Well, it's been a while. I think soon it will be one year since the series has finished serializing so I was wondering how things were doing here. Kinda unfortunate, but as one would expect of a finished series, things seem rather quiet as of late.
I still haven't finished reading the manga... this year turned really hectic for me and also I just haven't been in the mood. Something so great needs to be enjoyed when you can really appreciate it. Its been since mid winter I think... But recently I needed a re-infusion of yoma energy so started back up. I don't think I've ever read the manga over again from the start. With the release of the final volume in a few weeks I figured I'd time it so I read it all through and end with the last book in hand. I started reading it from the actual book in hand, so I plan on finishing it that way too. A few books per week should do it. And it may give me some inspiration for an 18 mile race coming up next week, as well as trying for a 5k PR the end of September.
Also after not having watched any anime for most of winter and spring I've watched several new ones in the last few months. Nothing as good as Claymore unfortunately.
Also with this Claymore resurgence of mine I am watching the anime over from the start. I know its not as popular here as the manga obviously but its what really got me into it and literally inspired my soul. I've purposely not watched it very many times so I don't burn out and get bored with it (maybe 3 times through In the last 2-3 years?). I thought for something a bit different I'd watch it with Japanese audio and English subtitles for the first time. I've also noticed the subtitles are often different than the English version too, interesting how they are different. I'm kind of watching the anime and reading the manga together, identifying and comparing some of the small differences.
TStew, I'm still amazed how you have been reading things at your own pace to this day and that you haven't finished the series yet. Some serious discipline and I bet several things have been somewhat spoiled while trying to follow the discussions.
In my experience from series worth re-reading, and Claymore is also one such for me, I nearly always pick details and things I overlooked in previous readings or somehow I get flourished with new thoughts about different things on the series. It's good exercise for exploring new venues of thinking and theorycrafting I think. It would be cool if you let us know any details you might have overlooked yourself or things that perhaps made you think just a bit differently about the series during your re-read, if any.
Number A et al. have scanlated The Warrior's Wedge Scene 7. If someone wants his Claymore fix it would be the best bet.
As for similar manga, haegar was recommending Arns Peddler. Personally I find this manga utterly stupid and I consider comparing it to Claymore insulting but maybe you'll have a different opinion.
Indeed, and ever since Berserk's news of adopting a monthly schedule (thank fucking god), at least for a while, it's something that helps that 'monthly' look forward feeling though far from the same thing it was while following Claymore.
Number A et al. have scanlated The Warrior's Wedge Scene 7. If someone wants his Claymore fix it would be the best bet.
As for similar manga, haegar was recommending Arns Peddler. Personally I find this manga utterly stupid and I consider comparing it to Claymore insulting but maybe you'll have a different opinion.
I have read and caught up with this recently, and I loved it. The setting is quite different but there are enough similarities to enjoy and get some of the same feelings. The two main characters have a dynamic that reminds a lot the one between Clare and Raki. Actually there seems to be two new chapters released on Batoto. Yummy.
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Btw, does anyone have any updates on the state of the Claymore community in China or the chinese fandom? They seemed to have the biggest oriental following and there's been recent news of Claymore being in the list of series that would be banned in their providers. How's TSS doing?
Btw, does anyone have any updates on the state of the Claymore community in China or the chinese fandom? They seemed to have the biggest oriental following and there's been recent news of Claymore being in the list of series that would be banned in their providers. How's TSS doing?
I had not heard anything about that. I looked it up and found an article about it. It seems a bit extreme, as well as unnecessary. There are a lot of good anime on that list too.
Btw, does anyone have any updates on the state of the Claymore community in China or the chinese fandom? They seemed to have the biggest oriental following and there's been recent news of Claymore being in the list of series that would be banned in their providers. How's TSS doing?
I think TSS is done, basically. As for everyone else, well, last time I went to Baidu they seemed to be chattering away merrily enough. They were mad about the ban, or at least that's the impression Google translate left me with.
I think TSS is done, basically. As for everyone else, well, last time I went to Baidu they seemed to be chattering away merrily enough. They were mad about the ban, or at least that's the impression Google translate left me with.
Hmm, I see. It still sucks immensely, but the timing could have been much worst I guess. Imagine if that gets banned while the series was still ongoing, say from 2009 to 2013, and how we would be affected since we seemingly got the raws or much of the early content from chinese feeds.
In case anyone is interested there is the Clare figure that came with a special release of Vol. No. 8 on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-034-Claym...i-/151802539419?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276 Although there is no shortage of Megahouse and Toyworks Clare figures, the No. 8 one is much less common and I believe has nothing to do with the anime so might be of more interest to the true fans. It includes a Japanese Vol. 8 (with the dustcover) plus the figure in a nice box. It is about half the size of the Megahouse Clare though. A bit more expensive than the one I scored but just thought I'd mention it here. It's a nice piece, here is mine:
And for size reference compared to my other figures... the one on the left:
Hey guys . For anyone interested, I'm tossing the idea for a Claymore/Skyrim crossover on ff.net. But if anyone could help me flesh it out into a real plot, I wouldn't mind at all.
So I had my Vol 8 Clare figure out and got out the Japanese Vol 8 that came with it. Since I was at that point in the manga since going through the manga again I noticed something I hadn't before...
The English version seems to be noticeably larger (and the colors have more saturation also). Looking closely at some of the pages it seems its not just a scaling difference either, there is slightly more of the frames in the English edition, like the Japanese ones besides slightly being scaled are also slightly cropped. You can even tell in the above pic by looking at where Dauf's finger joints are at the edge of the book. Although the difference is small, that's a nice advantage the English edition has over the original!
Well I mentioned back in August one of the reasons I started over going through Claymore again was to give me some inspiration for two races I had planned. My 18 miler went far better than I could have imagined, I actually beat my fastest half marathon pace even though this race was considerably longer. However I misjudged my limit and nearly lost my right leg (pretty strained calf and achilles after the race). But after a week of recovery it was ok. Barely in time for the next race which I questioned entering.
This past week I watched most of the rest of the anime - sad to say I'm already into the battle in the north, sad that I know the end is near. Due to the limited number of times I've allowed myself to watch it, it still seems to have a big emotional effect on me even after a few times. But of course I'm very happy the manga will provide a lot more adventure after Vol 11 of course. I watched from when Clare rescues Jean through when the forces in the north wipe out the first three ABs a couple days ago, and then the next morning ran my 5k. Happy to report I broke my personal best by about 30 seconds! Perhaps pushing my limit intentionally in my last race has improved my strength and speed.
I've been doing some renovations to my house (the single biggest reason I've been crazy busy all the way since spring) and just moving bedrooms while I'm renovating another. I've been waiting to get my office done, and setup a bit of a Claymore display but haven't yet. Anyhow in the bedroom I decided to get out a couple wall scrolls I've had for a couple years now and never got out of the package. Then it dawned on me - a window was just the perfect size for the larger wall scroll and the one of Clare in Robona was perfect since the scene depicted windows with light rays shining in - and the natural light from outside really lights this wall scroll up from behind! I don't want the UV to damage it so I won't leave it like this for long but thought I'd share...
---------- Post added October 20, 2015 at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was October 02, 2015 at 10:04 PM ----------
Well as of a few days ago I read through the first half of the manga and just started to continue on after the time skip. It has been a great time reading it again, still some parts evoke plenty of emotions, and similarly I watched the anime through roughly together.
In my experience from series worth re-reading, and Claymore is also one such for me, I nearly always pick details and things I overlooked in previous readings or somehow I get flourished with new thoughts about different things on the series. It's good exercise for exploring new venues of thinking and theorycrafting I think. It would be cool if you let us know any details you might have overlooked yourself or things that perhaps made you think just a bit differently about the series during your re-read, if any.
Yes many details I have picked up but just minor details... nothing extraordinary. In fact I'd have never picked up on many of the references to other things like what Bonefist mentioned in #1434 since unfortunately I am unfamiliar with Shakespeare's work and the other references to other manga and such since my list of watched anime is pretty short and manga is just 1 so far. Originally I thought the anime followed the manga very closely, and it does for the main part of the story, but watching them together pointed out lots of little differences I did not realize before. For one, I believe it has been mentioned a few times to folks in the past that the anime and manga diverge with book 11 (and to start reading the manga there if you didn't want to start from the beginning) but really one would need to start on 10 since Raki's journey differs in 10. Speaking of Raki, I noticed at the ending of the first Rabona battle the anime left out Sid kissing Clare as well as Raki kicking him in his nuts. lol. It is a rather strange scene being how Claymore seems to be more of a serious nature and devoid of comedy, so I don't necessarily blame the anime for changing that. In the anime Raki was given a sword by Galk, but this is not shown in the manga. Although later in the manga he has a sword from Rabona, so not sure, did I miss how he got it in the manga? The anime also left out when Clare goes off to meet with Rubel in The Black Card, Raki assumes she is going to the toilet, and later thinks "must be taking a big one" after she had been gone for some time. It was also very sad, knowing what we know now how warriors can go past their limits that Clare had to take the life of her only friend early on. Of course perhaps her friend just didn't have strong enough will to control the yoma within no mater what. It was necessary though at that early stage to teach us about the yoma half of Claymores and what results from them getting too strong. It also really enforced how cold, cruel, and bleak this Claymore world was to us early on. Also in Rabona when Clare first meets father Vincent she says her lord is Rimuto, yet in the subtitles of the anime it is written Limt. Perhaps a screw up in the subtitles as I believe both the English and the Japanese audio even says Rimuto.
A lot of the verbiage differs, even in the anime between the subtitles and the English dub (perhaps they chose wording to better fit the mouth movements?) but in The Slashers I noticed the story of how there were originally male warriors was told by Miria, in the anime it was told by Galatea's handler. In the manga Galatea and Ermita don't even make an appearance until after the battle is over but in the anime they were there from the beginning.
Still, I think the most emotional part for me comes from the anime. Specifically in Those Who Rend Asunder. I like how the anime started out with a flashback of Teresa, which was fresh in our minds since it follows the Teresa arc. We now finally know how Clare came to be. And are left believing Teresa was the most powerful warrior and Clare likely too. Just the initial flashback scene, and then seeing Clare as a warrior again after the Teresa arc, brought a tear to my eye and an excited heart. But she is quickly stomped down from the pinnacle warrior we thought she was as we learn how she is actually the weakest of all. The first time through I was in literal shock. This time not so much, but still brings forth deep emotions. And then the ridiculing from her comrades. And of course she saves the day in the end, so quite a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride for a few episodes. I just didn't get the same impact from the manga there.
So no continuing on with the manga and seeing how #27 is released now (I think) I'll pick it up soon and when I get to that point I'll finally read the end!
Just fwiw, the manga Vol 8 special edition figure on ebay I previously mentioned has been relisted for a bit less I noticed. I've picked up a couple other odds n ends, mainly the character song cd and the Helen bust. Lost out on the Priscilla bust when the auction ended and I had forgotten about it. Rarely ever see these bust figures.
I received my Claymore Complete Box Set today. It is pretty cool. It even has a small booklet with it that has all the illustrations that were in the original Japanese volumes.
It is bigger than I expected. I thought I was going to be an omnibus thing. But it is pretty cool this way. It even has a handle on the top to carry the whole around. On the sides there is a black and white drawing of Awakened Priscilla and Isley. All in all, I am glad that I purchased. It has been just over a year since Claymore ended and I can really feel it. I miss having a new chapter come out every month. I really wish there was an epilogue or something. But, no matter, I am still happy with my purchase.
Probably ignorance on my part but the second pic (Clare from behind) is definitely a pose I haven't seen before. Maybe it's art from one of the volumes... I don't seem to recall it though. I don't have the artbook so I'm not sure if it's a piece from that. This looks amazing. (Was it your plan to post this collection as your 666th post lol?)
Probably ignorance on my part but the second pic (Clare from behind) is definitely a pose I haven't seen before. Maybe it's art from one of the volumes... I don't seem to recall it though. I don't have the artbook so I'm not sure if it's a piece from that. This looks amazing. (Was it your plan to post this collection as your 666th post lol?)
Well I mentioned back in August one of the reasons I started over going through Claymore again was to give me some inspiration for two races I had planned. My 18 miler went far better than I could have imagined, I actually beat my fastest half marathon pace even though this race was considerably longer. However I misjudged my limit and nearly lost my right leg (pretty strained calf and achilles after the race). But after a week of recovery it was ok. Barely in time for the next race which I questioned entering.
This past week I watched most of the rest of the anime - sad to say I'm already into the battle in the north, sad that I know the end is near. Due to the limited number of times I've allowed myself to watch it, it still seems to have a big emotional effect on me even after a few times. But of course I'm very happy the manga will provide a lot more adventure after Vol 11 of course. I watched from when Clare rescues Jean through when the forces in the north wipe out the first three ABs a couple days ago, and then the next morning ran my 5k. Happy to report I broke my personal best by about 30 seconds! Perhaps pushing my limit intentionally in my last race has improved my strength and speed.
Haha, seems like you had quite the Claymore experience, also with the limit crossing and getting stronger from your previous racing.
I'm happy everything ended up going well for you but take care and take it easy! As we know from the story and that may certainly apply to our lives, we should always tread carefully considering our limits. Pushing too often and beyond without much care can lead to disastrous things.
Also thanks for showing the differences between the japanese and english versions of volume 8. Incidentally, I felt like re-reading this particular volume some weeks ago, so I opened my local volume 8 edition that was still wrapped on plastic (as most of my Claymore volumes still are). Last year I also managed to complete my collection, had to buy volume 6 second hand and for a bit of a price but it was thankfully in mint condition. It surprises me a bit that it took this long for volume 27 to be released in the US. At the time I also purchased that Jump SQ issue where the last chapter of the serialization of Claymore was released (and it's still on plastic ).
Yes many details I have picked up but just minor details... nothing extraordinary. In fact I'd have never picked up on many of the references to other things like what Bonefist mentioned in #1434 since unfortunately I am unfamiliar with Shakespeare's work and the other references to other manga and such since my list of watched anime is pretty short and manga is just 1 so far.
Yeah, in Claymore's case there are heaps of references to the world and history of art, mainly through character names and the name of places in the story. It's well known at this point and there probably won't be much novelty when I bring these up. I don't know about other versions, but sometimes we have some nice research and reference pages by the end of the volumes in here explaining the likely inspirations for some terms or going a bit on why some terms are adapted in such a way. Since I have the volumes in hand I will go on a couple of them: Ermita, one of the Org's handlers, much like Rubel (or Louvre in some adaptations) seems to be a reference to the russian museum called Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, one of the biggest museums in the word.
The most curious to me is the term Alphonse, used for the lands of the north. It seems to very likely come from the Czech painter's name "Alfons Maria Mucha". The fun thing is that not only does this artist name contain the name used for the lands of the north, but also for the lands of the south: Mucha!
Curiously, they are both related to Isley in some way, since the first is the land he's dominated for quite some time in the story, and Mucha was the land he would later conquer when defeating Luciela.
Just put "Alfons Maria Mucha" on google and look up for images, and I think if you're a fan of Claymore, you will have quite an experience looking over his art. Just look at these and tell me who or what they resemble:
Enigmatic, mysterious women... even the hair shape look like tentacles of some sort.
That clothing by this guy (I swear I've seen some people wearing that type of clothing in Claymore ) and being allured by the older woman figure...
Those eyes... don't they resemble Yagi's eye drawing in some characters? Don't they resemble a certain character we all grew fond of? Let's say its starts with a Y and ends with A.
And this is the famous painting portraying the final moments of the Shakespeare character, to which Claymore's own Ophelia is also a reference.
Clearly, Norihiro Yagi sensei, much like Berserk's author Kentaro Miura, was an art freak and we can totally see in their works where they drew some of that inspiration and why Claymore in particular can look so artistic sometimes.
Originally I thought the anime followed the manga very closely, and it does for the main part of the story, but watching them together pointed out lots of little differences I did not realize before. For one, I believe it has been mentioned a few times to folks in the past that the anime and manga diverge with book 11 (and to start reading the manga there if you didn't want to start from the beginning) but really one would need to start on 10 since Raki's journey differs in 10.
Yes, not only that, but I remember way back when the anime was airing that it already showed some small differences (just details and order of events) as far back as volume 7 that I recalled.
Speaking of Raki, I noticed at the ending of the first Rabona battle the anime left out Sid kissing Clare as well as Raki kicking him in his nuts. lol. It is a rather strange scene being how Claymore seems to be more of a serious nature and devoid of comedy, so I don't necessarily blame the anime for changing that. In the anime Raki was given a sword by Galk, but this is not shown in the manga. Although later in the manga he has a sword from Rabona, so not sure, did I miss how he got it in the manga?
These are some nice differences you spotted. It's funny you mention how serious Claymore is for the most part when we consider the manga he did just before Claymore was a comedy gag (Angel Densetsu).
The Rabona sword is introduced by the end of volume 6 I think when Raki uses it to defend himself and duel with Ophelia. It's given to Raki by Galk offscreen it seems. It's also later on appraised or evaluated by Isley in the north when Raki watches Isley practicing with it.
The anime also left out when Clare goes off to meet with Rubel in The Black Card, Raki assumes she is going to the toilet, and later thinks "must be taking a big one" after she had been gone for some time. It was also very sad, knowing what we know now how warriors can go past their limits that Clare had to take the life of her only friend early on. Of course perhaps her friend just didn't have strong enough will to control the yoma within no mater what. It was necessary though at that early stage to teach us about the yoma half of Claymores and what results from them getting too strong. It also really enforced how cold, cruel, and bleak this Claymore world was to us early on. Also in Rabona when Clare first meets father Vincent she says her lord is Rimuto, yet in the subtitles of the anime it is written Limt. Perhaps a screw up in the subtitles as I believe both the English and the Japanese audio even says Rimuto.
A lot of the verbiage differs, even in the anime between the subtitles and the English dub (perhaps they chose wording to better fit the mouth movements?) but in The Slashers I noticed the story of how there were originally male warriors was told by Miria, in the anime it was told by Galatea's handler. In the manga Galatea and Ermita don't even make an appearance until after the battle is over but in the anime they were there from the beginning.
Some more small but neat little differences. Yeah, Elena, Clare's friend is used to illustrate the fate of the Claymores who seem to lose to their yoma side. Later on Hilda, Miria's old friend and single digit, would also become another example of that although it didn't end well in Hilda's case.
Why some warriors seem more susceptible to lose to their yoma side than others is a question that is quite worth the discussion after much of what we see in the series afterwards. I think it's possible that instead of trying to fight against it, since a young age they are taught or indocrinated to simply accept their fate and demise as something irreversible, and to take comfort by having their best friend taking their lives while still human. Instead of being something purely intrinsic, their conditioning could also help make the situation a battle they can't hope to win.
Still, I think the most emotional part for me comes from the anime. Specifically in Those Who Rend Asunder. I like how the anime started out with a flashback of Teresa, which was fresh in our minds since it follows the Teresa arc. We now finally know how Clare came to be. And are left believing Teresa was the most powerful warrior and Clare likely too. Just the initial flashback scene, and then seeing Clare as a warrior again after the Teresa arc, brought a tear to my eye and an excited heart. But she is quickly stomped down from the pinnacle warrior we thought she was as we learn how she is actually the weakest of all. The first time through I was in literal shock. This time not so much, but still brings forth deep emotions. And then the ridiculing from her comrades. And of course she saves the day in the end, so quite a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride for a few episodes. I just didn't get the same impact from the manga there.
So no continuing on with the manga and seeing how #27 is released now (I think) I'll pick it up soon and when I get to that point I'll finally read the end!
For sure, it's certainly shocking and meant to touch with our emotions in that reveal of Clare's strength. It's also something that would constantly be foreshadowed and developed until the big reveal in the last volume, which you're still to read.
Speaking of lands names, the other is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a French artist, who drew mostly women. Like Mucha, but it's not the same art style. And you know that Yagi loves to draw women. =)
Just one pic, from Toulouse-Lautrec.
Besides that, Yagi used the same staging for Angel Densetsu's penultimate volume and Claymore's last one.
Probably ignorance on my part but the second pic (Clare from behind) is definitely a pose I haven't seen before. Maybe it's art from one of the volumes... I don't seem to recall it though. I don't have the artbook so I'm not sure if it's a piece from that. This looks amazing. (Was it your plan to post this collection as your 666th post lol?)
Sadly the art book seems to be rather expensive though I have seen a few go for fairly cheap on ebay a couple times - thought about getting a second one myself so I could cut the bindings and have the art pieces loose! But was hoping some other fan could get it for a good price and enjoy it more than I needed a second one. But of all the Claymore memorabilia I'd say the art book is probably my favorite (though the real megahouse figure is excellent too). Most all of the stuff in the art book is available out on the net if you look hard enough, heck half or more of it is from the covers and such of the manga anyhow. But still it is nice to have it in hand. I got mine brand new right off amazon a couple years back for cheaper than they go for on ebay now.
Haha, seems like you had quite the Claymore experience, also with the limit crossing and getting stronger from your previous racing.
I'm happy everything ended up going well for you but take care and take it easy! As we know from the story and that may certainly apply to our lives, we should always tread carefully considering our limits. Pushing too often and beyond without much care can lead to disastrous things.
Sorry, I am such a Claymore geek lol. I'm only this way with you all though, unfortunately out in real life I don't really even speak of anime or manga - only have 1 friend currently that is into anime and he didn't have much to say of Claymore after I let him borrow my blue ray set. But if I may continue... yes I did have quite the Claymore experience. It does seem to fit with athletic competitions... pushing myself and all, both the physical strength and mental strain. Apparently I am an offensive type, when I strained my achilles a year ago it took quite some time to heal and still isn't 100% right (perhaps just the strength of an ordinary person ;-) and when I line up for a race and most just want to survive it and finish all I can think about is defeating the enemy.
These are some nice differences you spotted. It's funny you mention how serious Claymore is for the most part when we consider the manga he did just before Claymore was a comedy gag (Angel Densetsu).
The Rabona sword is introduced by the end of volume 6 I think when Raki uses it to defend himself and duel with Ophelia. It's given to Raki by Galk offscreen it seems. It's also later on appraised or evaluated by Isley in the north when Raki watches Isley practicing with it.
I didn't know that about Angel Densetsu, and I am surprised after reading Claymore and experiencing the seriousness (lack of better term?) of it that Yagi also wrote comedy. But a skilled writer is certainly capable of different things. I may have to check it out at some point for a change of pace perhaps. I'm not usually into comedy though, and that's part of why I admired in Claymore from the start. That is really neat how he used a very similar drawing between the two. Heck without seeing any other views of the characters I'd of swore I was looking at Clare and Raki in the image of Angel Densetsu. I like how he references other figures and art in history, and even his own past work.
I finished the anime all the way through to the end last night. I had watched it through the battle with Rigaldo but hadn't continued on through the original ending until yesterday. Even though I knew it wasn't correct, it still had some good parts. I hated how they more or less all went their separate ways, but Clare giving her peace at the end at Jean's grave was touching. I don't think this happened in the manga unless it was in a flashback I have forgotten. Stoic Jean (did she have a nickname? else I am calling her that) was one of my favorites back in just the anime times. The extra screen time given to her memorial was a nice touch. In the manga of course they were all in the midst of being wiped out by the northern army, so the short bit of mourning was quickly interrupted by Deneve kicking her in the gut to bring her back into the reality of their current situation.
I suppose the anime has the advantage of taking the base material and enhancing it. Except that most of the changes that they do tend to be for the worse. but it is nice I think they did edit out some of the parts that don't fit as well, but added in some things that actually fill in the blanks, like showing Raki getting the sword from Galk in Rabona. That was a good addition IMO. Also noticed a few things along similar lines at the end... Rigaldo vs. Undine... in the manga this was over in a flash and not very interesting. I liked in the anime how she actually held off Rigaldo initial blow with her two crossed swords, and he acknowledges her strength. And then of course he says "but not strong enough" and proceeds to tear her arms off. Similarly with Jean, in the manga she deflects a few of his blows then gets skewered. In the anime they added one last of her signature drill sword moves at least. The figths with Miria and Clare were both extended out quite a bit longer (especially Miria's) which was mostly good, Rigaldo was by far the most powerful opponent of the series besides Teresa vs Priscilla and the extra detail and length of the battle in the anime I think was a nice addition.
Also when Flora takes Clare aside to assess her strength seems to be under differing pretense in manga vs anime. In the manga she does it to determine if Clare should be the leader instead of her. In the anime it seems to be she is suspicious of Clare and doesn't trust her. I don't believe there was any mention of Flora suggesting Clare should replace her as leader. Since Clare really isn't all that good of a leader/strategist/working with a team, the anime adaptation seems more fitting to me, with an arm that doesn't belong to her and power that seems disproportionate to her number, some investigating might be in order.
One thing I didn't like about the battle in the north with anime it seemed they cheaped out on the monster detail. The first three scouts were alright, and Rigaldo was good, but the main army seemed unimpressive. One seemed to me like a monster from Scooby-Doo and some of them felt like I was watching something my son would watch, like digimon lol. Specifically the AB that Lily and Wendy (?) lured away into Clare and Flora's trap. He's actually kind of interesting and detailed in the manga but in the anime he was basically a T-Rex-ish dinosaur and kind of lame. I know detail is much less in the anime, and it shows in some of the monsters. Of course Yagi's art is fantastic, but I wish there where more detail in the manga too (some scenes are in great detail but many others lack hardly any detail with faces and things just blank). I also really like how in the manga when Clare and Flora dice up the Yoki-controlling AB how it shows Clare's 'pieces' to be much smaller and two other Claymores watching the battle noticing how Clare's technique has a finer cut than Flora's windcutter. Unfortunately the anime didn't really portray that. So its nice that while the anime doesn't perfectly follow the manga that some of the additions aren't all bad. Oh and this last time through I watched the anime all in Japanese with English subtitles. Some are always insistent that dubs suck and Japanese is the 'original' version after all. Since this is animated, there really is no original and whether Jap or Eng they are both 'dubbed' (just that the Jap dub fits the mouth movements better usually). There are some parts of the Japanese dub that may be better but overall I enjoy the English version better I think.
Something so great needs to be enjoyed when you can really appreciate it. Its been since mid winter I think... But recently I needed a re-infusion of yoma energy so started back up. I don't think I've ever read the manga over again from the start. With the release of the final volume in a few weeks I figured I'd time it so I read it all through and end with the last book in hand. I started reading it from the actual book in hand, so I plan on finishing it that way too. A few books per week should do it. And it may give me some inspiration for an 18 mile race coming up next week, as well as trying for a 5k PR the end of September.
. For anyone interested, I'm tossing the idea for a Claymore/Skyrim crossover on ff.net. But if anyone could help me flesh it out into a real plot, I wouldn't mind at all.
).
) and being allured by the older woman figure... 
but it is nice I think they did edit out some of the parts that don't fit as well, but added in some things that actually fill in the blanks, like showing Raki getting the sword from Galk in Rabona. That was a good addition IMO. Also noticed a few things along similar lines at the end... Rigaldo vs. Undine... in the manga this was over in a flash and not very interesting. I liked in the anime how she actually held off Rigaldo initial blow with her two crossed swords, and he acknowledges her strength. And then of course he says "but not strong enough" and proceeds to tear her arms off. Similarly with Jean, in the manga she deflects a few of his blows then gets skewered. In the anime they added one last of her signature drill sword moves at least. The figths with Miria and Clare were both extended out quite a bit longer (especially Miria's) which was mostly good, Rigaldo was by far the most powerful opponent of the series besides Teresa vs Priscilla and the extra detail and length of the battle in the anime I think was a nice addition.