[ Scene 26: To the Successors ]

I can’t believe it’s over. It’s been such a great ride and this episode just ends it so well. Much of content was of Clare versus Priscilla with Priscilla having the majority of the upper hand in the battle until the last few seconds where Clare pulled out some hax (literally). I personally don’t see this as a defeat for Priscilla since she was still freaking out up to that point with all of the visions of Teresa attacking her and the like. She just wasn’t stable at all during this fight. Personally, if she were stable and aware of herself and that Clare was just Clare but with Teresa’s flesh and blood inside of her, then this battle would most likely would have ended badly for Clare and the others. Anyway, the only person that died was the very person who was supposed to die in Pieta doing the same thing she did here. That is, Jeane bringing back an awakened Clare to human form. Those scenes were done quite well and I loved how she returned Clare’s words to her and added in her own.

The church scenes with Galatea were very well done animation-wise and while I did wish Galatea had more of a role in these final episodes I suppose it wouldn’t have worked out too well with all that happened. In the end, everyone goes their separate ways and parts with the Organization. Miria alone, Helen and Deneve together, and, of course, Clare and Raki (who already told Clare that he loves her). It isn’t the absolute best final episode/ending of the season but it’s a good one nonetheless.

[ Final Thoughts ]

Anime-original ending or not, Claymore was one of the best Spring 2007 shows. From the very first episode the quality of the series animation, development, and sound-wise was almost always consistent. There were no disappointments in regards to the production of the series at all. Though I suppose where the disappointment would come in for some (i.e. those who read the manga) would be the deviation from the manga to create an original ending. Though I am one of those who read the manga at least a year and a half before the anime began I can say that I’m not among those in disappointment. Why? Experience has showed me what happens with series that are serialized monthly when they are animated: they are almost always given an original ending because they eventually catch up with the manga material and can not afford to wait months or even years on end for the manga to finish.

So, I started the anime adaptation of Claymore knowing this inevitability would surface. I suppose that some day they can animate the rest of the manga using OVAs to retcon the anime ending but that remains to be seen. Of course, I would love nothing more to see it happen. For now though, I’m just glad that I had the opportunity to see the characters brought to life on screen by their seiyuu and their wonderfully animated movements. It was also great to see their interactions and relationships in motion. Now that it has all ended I can only look forward to seeing the manga continue this November.

[Overall series review: 85/100]

[ Scene 25: For Whose Sake ]

Priscilla…looks even more deadly sexy now!

Although there isn’t much to say plot-wise this episode was still very good. The animation was topnotch and the directing done well. The fighting was excellently done especially when Miria, Helen, and Deneve tried their chances against Priscilla. Sadly, they were completely beaten down with Helen and Deneve in pretty bad shape having lost limbs. I don’t think they’ll be able to reattach them in time to help Clare but who knows for sure. Miria doesn’t seem to have much damage except for getting a lot of air squeezed out of her and Jean and Raki have arrived on the scene but I’m not sure what either of them will be able to do. Well, that goes more for Jean anyway.

I’m pumped for the final episode and I can’t wait to see what will happen. The title “To the Successors” makes it even more intriguing. ^__^

[ Scene 24: Critical Point II ]

Oh Priscilla show no mercy on those who oppose your Goddess-like stature.

Wow. Now that was a great episode! Everything here is purely anime-original and in my opinion doesn’t disappoint one bit. The greatest event in this episode is Priscilla regaining her memory. It was interesting to see her flashback and the eventually awakening of her former self. I find it interesting how she thinks that it’s Teresa she’s going to be fighting. Well, to be fair she didn’t know anything about Clare taking Teresa’s head and having her flesh be put into her so it’s reasonable for her to think that the Yoki she’s feeling is coming from the woman she knew she killed all those years ago.

Well the final battle is now all setup and I don’t know who’s going to win. To be honest I don’t want either of them to die but I suppose it’s inevitable for one of them. I wonder if and how Clare is going to turn back though. She’s well past her limit and has been so for quite some time now. Will a combination of Miria, Helen, Deneve, Jean, and Raki be able to bring her back to normal? That remains to be seen at the moment but I await these last two episodes and the conclusion of this wonderful series.

[ Scene 23: Critical Point I ]

Clare and Helen continues the battle with Rigardo. Kill him already, girls!

Dear lord. This episode was awesomely done. I must applaud the anime team for their wonderful efforts especially in regards to the fighting between Clare and Rigardo (by now I’m sure most if not all know that from here on it’s anime-original content). I could have done without the flashbacks from Raki which we already seen an episode or two ago though. Anyways, I was on my toes for most of this episode. Seeing Clare zoom around was exhilarating and even more so when she got the hang of it. The very ending was just amazing though as I was going “HELL YEAH!” as Clare was dicing up Rigardo. She wasn’t letting up on this guy for one second! I don’t know what’s going to happen now though since she’s still summoning up Yoki. Maybe our beautiful guest next week will be helping her control/suppress her Yoki to stop her from awakening fully.

I also find it interesting that Jean is still alive though. I’m wondering if she’ll live until the end or still die within these last three episodes. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough. Galatea will be making an appearance (sexy, sexy) in the next episode so I’ll be looking forward to seeing what role she plays in the finale. I hope that Mira, Helen, Deneve and the others are involved in some way as well.

[ Scene 22: Invasion of Pieta II ]

Miria, Clare, Helen and Deneve are now the only ones left standing to fight. FIGHT ON GIRLS!

Claymore, right now, is consistently bringing the quality. This episode was done so well. It followed the manga almost perfectly, of course, with the exception of the Priscilla, Raki, and Easley bits. While the flashback bits were well-placed I could’ve done without so much of it. Aside from that I felt that much of the fighting was well-done. Particularly the scenes with Clare and Miria. The ending of the episode was done perfectly in my opinion. The heavy atmosphere around Clare along witih her insanely creepy eyes were on-the-spot-awesome for me.

Next episode seems to be the start of the anime original stuff so it should be interesting to see where everything goes from there. Seems like Raki will arrive in Pieta by next episode as well. Though I find it odd that Clare wasn’t fully awakened in the preview. Then again, it was only one shot of her….

[ Scene 21: Invasion of Pieta I ]

*sigh* Naked Priscilla…

This episode easily surpassed my expectations in terms of content, execution, and excitement. The manga was followed very closely with the exception of the scenes between Raki and Priscilla. The fight scenes flow wonderfully and are shown to be more gory than in the manga counterpart (screams, movement, and color of blood tends to do that). Ligardes’ scenes were pretty damn cool but the bastard took out Undine, Veronica, and Flora as a result (Jean is still alive). I thought the scenes with Priscilla and Raki were very interesting. That actually had her speak about her family (call out their names0 as she cried and continued to eat the human she killed. This gave off a sense of her not wanting to do what she does but rather she has no other choice but to submit to her instincts. This combined with Raki witnessing it all has now brought him to want to help and protect Priscilla from doing what she does. This builds some seriously potential drama for when Clare bumps into them in the final episodes.

Next week’s episode will probably conclude this “Invasion on Pieta” arc with Ligardes now going after Miria and the remaining Claymore. The anticipation is killing me. >_<