If we’re getting to get so caught up in ranking things, I must say that these have got to be the cattiest warrior women I’ve ever seen on screen. As much self-control as these Claymores exhibit suppressing their Yoma sides, I figure they need even more restraint to keep themselves from going “Oooooooooo…!” after every snappy putdown.
Kidding aside, I feel inclined to hold this up to people as a model for anybody trying to properly establish a new mythos. Aside from the catty Claymores’ explanation to Raki running a little on long and expository side, there’s a deft discipline to how each new reveal is parceled out. Not only does each nugget give you a bigger piece of the puzzle, it also flips what you thought you'd already assembled up until that point. In this episode, for instance, all the business about rankings adds up to a pretty incisive shocker about Clare actually being the lamest of the Claymores. Not only did that pretty handily answer my concern that the show might lose any tension if the Yoma are just purple meat for these ladies to slice up, it also underscores her struggle with even more pathos. Then my next question about why there aren’t male Claymores gets answered with a sharp cliffhanger, and the question about the “voracious eater” cover story is addressed before I even think to ask it. This is a show that constantly feels like it’s at least three steps ahead of its viewer.
Also, the way that Clare got her Yoki powers by pulling the juice out of Teresa's head was some intense mythmaking.
To find a complain (lest this become a chorus line of non-stop praise) I’d say that the designs so far haven’t been especially appealing. They’re even a little unpleasant to look at. Relax, I’m not saying that the Claymore should wear the oft-mocked “impractical lady armor” like THE SACRED BLACKSMITH. But… of all the options of real world armor to model the outfits after, I do wish that they’d have chosen anything other than these Joan of Arc the Vakyrie get-ups. That’s not so outrageous an observation, is it?
Watch this episode "Those Who Rend Asunder (Part 1)" below, decide for yourself and then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
