neko's thinkbox

Ughh… Neko’s sick. Sore throat, headache, cold, I guess that’s the major force required to keep him away from school for a day.
Bedridden, I had now plenty of time to watch episode 6 of Claymore. And I must say, I’m overwhelmed. This episode proved me once again that Claymore is an outstanding anime far beyond my expectations.

Click here to skip the summary and proceed to the thinkbox.

Episode 6: Teresa and Clare 「テレサとクレア」

Teresa, who accepted Clare’s company, walks through the forest towards her next destination, Rokut, a town hidden in the mountains. Teresa tells Clare that she will leave her there so she could finally live like a human amongst humans, but Clare keeps refusing. During the night, as Clare’s sleeping near a campfire, Teresa walks away to meet the guy that has been following them all along. It was the man who got his hand cut earlier by Teresa. He has followed her all the way, not to take revenge on her, but to humiliate her. With his only hand, he rips apart her suit, pretending not no care about the ‘thing’ on her chest. Teresa doesn’t mind that, however, she starts wondering why it is her job to protect such raving bastards.

The bandit couldn’t even start his deed, when suddenly he starts bleeding from his head. It was Clare, who hit him from behind with a stick. The vandal immediately retaliates by beating the little girl up and threatens to kill her. In that same moment, Teresa stands behind him holding a knife to his neck, saying that even if she isn’t allowed to kill humans, she could transgress that rule at any time. The bandit runs away screaming in fear.

Teresa asks Clare if she is all right, but the little girl runs towards the Claymore to hug her. Then, all of a sudden, a miracle happens: Clare starts talking. In the middle of her sobs, she keeps telling Teresa that she always looked like she had an unbearable expression on her face, as if she was in endless sadness and pain. So in the end, Clare didn’t follow Teresa only because she had noone to rely on. She knows what hardships Teresa has been going through, because she had to endure them in the past too, and because they were so alike, she wanted to comfort the Claymore. Realizing this made even the most powerful of the Claymore, Teresa of the Faint Smile, shed a few tears.

The next day, the two of them arrive at the town of Rokut, where Teresa incidentally gets rid of the local Youma. Her biggest concern is Clare, whom she buys a new set of clothes to replace her old worn out robe. Before leaving the town, Teresa requests the locals take care of the girl. Despite Clare’s refusal (where she undresses and throws her new clothes to the ground in protest), Teresa leaves the town alone.

After walking a little while, Teresa looks back one last time. But then… she spots the bandits that attacked them a few nights ago rushing towards Rokut. It would only seem obvious that they had been waiting the whole time for the Youma to be killed so they could pillage it. Worried, Teresa dashes back.

When Teresa arrives there, the whole town is already engulfed in flames. The vandals killed all the men and captured the women for their later ‘pleasure’, and now gather around the Claymore, knowing she can’t kill humans. In the meantime, Clare hides in a small back alley, but soon is knocked unconscious by the one-handed guy, who then pulls her out. He notices Teresa and tells her in a soft tone that Clare only kept saying “Teresa, Teresa”. He shouldn’t have, though. One strike, and he not only loses his second hand… but also half of his body. You figured it out, Teresa just snapped. She has had enough. And she is going to kill them all, mercilessly. Not even the boss with his whip-like sword can resist such greatness.

To her, it was everything for Clare. To the Claymore, however, that clearly was a mistake. No matter the person, no matter the circumstances, Teresa violated the ironclad rule. And now she must take the full responsibility of her actions; she is sentenced to death by the organization.

Break of dawn. In the mountains, five Claymores have surrounded Teresa. Orsay, the man in black from the organization, has taken Clare into custody. Clare cries and screams, but this doesn’t keep the five warriors from executing Teresa. Really?

NO! Instead of Teresa being slain, she nearly killed the five of them in the blink of an eye… They couldn’t possibly stand a chance against her, yet she still lets them survive nevertheless. Teresa claims proudly that she does not want to die yet, and that she finally has found a reason to live on, that she will continue living for Clare’s sake. The black man, shocked, lets go of Clare. And thus they walk away, towards the rising sun.

In their back, another man in black has joined Orsay, who tells him to gather Number Two to Number Five, the four most powerful Claymores besides Teresa…

Next Episode: The Mark of Death 「死者の烙印」

the thinkbox

I finally caught up to the most recent episode. And I don’t know why, but this series has drawn me in quite badly. This is probably the first anime I have ever watched that had such an intense emotion at such an early stage of the story. Not to mention the overwhelming suspense that makes me go crazy… in perspective of the endless week that I have to endure to obtain the next episode T_T This is why I hate breaking Rule 7…

This episode also opened my eyes about Teresa, perhaps also about Claymores in general. Teresa, who at first was such a strict and indifferent being, gradually turned into a protective and caring person after she met Clare. The little girl’s desperate and persistent love had been the trigger for Teresa’s metamorphosis. She who never would have attacked a human being the first, for it would have meant her death, went on a rampage without any trace of a doubt as soon as Clare was in danger. She even went as far as to injure her own mates to protect her only reason to live. Is it because she is such a strong creature that she is the most in need of tenderness? The more the Claymore make use of their powers, the more they need human feelings from outside to restrain the will of the Youma? Then what about Clare…

Teresa took care of Clare, Clare took care of Raki. But since Raki is not a girl, the probability of him becoming a Claymore is near zero. In /b/ terms, this would have meant a premature C-C-COMBO BREAKER. Leaving the jokes aside, if Raki can not become a Claymore, what will he be then? Well, if he can prevent Clare from becoming a Youma several times, that would be awesome. I could even dream of the day when Raki will be able to completely eliminate the Youma inside Clare’s body, but that’s way too unlikely for it to happen. Who knows what kind of Youma Clare will be facing in the future? If she turns into a Youma nevertheless, will Raki have to kill her for real? Or, even more dramatic, Raki might very well turn into a Youma himself… Yada yada, I shouldn’t talk of the devil or he’ll come definitely. o_o

Here’s the continuation of Clare’s loli series, just for you pedos :P

I found the scene near the lake so moving I nearly shed a tear as well. Darn. This anime is tearing me apart. Claire utters her first words in a long time with such a cute voice, and… he cries and cries and cries awwwwwwww Clare~~~ ;___;

That one-handed idiot was great. Bwahahaha I just thought Teresa would leave it at just chopping his second hand, but his whole body… But that’s cool. He deserved it. I just wonder why Teresa didn’t kick him in the balls when he tried to rape her back then – maybe she wanted a man after all… No you mustn’t!! That’s just gross, noone touches my Claymores! Oh I forgot, I just want Clare. And, yes I still do want to see her with her original hair and eye color. I will shop a picture tomorrow!! D:

Uhh… anyway. I wish I wouldn’t feel bad about spoiling myself on the manga. I really want to know what happens next, but… Darn, on one hand I can’t bear the suspense, on the other hand, I don’t want it to be spoiled… ARGGH T___T WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT EPISODEEEEEE???? Don’t tell me even if I just Caps Lock’d for Cruise Control for cool.
Let’s not forget that the current arc is only a flashback, so we soon need to get back to our main heroes, adult Clare and Raki. Therefore I think the flashback will end next episode. What just occurred to me, just before I was going to sleep (at 2 AM, once again…) Since the most powerful Claymore are now behind Teresa, I’m sure they’ll eventually clash. As much as it might sound farfetched, Teresa will be able to defeat all of them, however… She’ll end up using too much of her Youma powers, which would make her transform into a Youma. In that case… Clare would have to kill her instantly while she is still human… or, if she’s not able to kill, that she’d run away and decide to become a Claymore in order to do it later on. But nooo that’s just nonsense, Teresa is going to be killed, and Clare wants to avenge her… No? T_T Anyway preview looks like a lot of action! Argh where is ep 7!! Stay tuned~

Did you notice? I’m now (trying) to stick to Clare instead of ‘Claire’… Nevertheless, I still wrote Claire five times at least… *sigh*