Anime UK News :: Review of Claymore #2

Manga Quick Information

Title:	Claymore #2
Original vintage:	2001
Mangaka:	Norihiro Yagi
Published by:	Viz Media USA
Genre:	Action, Horror, Supernatural, Thriller
Material length:	208 pages

Ben's review

Ben scored this with 5/10.

Following on from the death of Elena and Raki becoming Claire’s cook they both travel to Rabona which is a holy city where there is a huge religious community. A Yoma is present here however holy and Claire, who herself is part Yoma and therefore unholy, must work undercover to expose and destroy the Yoma.

Norihiro Yagi’s trump card here, to differentiate the plot from the same basic formula as volume one, is to disable Claire’s abilities to sense the Yoma facilitating a need to find the Yoma “the Old fashioned way”, i.e. by searching.

In this sense Yagi creates a reasonably good foundation for chronicling the first five dark scenes of “Darkness in Paradise”. His ability to create a dark and repressive atmosphere is brilliant through both his fantastic imagery but also through forging characters that actually care about the city and would readily die for its survival.

The story itself is still far too centred around Claire, that is natural though she is the protagonist, however the fact that Yagi is able to add a dash of characterisation to characters that really care about the city is building upon the shaky foundation Yagi left after the first volume. However does the reader really care about the Rabona or its inhabitants? No, not really. There is merely a dash of characterisation that Yagi adds to characters, actually I did not care whether the two knights who helped Claire in the closing pages of part of five remained alive or died.

Even Claire’s development feels constricted because Yagi is challenging Claire to be what she is not: fully human. She has to go undercover and fails miserably, she still has to use her senses to detect the Yoma’s aura rather than performing the “old fashioned way” of trying to detect the Yoma.

This volume is average and Yagi is trying to prove to us he can diversify however he is slave to his basic formula of Claire arrives, Claire finds Yoma, Claire defeats Yoma, Claire leaves and in spite of the fact that the “Darkness in Paradise” Arc is not yet finished there is a slowness and an average feel to the arc. Yagi is not exploiting what made the first volume a reasonably good read; that synthesis of Claire’s character and past being unpeeled and set against a fantastically dark atmosphere where the story is not so long and drawn out.

So in conclusion volume two of ‘Claymore’ is mediocre and slow, the characters are still uninteresting and paradise really is not paradise. Volume two is a reasonable read, but nothing to write home about. Yagi needs to take his creation back to scene four and the emotional trials and tribulations of being a claymore, for example longing to be human or trying to restrain the Yoma within, not the constant low octane fights being graced in volume two.

Review Information

Score:	5 out of 10
Review By:	Ben
Date Published:	Mon, 30 Jun 2008

Editorial Spotlight

Review of Berserk #3
	Guts carries out the mission Griffith set for him but events take an unexpected and bloody turn. Unfortunately nobody has much time to dwell on the ramifications because the.. Read more (0 comments)
Del Rey Manga: Summer 2008
	Out of a strong Del Rey summer list, I’ve selected a few of the titles that appealed to me, hoping that there’s something here to please most tastes! xxxHOLIC.. Read more (0 comments)
Review of Black Lagoon #3
	Black Lagoon rounds off the First Barrage with rip-roaring conclusion to the Unstoppable Housemaid arc before following the crew as they embark on a mission set by the Triads.. Read more (0 comments)

Latest Reviews

Berserk #3 (0)

Black Lagoon #3 (0)

Samurai 7 #1 (0)

Naruto #6 (0)

Naruto #5 (0)

[View ALL Reviews]

Manga Reviews

xxxHolic - Volumes #7 and #8

Death Note #1

Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #8

Claymore #3

xxxHolic #4

[View ALL manga reviews]

Nakama Britannica

Nakama Britannica is a blog aggregator populated by the Anime UK News communty.

More Kirikou – Now in Book .. by Turtleheart

An end of a feeling by Manga Girls

Milka die 70er á la Nussecke by Doberman Pharaoh

View all posts at Nakama Britannica

Latest Updates

Thursday, 21 August

News Fullmetal Alchemist TV series confirmed

Tuesday, 19 August

Berserk #3

[News Archive]

Got news?

Got some news? E-mail it to news@AUKN

Upcoming UK Releases

[View Full Schedule]
Mon, 25 Aug 2008
Buso Renkin #1	Manga Ent.
Gun X Sword Box Set	MVM Films
Initial D #3	VDI Entertainment
Naruto Unleashed: Series 4 Part 1	Manga Ent.
Origin: Spirits Of The Past	Manga Ent.
Red Garden Box Set	ADV Films
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya #4	Beez
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya #4 Special Edition	Beez
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World Box Set	ADV Films
Yugo the Negotiator Box Set	ADV Films