Customer Reviews

Claymore: Complete Series Box Set [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'll come right out and confess it; there is much to be excited about when an anime company like FUNimation decides to release a beloved franchise in a single complete collection box set. Not only does it save the buyer money but it makes a given property much more accessible to viewers who would otherwise be reluctant to track down half a dozen volumes to enjoy the show in it's entirety. Enter Claymore the Complete Series, a property of which I've long been campaigning for a complete box set release. The show, which is really unlike any other anime series out there, has been released to the North American market thus far in a pace that could only be described as "trickling" as in six, 4-episode releases that each ran 95 minutes. I've got them all but won't lie about waiting impatiently for each release to come out so that the story could continue.

Coming in at a total runtime of 650 minutes, Claymore The Complete Series release contains all 26 episodes across 6 discs in three thin packs. The set is housed in a cardboard outer slipcase that is minimally artistically decorated (as should be with a show this mysterious). The show wears a very appropriate TV MA (17+) rating due to some rough language, topless female nudity (or maybe topless monster nudity is more appropriate), and a near-endless succession of violent/gory sequences.

Language options are standard fair sub and dub, which of course means dialog presented in either original Japanese (Stereo) or an English dub in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. And, like always, the choice to run English subtitles exists for either spoken language option.

Extras are surprisingly robust and include a pair of nice 24-page full color books highlighting key characters from the series, six commentary tracks from some of the English voice actresses and creative staff, Japanese staff interviews, original TV commercials, cast audition reels, textless songs, and a crop of Funimation trailers scattered throughout.

The story could best be described as a sweeping supernatural epic set in a grim fantasy environment in which an order of pale, blonde-haired girls are humanity's last hope in a struggle for survival against a race of beasts known as Yoma.

Yoma are incredibly powerful and twisted human/monster hybrids that come in many shapes and sizes and are driven by an endless appetite for consuming human innards.

The story primarily focuses on one of the Claymore sisters named Clare who sets off on a mission of bloody vengeance against the Yoma with hints of a disturbing and suffering-laden childhood popping up periodically along the way.

No ordinary pale girls, these Claymores, however as they are in fact only half-human and half Yoma themselves. Their beastie-half provides them with superhuman abilities (among them: strength, endurance, special attacks and healing capabilities), at the cost of a constant threat of accidentally "going too far" in a battle and hence allowing the Yoma portion of their being to forever consume them.

Should this happen, (a process called awakening here) the sister in question is to be slain by their own commanders-in-arms on the spot. As such the show presents a unique tension in the thralls of battle, as the temptation to push the limits of their fleeting humanity is a constant concern and more than a few Claymores will fall to the charms of the Yoma along the way.

Fighting the Yoma can best be described as a physically grueling hack-fest with blurring blades from multiple Claymores chipping away at the oftentimes massive forms of the flesh-eating monsters. The good news for the viewer is that this means some wickedly cool battle sequences where many (and I do mean many) lovely Claymores meet their gruesome demise in the hopes of taking down a few of the enemy with them.

Almost in a video game style of presentation, the show bides its time with the Claymore girls having to dispose of countless lesser beasts (such as the Abyss Feeders) while reserving the major player (think bosses) bad guy battles for the conclusion of the major story arcs. Among these is the wicked cool Silver Eyed Lion King (Rigardo), The White Silver King (Isley), and the Blood Soaked Warrior (Ophelia).

The show's art is fantastically appropriate with shadowy backgrounds, eerie lighting, and clear-cool skies that are sure to inspire a shiver. The character-model art is deliberately pale, bordering on black and white in fact, which goes a long way to provide an almost vampire-like appearance to the Claymore girls.
The soundtrack is made up of intense musical numbers and subtle stray electric guitar notes that are so well integrated that they tumble away into the creepy sounds of the night.

It should be noted that the finalized cover art is actually a bit different from the photo Amazon has shown here. The box is indeed white and features a depiction of lead character Clare but not quite so closely cropped. Rather she is standing to the right of the frame with her silver cape flowing over the title, "Claymore The Complete Series". A small discrepancy, sure, but not to worry, the finished art works just as well.

In all this is a must-have collection that will delight fans of most anime genres. Kudos to FUNimation for putting the fans first with a full boxset release at an asking price of little more than the 4-episode volumes have been going for until now. I simply cannot recommend this collection highly enough.

Claymore is a series for the more serious anime watcher; I think that should be stated first and foremost. There is no jarring change from the plot with ultimately wasteful filler meant to make you laugh nor is there any comedy involved in the series. It is a very good series to start an adult on if you have a friend who is interested in anime and wants both the plot aspect and the violence that comes from the more mature fare. It is the blending of these two factors, along with the fantastic artistic style of this series that makes it so successful in appealing to both the male and female audience.

Claymore does not start gradually, but it builds to a maturity of storyline that should be envied by other animes that attempt to blend the typical violence of a storyline revolving around combating demons, monsters, or other evil forces and balance it with serious dialogue and characters. Claymore is not a cliché series in any way.

The story starts out with the arrival of a Claymore named Clare who has been sent by a mysterious organization to defeat a Yoma (monster/demon) found in a small town. Though the chief of the city has requested the presence of a Claymore that does not mean she is welcome. This is a running current throughout the series. As the Claymore (derogatorily referred to as Silver-Eyed Witches) are both human and Yoma they are almost universally feared and reviled. While they are needed and even sought out for their unique ability to combat the Yoma they are outcasts of humanity. Ironically their own humanity being the greatest thing they have forsaken in order to become these powerful slayers this sacrifice is not truly appreciated by most of the people they save. Anyone that has come into contact with a Yoma is considered tainted, dangerous, and possible of transforming into one of these ravenous beings that adores feasting on entrails.

Raki is one such individual who is forced away from all he ever knew because of his close proximity to a Yoma. Outcast from his people - who feel they are only doing what they must to protect their village - he ends up falling in with Clare who frostily keeps him at arm's length even as she allows him to accompany her. It is from this starting point; the relationship between the young Clare and her even younger companion that the series begins to build.

There is the usual fighting fare, the fast paced and epic battles that we have all come to expect from anime, but there is remarkably little boasting to be found by the characters (which is not typical) unless it is their honest personality as portrayed by the series. As we travel through the episodes, watching Clare and other Claymores going about their duty of dispatching both novice and aged Yoma we understand more and more the painful relationship and the hard choices they have all made. We also learn more about the mysterious organization that created the Claymore and the way they view the world.

This is not a soft and gentle anime, the stories of these women (all Claymore's are female) and the sacrifices that they make are touching and compelling. They provide an earnest reasoning for why the Claymores continue to fight and why some girls become Claymore. Ultimately this is an anime about relationships and the stark dichotomies of society more than an epic battle between the forces of good and evil, which is in itself a murky concept as the series aptly points out.

Aside from the plot this is a stylistic anime with both the dark overtones and the artistic talent to bring that to life. The series can be light and uplifting in both appearance and story when it needs to be, but the pain is palpable throughout even the happiest of moments for the characters.

The box set is a beautiful addition with beefy extras on both the DVD's (textless songs, original commercials, interviews, et cetera) and in the set which comes with two full color booklets detailing all of the characters and several two page art pieces. The dub is not bad, which is a hard thing to say of many anime, and the Japanese language with the subtitles (that are very clear and easy to read) is of impeccable quality in translation. All in all this is a series worth owning and a box set well worth the price.

If you are looking for a more mature anime that doesn't pander to the audience but instead draws it in, this is certainly a must have for your collection.

I'm not going to go into the plot of Claymore, other sites and reviewers have that covered, but here is the deal, Funimation has yet again releases another upscaled piece of garbage.

This release is done in 1080i, which basically translates into "this is a poor quality upscale." For those who don't know what upscaling is, it is basically resizing video or images to a larger size than the original source. This greatly distorts the video and leads to lines that are blurred, artifacting (large squares of ugliness), slow or choppy playback, and all around "eye cancer."

If you own the DVDs, stick with them as they are the best quality available. If you want a HD version of this anime wait for the official release from the studio, not some cheap Funimation weekend project. I'm returning this right away because I am not going to pay for this horrible mess of a release.

EDIT: I added a screenshot to the images section to show how bad this release is. Make sure to look at it full size, as it naturally looks better at a smaller size. Also the screenshot was not altered in any way from the Blu-ray source.

I watched this entire series on DVD via Netflix, and absolutely loved it. I held off on actually buying it, though, with the hopes that a blu-ray version would stroll along. And whattaya know, here it is. The animation quality on this series is already fantastic, and I can't wait to see it in HD (though, as always, it's questionable just how much cel animation can be enlivened by high definition).

A couple of general notes about the series:

1. It's ultra-violent and not very hopeful, so otaku parents, be aware before you show your kids (though I will say it could be quite empowering for young girls).

2. If you enjoy this, try Berserk. The story and characters are way different, but the dark medieval fantasy environment is the same (still need that on blu-ray, though...).

3. Funimation, as always, does an excellent job with the english dub, but the original japanese is still superior.

4. If you've finished watching all the anime episodes and found yourself loving it and wanting more, you need to start reading the manga series it's based on, starting with volume 11. Why? The anime adapts the first 10-and-a-half volumes of the manga quite thoroughly. However, it features an alternate ending in the final episode that never happened in the manga. The second half of volume 11 picks up at that point. In fact, the series is still ongoing in Japan, so there's quite a bit more story to go. Hopefully, it will all be adapted to anime, and turn out as well as this excellent collection.

When I heard about Claymore I was suspicious. I'm usually suspicious of anime. Lets face it, anime is generally either really awful, or really good. The really good series's usually get most of the money giving them the ability to make a good series better, and the bad ones, well they generally don't. Yes, I'm being optimistic. I've seen many bad series get lots of money too, and they have disappointed me over and over again.

I discovered Claymore after trolling Anime forums while home from university about 8 months ago. I decided to watch it because I had nothing better to do. I thought it would be terrible, that the hype would lead me to some "Bleach esque" idiocy filled with filler and poorly voiced characters at best, and at worse, some B-grade movie quality story line with stiff dialogue. I figuered I should watch it though, since it was getting rave reviews. I wanted to know about it, but I went in expecting utter garbage. I was pleasantly surprised!

I was hooked after the first episode. I watched it non-stop until I had watched every single episode. I was shocked. The story is very unconventional. Some reviewers argue that it's weird... well yes, but the best anime's are a little weird, especially when you have to describe them to someone. I take it as a BLESSING that it's weird! Its DIFFERENT! Thank God. There is an underdog hero. Yes, there is NO super-powered for no reason teenage boy who is all angsty and has been some how against his will thrown into a plot to save the world, with the help of buxom anime babes and laughable joking less attractive male side kicks, while the main character broods and nurtures his effeminate looks all the while some how coming out on top of every ill-matched battle that faces him. I am SICK of watching that story over and over, and Claymore is a pleasing departure from the whole cliche anime story line. While I have read on forums that the manga is leaps and bounds above the anime, (well, that's sort of to be expected, right?) I have heard the manga readers claim that it is a very good start to the series, and they expect more from FUNimation. Manga readers are happy with the series? Seriously? that's amazing.

I watched Claymore with no idea what it was about, that made everything very exciting and new. I strongly suggest doing this, I found it made it even more exciting. It's a very unique, very exciting, very unexpected anime. There are so many moments you wont see coming, really, it breaks tons of expectations and cliches. It's really a very amazing series, I can't possibly explain it better, I do not want to give you a summary of the plot, (I hate spoliers) and I don't want to tell you about specifics too much (see above reason) but I do want to help sell you. So I'll say this... I've had this on pre-order for 6 months, and I dont regret it at all! This series is really great, something fresh and new, daring and unique, and I love it for that.

Cons, well I would say it's not as complete as I would like, but I regret to put that as a con, as I've heard buzz (which I dont know whether or not is true) that the anime will have a second season, because of the large volume of story in the manga. People have said that the anime covers the beginning of the manga. I haven't read the manga myself, as I said before, but if this is the case, then I can only be excited. It's a great series, and I can only see it getting better. It's worth the money, its beautifully animated, great voice acting (at least in the original Japanese) and a very unique and interesting story.

2 months ago i never have heard of claymore but when i saw the product on blu-ray here on amazon, i had to check it out. After watching the whole show within 2 days, i absolutely fell in love with this show. It is so dark and gritty, and so much more mature than most of the anime I've seen. The story is great, has cool characters which had a great American cast, awesome fight sequences, and the animation looks stunning on blu-ray. The only thing that kinda annoyed me was the length of the series, but surprisingly enough, the show didn't feel that rushed to me. For me though 26 episodes is way too short and i kinda knew from the beginning that i would be left wanting more and that's exactly what happened. It left me with too many unanswered questions and they could do so much more with the show and its a shame to see that there probably will not be a continuation. But its definitely worth the money if you want a dark, action anime.

Claymore has been the first anime i have watched in a long time. I thought that i had grown out of the anime because, personally, i hated the spikey hair, retarded acting characters, and severe overdoing the emotions. There was too much body language.
Claymore, though, cut all of that out and i was stunned. Overall the art was fantastic and the characters were great, except for rokey, he cried too much for my tastes. The storyline was outstanding, too. Whenever they came up with something that sounded pretty stupid they always showed how it made sense, so it didn't leave me hanging. I probably won't be watching much more anime after this, but Claymore will always be an exception.

I will not get into the story of Claymore (it is spoken of time and time again in other reviews) but I will add; as a reader of the on-going Manga, I hated how this series ended so prematurely. But as an anime, Claymore has many redeeming qualities that I loved it for what it became.

I will entail in this review if this is a worthy upgrade from it's standard definition counterpart, which in fact I collected individually then the box set.

VIDEO:
Some may have heard, but this HD upgrade is 1080i. This maybe due to the fact that the show was encoded at 30 frames a second; and since Blu-ray does not support 1080p30, the show would have to be left at 1080i to play seamlessly (it would otherwise seem mildly choppy had it been 1080p24). Other than that, Claymore's video quality is indeed a welcome face-lift though it does have its hits and misses. As what you expect from most Funimation titles, the lines are extremely clean and without all the compression artifacts, you begin to spot little things you missed watching the DVD version such as, reflections, little facial details, etc. The color on the other hand is only mildly more vibrant and if you have watched Claymore before, you'll know that the atmosphere is intentionally grim and nothing in terms of color really pops out (until the end, that is). If there is one thing they did not fix was the color banding. All in all, it looks marginally better than the DVD version; a standard but sweet upscale if anything.

AUDIO: ENG- DolbyTrueHD / JP-DD 2.0
Sadly only the English dub was given the HD treatment. Though in all honesty I enjoy my anime in either or language, especially if done by Funimation. However, if you prefer the ENG dub then you are in for a treat. If there is one thing that Claymore does benefit from upgrading, it is the audio. Encoded at DolbyTrueHD, Claymore's music and action sequences really makes its presence through the speakers. Most notably, I thought the sword clashing was extremely sharp and Riful's awakened speech was an aural shock to the ears. Definitely pleasing all around, next to Heroic Age, I would have to say this is Funimation's best effort yet.

EXTRAS:
Episode commentaries, JP staff interviews, trailers, 48-page art book... nothing new added from the last box set. Though I might add; you can catch a glimpse of Evangelion 1.11 on disc two, and boy does it look fantastic in HD!

In conclusion, I'd say if you are a new comer to this series you are definitely in for a treat. However, if you are double (or triple) dipping like I have, I would say pick this one up if you love Claymore that much.

Reviewed with:
Samsung LN4061F
Yamaha RX-V465 w/Orb Audio satellites and sub
Sony PS3

Claymores are half-human, half-monster warriors who fight monsters. All Claymores have a tragic life - their families were killed by monsters, so they became warriors in order to revenge. They either die in battles or release too much monstrous energy and become monsters. They are disliked and avoided by normal humans. Almost every Claymore is withdrawn and frigid. Although most Claymores are extremely beautiful, there is no romantic story (except a kiss scene that came out of nowhere.)

Typical Japanese animes have cute characters and a silly/meaningless story. Claymore has strong realism and suspense. It is very good at building expectations and then utterly destroying them. Humans have realistic body proportions, without big heads, big eyes, or cute expressions. Most of the protagonists are complex, relatable, and always make you wonder what will happen to them. Fighting scenes are technically not the best, but they are fast paced and keep you focused. Claymores and monsters alike have a tendency to give long speeches in the middle of battles - which is unrealistic but common in Japanese animes.

The show raises many philosophical questions, such as: (a) Good and evil. The line between monsters and humans are blurry. Some monsters can speak and have human-like emotions, whereas some of the worst villains are humans. Average humans are portrayed as mean, fearful, weak, and ignorant. (b) Revenge. Girls become Claymores because they want to revenge. But some become monsters after releasing too much monstrous power. They go out and kill people, which results in more orphans, which results in more Claymores. (c) Social alienation and discrimination. Although Claymores risk their lives to protect normal humans, humans dislike them. But to the few humans or fellow warriors that do like them, they give everything without holding back.

A few negative points. There is very little information about the Organization or how Claymores are trained. The story takes place in a world like medieval Europe, but the background music is not classical, and clothes are mostly 19th and 20th century style. The male protagonist is awful and useless. Thank the Lord he doesn't get too much time in the show. The last 3 episodes were different from the manga. They are very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very disappointing - of course the male protagonist is responsible. The entire story is about Clare trying to achieve a certain goal for a very special person in her life. That person is her only raison d'etre. But in the crappy ending, he persuades her to give up that goal!!!!!!!!!!! And the ending makes it difficult to do a season 2. Perhaps we should wait for a remake.

p.s. The male protagonist is annoying and useless. But you can argue that he is a microcosm of humans. In "Claymore", humans are usually depicted as weak and useless.

p.s. I watched twice in Japanese and once in English. My two cents about the English dub - some are good but others are not. Teresa, Galatea, Helen, and Rubel (Clare's handler) are great. In some ways maybe better than the original Japanese dub. But Clare does not sound lonely and melancholic. Miria does not sound mature and authoritative. Ophelia does not sound sadistic.

The Blu-Ray edition of Claymore was released on three Blu-Ray discs. The first disc contains nine episodes and commentary for episodes four and eight. The second disc contains nine episodes and commentary for episodes eleven and sixteen. The third disc contains eight episodes, commentaries for episodes nineteen and twenty-six, and special features. On the discs, you can watch with either English or Japanese audio, and you can choose whether or not to have the English subtitles.

The first extra on the third disc is labeled as "Cast Auditions." This includes audio from the auditions for the English dub cast for Clare, Teresa, Rubel, Sid and some Yoma, and Yomi. These auditions run anywhere from thirty-four seconds to one minute and six seconds. Each audition is accompanied by a still image of the character that the audition is for.

Next is an interview with director Hiroyuki Tanaka. This runs for seven minutes, and the interview has Japanese audio with English subtitles. The interview with sound director Yasunori Honda runs for eight-and-a-half minutes, and it's also in Japanese with English subtitles. The interview with art director Manabu Otsuzuki is six-and-a-half minutes long, and is also in Japanese with subtitles. The last interview included is with Nobuhito Sue, who worked on art settings. This interview runs for four minutes and seventeen seconds, and is also in Japanese with English subtitles.

The next extra is labeled as "Original TV Commercials." This feature runs for seven minutes, and it is comprised of two lengthy commercials for the Claymore anime series. The textless opening and textless closing don't include any of the credit text, but English subtitles for the song lyrics are included. The final extra included on the third disc are trailers for other properties released by FUNimation: Strike Witches, Darker Than Black, Dragon Ball Z, Gunslinger Girl, D. Gray-Man, Tower of Druaga, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, and Soul Eater.

The Blu-Ray edition of this set comes packaged with an extensive booklet. It includes character sketches with descriptions of the characters, interviews with some of the staff members, and drawings of some of the settings. Some of the characters included in the booklet have an explanation for their design concepts given by Takahiro Umehara, the character designer. The staff interviews are several pages in length, and go into some detail on the animation and design process, as well as in the audio and voice acting.

I personally enjoyed the Claymore series, even though I felt that the ending didn't truly "end" the series; it felt as if there was still more story to tell. However, I would recommend this set to anyone who enjoys the Claymore anime series. Since I have only seen the Blu-Ray edition, that is the version I would recommend if you have the ability to view Blu-Rays.

In order to write this review, I watched a copy of this Blu-Ray set that was given to me as a gift by my husband.