Claymore Vol. 1 — anime dvd review
Episodes: 1-5
Genre: Anime, Action
Throughout my years of anime fandom, I’ve tended to favor shows and films with visual flair and kinetic action over those with dramatic plots or mundane romances. I’ll go to books and films for intellectual and emotional stimulation, but when it comes to anime, I want to see animated feats that can’t be realized convincingly in a live action format. Additionally, I’ve tended to favor shows with strong heroines (also see our Bad Ass Chicks category) over those with weak, moe-style females. Last year’s Witchblade sort of satisfied these criteria, providing some stylish visuals and an ass-kicking female, 
but I found the show ultimately lacking when it came to its delivery of promised action. With Claymore, however, I just might have found my new action anime drug.
If you’ve been on the anime scene for any amount of time, you’re probably familiar with Yoma, those dastardly forest dwelling, man-eating demons found in Blood Reign and Yotoden. Usually these guys are found opposing a spry young ninja protagonist, but in Claymore the Yoma is actually the heroine…well, make that a half-Yoma.
Claymore’s protagonist is Clare, a half-Yoma hunter-for-hire, tasked with carrying out missions for the Claymore organization. Their name taken for the giant swords they wield,
these warriors are the result of an experiment in Yoma-fighting technologies: human females imbued with Yoma genetics and trained in the ways of the sword in order to protect humans from the Yoma menace. But there’s a catch. For the more a Claymore exerts herself fighting Yoma, the closer she comes to losing her humanity and becoming a full fledged Yoma herself. It’s that old Nietzsche quote in action. Until that day, however, the Claymore carries out their duties, killing Yoma for villages willing to pay their organization’s hefty contracting fee.
In terms of visual styles, Claymore is pretty intriguing. Character designs are noticeably distinct and visually striking, if slightly odd. Clare herself has a decidedly alien look to her – wholly befitting one of her bloodline. 
The show also employs a wonderfully desaturated color scheme, the world the characters inhabit appearing dusty, worn, and most importantly, real. But where the show really shines are its action sequences. These things are intense, bloody, and wholly satisfying. With every conflict Clare exerts real effort, even suffering bodily injury while attempting to capture and kill her quarry. It’s the complete opposite of Witchblade, where the overly-busty Masane simply killed all comers with an all-too-quick flick of the wrist.
This first disc of Claymore sees Clare’s introduction, the carrying out of her initial Yoma bounties, her acquisition of friend/cook Raki, an assignment tasking her with executing a former Claymore, a covert investigation of yoma menace/murder in a holy city, and the first glimpses at Clare’s life pre-Claymore. The thrust of the series (ie: Clare’s motivation) 
has not quite been explained yet, and in order to avoid potential spoilers, I won’t explain it here (you can check the Wikipedia page if you’re particularly curious). Still, these 5 episodes surprised me with how well put-together they were. Each episode boasted a fine balance between exposition and action, neither overstaying their welcome, and both fully maintaining their hold on my attention. As such, they proved very entertaining, and flew by in a flash. Those of you who read this site know I like to portion out episodes over multiple days, but with Claymore I devoured the entire disc in one sitting.
To keep this from running on too long, I’ll wrap it up here. Suffice it to say, this first disc of Claymore is surprisingly strong. If the rest of the series holds to the level of quality found here, I might just be able to call Claymore my new favorite action anime.
DVD
Another strong offering from Funimation. Video and audio quality are excellent, and both the English dub and subtitling jobs are of high quality. I preferred the Japanese language track for this one, but the English language was equally well done. Extras on the DVD include a commentary track for the show’s first episode, featuring the American voice cast, video of the cast auditions for the American dub actors, and the usual Funimation offerings of anime trailers and textless openings and closings.
All in all, a strong disc for a promising anime. Pick this one up.
