Claymore 21 – the true face and the true strength of Evil.

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It is hopeless.

What once was fool’s hope, has now turned into blood pool. The Blood pool of your comrades-in-arms.

There is no kindness left.

What once was kindness has turned to veiled malice toward a fellow human being.

Even after reading the spoilers I was shocked at the intensity of this episode. It was hard to grasp what I wanted to say, especially after seeing Jeane dying going after a demon god. That traumatizing agony of seeing a loyal warrior, a great companion, an honorable soldier perishing so easily at the hands of the top henchman of the Evil in the North.

(Tears and anguish were pretty appropriate.)

The parallel between this and the Lord of the Rings the books, not the movies, is striking in that all hope is destroyed. The enemy is impossibly strong.

I could go into the shonen conventions of impossibly strong enemies and how many time the main character gets knocked down, and how heroically his friends would try, but would die. But all that process often gets drawn out, in one-on-one dueling situations. A lot of times with no real strategy, just try your best and beat the crap out of the other guy.

However, this is real war. Or as real as a war portrayed in anime is going to get.

Speaking of strategy, let’s compare the organization’s strategy with Isley’s.

The Organization’s strategy: Send cannon fodders with some pretty strong leaders and try to win with sheer numbers, while preserving itself, oh and, make sure to send the potential troublemakers and sure losers. After all, if these die, the organization can make some more. It’s just lives of girls. But at least the organization is preserved.

Isley’s strategy: send 3 decent cannon fodders – in terms of strength comparing to other awakened ulta-demons (yes I know they were human once), and test out the strength of the forces in Pieta. Oh, and, losing 3 out of 30 isn’t so bad. But at least now Isley knows what he can afford to do next.

Isley’s prepared to throw in all his forces to make it relatively simple, quick, and painless. After all, his forces are far superior. And there are still 27 of these Awakened Beings.

(Note: I thought Isley is going to pull a Nobunaga against Imagawa in that particular battle, which is real history – in it Nobunaga purposely sent a small force against Imagawa’s forces, and then with the aid of a storm, he charged from a mountain path directly into Imagawa’s camp and killing Imagawa Yoshimoto. The battle is known in Japan as the Battle of Okehazama – or for a more accurate account in English, see here, but it seems there’s no need, after all. Raki? He doesn’t matter…Does he?)

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The organization is not prepared to throw in all their forces against the legendary Isley, who now also owns Priscilla. The organization is practically left with 4 super strong warriors. I doubt the 18 other Claymores left there can do much.

It looks very clear to me at least, which side should win this war. And the Claymores aren’t looking like they’re on the winning side.

There isn’t a prayer left for them. They have forsaken by God, in the Claymore world God is simply a being worshiped by prejudiced priests who refuses to let a certain people into their Holy City, just because they’re different.

Not that prayers mattered, as Miria quickly finds out.

She really is a great leader, she shines especially under the circumstances where there’s no hope. However, she has strategies of her own. They’re really quite simple. Follow the leaders, ambush the probably arrogant enemies who do not suspect the will and the strength of the minds of these Claymores. Lure them into the alleys and ambush and stun them, and then finish them off.

Surprises often win the day. As long as you don’t face a minor demon god, also know as the “King of Lions”.

It looks like a miracle for the Claymores but it’s not; it’s superior strategy working with a much weaker force with some X factors mixed in.

Miria doesn’t do much rallying and encouraging, which are very important in this case if they were to try to at least not annihilated on sight. Flamed courage gives birth to the will to survive, and with the help of strategy, bravery, and good leadership, miracles can happen. But her comrades did all the encouragement.

I’ve already read the plot and I knew it wasn’t going to work out. But once again, I was stunned at how it all happened. Madhouse does some of their best work here, btw, with excellent animation of…of the characters we’re rooting for getting torn and ripped apart and some of them don’t even have a chance to fight back, that, alongside with the “usual” great sword fighting animation.

It just all happens so fast after Shishi Oh (King of Lions) strolls into town.

Just moments before, the Claymores were surprised by their enemies’ action of leaving the town (being surprised in a battle is never a good sign). Then, in like the classic Japanese samurai war stories about impossible to beat generals, Shishi Oh walks into the battle.

Miria makes one mistake just a little before that, and she has no time to correct that then. She should’ve told the Claymores to immediately go back to ambush into the valleys, and to wait for whatever is coming. Although with the impossibly strong Shishi Oh coming, I don’t think that would’ve mattered.

I do have one gripe here. Shishi Oh is impossibly strong. It’s almost like The King Of Wraiths took shadow steroids or something, and as if Gandolf isn’t there in the first place. So, I felt like saying: “Well, just send Shishi Oh first!” But if that happened, then we would have no story. 🙂 So in any case, let’s take a look at the minor and rather insignificant event. (reading the spoiler up to 23 making Raki looking rather useless at this point)

Raki never suspects a thing. He has doubts and he probably frowns at Isley’s puzzling talk but in his kindness, he never suspects what is really going on. He’s not making the connections in his head even now. But he sees something really faith-breaking.

The good, gentle, fragile, and almost small Priscilla eating a man’s guts.

He struggles and wants to kill her, but he doesn’t. After hearing Priscilla’s cries, and Isley’s explanation he can only hold the girl, hoping she’d stop.

All the while the Claymores are dying one by one, at the hands of a truly demonic force.

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Some will say this scene is useless, since Raki’s powerless and looking useless. It really will depend how studio Madhouse ends this. My speculation is below – be warned if I turn out to be right, these could be spoilers, so don’t read them if you truly don’t want to be spoiled

WARNING! A possible potential SPOILER maybe found BELOW (yeah right if I were a prophet.)

Speculation 1: Perhaps Claymore the anime really isn’t that popular in Japan, I dunno; I heard rumors. So Madhouse cops out on the lack of budget and simply leaving the audience hanging somewhere – either everyone except Raki dies, and Raki screams like Amuro Ray in the original Gundam, or everyone dies and Isley triumphs and say some lines to end it all. Sounds ridiculous? Remember the Japanese Otaku, probably the male Otaku, are the primary audiences here. And we all know what they’re into these days – shows with moe moe, big eyes girls in love with a stupid man; baby loli in odd diapers spouting words like “hony hony”. Or some guy driving a supped up tofu delivery vehicle who probably can’t write “plot” in kanji (I don’t know if there are kanji in Japanese for that), or something that would make all Otaku men laughing themselves silly but would seem pointless to people who just started watching anime – something about 4 girls talking about really nothing (I do like that show, btw). In short, these Otaku probably don’t care. And for those who do, there’s always the manga.

Speculation 2: Somehow, impossible as it is for me, Raki convinces Isley and Priscilla to stop what they’re doing, and leave the town, with Clare surviving. By leaving the town it could work another way – that Raki and Clare leave, and Isley and Priscilla decide to spare their lives. But they do win the day. It certainly is possible, and hopefully in reruns and DVD sales Claymore would pull off the stunt that the original Gundam did – gain wide audience acceptance and viola! We’d have another season coming! I certainly hope that’s the case; a great story like this one deserves to end properly. But alas, this is commercialism and this is in Japan we’re talking about. Try not to have your hopes up.

Speculation 3: For whatever impossible reason (just as Shishi Oh is impossibly strong) Clare becomes stronger and manages to defeat him, Isley, and Priscilla. In short? Yeah right, like that’s going happen. And if it does…well, at least the backlash in here in the States would become tsunami and make its way to Japan, and it’ll probably kill DVD sales in the US, and probably in Japan as well. This would be another huge cop out.

Speculation 4: Somebody from the organization or somewhere finally come and saves the remaining Claymore(s), this person tells Clare to give up and makes a deal with Isley on the behalf of the organization. Well…I don’t want to say much but there’s a reason I came up with that one.

Speculation 5: “God” comes down from somewhere and saves everyone! Hallelujah! And the day is saved! Thanks to…In your dreams, homeboy (Har har har)! That certainly will never happen, in joking or in the context of the show, where it’s apparent no real deities are involved.

End my potential spoilers (yeah, sure.)

Well, the possibilities are endless. But before I ramble on,

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98% recommended for your daily diet. I apologize but I don’t have a particular reason to give this one 2 percent less. My personal feelings don’t really matter watching this show. (EDIT: I just now realized why I’m not giving this 100% – the shonen dilema. In a war, the reason the enemy is strong because of the power of an entire group – a Panzer Battalion, a group of suicide jet fighters, a dreadnought division in a fleet of ships, a group of soldiers led by a brave general with superior fighting skills, leadership ability, strategies and so on. But here, even in this specific context, it still makes me fuming to see an impossibly strong guy who just come in and easily takes out 4 of the strongest in the Claymore group. Then again, this part of the show is just like these warring era samurai stories of old.)

P.S. 1 I didn’t scream like Shinji when Jeane died. I just kept muttering :”damn…damn…” in Japanese. My eyes were wet. Jeane, we shall miss you. I will send your soul away to the warrior’s heaven with a salute. May it rest well at the side of the Ultimate Comfort and Salutation that a true warrior with a noble heart deserves.

P .S. 2 Fine, laugh all you want.

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.

17 thoughts on “Claymore 21 – the true face and the true strength of Evil.

  1. Hmmm, I shall need many hours on Dynasty Warriors on Expert Mode to sedate my desire to kill anything in my path after watching this ep. ^^;;;

    Damn me for sympathizing with these girls, even though I knew that they were going to die…and damn my African instincts for wanting to take a Zulu warspear to Mr. Fuzzy!!

  2. Agreed. Then I shall be Guan Yu (Kanyu) and cut his head off with the Blue Moon Dragon! Wahahaha!

  3. I thought Isley is going to pull a Nobunaga against Imagawa in that particular battle, which is real history – in it Nobunaga purposely sent a small force against Imagawa’s forces, and then with the aid of a storm, he charged from a mountain path directly into Imagawa’s camp and killing Imagawa Yoshimoto.

    I don’t know if the anime will show it, but in the manga it does show that Isley is a very clever, not just in strategy but in disinformation too ^_~. Something to keep in mind with your analogy, Isley and Pricilla are more powerful than any army (even an army of A.O.s) so they could be considered a main force onto themselves, while the army of AOs could be considered the “small force”.

    As for the Organization, they aren’t the types to just stall and do nothing. They always have a Plan B (or Plan C) up their sleeves. In the manga, they’re buying time in the North to complete their own little “Manhattan Project” so to speak.

  4. I thought Isley is going to pull a Nobunaga against Imagawa in that particular battle, which is real history – in it Nobunaga purposely sent a small force against Imagawa’s forces, and then with the aid of a storm, he charged from a mountain path directly into Imagawa’s camp and killing Imagawa Yoshimoto.

    Something to keep in mind with your analogy, Isley and Pricilla are more powerful than any army (even an army of AOs) they could be considered a main force onto themselves with the army of AO’s as the “small force”. We find out later in the manga that Isley isn’t only good at strategy but disinformation too.

    Also the Organization isn’t the type of group who would stall for time and do nothing, they always have a Plan B (or Plan C) in the works. In the manga they are stalling for time so that they can complete their own little “Manhattan Project” so to speak.

  5. Za_Paper – you mean Dark Alicia, right? I haven’t read volume 10 yet; I’m saving that after the anime ends. But I did read on volume 9 that they’re training Alicia with some crazy stuff. But the organization still pisses me off.
    Yeah, that’s what I thought of the Isley/Priscilla combo, too. I mean, they’re practically gods in the Claymore world.

  6. 0_0

    Sorry about all the reposts for some reason my comments weren’t showing up when I first submitted them. ^^;;

  7. That’s all right. It takes some time because there’s the “cache” function – I think.

  8. The anime-exclusive scene in the cave where Raki hugs Priscilla was so full of melodrama I started laughing weakly during the hugging and crying. I think something inside me died. ): Yes, I read the manga. Yes, it detracts immensely from the mood of the original. Claymore is now officially hackneyed.

  9. Owen – I think I’ve always having a difficult time telling melodrama apart from more solid and not so overtly done once – in other words, unless it’s “She the Ultimate Weapon”, which I watched one of the later scenes and I just shook my head at how overtly done it is.
    There are still enough merits left for the show, but most of it is because it was fully based on the manga. The animation expands and explores what is in the manga and make the elements alive.
    I actually like the characters drawn in the animation better. The manga drawings make everyone’s faces kind of roundish and much smoother.

  10. I know what you mean that episode snt chills down my spine all through the way and that scene where Raki catches Priscilla eating guts well I could only pray he’d turn in to lunch (I’m sorry by my hatred for him is growing -_-‘)

    When Jean died I froze. It was as if the world stop. I started screaming and crying like uhhh…. Mai I guess? Screaming no in japanese so loud and screechy I woke the whole building up (only 3 floors which is my family fortunately).

    About your theory 5: That God so happens to be TERESA (Yeha I wish in my hopes and dreams she’ll come back as ‘Teresa’ one of the twin godesses of love… Yeah anyways that’s just me)

    I also have a 6th Theory: Clare along with a slect few (like 2 others (look in the ED you see three silver-eyed witches (Clare amongst them) in front of dozens of claymores (the swords) and then you dozens of candles that turn in to flowers and what do you do when a fellow Claymore dies? You plant the sword!)) will have somewhow the intelligence to either defeat Ligardes or pretend to be dead (worked with Ophelia did it not?) and therfore be spared.

    Over.

  11. Amaya – I really wish for scenario 6!
    As for Jean, I read another comment in my tribute post and now my hopes are up…
    I really hate lions now…XD

  12. I believe the anime is trying to be as close to the manga as possible and correcting the errors of the manga such a as the fight of Clare and Flora just before the slaughter in Pieta to find out who is faster GET REAL! or the fact of stupid Raki traveling with Easley and Pricilla and not noticing when they go for supper (Raki is stupid but not retarded), another big GET REAL!. Therefore I do not think the anime is going to create an ending. The changes we have seen in the anime are just to try to polish the story. Therefore I see the anime (may be the first season) ending when Clarice and the platoon of bitches find the graves of our heroines fallen in Pieta (if you want details read the manga). An end that does not change from the manga, an ending that will make people go search for the manga in seconds and obviously it leaves the people hoping for the second season whenever it might happen. My educated guess (after researching all the changes that have happened and will in Jump Square and Claymore manga) is for 2009.

  13. <p>LAGOW – hmm, interesting. You do have very good points on why is it that Raki never seems to realize anything and why Flora would bother start a fight before the big one. The anime certainly refines the manga and gives it a good polish. BTW, thanks a lot for the awesome spoiler. That’s just great. Not all of us have access to the later chapters of the manga and I certainly DiDN’T want to know what happens to Clare et el right now. THANKS A HELL LOT. And don’t bother tell me it’s obvious – I don’t give a shit that it’s obvious. I just didn’t need to know. Thanks a lot, friend. AND NO, I don’t have access to the manga after Volume 10, where you kindly spoiled it for me.</p>

  14. LAGOW – OK, thanks for the information. Try not to put a big spoiler in the comments next time. Not all of us are that resourceful and have read stuff after vol. 10. But excellent points about Raki’s seemingly stupidity and the possible pointless fight before the big battle.

  15. The platoon of bitches XD -can’t stop laughin-
    Ara, ara too much for an insomniac 15 yr old lmao!
    And yeah you could at least warn if you’re gonna put spoilers… I mean I haven’t read the manga but I was too curious for my own good and read where I shouldn’t have on Wikipedia.
    Anyways I will say one thing: I can only hope for the anime to be 1/4 as good to us as the manga (you’ll soon see why I don’t want to ruin it for you). Oh and if you want to read the manga past Vol 9 or 10 go to veoh, someone uploaded the chapters in a slideshow form ^^
    But I’ve made up my mind about a few things:
    -If they bring back Teresa (I don’t care if she’s reincarnated as a bird I just want her back!) I will adore the sponsers, the animators, the mangaka EVERYONE untill my dying day
    -If they do somekind of mass ressucitation I WILL loathe them untill my dying day (way to kill a show)
    -If Raki turns in to lunch I will dance (Sorry XD)
    -If they animate Mai HiME Destiny (aka Mai MiKO) I will forgive senset for all their sins (i.e. inturrupting me in the middle of Mai Otome) (That was totally off-topic but it had to be said)
    Anyways I can’t wait for tonight for the RAW to come out, I don’t remember being quite so anxious for a week to go by fast for a tv show since.. Since well Pokemon really o_o; (and Grey’s Anatomy XD)

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