Story - well. It might be difficult to see any value in its story for the first few chapters. Initially it seems predictable and like a typical "let's watch as some badass kills monsters in this ~fantastical~ weird world" story, but with more interesting characters and concepts. It seems like it doesn't plan on doing anything special with the characters or the story. Yet it still has this weird charm to it that keeps you reading.
But it picks up quickly. Despite the predictability of these first chapters, I found myself pulled in. I typically have trouble getting into manga, since I'm more used to watching
...
my entertainment than reading it, but I started reading the first chapter on a whim and found myself unable to stop. For all of its initial simplicity, it's still a page-turner, especially once the main character's past is touched on. It's the pivotal point where you realize that this manga really does intend to have some depth, and from that point on, it doesn't disappoint.
Its story does still have some predictability for... maybe half of the series, but it doesn't affect the enjoyment much. The reader grows an attachment to Clare, the main character, and after all she goes through you can't help but root for her and keep turning the pages.
But keep in mind that vast majority of the story is, in fact, played in battles. It's predominantly action, but the fights are far from repetitive. The fights have a clear purpose; they're not just crossing swords for the sake of LET'S GET SOME BLOODSHED IN HERE SO THE READERS STAY INTERESTED.
My only complaint is that I kind of liked the simplicity. As the story goes, it gets more complex, more confusing, and begins to lose the charm that the initial chapters had. Your mileage will almost definitely vary.
Art - difficult to say. The style is different enough to be a little eye-catching, but it's nothing spectacular. Fight scenes are coordinated well, and you seldom have trouble understanding what's going on. I'd hesitate to call it "gory" -- it doesn't go out of its way to show a lot of blood -- but it doesn't skimp on bloodshed or violence. The art has a nice balance.
Readers will appreciate that characters' facial features tend to be so different from each other's, and may be pleasantly surprised that Claymores aren't just ass-kicking beautiful waifs, as powerful female characters in other series tend to be. Some Claymores have long, large noses, some have no eyebrows, some have huge muscles, some have tiny eyes, some have absurdly pointy ears... seeing female characters with some actual variety in facial features is refreshing. Some Claymores are downright unattractive (while still being good guys! Amazing!), and it's just. Really nice to see that.
Character - Clare is a fantastic character, first of all. Her character is easy to understand, and she's a compelling character without being a tragic hero. It doesn't mean that her backstory is any less sad, but it's hardly uncommon in the setting. It's the way she handles it with her actions that sets her apart. Her character is believable, and... again, you just want to root for her. She may be stoic at times, but she's a far cry from emotionless. Don't get her angry.
Aside from her... Raki. Raki is kind of annoying in the anime, but the way he is in the manga is easy to sympathize with. He's lovable. His development, too, is believable.
And all of the other characters are interesting as well. Claymores in general tend to be cold, stoic, businesslike, and asocial, at least when around humans -- humans fear the very warriors protecting them, even calling them "silver-eyed witches" and "half-monster." This would (understandably) make them bitter, especially since no one becomes a Claymore voluntarily. The manga takes these things into consideration. Being outcasted from your village and from humans in general -- against your will, no less -- and then being forced to protect the people who fear and reject you in the first place? It would make most people somewhat bitter, yeah.
The ridiculous amount of characters can make some things confusing (a few times I had to think to myself, "-character-? Who's -character- again? Is that the one who..."), but other characters do have some distinctive personality traits. The other characters become more and more important as the story progresses, and though they don't develop noticeably, they're still interesting, subtle characters who don't (usually) get pushed into standard archetypes. Even the villains are quirky and understandable.
Enjoyment - I love this series. I read 96 chapters in one sitting, which... has never happened to me before. I've tried to read countless manga, but I seldom got beyond four or five chapters before getting bored and never picking it up again. But Claymore? I just couldn't stop. Again, it's a page-turner. I can't really explain why, but this series sucked me in like few series have ever managed to. The characters are compelling, the art is fairly enough, the setting is fascinating, the story is paced well, the action scenes -- scenes which I usually dread in other series -- are every bit as entertaining as the rest.
Overall - go for it. Claymore's far from perfect, but if nothing else, it's refreshing. The feel that Claymore has is unique. It puts an interesting spin on action/adventure.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: CLAYMORE More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 27
Chapters: 159
Status: Finished
Published: May 6, 2001 to Oct 4, 2014
Theme:
Gore
Demographic:
Shounen
Serialization:
Jump SQ. Authors:
Yagi, Norihiro (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #3422 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #37
Members: 201,237
Favorites: 13,595 Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 86 / 94
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Aug 26, 2010
Story - well. It might be difficult to see any value in its story for the first few chapters. Initially it seems predictable and like a typical "let's watch as some badass kills monsters in this ~fantastical~ weird world" story, but with more interesting characters and concepts. It seems like it doesn't plan on doing anything special with the characters or the story. Yet it still has this weird charm to it that keeps you reading.
But it picks up quickly. Despite the predictability of these first chapters, I found myself pulled in. I typically have trouble getting into manga, since I'm more used to watching ... 
Nov 17, 2014
Claymore is the incarnation of an RPG similar manga, the eerie atmosphere at times with just the right amount of gore and "Breasts" this manga truly stand out just like a well cooked mild curry dish, not too much spices and not too little.
1-Story 10/10 this is the most amazing part of this manga , the characters didn't really pop up but the story was more than sufficient to overshadow the shortcomings of them. at most times the story wasn't really omnidirectional and it was more of a narrative type to me i think that this story might have been better in a novel type but ... 
Jan 13, 2008
This is the best manga by far. The story is about girls with big swords (called Claymores by others) hunting down Yomas (demons who plague the world). It's incredibly violent and bloody which is awesome. The story only gets more interesting once it reaches the Teresa Arc, which talks about Teresa, the strongest Claymore ever, and how she meets Clare (the main character). This story is interesting because of the many conflicts and plot twists that will keep you reading it over and over. There's mild nudity too, not bad.
Must read. 
May 17, 2010
Okay Claymore is one of the best if not the best in terms of balancing action and plot development. The story takes place in a country where monsters called 'Youma' feed on humans and that is where the introduction to the main character Clare is made. There is an organization that recruits and trains young female warriors (half-human, half-youma) in order to fend off the population of Youma, however they do this service for a fee. Clare is one of the so-called 'Claymores' (nicknamed by the villagers because of the weapon they carry) and simply enough she carries out orders from the organization. However like
...
Apr 24, 2016
Story:
Convenient. A lot of things take place for the sake of progression. There's no real sense of urgency or fear when reading this work, as each fight is recovered by an unknown savior stepping in at the last minute. With a work putting so much emphasis on the overwhelming power of the enemy, it's unfortunate to find it undermined by poor directive decisions. There's a mishandling of dialogue and combat. This is a work that is plagued with characters pausing in the middle of a fight to take out the proverbial tea-table and chew the fat over some expositional dialogue. It can become very arduous and ... 
Aug 3, 2023 Not Recommended Funny 
Claymore, unfortunately, falls short as a subpar, sub-mediocre, forgettable, and unimaginative read.
Its cast lacks any creativity, and the Claymore organization, which should be the highlight, features more than 40 female monster hunters that look, fight, and act the same. They are praised as great female representation, but the more you grow as a reader, the more you will realize that they are an absolute joke. -The main character, Claire, fails to stand out, appearing like a recycled character from another story. Her arc revolves around being emotionless but learning to feel while traveling with Raki, who is arguably the worst character in the series. ... 
Sep 5, 2021 Mixed Feelings Informative  Well-written 
Claymore is one of the most disappointing manga I've read. From chapter 1 to about 60 it is amazing, however, afterwards the quality declines little by little until by the end there is barely anything left to enjoy. Let me explain.
The story starts out fairly simple but gets more complex quickly as we see the past of the main character. We slowly get introduced to more aspects of the life of the claymores and how it affects them. We get to see what makes the main character special among all the other warriors and watch as she gets stringer and forms relationships with other people. ... 
Jan 25, 2015
Claymore, a manga with lot of story arcs.
It starts off simple, with claymores (aka silver eyed witches) doing their job. A character bonds with one, and they do things together. Things get a lot more complicated later on, but it maintains its general flow. The main problem I had with it is how long is dragged things on sometimes. I generally like to avoid animes such as Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, and all of the others like that for that very reason. Fights take forever, and there can be a lot of talking sometimes. So obviously if this will bother you, it might not ... 
May 7, 2014
Plot development and storyline :
The storyline of Claymore is set up on a medieval island world, infested with monsters called “Youma”. Youmas can shift their shape, disguise and live as humans within society. They retain the memories and knowledge of the human body they reside in, so normal humans can’t recognize them in their perfect disguise. Youmas eat human innards to live and can’t resist the urge to eat innards more than two weeks. So eventually they end up murdering humans brutally, to eat their guts. A mysterious group called “The Organization” creates half human-half youma hybrid female warriors who kill youmas in exchange of money, ... 
Oct 25, 2020
Typically I am not one to watch or read many dark fantasy stories but Claymore was a rather intriguing experience.
The main focus of the story centers around an organization of Claymores fighting different monsters of varying strength and power. Despite what seemingly could become a rather formulaic plot, it manages to maintain a looming sense of mystery about the world slowly building on what's been previously established and adds many twists along the way keeping things unpredictable. There would often be moments of uncertainty if a character would make it out of a life threatening situation as there are many deaths throughout. The violence featured ... 
Mar 2, 2015
STORY: 6
Claymore is the story of the "Silver Eyed Witches", half-human half-demon beings who fight man-eating monsters called Youma. The main protagonist is one of these witches-warriors named Claire, and the majority of the plot is about her quest for revenge. Despite the basic premise, the story evolves to become a bit more complex; in the end I found it to be Claymore's weakest aspect, as it remains largely predictable. The one time it tries to surprise the reader with a big revelation it does introduce some unexpected elements, but the author did not employ the said elements in any other way throughout the manga ... 
Jul 16, 2008
Claymore is an amazing manga, everyone who wants to read any type of shounen manga must read claymore!
It takes place in medieval times, but that doesnt even matter. I dont think that it would really make a difference if it took place in the year 2020. You dont really even notice the time period as you read it. Anyway, first you must know what a claymore is. A claymore is a WOMAN not man for reasons explained in the manga, who is a demon, but has a human mind. Claymores are made by the organization, which is just called the organization. I dont recall seeing ... 
May 7, 2009
“Die for others, live for others”
As the story begins there’s a little drama and horror beneath it that gave me a shot to continue reading. As I continue, the flow of the story begins intriguing and exciting, then soon I noticed that I have been hooked up in continuing reading it. Protecting and revenging are the main cause of this manga, they have been passed over to be able to live longer and do what is incorrect. An action, sci-fi and adventure type of story that revolves on the life and belief of the main character. There are also mysteries and intrigues that I found ... 
Oct 22, 2014
If you're looking to read a great shounen manga, then you must read Claymore, the best Shounen manga I've ever read. Claymore is an exceedingly long manga that's plot is dark, intense, interesting and overall very, very enjoyable to read.
The plot takes place in an alternative medieval world where humans coexist alongside creatures called Yoma (humanoid monsters that feed on human flesh). A nameless and highly secretive organization has produced a species of half-human-half-yoma warriors (All female, and it's explained why) to slay the nefarious yoma and protect humans, but for a large price. The people of this world refer to them as "Claymores" due ... 
Apr 1, 2013
Had I written this review a year ago, I would have given it a 7 or an 8. But unfortunately time has not been kind to this silver eyed warrior. I loved this manga when I started reading it. But thanks to an uncreative story line and horrible translations, I have lost my passion for it. I still read it occasionally, but it is not one of my must reads. This is one case in which the anime was prematurely ended while the manga continues to this day. At first I was furious at the broadcasters decision but now I can see it was for
...
Aug 23, 2014
Claymore is a manga definitely worth reading.
When I first began, it looked alright to me. Not too interesting but enough to make me continue the series. As it progresses, you'll notice the fights get bigger and more destructive (not to mention super awesome). From my viewpoint there, wasn't much character development; most of the characters stay the same. Though this doesn't have a huge impact on the story. The story is really interesting once you get farther, it surprised me entirely and had a twist I wasn't expecting. There's also the art, which is amazing. This entire series hasn't failed to amaze me nor ... 
Sep 13, 2023
How underwhelming. I really really wanted this to be a great epic story. The premise was fine, Claire's backstory was intriguing, the art was gorgeous, but the manga overall just lacked pazzazz and creativity.
I didn't particularly care about most of the cast and the combats just came one after the other with little sense of stake. Too many of the characters looked almost identical, which did not help in making me root for them. Some of the powers did not make sense and I could let it slide if the fights felt worth it but I was so out of it about the story ... 
Aug 7, 2014
This is my first review,correct me if wrong,and sorry for bad grammars :)
Dark fantasy manga with bunch of ladies hunting around monsters? why not? since i'm fan of manga with dark fantasy genre (not big fans),i thought this manga would give me a big shot,and thats work. Claymore is about Clare,who want to revenge for someone who she loved so much,Teresa,who get killed by her own comrade. by joining the organization,she hunt for things that called "youma",the monster who eat a human guts. from village to village she wandering for killing that creepy things. one day,on the one village for killing Youma,she meet a boy named ... 
Dec 3, 2014
Plot 7/10- standard let's fight monsters, take down those in power who are evil, and get revenge for the losing those we love to those monsters...
as the story goes along, about halfway through and towards the end it starts to get a little confusing at times..also at points it doesn't make much sense...overall I still found it enjoyable Art-8/10...it was refreshing to see such detail put into the claymores that they actually all had a unique facial design, hair, ears, nose, eyes etc.. The monsters themselves, were also well designed and distinct, I wouldn't call them mind blowing or anything. The fight scenes were well drawn, ... 
Nov 19, 2010
This anime is simply perfect. You don't need anymore words. This manga has no single scene that will make anybody bored. Every single chapter is an extreme excitement and perfect. What makes me exciting is the part where this manga has the best power balance when fighting. Awesome plans and it's never cheesy or something like Waa!! I'm angry so I'm gonna release my hidden power or suddenly change into a strong hero. There may be a little but it has the reasons and it's not cheesy. Even Naruto fight is boring compared to this real thrilling fight scenes.
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