the art is simply stunning, its really good the expresionless mask the claymore have is annoying since well its expressionless . . . but none the less the art is detailed.

the story on the other hand is your usual shounen cliché parade one after another, but its still not that bad so i recommend it anyway

Plot: Amazing, especially after you get deeper into the story. There's just so many twists and shocking revelations in it. The things you once thought were true are twisted backwards and etc. Though at first it seems rather cliche, boy meets girl, girl is cold to boy, boy warms girls heart and they go on a journey together but after that, that's when the real story begins.

Characters: Personally I love love love Teresa. She's so amazing and one of the reasons I keep reading, because Clare is Teresa's legacy after all. All the characters are interesting in their own right.

Art: Definitely one of the best artwork I've seen so far.

To answer some people who have been wondering, the tragedy in this series is probably not big enough to deter you from having a good time reading it. It's mostly because of death. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but I will say thisdon't read any farther if you can't handle a possible spoiler) There is death of an important character in this series, but it is very obvious and not a shocker at all. It is pretty necessary for character and plot development. There are a lot of other deaths of minor characters(you don't know them and aren't attached to them)but they aren't really sad for the most part. Though if you can't handle some blood(this manga isn't really explicit in it's gore. It will show a red stump when you cut off an arm, but not the bones and tendons inside the arm; basically it's not very detailed)and if you can't deal with people dying, this is not the manga for you.
That aside, I strongly recommend this manga to anyone who can handle a little gore. I personally loved Clare, and would have loved her without Teresa,(though I loved the development to Clare's character that she gave). I love the plot, and I even though I admit is is somewhat of a clishe, i still thought it was very well done and interesting.
This is actually my second favorite manga(and I do read and love all genres, including mature,bloody horror, extreme gore, yaoi, yuri, and the uber-sweet shoujou). This manga is second only to Skip Beat, my long standing favorite.

plot is most definately not "lame"
claymore is different from most other shounen, and is pretty good
obviously you need to read it to decide, but it is worth it. i'm not particularly a shounen fan, but i enjoy this series a lot.

shavonescales; I truly do hope you follow your own advice to read more, before you let you axe of obliviousness fall over this masterpiece 81 chapters as of now, and the story is so huge that this could go on to be another several decennium-long manga a la Berserk (imo the only manga that is above this in masterpeiceness ;>)

10/10, and I rarely or never rate mangas above 7, so no overrating here ;0)

... Last updated on July 27th, 2008, 7:16am

As many others have said, you just have to make it past the first few volumes. The beginning is indeed kind of slow, and there's nothing interesting to grab out at you, besides women carrying huge swords slaying beasts. The art is different too, compared to your standard manga style, and it's sometimes hard to tell apart who is who. But other than that, I think it's quite unique and kinda pretty.

As for the story and characters, I find that they're quite beautifully drawn out. Sure, the characters aren't the best, but I think that's what makes them more realistic, even if Claymores aren't human. I mean, if you're looking for characters with insanely strong and unbeatable powers right off the bat, then I don't think this is for you. Each character grows with time, and slowly improves themselves. They're also not all good nor all bad. To me, it gives a feeling of how human the characters are, always seeking to improve themselves, developing with time, and following their own desires. And realistically there's also death, and just not everyone miraculously survives.

Perhaps it's not the greatest, but I thoroughly enjoy reading it. Though I'm certain that not everyone will like this series, I highly suggest you try this series if you have the free time, and are into mangas of this genre, because the summaries and comments don't do it justice; you just have to read it to see for yourself whether it's good or not.

... Last updated on February 6th, 2008, 5:22pm

This manga is great series, look forward to releases all the time.
Its quite unfortunate what they did to the ending of the anime version though...

... Last updated on December 25th, 2007, 7:59am

I really tried to get into "Claymore" but I just couldn't...
I don't find it interesting at all and I really don't understand what there is to like.
The characters all look the same and the plot is strage and blend and the backraund is mostly white and looks like it was really insignificant to the mangaka..
Wouldn't recomend it to anyone.
Some say it is as good as berserk, excuse me? have you read Berserk??
they are nothing alike but the fact they travel and deal with monsters(the genre acually).

... Last updated on October 2nd, 2007, 4:23am

I thought there would be no manga that could be compared to berserk.. but this is just as good! The first chapters are boring indeed but later.. it's just a !"§$ great story!!

... Last updated on August 11th, 2007, 10:34pm

great manga, I was so depressed after reading the whole manga because then I have to wait a month for the next chapter. damn!