Claymore
Alternate Title: ----
Story
Number of Episodes: 26In a world where humans coexist with creatures called Yoma, sentient monsters that feed on human guts and being shape shifters, are capable of taking on human form and living in disguise amongst humans. By consuming a human's brain, Yoma can also absorb their memories, allowing them to disguise themselves as specific people without alerting any of their close friends or family.
A nameless and highly secretive organization has created an order of superhuman warriors to protect humans from the Yoma. These warriors have come to be popularly known as “Claymores”, after the immense swords they wield. Villages being attacked by Yoma hire Claymores to kill the Yoma for a large fee. This organization creates the Claymores, which comprises of only women, by implanting Yoma flesh and blood into humans, thus creating hybrids that are more powerful than the original Yoma, in addition to their weapons training and often greater intelligence. Claymores are humans with silver eyes which turns gold when they unleash their yoma power.
The story follows the adventures of the Claymore warrior named Clare. The plot follows her as she fights Yoma and struggles to hold on to her humanity. She was found and raised by Teresa, a Claymore who killed the Yoma that held her prisoner. After Teresa rebels against the organization and is subsequently killed, Clare then volunteers to become a Claymore using Teresa's flesh and blood in order to take revenge on the Awakened Being (claymores who had their human side overthrown by their yoma side) who killed her, Priscilla.
Characters
Clare: The main character who is often seen travelling with Raki. She is the human who became a claymore upon the death of Teresa by taking in Teresa’s flesh and blood, making her weaker than normal claymores, who take in Yoma’s flesh and blood instead. She is ranked the weakest claymore as a result, though she can be stronger than those ranked above her at times. She dedicated her life to hunting down Priscilla, the claymore who became an Awakened Being upon killing Teresa.
Raki: A young human boy whose family is murdered by a Yoma, which then takes the form of his older brother, Zaki, as a disguise. This Yoma is slain by Clare before she left the village, however since Raki is suspected of being a Yoma as well, he was exiled from his village. Later he was rescued by Clare again and she only offers to take him with her until he finds a village he wishes to live in. In time, Clare gets attached to him because their pasts are quite similar. Raki also cares very deeply for Clare, and protects her without hesitation from anyone; even another Claymore. 
Priscilla: She was promoted to rank 2 shortly after she joined the organization. She was so powerful that she could fight with her Yoma power almost entirely suppressed, allowing her to conceal her presence from Yoma and fellow Claymores even in the heat of battle. Priscilla became a Claymore after a Yoma posing as her father slaughtered the rest of her family right before her eyes. This incident left her mentally traumatized and extremely unstable. Despite her sheer power and incredible potential as a warrior, Priscilla was extremely naive and immature compared to older, more experienced Claymores. She was sent to kill Teresa together with Ilena, Noel and Sophia. However she awoke while fighting Teresa, thus killing her in the end. After that, she went on killing Noel and Sophia, and left Irene severely wounded, in front of Clare before flying off.
Teresa: The strongest claymore of her time that rarely uses her Yoma powers in battle. She was famously known as “Teresa of the Faint Smile” for effortlessly slaying enemies with a faint smile on her face. She started out as a cold-blooded killer who cares for no one only helping villages because she is ordered to, and taking pleasure in scaring humans. Upon meeting Clare, her life takes a huge turn as Clare helps her to regain her lost happiness and humanity. Since then she turned from the organization to take care of Clare. However, she once killed a group of bandits in a fit of anger for hurting Clare, which causes the organization to hunt her down. In the end, she was killed by Priscilla.
Miria: Ranked 6th in the organization, Miria is capable of increasing her speed to the point where she leaves many afterimages of herself in battle, confusing the opponent, thus earning herself the nickname “Phantom Miria”. She is also very skilled at teamwork and tactics. She was once appointed as the leader of a team to hunt down an Awakened Being, and the team consisted of Clare, Helen and Deneve. However she later believed that her squad had been betrayed by the organization and sent on a suicide mission. Her theory was that her squad, composed of partially-Awakened Claymores, was considered troublemakers by the organization. After the battle, she told her teammates that she'd found one of the organization's darkest secrets, but didn't reveal it out of fear for the others' safeties. She told them to keep a low profile and stamp out their trouble making images, and that she'd contact them when the time was right.
Helen: Ranked 22nd, her special power is to stretch her arms to extreme lengths to attack at range or bind her opponents. Helen is partially Awakened and seems to have a large appetite for a Claymore. She is hot tempered and aggressive as well. Her mouthy and sometimes insensitive nature means that she can appear to be something of a bully. She is Deneve's constant companion and Deneve commented that she is "always the troublemaker." However, Helen is honest and cares fiercely for her friends. She also refers to Miria as an elder sister. Initially, Helen immediately disliked Clare for her low rank and weak power. But Helen later grew to admire Clare's fighting performance and determination and considers her a friend. 
Deneve: Ranked 15th and a close friend of Helen, Deneve is among the Claymores and has partially awakened. She possesses a calm and understanding personality but can be a perfectionist. Her regeneration ability is exceptional, even for a defensive fighter. She is haunted by feelings of weakness for her perceived inability to avenge Undine's death. Deneve currently carries the fallen Undine's sword in memory of her captain. After seven years in hiding, she has learnt to use both swords in battle and like her former captain, has learned to enhance her muscles to augment her strength.
Jean: Ranked 9th, Jean is a serious, strictly honorable and offensive fighter. Her attack, based on storing energy by twisting her arm and releasing it in one burst, is said to be the most destructive among her peers. She was captured in an ambush and after prolonged torture; she awakens, but is able to revert back by virtue of her extraordinary willpower and Clare's help. She then decides to pay back the life debt she now owes Clare, choosing to serve her for life. Later, after Clare’s battle with Priscilla, Clare plead for death due to passing her limit. Jean, with a hole in her stomach area, uses the last of her strength in order to help Clare revert back, thus fulfilling her pledge.
Irene: Ranked 2nd in Teresa’s time but she was demoted to 3rd when Priscilla joined the organization. She was well known for her great speed wielding a sword, which gained her the title “Flash Sword Irene”. She achieves this via controlled awakening of her sword arm. She lost her left arm due to Priscilla and let the organization think she was dead before going into seclusion, using her near-flawless control over her Yoma energy to hide in the mountains. Years later she rescues Clare, who was fighting against Ophelia. She then spent some time training Clare in the "Flash Sword" technique. Once Clare had mastered enough of the Flash Sword to progress on her own, Irene cut off her remaining arm and gave it to Clare as a replacement for the limb Ophelia had cut off. However, soon after Clare left Ilena was confronted by Rafaela, who'd been sent to execute her as a deserter.
Ophelia: Ranked 4th, Ophelia, though powerful, she grows increasingly unstable, displaying sadistic and sociopathic tendencies. She murders humans and fellow Claymores to sate her bloodlust, killing any and all who witness her transgressions so that they will not come to light. She also enjoys torturing and plays sadistic "games" with her opponents in battle. Ophelia usually talks in a very feminine and polite way, but once something doesn't work out the way she wants it to or somebody disturbs her "having fun", she changes to a very vulgar, masculine tone. Her special fighting technique is "rippling" her sword by waving it back and forth at great speed. This technique is extremely difficult to dodge or block, giving her the title “Rippling Ophelia”.
Galatea: Ranked 3rd, Galatea is one of the more kind-hearted Claymores. She is a master at sensing Yoki, being able to sense other Claymores from a long distance, read their emotions, and see their actions as if she were close by. She uses this to act as the organization's "eye". She can also control other people's actions by subtly manipulating their Yoki flows. Additionally, the strength bonus she gets from releasing her Yoki is the highest among all forty-seven warriors of her time. She also has a vain side - she claims that she dislikes having to release any of her energy because it goes against her philosophy towards beauty.
Rafaela: Ranked 5th, Rafaela’s power is considered equal to that of her elder sister, former Number 1; Luciela. She was a part of the Organization's first experiment using a soul link to control an Awakened Being. The experiment fails causing her elder sister, Luciela, to lose control and fully awakened. Rafaela lost an eye, which she intentionally did not regenerate. She's blamed for the experiment backfiring, because of her 'weak heart'. Consequentially, she was stripped of her number and stayed inactive as a Claymore. After the organization loses the five highest ranked Claymores in the Teresa incident, the Organization invited Rafaela back in exchange for information regarding her elder sister.Gallery
Song Lyrics
RAISON D'ETRE
Ah ikutsumono yoru wo koeta
kootta yume to kieyuku namida
Warm me, warm me, wrap me
ichido subete wo wasureta hazu na no ni
hito wo aisenai kono mi ga nikui
dokomade aruitemo owari ga mienai
kako no kioku wo michizure ni
kono mi wa nani iro ni somariyuku no darou
kotae wo sagashiteiru
mou modoranai ketsubetsu no hi
fukaku nezashita kizu wa kienai
Hide it, Hide it, Hide me
ryoute ni mochikirenai hodo no hoshikuzu
hitotsu, mata hitotsu sora ni kaeshite
yowakute mijimena jibun wa ano koro
nani mo shirazu ni ikiteita
soredemo itsudemo asu wo yume mite wa
yubiori kazoeteita
ikiru imi nado shiranai mama de ii
itsuka waraeru hi ga kuru naraba
ano hi, anata no kotoba hitotsu de
tsuyoku nareru kigashita yo
“nani mo kawaranai de ima no mama de ii”
imademo kokoro no dokoka ni anata ga iru kara
mayowazu ni aruite ikeru
owari ga mienakute mo ii to omoeta yo
tabi yuku ETORANJE kotae wa shiranakute ii
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DANZAI NO HANA ~GUILTY SKY~
KOKORO... mada ANATA no KIOKU no naka de
KARADA... sagashiteru tarinai WATASHI wo
kyou mo dokoka de dareka no nagasu namida
tsumetaku warau sadame wo ikiteiku koto
nakusenai mono nigirishimenagara
WATASHI wa ima mo koko ni iru no
karenai hana wa utsukushikute
yuruginai omoi wo mune ni sakitsudzuketa
chigireta kumo no danzai no sora
tomaranai kanashimi wo dakishimeteita
donna "itami" nimo "hajimari" wa atte
itsuka otozureru "owari" wo matteru
ano hi ANATA ni kanjita nukumori mo
kidzukeba te ga sukeru gurai iroaseteta
ushinatteiku oto bakari fuete
subete wo sutete koko ni iru no
karenai hana wa utsukushikute
yuruginai omoi wo mune ni dakitsudzuketa
chigireyuku ai zankoku na yume
tomaranai kanashimi wo dakishimeteita
kono sekai wa
shinjitsu to iu
kodoku wo hitsuyou to shita
ANATA no kage
ANATA no yume
oikaketeta...
nakusenai mono nigirishimenagara
WATASHI wa ima mo koko ni iru no
karenai hana wa utsukushikute
yuruginai omoi wo mune ni sakitsudzuketa
chigireta kumo no danzai no sora
tomaranai kanashimi wo dakishimeteita
mirai, motomete...
odoritsudzukete... towa ni...
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