Claymore: The Edgy Shonen That Anime Fans Might’ve Missed (2024)

2007 was a good year for anime, with hits like Gurren Lagann, Lucky Star, Afro Samurai, and Hayate the Combat Butler. Streaming services hadn’t popularized anime binging yet, but that couldn’t stop fans from hitting the web for their favorite shows wherever they could. Still, there’s a shonen series that may have been trampled in the crowd for many viewers.

Mention Claymore to any anime fan of the past two decades, and it’s a real toss-up of whether they’ll respond with a blank stare of confusion. As promising as the series was, it couldn’t stand up against others of its time and failed to leave a lasting impact. After a closer look, it’s easy to see that the show deserves a reboot, but let’s explore why.

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What Is Claymore?

Claymore first debuted as a manga series in 2001, spanning 159 chapters before finishing its run in 2014. The anime adaptation was released in April 2007 and ran until September 2007. The story takes place in a medieval world split into different regions on one huge continent. In this world, humans are constantly preyed on by demonic monsters called “yoma”. Whenever the humans suspect a yoma has invaded a town, they pay a mysterious organization for protection from human-yoma hybrids that the organization creates and the humans have come to call these hybrid warriors claymores.

Claymore follows Clare, a claymore, who hunts yoma while searching for the target of her revenge along the way. Clare meets Raki, a young human boy, early on in the story and they become a likely duo.

Was It Any Good?

Yes and no. There are a few things that Claymore does well, both as a Shonen series and an anime series in general. In only 26 episodes, certain characters experience impressive character growth. Clare starts the story as a brick wall: pretty stubborn, closed off, emotionally flat, and focused on nothing but revenge. By the end of the anime, she has become a kinder, more open person who embraces forgiveness. There are other characters whose traits also develop or improve after first being introduced to viewers.

The world of Claymore also deserves some credit. Where the world shines is in the concept behind “the organization”, as they’re so lovingly referred to. The organization is very mysterious, in its intentions, its origins, and what it knows about the world itself. At different points of the story, viewers get a glimpse behind the curtain when Clare or her closest allies find themselves privy to secrets the organization hoped to keep hidden.

Of course, this is a shonen, so the fights have to hit hard. Claymore doesn’t have the most astonishing fights in anime, but there are still several fights to really enjoy, and the characters have some interesting abilities. There’s even a good 1v4 fight where a character gets ambushed and still comes out on top.

The Criticisms

For all the best parts, Claymore sure does have some parts that reek to the high heavens. Fans who have seen the series can agree on the worst thing about the series: Raki. Raki is one of the worst characters because for most of his time in the series he’s whiny, immature, overconfident at the worst times, and just a burden to the main protagonist. This could be forgiven if he changed throughout the series, but he stays the same from beginning to end.

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The second-worst thing about the series is the disappointing ending. It’s common to see an anime series make changes from the source material, even going so far as to make an original ending in the worst cases. Claymore’s ending falls on the lower end of that spectrum, somewhere between a garbage fire and the lackluster Soul Eater anime ending. Claymore’s ending managed to follow up one of the most interesting battle sequences of the show with a rushed and underwhelming final battle with the main antagonist of the series. Then there was an unnecessary death and an open-ended resolution that tried way too hard to be positive and vague.

Why Does It Deserve a Reboot?

Claymore had the potential to be something spectacular. Fans who have read the manga would surely agree that the anime failed because of how poorly it adapted the original source material. The original manga series currently ranks above the manga for Demon Slayer, Beastars, Detective Conan: Case Closed, and other popular fan favorites on MyAnimeList, the world’s largest anime and manga database. Claymore’s manga series explores far more characters than the anime series but does it in a thorough and satisfying way. It also reveals more of the origins behind the organization, the yoma, and the world of the story.

Since the story ended with Clare facing defeating the main antagonist, the series would be unable to come back with a second season, but a new reboot wouldn’t be out of the question. A new reboot could start over from the beginning and stick more closely to the source material until its conclusion. A Claymore anime series reboot would now have hundreds more chapters to pull from and the original series only rushed the ending because it had caught up to the manga at that point.

Why Could It Do Well Now?

The show had some cool fight concepts, but the animation was lacking for the most part. With how CGI animation has flourished in current times, the fights could look far better. CGI animation is cheaper and quicker to produce than the 2D animation used at the time of Claymore’s original run, so it could potentially be more cost-effective to produce it now. Traditionally, CGI animation had a poor reputation in the anime crowd, but more recently fans have seen it balanced seamlessly with 2D animation. Imagine CGI animation to rival the likes of Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan mixed well with 2D like in those series.

Current Forerunners in the shonen genre, like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, and Black Clover have presented strong female characters on the front line, who have gone on to become fan faves. The Claymore roster boasts an almost entirely female cast, with little to no fan service to be found. With the positive reception that solid, well-developed female protagonists have seen more recently, this would be the perfect time for a series like Claymore to come out.

Where Have We Seen This Before?

Which is more popular? Full Metal Alchemist or the subsequent series, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. Here’s a hint: It’s the one that remained true to the manga it was adapted from.

Both Full Metal Alchemist (FMA) and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (FMAB) were adapted from the manga series Full Metal Alchemist, which debuted in 2001 and ran until 2010. FMA was released in 2003 and FMAB was released in 2009. FMA followed the manga series for about 30 episodes before creating an entirely new story. FMAB followed the manga series from start to end and remains beloved by fans. After seeing how well it turned out for Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s time for Claymore to return.

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