Spring Anime Impressions - Claymore
13 April 2007
Now on to the next series in my Spring list: Claymore, the anime inspired by the adventure/horror manga of the same name.
Opening Theme:
“Raison D’être” by Nightmare
Raison D’être has a rather soulful and slightly melancholic melody, but at the same time the beat is quite fast and lively with some nice guitar sequences, creating a rather interesting juxtaposition. I feel that this creates a rather interesting parallel to the reality of a Claymore; being half human and half youma, it’s as if they have two contrary themes flowing at the same time within them. It also hints that though this series will have action there is a sad story behind it all, probably lying in the past of the main character Clare.
The beginning of the animation sequence keeps pace with the song, starting the relatively less lively portion with a showcase of the various Claymores and their unique emblem, with an interjection of a brief action sequence just as the music had a minor peak. But when the music had a major emotional peak we are shown a scene of Clare walking off into the sunset. This, I feel, is indicative of the focus of the series; not on the action, but on the character development behind the action.
The lyrics add to the soulful melancholic feel with mentions of long travels, frozen dreams and fading tears; indicative of the life of a Claymore traveling around slaying youma, and hinting at the soft humanity within the Claymore which is so easily forgotten underneath the stigma of being half-youma. The pain of the Claymore is most simply expressed in the line: “Woe me, woe me, love me!”; it explicitly spells out the feelings of suffering and loneliness felt by a Claymore. But as the next 2 lines say, they cannot love and they hate themselves, because they fear awakening into a full youma and killing those they love. And for that they hate their own existence. The next few lines pertain to Clare, hinting at some event in her past that haunts her and keeps her on her current path, but to which she does not know the solution, and is hence searching for.
Ending Theme:
“Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky” by Riyu Kosaka
Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky, simply put, is the expression of Clare; her own low perception of herself, her memories and longing for the past yet striving to live in the present, her hiding of her pain yet accepting her situation with stoicism, even embracing it to help her through her daily life. All this was beautifully expressed in the lyrics and the various stills featuring Clare and scenes from her memory. Furthurmore, with the song starting in the minor key it adds a whole level of emotion to the song, a general feel of longing and grief, which juxtaposed with the fast paced melody, again expresses the duality of Clare. I especially like how the song did not have a finished feel, with the last chord progression being an unfinished progression; it gives the feel of being in the middle of a journey, as Clare has embarked upon.
April 15th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Currently watching Claymore but have to stay up until 2AM in the morning when its on air orz.
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
[…] This season offers mostly more of the same, though apparently the “serious” plot starts earlier. Most of it is due to the introduction of Agnes, the Musketeer captain with a dark past and who looks like she might have walked in from a different anime. (One the other blogger on this site has said quite a lot about.) The darker elements start sooner and are a few degrees more intense than in the first season. I’ve already guessed the twist that was hinted at the end of episode 8 a couple of episodes back, though, and considering this show’s track record of predictability, I’m fairly sure I’m right. […]
September 6th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
I download and watch it too, it’s one of my favorite Anime!
October 19th, 2007 at 1:53 am
I like this anime its some thing different
January 4th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
finished watching claymore last november of 2007!!thought it sucked but it was very awesome!!!thanks to my big bro for introducing this to me!!ran accross this site after filling out my comment in ur site about gatekeepers 21!!^_^