The shine of polished steel.

First, it must firmly be expressed how beautiful the art style of this animation is. Even though it’s a series with heavy action, there’s always an air of elegance. This is reflected in the DVD’s packaging design. Featuring Clare on the front cover, the DVD’s jacket is monochromatic in various colors of black, purple, and a slight touch of gold. Its foil-like shine will catch your eye on the shelves a mile away. On the back is the synopsis, a few chromatic screenshots, and the content lists. The DVD menus are also awesomely laid out and give a very artistic border to what would normally be just a plain screen cap. They also have background music for all of the menus. The voice acting, in both the original Japanese and English dubs, for this show is simply amazing. I was so impressed with the English track that I nearly forgot about the Japanese track entirely, which is never a bad thing.

A few drops of blood.

At first glance, the extra content for Claymore seems paltry. You get standard textless songs, and the list of trailers for shows like Kitaro, Basilisk, Darker The Black, and so on. But beyond that there is episode one included with commentary from the English cast. It’s always interesting to listen to little insights from the actors taking part in anime and it adds a new dimension to characters they portray. The best feature is the casting auditions. In this you get to listen to the English actors do script readings for the characters. At first it’s almost unimpressive, but that’s what makes it even more astounding when you see how well they get into character for this show.

Be on the watch for golden eyes.

To be sure, Claymore has easily risen in the ranks in my book of demon-slaying anime. It has action, beautiful art, and appealing characters. At first the story may seem stoic, but there’s a strong humanistic undercurrent running through the series as seen through the character Raki. Even Clare displays tidbits that she feel more than those who meet her surmise. It’s a very intriguing story to watch beginning to unfold, and viewers will find themselves eager for the next disc. It’s the perfect anime combination of action and emotion without overdoing it.