Forum - View topicREVIEW: Claymore GN 7
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Crescent
 Posts: 38 |
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Meh. Volume 7's a bit of a weird place for a random one-shot review of Claymore.
It's kinda contradictory, since the review's clearly written in a "this is a first time we're reviewing the Claymore manga, so here's a lot of detailed opinions on the art style and so forth" manner.... While the substance of the plot is covered like the first 6 volumes have been closely followed and reviewed. If I was someone not familiar with Claymore the review would lead be to believe that the manga series as a whole is a nicely drawn, but painfully standard and cliche shonen manga, instead of volume 7 as a standalone piece maybe being a bit lacking in certain sorts of depth because it's caught in between stuff and is pushing the story forward as the plot changes gears in a Shonen Jump manga that's almost anything but a generic Shonen Jump manga. (Not even going into the fact that I think first-time reviews of random volumes of a manga is a bit silly. By volume 7, people who are already reading the manga should already be well aware of what they're getting and potential readers of the manga are only getting possible misinformation if a review is gonna act general about most stuff, but then turn and positively or negatively react to the plot/story of only that particular volume. In this type of situation, I really think a 'general' review of the manga as a whole through whatever's been released in the North American market would make a lot more sense.) |
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BRD529
 Posts: 14 Location: KC |
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As a big fan of the Claymore manga and the anime, I have to agree that this review seems a little uninformed. By the time the seventh volume rolls around, you understand the weight of the decisions being made and the history leading up to them. When Clare and Raki part ways, they share a fairly intimate moment that drives Raki for the remainder of the story. It was hardly just a throwaway moment to advance the plot. The overall story might not be the deepest story ever told, but it is filled with enough character development, action, and twists to keep it interesting until the end.
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07241988
Posts: 19 |
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Would have to agree with CRESCENT; This is not a great place to pick up a review of the series. It would be like picking a transition story in the LORD OF THE RINGS movies and saying that it has its good points but you will not like the storytelling. CRESCENT also made a good point in that this can have a negative influence on possible future readers. By the time I got to book 7,I was hooked, I was really into the story and I knew the meaning behind the characters actions. CLAYMORE has been great. I can only hope that the storytelling continues at this high of a level all the way thru.
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zetsuie
 Posts: 193 |
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i pretty much agree with what everyone else is saying which is not that the reviewer did a bad job reviewing vol.7 its just a bit weird to suddenly start reviewing this series at vol7 although i would really like it you were to go back and review some of the previous volumes
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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Man, I was so stoked when I saw this review posted. Claymore right now is one of my favorites amongst the series I'm currently following right now. It's definitely not your typical shonen. It still sticks to the shonen formula quite a bit, but because it's got such a great story featuring lots of sexy female warriors and great great art it stands out from much of the shonen crowd quite a bit in my opinion. I love how it doesn't have tons of "training episodes" like in other shonen series. It sticks closely to the plot and keeps bringing us fantastic action.
I agree with what's been said so far. This volume, while my favorite of the series to date, is an odd place to start from. Starting from the beginning would have been best, as you'd be able to review the story as it progresses and be able to see what makes this volume really great. I would have loved to seen a review of the flashback arc of the series (contained in volumes 3-5), which is the best arc to date by far (although 7 is my favorite volume because of a special scene between Raki and Clare). Anyway, I'm so glad that the art got it's due. I used to not like it all the much at first, but it's grown on be quite a lot lately. It's absolutely gorgeous. Plus, it's action sequences are perhaps the most easy to follow in comparison to other action manga I've read or am currently reading. |
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Machius
 Posts: 23 Location: Australia wishing I was back in Japan |
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This is currently if not my favorite manga/anime series then definitely in the top 3.
I have to say like everyone else so far, I was dissapointed by a 1 shot review of volume 7. It's a really strange volume to choose for single volume review, it finishes one story arc and begins the next and unfortunately isn't one of the better volumes even with an understanding of the precursor stories and what's happening next. (the following volume 8(which isn't released in english/america yet(i'm in japan so i've got up to 12) is one of my favorite since it's got the final of the Fit for Battle story arch and the entirety of the following Witches Maw arch) If you are going to review something as a singleton either review the 1st(which would be unfortunate since Claymore gets better from the 2nd onward) or do an entire series review of the manga thus far. That said the reviewer does an okay job of reviewing volume 7, the art was given the respect and praise it deserves, even if the story elements were treated fairly harshly. I'll admit that it's not exactly the Lord of the Rings, but in terms of an action manga the story isn't too bad at all and the Clare/Teresa back story was in my opinion very well done. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Okay folks, here's how this works.
We review what companies send us. To say that Geneon's track record for sending out screeners has been "sporadic" and often "bizarre" would be pretty generous. Sometimes we'll get volume 2 but not volume 1. Sometimes we'll get volumes 5,6,7,8 and 9 but not 1-4. If one of our critics decides he wants to rent or buy an earlier volume himself and review it he can, but that's not my decision to make. Generally, if a critic is reviewing a later volume of something, it means that they've read or watched the previous volumes but are reviewing the newest one because that's what people are interested in. What I'm gathering from all this complaining is that you don't want us to review a new volume of something without having reviewed every previous volume, even if the critic has seen all previous volumes and is just reviewing the newest one. Even if the critic is taking the previous volumes into account in his review of the latest volume, that is still not valid. We have to have a review of every single volume of every series we cover. Here's my take on that: it's nice when we can review every single volume of something, but when we can't, there's no harm and no foul in reviewing the latest volume of something as a way of "checking in" with an ongoing series. Our critics don't just randomly pick a volume, watch it and then review that; they watch the whole thing and review the latest volume. That, to me, is fine. If that's not what you folks want then maybe I'll rethink that. I'm trying to figure out what in the world your logic is for complaining about this rather than just dismissing it as the usual whining and gnashing of teeth when a review doesn't exactly match your own opinion, so you come into the forums and start complaining about systemic problems with how we do things rather than just disagreeing with the opinion presented in the review. So please do me the courtesy of using reasonable logic to explain your viewpoint on this issue. |
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zetsuie
Posts: 193 |
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07241988
Posts: 19 |
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You are right zetsuie, Viz released this volume of this manga on their Shonen Jump Advanced line. Zac just made a mistake.
I have nothing against the reviewer or the review as such. If someone threw volume 7 at me and told me to punch up a review, I probably would have come up with something similar. Being a fan of the series however, volume 7 was a great book because I knew what the main protagonist actions meant. I think fans of the series, a very popular series, worry that someone unfamiliar with the series and curious will happen upon the review and be turned off by a less than stellar review of the storyline. I thought the reviewer did a thorough and informed review, But........ ANN most of the time starts their reviews of manga with the first volume, sometimes they will do a later volume or two if the series is popular. Zac states that it is not his or anybodies fault at what volume gets sent for review. That is the companies decision and the fault, if any is the companies. I get that now. Claymore is a great ride, its a shame the review was not at the beginning. Oh well, life goes on. 
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zetsuie
Posts: 193 |
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crap their is a review of claymoore v.1 in the Mar 21 2006 edition of Right Turn Only my bad i take back everything I said about wanting to see an earlier review
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07241988
Posts: 19 |
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Way to dig zetsui! This review was not in the encyclopedia, Though RTO is not mentioned in the information in the encyclopedia as a rule. Wow... Carlos gives it a worst review than vol. 7.
To tell the truth after we started this, I thought back to volume 1; I remember that I liked it okay, it was good, but did not blow my socks off. It was good enough to want to read the next volume at least. It was not until volume 3 and 4 that I was hooked. I love this series. Then it goes back to Crescent's point of how one shot reviews of manga is not pertinent. Maybe the body of work should be taken as a whole, rather than pull out reviews of a few chapters; I 'm not sure. No way anybody is going to do a review of an entire series. Though I find the reviews helpful at times. But I have to wonder now. I remember getting interested in the title because it was in a 'Must Read' section of a anime magazine that Zac used to work for. The description and reasons why I would like it caught my eye. I know in RTO there are times I wish Carlos would lay off the letter grade. Anyways, ANN did review the first volume. Carlos review of vol.7 was fair, if taken by itself. And he did go into detail about the pro's and con's. I know Carlos won't see this but I take back what I said, you did well. But ......... I hope anybody interested in a wonderful fantasy action story will give it a chance. It is a great story with great artwork with detailed battle scenes. |
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gwdone
 Posts: 272 |
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I'm about to invest in this full series likeable reviews or not. I love the anime in a big way and as I admit this will be my first full manga collection to dig into. I can't think of any better at the moment. Gantz would be a choice except I read reviews on ANN that artist 'so and so' can't draw.
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