Final Thoughts: Claymore’s been an interesting ride for me because this is one of the only series I’ve ever picked up mid-season. Despite how the ending turned out, I don’t really regret watching this since the animation adaptation overall turned out pretty well.

I just wonder how far in advance they production team planned this and if they had considered following the manga up to a certain point and then just ending, especially if they intend to eventually animate the rest of the manga once it gets written.

It would have been interesting to see a series end on a big “To be Continued” cliffhanger, but I guess that might not have gone over so well with casual viewers who aren’t familiar with the manga story. For now though, I’m just looking forward to seeing how the manga continues.

I really can’t say much for the story since it feels like a rehash of the Ligardes fight (enemy powers up, Clare’s friends go down, Clare powers up). If you look at it from a high enough level, it sounds very much like any other action-heavy shounen-oriented show, but I thought the way they executed it - mainly the animation quality - was exceptional. Aside from that though, I didn’t find that much to get excited about, though I am quite curious to see what happens to all the characters in the final episode. It doesn’t seem like it’s possible for them to end it in a completely satisfactory manner because there’s too many loose ends in terms of Isley, Riful, and even the sinister Organization. Hopefully they’ll give at least

Well, this starts the completely anime-original material, but it was relatively lacking in action except maybe the Priscilla regaining her memories and transforming part.

I thought that Galatea’s appearance was rather frivolous in the context of just this episode, but it’s possible that she could still do something before this is all over. As for Raki, I’m glad that he finally got out of his rut, and the pairing with Jean is interesting since both have the potential to change Clare back to normal, though I suspect it’ll be Raki who’ll do it because he’d otherwise have no role. That’s assuming that Clare does change back after the battle with Priscilla.

Speaking of which, I know that the Priscilla storyline is certainly one of the main things they have to conclude, but I can’t help but think that there’s just not enough time to tie up all the loose ends (particularly with Riful, Isley, and Luciela), especially if you know what happens in the manga.

I’ll probably be saying this again in two week when I write my final thoughts for the anime, but this is definitely one of those (all too common) instances where not reading the manga allows you to enjoy the anime a lot more than people who have read the manga. In any case, I hope next week features the Awakened form of Clare that we see in the manga and has some good action sequences.

Then again, Jean’s still alive, and Galatea is in the preview, so any one of them (or even all of them) could play that part, and it’s possible that Clare’s physical changes will also manifest themselves in the next episode.

Priscilla and Isley still have a part to play too, so maybe Clare will get to fight one of them (maybe both) while she’s still uber-powerful. Regardless, it should be pretty much all anime-original material from here on out.