if you like one, you will probably like the other.
I’ve met people who liked both, but they were all also die-hard Naruto fans, for some reason…
Other than those - i’ve never personally met anyone who’d like both equally. The story is a jumbled mess, the characters are barely distinguishable, without any discernable motivations…basically a typical shounen manga, no surprises there.
Berserk on the other hand, in addition to having everything that Claymore lacks, also brings a kind of visceral feeling with it, almost animal fear.
Lynxara
1982
Berserk is one of those genre-creating manga that comes along every so often and inspires a host of others to begin playing with the same ideas. Claymore is definitely a Berserk derivative but it’s generally one of the better ones.
(That said, you really don’t ever need to sit through it if you’re satisfied by Berserk.)
If you want something very similar to Berserk look at GunGrave. I really don’t see the Claymore - Berserk connection though apart from large monsters being sliced up with large swords.
Also the Claymore anime ending was an atrocity.
Lynxara
1984
Claymore uses basically Berserk’s same story structure, with some gender inversion. The main differences between the two stories are caused by an odd gender-reversed injection of shounen fightfest tropes.
Berserk was in some ways definitive as the first really major action manga able to move beyond the formulas set down by Fist of the North Star. Going from Berserk to Claymore could easily feel like a regression to the mean.
Berserk suffered just as bad from the crappy anime ending syndrome. While claymore is just as guilty of it, i hate when an anime’s ending is completely unsatisfying unless you read the manga.
I’ve only read a couple volumes of the Claymore manga, but it definitely seemed like Berserk watered down by a factor of ten. In particular, Claymore’s monsters by that point…look like people, but have different eyes and maybe fangs! Ooh, scary! Whereas Berserk has already shown you at least four or five wholly different freakish things that should not be by the same point in that manga.
They get pretty freakish in the anime. The more powerful the demon, the more freakish they look.
Well, the first couple volumes don’t involve anything particularly badass, it’s true. On the other hand, Berserk’s demons are -all- incredibly monstrous. The art just seems all around better to me.
I only watched the claymore anime, but liked that aspect of claymore. I liked how the claymores looked innocent until they started using their powers and then became more and more affected by them.
oh and Guts did look quite badass in the first episode where it is in the future. Too bad the anime didn’t go in to that more.
Well, after all the good advice, we started watching ‘Last Exile’. After only three episodes I must say, the animation is absolutely breathtaking, if you are into that sort of thing. So far so good.
Just don’t expect too much out of it and you’ll be fine.
The gameshow episode is the only good part of Ergo Proxy. I can’t believe I watched the whole show.
C’mon, that’s not the only good part.
But yeah, a lot more promise than payoff.
shang
1994
And both are immensely better in manga (especially Claymore). I know this gets said about most Anime series, but those two really botched the endings in the Anime versions.
Also, while Claymore is rather subdued in the beginning and the plot seems like it’s be all over the place, they really pull the threads together later on into a very compelling plot with strong characters and character development.
I am looking for anime that is fun for kids and adults.
It doesn’t have to be great just so long as it is not terrible.
Most of the anime that I have seen is either too childish for me to enjoy or too violent/weird/confusing to show to young kids. So if it satisfies both conditions then that is good even if it is only mediocre.
Also, while Claymore is rather subdued in the beginning and the plot seems like it’s be all over the place, they really pull the threads together later on into a very compelling plot with strong characters and character development.
I dont believe that is the case. The guy has shown that he is a competent comedy writer with a good gag sense, and his art improved quite significantly over the years, but in the area of contricated plots and characters he’s not quite there yet.
I mainly follow him for art, its incredibly fun to see a person improve before your very eyes.
Lynxara
1997
I remember awhile back having a discussion about how anime featuring battling spaceships is very rarely made anymore. It seems Toei noticed this and decided to rectify the situation.
Just watch crest/banner of the stars.
I kind of agree though but everyone likes mechs more so any show with space battles tends to have mechs flying around crushing huge dreadnoughts like flies.
Not sure it really counts, but Tytania was a pretty decent recent series featuring space battles.
Lynxara
1999
I am pretty sure these shows are like ten years old and were considered “retro” even at time of release.
Not sure it really counts, but Tytania was a pretty decent recent series featuring space battles.
The original conversation featured a lot of back and forth about how bad Tytania sucked in comparison to Legend of the Galactic Heroes. (For the record, I liked it myself but wish the animation could’ve been more consistent.)
The character design doesn’t do much for me.
