Friday, March 09, 2012

The Fanboy Awaketh

NF has had a long term fascination with almost any form of art/entertainment that features strong (read hot) women with katanas, or guns, or bare knuckles, or in the limiting case, just bad, fiery attitudes.1 Your usual, run-of-the-mill postmodern theorist will ascribe it to being born and brought up in a Shakt, Devi-worshipping Brahmin household and pooh pooh his critical sensibilities when it comes to reviews of such artforms.

And so it should come as no surprise that he totally hearted the fabulous, blood soaked, fight intensive anime series Claymore. Of the many, many great anime series he's watched last year this was easily one of the best (though the crown for the best series undoubtedly goes to Denno Coil - the Miyazaki meets Ghost in the Shell anime series that's so brilliant and intelligent that perhaps NF should devote a separate post to it).

Claymore is about an elite group of claymore wielding (almost always hot) female warriors who battle and kill Yoma - a beastly species fond of eating human guts. The fights are exhilarating, the plot is tight and the drama is gripping. NF was captivated for the entire 26 episodes.

Teresa (of the faint smile) is a fanboy's dream, Clare - the protagonist - is a wonderful, intelligent, revenge-obsessed character. People die (mostly very violently) when they lose to enemies (take that most of you Shonen anime!) and almost always there is very little talk and much, much more satisfying no-holds-barred intense, gory, power-up laden fighting.


Very, very satisfying!

Fellow otakus - you know what to watch next.



1.

Which is perhaps why in his childhoood, he was so taken in by that classic revenge drama Khoon Bhari Maang (tr. Blood-filled Hair Parting (really?)) and perhaps that is why he worshipped Uma Thurman for the longest time ever.

1 comment:

Bejin Hakumei said...

Aarigattou.