Re: Claymore Hang-out Thread
Well since I'm getting them feels out there:
I can't figure out what makes Claymore so alluring… I usually am not interested in anime/manga so much, but Claymore is so different. It's strange. There are so many vague things in the series that are like "what the f**k was that even for," but they're not that bad. Like dragon's kin, parasites, and complete regeneration out of no damn where, but it's so awesome. It's so much deeper than sword fighting vixens, monsters, and badassery, although they're a huge plus. I can't put my thumb on it.
For me, the manga stands on Yagi's phenomenal gift for character. The first time I read this story, I found myself enjoying the way Raki and Clare interacted as early as their
arrival in Rabona. Things only got better with time and cast size and now, 18 months later, I don't like fight scenes because I hate it seeing these paper people I love in pain.
Yagi may invent random stuff sometimes out of narrative necessity, but he never,
ever compromises the integrity of his characters. This gives his story an emotional core capable of holding readers for
years (just look at the Teresa fans), a core it shares with every other story which has held my interest for so long. Te mea nui, indeed.
Has anyone here ever read Angel Densetsu? It has no central plot or protagonist, it's a series of interwoven character studies. It's great fun, I highly recommend it, and what makes it great is the sanguine enthusiasm of Ryoko, Seichiro's inexhaustible goodwill, and
every single scene involving Ikuno Shirataki. Perhaps the most interesting part of the entire manga is the
afterword which Yagi devotes entirely to talking about how important his characters are to his creative process. Claymore is a different story with a different focus (and a
lot more overall structure) so none of this may actually be relevant, but it suits my interpretation of what makes this story exceptional.
It's more than that, though. I've read lots of stories which are superior to Claymore in every possible way but which didn't reach my soul in the same way. Personally, I've always liked casts with a nice range of female characters, stories about how people help each other heal and find joy and meaning in spite of hostile circumstances, stories with cool fight scenes backed up by actual plot (so rare T_T), stories about smart, nice people, and stories about people rising up and reclaiming their humanity. I see all these things in Claymore. If you were
designing a story which would bypass all my critical facilities and leave me babbling like an idiot for months on end,you couldn't do better than this.
Truly it is more than the sum of its parts.