders blows my mind.

It is interesting to me how anime and manga relate. At first it seemed to me like the anime artists could do well in composing the shots if they had to, or even draw for the manga if needs be and do it quickly because they are animators. But then I discovered fillers. Without the manga backbone to storyboard from things look terrible. Characters do not look right, they do not move right, and that is not even mentioning how bad the story can get. I loved how they animated Claymore but it was readily apparent when they were making stuff up. Remember Priscilla's "final" awakened form? *Shudder* Not only did it not make sense with the story, it looked awful. Or how tall and lanky the characters got...

In manga almost every (successful) artist has assistants to help them meet deadlines by doing the tedious work. Naoki Urasawa, the guy who did monster, says that his role as the mangaka is more like a director than anything else as he picks the panels he wants to communicate the story. Anyways, drawing alone would get lonely.

[yezhanquan]

The darkness of the series blinds me to the background (or is it the fact that I just can't stand some of his character designs?).

@chibamonster: You're right on both the manga-anime comparison and the importance of assistants. I just can't shake off the feeling that Yagi-sensei is going it alone because he doesn't want other people to touch his character designs. Yagi-sensei is no newbie, but when it comes to Ayamine Rando (GetBackers), I get the sense that he's learning together with his assistants on how to improve themselves. Today, Daiya no Ace and Soul Eaters are the products of his former assistants.

Another important issue to me is the voice cast. Also, since the fellows @Madhouse did such a good job selecting the ladies, reading the earlier chapters of the manga has been a treat.

As for YS, I still think of his character designs as the best. There's just that bit of gentleness... I don't know. What I know is that if you send me a piece of EVA art, I'll look for his trademark Y.S. signature first, and that's if the art style had me thinking: Could it be drawn by him?

[tenken627]

I honestly don't see Claymore leaving Jump Square. Claymore is one of the 4 series that are staples of Jump Sq., the publishers wouldn't let go of Claymore without a big fight, even if Weekly Shonen Jump is in the same family. Especially since Jump Square is still relatively new.

Maybe a switch to Jump Square Second is possible, if they want to help boost sales of that really, really new magazine? But I don't really see any real reason for that and seriously doubt it.

[yezhanquan]

SJ doesn't need Claymore. With the Big 3, its place in the shounen market is assured.

The editors know how to play the strengths of the series well.

[tenken627]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

SJ doesn't need Claymore. With the Big 3, its place in the shounen market is assured.

The editors know how to play the strengths of the series well.

I agree yez, there is no reason to put Claymore in SJ.

And since there is no incentive from the top executives to move Claymore, and no incentive from Yagi to make a move, Claymore will always stay in monthly format.

[yezhanquan]

Let's hope that Jump Square lasts longer than Monthly Shounen Jump. Being reducd to a cameo appearance in SJ once a month: that, to me, is an insult for Claymore.

[chibamonster]

What I would not mind though would be some OAVs of a real ending, released like the eva movies. But I think they would be a long way off if Claymore is even popular enough to merit some. I, of course, think that it is . I am drooling at the image in my mind of Isley vs. Luciella, Teresa vs. Rosemary, Alicia vs. 11 AB's, Riful vs. 12 AB's, all the AB's awakened forms, Agatha's downfall... and the awesome stuff that is surely coming.

Does Yagi have assistants? I can't imagine him not having some to do some of that background rendering though I guess it is possible. I saw a silly comercial for Jump Square on youtube where Yagi's assistant, #3 Kosoku-pen Kanera (quick-pen Kanera) talked about how she was the fastest inker of all the assistants. Of course, after that Yagi talked about how he remained in a partially awakened state by drinking herbal tea and taking a nap when things got too intense.

[yezhanquan]

I think we need the owners of the bound volumes to help us with the assistant question. Usually, mangaka and assistants doodle extras in the volumes, as well as to give their thoughts on chapters.

As for OVAs, I don't dare to hope for so much. Drama CDs will do. I can die happy if Noto Mamiko voices Miata.

[tenken627]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

Let's hope that Jump Square lasts longer than Monthly Shounen Jump. Being reducd to a cameo appearance in SJ once a month: that, to me, is an insult for Claymore.

I don't think that Claymore's Extra Scenes in SJ was an insult, they just had nowhere else to put it until Jump Square officially released.

You could say that Jump Square was made to carry on several popular titles from MSJ such as Claymore (which might be the carrying series), even though MSJ failed in the end. But, MSJ still lasted like 37 years, which is a very long time.

I don't know about now, but I did read that Jump Square did exceptionally well during its initial release and the month afterwards, so hopefully it continues to have success.

Jump Square has it's own niche in their family of magazines, since it's for a little more mature audience than Shonen Jump, but not yet seinen. At least that's what I hear since I don't really read the other titles like Rosario + Vampire. But, I don't really consider Claymore a typical shonen as well.

[yezhanquan]

Opps.... Would that mean that Jump Square is just MSJ "rebooted"? They want the SJ brand to be associated with WSJ, maybe?

Rosario is ecchi.

[tenken627]

Well, the articles say that only 4 series shifted from Monthly Shonen Jump to Square Jump.

1) Claymore
2) Rosario + Vampire
3) Tegami Bachi
4) Gag Manga Biyori

Nothing else was transferred I think.

All four of them were put in Weekly Shonen Jump during the lag time between MSJ's demise and Square Jump's release though. Claymore appeared 4 times in WSJ and the other 3 only appeared once.

[yezhanquan]

Still, I wouldn't put it past the Shueisha editors to dispose of something after it has outlived its usefulness. It's the right decision commercially, but it leaves a non-pleasant aftertaste. See the fate of Shaman King.

[PureYoki]

Originally Posted by Vinak

wishful thinking

Oh, man, people don't just let it go. I thought we agreed to disagree.

Well, we first read chapter 80, Raki toying with a yoma. Then we go back to chapter 1, read how Clare defeats the yoma, the yoki release, the monster blood dialogue, etc. It doesn't make sense any more, does it?

What was the format of claymore in the beginning:

1) There are creatures called yoma who feed on human guts.

2) Humans are not able to deal with the power and speed of these monsters, so warriors called Claymores are created.

3) Claymores with the blood of these monsters in themselves are able to match and overpower yoma.

Now all of a sudden we suddenly learn that humans are perfectly capable to kill a yoma without a sweat. If a human can do it, many can do it: So where are those people?

People only have one counterargument to this paradox: Isley trained the boy.

What I understand from this counterargument:

If Bruce Lee trains you, you'll slap other people silly, people who were trained by other masters, people who trained themselves, people who worked so hard. Can you actually believe nobody in human history succeeded to master swordplay until a genius called Raki comes along and teaches humans the hidden power inside them which none of them was able to exploit in the history of mankind?

Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic but the whole "Raki is a human" argument demolishes the very basis of Claymoreverse.

[chibamonster]

In the first chapter it is also mentioned that Claymores are the only ones who can FIND youma. It has something to do with their silver eyes. It is also interesting to note that a claymore on suppressants has normal colored eyes and cannot sense youki. Fighting a monster that is impossible to locate is ...well... impossible. The bandit leader mentioned killing a youma was not the hard part; finding it was, as it could be anyone. A youma will disguise itself as a friend, relative, or even a corpse. In the anime the simple answer would be to tell people that youma have purple blood and check that way, but in the manga no such answer exists.

Also Clare in the first few chapters was incredibly weak. Almost beyond weak compared to other Claymores. Her youki sensing ability had not kicked up to the next level yet and she had a lot of difficulty with normal youma. Compare that to Irene's group who mentioned that any single one of them could have exterminated the entire hive of youma in the town they met in. It is certainly possible that Raki is a human as the little girl was the one who pointed out the youma. It is also possible he is not human. But Raki does not have silver eyes in any of the panels so there would have to be a reason (pills or he is something other than Claymore).

[PureYoki]

chiba, I think the bandit leader was overestimating himself when he said he could take any yoma or claymore down. I doubt he faced any of them before, he was enthusiastic to find an opportunity to try his falcon sword at last.

I don't have any problem with Raki being a human. The problem is nobody has ever heard a human who was able to defeat yoma in 100 years. The yoma Raki killed is probably not his first. He might have killed lots of them and he did it with a body that couldn't heal itself like a claymore. One mistake and boom, you're dead. Killing one yoma is almost impossible for all men and killing many yoma is piece of cake for one of them.

I stand by my argument that Raki is a claymore (or at least he has yoma blood) and he takes pills (or something else to that effect) to avoid his uncontrolled awakening.

[chibamonster]

The bandit leader knew more about Claymores than most people we have met. He even knew their rules and regulations although Teresa's voluptuous figure was too much for him and his men to handle. He might have been able to hurt most claymores. Remember he was up against Teresa though, not a normal Claymore. Even the top Claymores of her generation working together cannot hurt her. He certainly picked his opponents poorly.

As I said before, finding Youma is the problem. You cannot fight an invisible enemy. Humans cannot find youma which means they do not kill them much either. Raki has a little girl with him who points the youma out. All youma may not be exactly the same though; the Rabona youma was much larger than most other youma we have seen and even appeared more powerful. Or Clare just got screwed. One or the other.

Raki could be on pills. Yagi could certainly make that work with some back story. Raki could also be a human. Or something else. I do not think human is out of the question at this point.

[KillerYomaFromSpace]

hi, I've been observing this forums for a while and I felt like piling up the facts for the Raki speculation

Human:
-no silver eyes (could be because of the pills, but then we need an explanation about where would he get pills and why)
-no special movement or anything that indicates youki (but maybe he didn't feel the need to use it)
-need a girl to find the yoma (if he took pills he would need her to frind the yoma)

Non-human:
-Seemed very confident (but he may have a lot of experience by now training with Isley and a single yoma could be no big deal)
-Strong and fast (but this can be acheived with training too)

so far, there are more things that indicates that he is stil human, but none of the reasons is something clear, it can still be anything, but I think that he is human as the reasons behind it seem to be more clear, I think that if Yagi wanted to show that he is not human, he would have done it more clearly, however, how would he prove that he is human?, needing the girl to find the yoma would be a good one

also, I think the story need a strong human, he could fool even the best yoki reader, because he doesnt even have yoki, Cid was close to kill Agatha, an awakened number 2, just because of that same reason. Raki may not be good at fighting against other claymores, a group of yoma, or ABs, but the aid of a zealous skilled human could be a very helpfull tool and I'm sure that Miria would know how to use it to gain advantage

I really hope he is not a claymore, because if thats the case, there could be a big chance that he will become that annoying stereotipical protagonist that gets all the attention

[yezhanquan]

It could be something akin to Integra in Hellsing.

[Reppa]

Originally Posted by KillerYomaFromSpace

hi, I've been observing this forums for a while and I felt like piling up the facts for the Raki speculation

Human:
-no silver eyes (could be because of the pills, but then we need an explanation about where would he get pills and why)
-no special movement or anything that indicates youki (but maybe he didn't feel the need to use it)
-need a girl to find the yoma (if he took pills he would need her to frind the yoma)

Non-human:
-Seemed very confident (but he may have a lot of experience by now training with Isley and a single yoma could be no big deal)
-Strong and fast (but this can be acheived with training too)

so far, there are more things that indicates that he is stil human, but none of the reasons is something clear, it can still be anything, but I think that he is human as the reasons behind it seem to be more clear, I think that if Yagi wanted to show that he is not human, he would have done it more clearly, however, how would he prove that he is human?, needing the girl to find the yoma would be a good one

also, I think the story need a strong human, he could fool even the best yoki reader, because he doesnt even have yoki, Cid was close to kill Agatha, an awakened number 2, just because of that same reason. Raki may not be good at fighting against other claymores, a group of yoma, or ABs, but the aid of a zealous skilled human could be a very helpfull tool and I'm sure that Miria would know how to use it to gain advantage

I really hope he is not a claymore, because if thats the case, there could be a big chance that he will become that annoying stereotipical protagonist that gets all the attention

There is also the possibility th the organization got the Captain America formula from Marvel and used it on Raki. This would explain the abnormal abilities and his non youma detecting.

[Enara]

Raki is Claymores Batman