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This review may contain some mild spoilers, so read at your own risk.Although this review is concerned with the anime, i will be referring to the manga as well because this anime
adapts only 1 major arc from the manga i.e The Golden Age arc.The anime did alter some of the major scenes from the manga which i will be referring to later on.
Alright, Berserk is a dark-fantasy anime set in the medieval age featuring lots of bloodshed,violence and gore.It is not for the faint hearted as some of the scenes might be unpleasant for some of the viewers as it is one of the darkest ... show out there.The manga is on a whole new level though as many scenes are censored in the anime.If you are looking for a show with a brilliant story having a serious tone,great characters,epic soundtracks then this show is for you.

Story - 10/10
The story of Berserk is intriguing and captivating right from the start as the narrative is extremely well written.Many viewers are discouraged with the first episode as it only seems about a guy
swinging his sword and killing demons, but it quickly picks up from the next two episodes as Griffith is introduced.Berserk focuses heavily on friendship,betrayal,love,hate and despair making it one
of the most impactful series out there.Fate/Destiny is a very important theme of berserk as it is quoted "Man has no control even over his own will". Story follows Guts, a solitary mercenary looking for a place where he could fit until he was found out by Griffith.The story also involves efforts put in by the Band of the hawk to end the Hundred Year war.Now, the anime does not include much of the demon slaying side of the manga as the golden age arc does not involve many supernatural events except the last 2 episodes.Nonetheless, it is very well written.

Art/Animation - 9/10
The art of the anime is probably its weak point as it fails miserably when compared against the masterpiece artwork of the manga.However considering that this anime was made back 2 decades ago, the animation has aged very well as even for today's standards it is watchable and is commendable. The style is a little outdated but should not tamper one's enjoyment of the series.The character designs are well drawn and are accurate to manga.

Sound - 10/10
This category is probably the greatest part of berserk.All the soundtracks are epic and spine chilling.Some of the OST are very serene and beautiful such as gut's theme whereas some have that eerie feeling which perfectly blends with the atmosphere of the anime.'Behelit', arguably the best OST completely defines berserk, evolving as the series progresses.'Forces' another epic OST is used mainly in fight scenes,it completely imbues one's body with exhuberance and is blood boiling.The anime clearly excelled in this category which the manga could never have, making some scenes much more impactful in the anime.

Character - 10/10
The Characters of berserk are very well developed.I will be talking only about the 3 main characters- Guts,Griffith and Casca.

1.Guts is the main badass protagonist of the series having one of the most tragic back story. He wields a gigantic sword which can cut through almost anyhting.Born from his mother's corpse, guts always faced hardship as he took part in his first battle when he was just 3 years old under the guidance of Gambino, his father figure.He was a lone warrior until his fateful encounter with the mercenary group 'Band Of The Hawk' and its leader Griffith.Guts has a lot of respect for griffith after being saved multiple times by the latter.His character changes from a cold hearted person to a cool minded person as the series progresses which is delightful to watch.

2.Griffith is the charismatic leader of Band of the hawk known for being undefeated in battle.His character is extremely well written and complex.He is an ambitious person and will do almost anyhting to achieve his dream which is to get his own kingdom.He treats his comrades equally but has a unique connection with guts,whom he trusts the most.He feels guilty that because of his dream many of his comrades had fallen and swore on their graves to not fail by any means.

3.Casca is the main female lead and also the only female warrior in the band of the hawk.Her character perhaps had the best development.She has a soft spot for griffith after being rescued by him from a noble who sexually assaulted her.At first she was cold towards guts as he became griffith's favorite.She starts getting along with guts after being saved by him in a battle and also develops feelings for him towards the end of the show.She is physically very strong and is a total badass.

Some of the minor characters such as judeau,pippin,rickert are also great and you'll start to like everyone in the mercenary group.
The anime does have major changes as it never introduced Skull Knight who is one of most important character in the manga and also Puck, an elf.This was the only problem i had after reading the manga as they do have very important roles.

Enjoyment - 10/10
This anime was very enjoyable and i completed it within 2 days.Each episode leaves you hanging by your seat, wanting for more.What makes this series a true masterpiece is the music along with an overwhelming story.Now, problem is with the ending of the show
as it ends very abruptly leaving us on a massive cliffhanger.The anime was supposed to cover only 1 major arc,so i think it ended pretty well but it could have been done a little better by showing a little of post-eclipse.It is better to have an open ending than deviating from the manga as 90% of the time it turns out to be a disaster.It is just that OLM didn't make a sequel but as for this series, it's great in every way.

Overall -10/10
There is no denying that this series is a true classic, even till this day it is considered as one of the greatest anime of all time.The anime will give you just the feel of what berserk is like, the manga which is vastly superior has the complete story and is still ongoing, so be sure to check it out as you wouldn't wanna miss out on such an epic story.This anime is also the best adaptation of the manga as the newer versions have implemented horrible cgi, so you would wanna stay away from it.It's truly surprising why such an amazing masterpiece never got a proper adaptation because it truly deserves it.Hopefully once the manga is over, we will get an adaptation which will do the manga justice.So, i highly recommend you check out this anime and then read the manga afresh as like i said the anime altered a lot of scenes and it's better to read from the start.

This review may contain some mild spoilers so read at your own risk. Although this review is concerned with the anime, i will be referring to the manga as well. I have written a review of the complete series as well i.e the manga, so be sure to check that out as well.
Alright, Claymore is a dark-fantasy anime with a lot of violence,bloodshed and gore. Although it is tagged as a shonen series, it has all the traits needed for a seinen anime.The anime has a lot of depth in the story, characters are well developed,fight scenes are well balanced and pacing of the story ... is perfect.If you want to watch a show with a serious tone, with absolute zero comedy and no fan service this one's for you.The one thing which i truly loved about claymore is that the characters are not over sexualised.

Story - 10/10
The story of claymore is fairly simple and direct which is not a bad thing as many anime falter by complicating the story.The story gets more intense in the manga after war in the northern arc but retains its general flow. The first four episodes are pretty decent nothing that impressive but quickly picks up after episode 5 when teresa is introduced. This anime instantly became my favorite after episode 5, so be sure to watch at least first 6 episodes before saying that this anime is trash. The only problem is with the last 3 episodes as they are non canon and are just plain garbage so you can avoid them.

Art - 9/10
The art style is beautiful, don't know why some people think it is ugly as it perfectly suits a dark anime.Considering that the manga had pretty decent art style for the first few volumes, madhouse did extremely well in adapting it.The only problem i had was with the character designs as the characters looked sometimes pale and less polished.Nonetheless it's not bad at all.

Sound - 10/10
All the OST of claymore are simply epic. They all have that eerie feeling which perfectly blends with atmosphere of the anime. The opening is pretty good but the ending song is a masterpiece,seriously one of the best ED i have seen so far.

Character - 9/10
The characters of claymore are all well developed and all are very likable.The protagonist, Clare is a very compelling character and not to forget she is a total badass.Clare is generally cold by her outer appearance but in fact she is very caring which can be seen after she met raki. She has always been mentally broken ever since the death of someone important to her as she always held herself responsible for the outcome. Then there is Teresa who is by far the best character of the series and also my personal favorite.She is very cool minded and extremely powerful in fact she is the strongest claymore of all. Teresa is the soul of the story as it can be inferred from the manga where she plays key role in the ending of the series. Now raki gets a lot of hate which i understand, but seriously some people drop this show just because how annoying raki is ,which is seriously lame. He is more like a bystander so you can ignore him.He is fully developed by the end of the manga but unfortunately in the anime he hardly gets any characterization.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Claymore is very enjoyable for those who want to watch a serious show with action packed sequences and a great story.

Overall - 9/10
The only thing which truly stopped claymore from becoming an amazing anime was the massive cliffhanger ending.The final 3 episodes clearly messed the show as there is almost no resolution to the main plot. The anime caught up to the manga and so we got an alternate ending which failed miserably and this series never recovered from that. I see everyone rating it 6 or 7 and find it to be unfair cause clearly the show is incomplete and for the time being ending was pretty average as at least Teresa's wish came true in the end. Why this show never got a sequel is beyond me but i still have faith it will adapt the manga completely one day.I highly recommend you watch this anime and then read the manga from the start as you would be able to know the complete story and it is definitely worth your time, cause the manga has an epic ending ;)

First of all i do not write much reviews or give anime/manga recommendations, but for this series i decided to make an exception as this is my favorite series of all time.Claymore has a lot of depth in the story, characters are well developed,fight scenes are well balanced and pacing of the story is perfect.If you want to read a manga with a serious tone, with absolute zero comedy and no fan service this one's for you.The one thing which i truly loved about claymore is that the characters are not over sexualised.
Claymore is a highly action oriented dark-fantasy manga with a great plot and ... amazing characters.It is not your typical shonen series where all odds are in favor of the protagonist and neither does it hesitate to kill off major characters, which is a good thing as it helps for a better plot development. It is dark and gory making it more like a seinen series.

Story - 9.5/10
As far as the story is concerned claymore was always captivating right from the start and developed the story very quickly.The first 10-11 chapters are not that impressive but they are not bad as it just gives you a brief description of the plot,characters and all the misery claymores have to go through. But it is not too long before you get hooked to this series.The only major problem i had with the story was in the second half as the story felt dragged at that point such as the appearance of Riful 2.0, which was not necessary. The second half is definitely weaker when compared to the first half as the humanity of claymores was the most important theme of the series loses some of its charm towards the end, but the final few chapters make up for all its flaws and the shortcomings of the series.The best thing about this manga is that the pacing of the story and fight scenes are very well balanced, making it extremely enjoyable.

Art - 9/10
The art style of this manga is beautiful. While during the first few volumes the art style is pretty average, but after chapter 60 onwards the art improves significantly and keeps getting better, which is commendable.The character design are also very well drawn such as the awakened forms of Isley,Miata,Riful etc.

Character - 9/10
Claymore has a large array of characters, not that it is a bad thing, but it is difficult to develop such a huge cast. As far as the main characters are concerned (The ghosts), they are very well developed.Clare ,the protagonist is a very compelling character and extremely likable.Her actions are justified and her character is very well written as she always blamed herself for the death of someone very important to her.Raki is more like a bystander and is fully developed by the end of the manga.Then there is Teresa, without a doubt the best character of Claymore.What surprises me the most is how within a few chapters i got attached to her, as in the beginning i didn't like her that much. She is the soul of the story and has a key role in the ending of the series. The major problem is again in the second half as with so many identical characters makes it hard to sympathize with any of them. The only characters i cared for in the second half were Clarice,Miata and Cassandra as they were well developed.

Enjoyment -10/10
Claymore was always very enjoyable and the good thing is that it is fairly short compared to other large mangas. So give first few volumes a shot before judging it.

Overall - 10/10
All in all there's no doubt that this is one of the best series i have read so far as i am not a big fan of manga reading. I don't know why some people have problem with the ending as it ended almost perfectly and to be honest it has one of the best resolution to an epic story. Claymore is not the best manga but it certainly has all the traits needed for a great series. This series always felt underrated to me as i think it should be rated higher. So i highly recommend you check this manga out cause it is worth your time.