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Claymore is set in a medieval period, but not in feudal Japan as you’d expect. Instead it appears to be set in medieval Scotland (at least I assume so given the Scottish title “Claymore”), which makes for an interesting crossover of styles, because it obviously has quite a Japanese anime feel to the animation, but they are running around in “western”-style medieval villiages and wielding chunky claymores instead of katanas.
Normally I would go for the cyber/futuristic/post-apocalyptic aesthetic over the “fantasy” schtick, but Claymore is executed so well that it’s now one of my favourite animes. The main enemy is a demon-type creature called a Yoma, which can disguise itself as a human and when in human form is only able to be spotted by a Claymore. The story is based around the Claymores (named after the Scottish Claymore swords they wield), which are a hybrid of human and Yoma, and as a result are super-powerful, and are identifiable by their silver eyes and white hair. And oh yes - the Claymores are all female!
So yeah, the mainstay of the series is foxy silver-eyed anime chicks with big swords busting up demons, but there is a surprising amount of depth explored. Mainly in the relationships, with the main Claymore character “Clare” forming a tight bond with human “Raki”, resulting in a running love story that you will want to see through to the conclusion.
Only 1 season of Claymore was made with 26 episodes, so you’ll be savouring the storyline knowing that it’s going to end succinctly. Overall it’s quite dark and violent, and I really like the intro themesong too, which is a much heavier and darker shade of rock than most anime themes.
Bleach is a modern-day, Japanese-set anime series. We buy the Bleach DVDs as and when they’re available on the shelves, but in the meantime stream them from various online sources. I liked the first season alot (the first 26-ish episodes), which was where the first characters were introduced. When Ichigo was introduced as a school kid who got into fights and could see ghosts, and then Shinigami (aka Soul Reaper or Death God)Rukia showed up in his bedroom, saving him from a Hollow (demon), whereafter Rukia transfers half her Shinigami powers to Ichigo and lives in his closet teaching him to be a good Shinigami - this was the best part of the story. There are now in the vicinity of 180 or so episoes, with a new one airing each week, so a vast amount of depth and lore is introduced over the series. With a show that runs this long, you can expect characters to be introduced and replaced, which can be disappointing when a particularly charismatic enemy that you want to see more of gets his or her ass vanquished.
This really is a taste of pop-culture, and isn’t particularly dark at all, with the darkest aspects coming from main character Ichigo’s brooding moodiness, and the rest of the series feeling like a breath of fresh air. Although having said that, it is quite violent and some of the various types of Hollow are pretty frightening. The themesongs, especially in the outros, are sheer pop though, asserting this as a show primarily for a mainstream audience.
The storyline is strong enough to keep you interested as the episodes roll along, but the main impact is there in those first episodes.
Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex. I’ll admit, I wanted to like this series a lot. The first GITS movie is one of my favourites of all time, and is a perfect depiction of the cyberpunk atmosphere I love. I sampled this movie and used the samples on various Crystalline Effect and Plague Sequence tracks. It’s one of those movies, like Blade Runner, that has so much sheer atmosphere that you can just go through periods of leaving it on repeat in the background while you do other things.
Anyway as I was saying, I wanted to like the Stand Alone Complex series, but I really couldn’t. The series follows the same characters as the movie, but is more focussed on Section 9’s activities, so has a bit more of a detective-vibe, which I don’t care for. The setting, technology and lore are, of course, superb, and it’s a franchise that’s worth expanding, but I won’t be following it particularly fervently and will simply remember the movie for what it was.
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