Claymore 13
June 28th, 2007 by Shirukii
Well then, that was an unexpectedly short fight. Normally I would think that such a face off would have lasted AT LEAST a whole episode, not that I’m complaining though, drawn out fights are often the bane of shounen series.
Episode Rating: 9.5/10
This scene was dangerously close to becoming an “OVER NINE THOUSAND” power level face off, but thankfully the glowing auras died out as quickly as they appeared.
After seeing Raki off, Clare continues to run from Ophelia, but it ends up being in vain as she quickly makes up ground. With little choice left, Clare stops running and turns to fight.
Fortunately, Ophelia fights with a lot of released yoki, so Clare’s newfound skill in sensing the flow of yoki enables her to put up a decent fight, much to the surprise of Ophelia.
However, Clare’s method of fighting doesn’t seem to be anything revolutionary in the Claymore world, and it quickly becomes apparent that there are many ways around it. Clare senses a dangerous blow on it’s way, and despite knowing full well where it’s coming from, she’s unable to block it.
Clare soon realizes what’s happening, Ophelia is using her body to cause her sword to move in a wave like motion, able to bypass guards. Ophelia congratulates her on figuring it out and tells her the name: the rippling sword, the source of her nickname “Ophelia of the Ripples”.
Well aware that victory is no longer, or perhaps was never, a possibility, Clare makes one final head on charge at Ophelia. Disappointed with Clare’s weak final attempt, Ophelia cuts off her arm and gives her one last gash across the torso, sending Clare free falling down a nearby cliff into a river.
However, Clare never intended on winning the fight in the first place, the fall off the cliff was the planned outcome all along. The fight was merely a distraction, to buy some time for Clare’s chance to fake her death and run.
Unfortunately, Clare wasn’t convincing enough, as behind her stands Ophelia, rather amazed at the lengths Clare went to escape. But there was one flaw in her actions, Clare’s desperation to grab on to her severed arm tipped Ophelia off to the possibility that Clare was just making a run for it.
Clare makes a grab for her arm, but she’s no match for Ophelia’s speed, who proceeds to use her ripple sword to completely disintegrate Clare’s arm.
From that point on, it’s not even a fight anymore, having lost her dominant arm, Clare is powerless against Ophelia. Clare’s perseverance garners praise from Ophelia, but proves to be futile, expecting to live as long as one wills it is nothing but wishful thinking, and Clare’s imminent death will prove it.
But just as Ophelia goes to deliver the final blow, a mysterious cloaked warrior appears behind her. Annoyed at the interruption, Ophelia doesn’t hesitate to attack the intruder, only to have her sword deflected over and over. Even her ripple sword is effortlessly swatted away and suddenly countered by a flurry of seemingly invisible swings. Watching on, Clare recognizes the power of the one who stands before her, it’s none other than Flash Sword Irene, former Rank #2 and member of the team sent to kill Teresa.
Clare awakens a week later to find that she had been saved by Irene, who gives her some food to recuperate. In a panic, Clare starts to look for her sword, worried of what had become of her fight with Ophelia. Irene tells her to calm down, that Ophelia managed to hang on to her life, but was severely injured as well and that Clare is in no position to fight anyone, having just lost her dominant arm.
Yet, Clare refuses to abandon her will to fight. She has spent all her time since Teresa’s death researching and training for the day that she might be able to avenge her. Despite what anyone tells her, no matter how bleak the odds, she will continue to move forward with that goal in mind, as it’s the only thing she has left. Swayed by her resolve, Irene returns Clare her sword and offers her help to train for the occasion, she offers to teach Clare her flash sword.
Elsewhere, Ophelia laments on her defeat. She has a quick flashback of her brother, who was supposedly eaten by a yoma with little resistance. Such memories cause Ophelia to resent her recent display of weakness, and in a moment of lost self-control, she awakens, an experience which proves to be much more enjoyable than she could have ever imagined. Although, she seems to be a little hungry…
Thoughts
Although I was right in thinking that Clare would get her ass handed to her and have to be saved by a fellow claymore, I never thought it would have been Irene. And it seems like the differences in strength between the ranks haven’t changed much, as Irene was able to completely dominate Ophelia.
Of all the the unique abilities displayed so far, flash sword has been my favorite. I’ve always preferred accuracy and agility over brute strength, and the flash sword is exactly that. It seems to be something akin to iaido, but with a freaking huge claymore instead of a relatively small katana.
As for Ophelia’s ripple sword, I have no idea how something like that is even physically possible. Assuming shounen physics enables you to oscillate your body so fast that your sword resonates in a wave-like motion…what purpose does that serve? Waves pass through an origin, so although it does increase the range of your strike, it shouldn’t let you bypass a guard like that. At most it would move with such a high frequency that it would demolish anything in its way, but the way it was portrayed, it completely avoided touching Clare’s sword, while maintaining the form of a swing.
Seems bogus to me, but maybe I’m reading into it too much and should just leave this at the shounen rule wielding a sword enables you to defy the laws of the universe.
As for Ophelia awakening, oh the ironing. For someone who hated awakened beings with such a passion, she sure had a quick change of heart. Now I expect nothing less than Clare being the one who takes her down, any other outcome is unacceptable.
Ophelia is such an awesome character, her personality is insane. Aside from the fact that she’s a sadistic bitch, her personality is like a five year old, easily amused and easily bored. I said it before, but her voice is a perfect match, her ability to sound like a naive child one second and a psychotic serial killer the next is freakyyy. And I even felt a tinge of pity when she was calling out for her onii-chan, and there are few who are less deserving of pity than Ophelia.
The week long waits between Claymore episodes are becoming increasingly more painful. It looks like we’ll be going into a bit of a training arc, but I’m confident it won’t last nearly as long as, oh, StrikerS. Plus we get to see Irene in action again, that makes it well worth it.
I still haven’t given in to the urge to read the manga! So to all those who keep tempting me, faaaaail! XD
~ Shirukii ~
26 Responses to “Claymore 13”
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Awesome :)
I love the fact that Clare actually lost her arm….
Something tells me that skills learned later in the series will probably allow her to regenerate her lost limb, when she’s up against Priscilla for example……But at least the writers didn’t allow it to grow back right away :)
Ophellia=awakened! Saw this coming a million miles away…but it would be cool to see her tear a path of destruction through some villages before she gets taken down :)
Man, the wait between episodes is killer…..Even though it’s not quite as intense as the wait between Kanon episodes was, I can definitely foresee Claymore reaching that status over the next couple of weeks lol :)
I figure that Ophelia’s Ripple Blade skill makes her sword somewhat like a chainsaw. (Very effective, but no match for the Quickblade!)
It looks like the resolution of the Claire’s Arm Crisis will also be a nice surprise for the non-manga-readers. Look forward to it, and also to what a bizarre Awakened One Ophelia turns out to be. If anything, it improves her moral character.
“As for Ophelia awakening, oh the ironing.”
So . . . after Awakening did Ophelia develop the sudden need to get rid of wrinkles along with the urge to eat human guts? ;-p (I kidd, I kidd)
As for the training part of the story, I would guess at most it should only last for 1/2 an episode and the next ep should be the last for this story arc. (Wait till you she what coming up next ^_~)
@Shirukii : I know that u have notice that Ophelia’s body is Snake-like and it is not that impossible for her to do ripple-sword because she can use her soft hand with high speed to shake her sword.
@Kanon_fan82 : regeneration is not a skill that can be learn from some1 or practice by urself, and they already stated in the Anime what is the different between offensive and defensive type of Claymore, thats mean Clare wont be able to regenerated her right arm. ^_*
@Za_Paper : lol dont tell me u r a manga reader?
“And it seems like the differences in strength between the ranks haven’t changed much, as Irene was able to completely dominate Ophelia.” You r wrong here(I dont want to state anything here because it could become a spoiler for u.), but u r right too that Irene is stronger than Ophelia.
And the reason that Clare can not block Ophelia’s Ripple Blade, it is not like Ophelia’s Ripple Blade can not be block(we know that Irene has blocked her Ophelia’s Ripple Blade) it is just that Clare’s speed wasnt good enough to block it.
“Plus we get to see Irene in action again, that makes it well worth it.” too bad, i just want to tell u it wont happened anytime soon. The fact, I have become Irene fan after i seeing her using her Flash Blade agianst Ophelia and her appearance in manga is much kooler than in anime.
lol i know u guy already have a question ur mind that u thought will Clare able to obtained Flash Blade technique? or you already thought that Clare will use FLash Blade to defeat Ophelia? Am I right? but i will tell u that this plot is the biggest plot for Clare to move on, and u have to think about it carefully.
@ Kanon_fan82: Ophelia’s awakening was definitely a long time coming, I didn’t expect it so soon though. And I’d like to see Clare get her arm back too, despite how badass Irene looks with only one.
@ Silvering: I don’t think it’s possible for Ophelia’s moral beliefs to get any worse XD
@ Za_Paper: But of course, the urge to rid clothes of the evils of wrinkles is the only joy known to surpass the consumption of human innards.
@ Siva: That’s true, Ophelia’s body is extremely flexible. But what I’m doubting isn’t the fact that she can make her sword vibrate in a wave like motion, what doesn’t make sense is how it was able to curve around Clare’s guard. Regardless of how fast she shakes her sword, the motion is still a wave, and thus passes through a defined origin. So being able to get around Clare’s sword without touching it, yet still retain the anatomy of an arcing swing SHOULD be impossible.
Claymore seems to follow a really random progression in terms of plot development. Without any real clues as to where we’re going, I can’t come up with any good theories T_T But it’s nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride once in a while ^^ Especially with the assurance of so many manga readers like yourself that it’s only going to get even better.
lol i had to laugh really hard about:
–> “This scene was dangerously close to becoming an “OVER NINE THOUSAND” power level face off” =D =D =D
once again nicely written, i’ve already read the random curiousity-version of this epi but your writingstyle is still far more enjoyable to read for me =)
Thank you for your blog.
1 week is indeed hard to endure waiting for the next episode.
Imagine ppl (like me) waiting for 1 whole month for the manga!
1 year, theres only 12 issues… damned!
It’s safe to read the manga after watching the episode. This way you can get extra details without the spoilers. This episode is vol.07ch37 of the manga.
If you remember in episode ten of the anime, Deneve grew back her arm and rejoined the fight after the AO had licked it off. We also saw Helen make her arms turn snake-like and elongated when she attacked the AO. My guess is that the ripple sword works because Ophelia probably awakens her arm and then like Helen uses the extra flexibility to get the ripple effect and the hidden attack angle.
@ twsl: lol, but that’s not a laughing matter =P I’d have to hurt someone if Claymore become the next DBZ. Thanks for the compliment ^^ being compared to omni is a great achievement in itself lol.
@ mosmos: 1 chapter a month D= that’s rough pacing, which is why I will stay away from the manga for now =P Thanks for reading, hope you stick around!
@ Trellisaze: EVERYONE that I’ve heard of that has started reading the Claymore manga couldn’t stop reading once they started, I don’t think I’d be able to either.
If Ophelia extends her arm and then curves it around the guard, then I can see it making sense physically. But from the looks of it, it was purely the motion of her sword, which is what baffles me. But meh, again, I’m probably trying to hard to apply real world physics in a primarily shounen series XD
@ Shirukii:
I agree with Trellisaze……
I think the rippling sword attack curves around the guard while vibrating…..hence the snake reference in the explanation…….ie. Ophelia is able to curve the sword around defences at the last possible second…
I’d prefer to think of Ophelia’s Rippling Sword technique as something like a high ranked tae kwon do fighter balancing on one leg and flailing his raised leg around crazily before lashing out with an actual attack. You know what leg is going to be the kicking leg and you can determine which side the attack will land on - only problem is - WHERE. Doesn’t explain the Ripple sword exactly but I think that it follows the same precieved method.
But Flash Sword trumps Rippling Sword anyday. :D
I also find Irene to have quite an amount of character depth to her. Here is a warrior who can most likely take back her #2 spot with just her one arm but she’s keeping quiet because she’s afraid of dying. So human for a person who can achieve superhuman feats in battle with only one arm. I think that her actual admission of fear of Priscilla was a personal highlight for Irene. She’d make a wonderful ‘Onee-sama’. :D
I can’t believe the lengths I’m about to go to in hopes of explaining this ;_;
Click Here.
The top of the diagram should explain the anatomy of Ophelia’s ripple sword. At the bottom is how Ophelia applies it in combat.
While the general motion is the same, the effect of avoiding guards completely can be done WITHOUT having to constantly oscillate the body. Swing like normal, but when you’re about to encounter the blade, quickly dip your arm, pass the guard, and then bring it down again.
At this point, I’m definitely over analyzing this. There are inconsistencies in the properties and usage of Ophelia’s ripple sword, but this is shounen, suspension of belief is a must when watching these types of shows. The end fact is that the writers needed to give Ophelia some sort of unique move, while pointless in many occasions, it does look pretty cool, and that’s what Ophelia was going for anyways =D
What the ripple sword -IS- good at, is shredding things to pieces. The added kinetic energy that comes from the sword being in constant motion makes it, like Silvering said, much like a chainsaw. This is evident from when Ophelia used it to tear Clare’s arm into indistinguishable pieces.
@ Arakan7: I agree with Irene’s character being much more interesting now. For a claymore of her strength to show such fear makes her seem really human. Just goes to show how ridiculously strong priscilla must be o.o
@Arakan7 : lol i would say that Flash Blade is the koolness technique in Claymore anime. lol again. but this is just a first version of Flash Blade ^_-
“I also find Irene to have quite an amount of character depth to her. Here is a warrior who can most likely take back her #2 spot with just her one arm but she’s keeping quiet because she’s afraid of dying.” I guess u never thought about how stronger the #1,2,3 and 5 are. And i guess u already know who is the #3, Galatea is #3 and we know she has a ridiculous skill of sense the Yoki from a far distance. and we got to know about her soon :)
@Shirukii : For ripple sword issue, I think we can stop discussion about it for now because it is fiction-anime after all, so they can say or do whatever they want that in our real world never happened.
“For a claymore of her strength to show such fear makes her seem really human. Just goes to show how ridiculously strong priscilla must be o.o” if u say that then u have to say how ridiculously strong Teresa must be o.O
@Shirukii
OMGosh! Thank you for the rippling effect theory …
How long did you did to come up with that ? I wonder..
@ Shirukii:
Bravo on the physics demonstration :)
@ Siva: Definitely, I got a little carried away, let’s put this issue to rest ^^ And of course Teresa was just as strong, most probably stronger, than Priscilla. But she let her guard down, and paid the price =(
@ mosmos: Haha, glad you enjoyed it. It didn’t take me long to draw that up, a couple minutes in paint. As for the theory itself, it’s what I’ve had in mind all along, so it didn’t take any time to come up with on the spot.
@ Kanon_fan82: *bows* Although it’s pretty nerdy of me to try applying real world physics to anime o_o”
Pretty dark anime if you want to find more about it or dl free eps
check this site out x3
http://forum.nihonomaru.com
A thought on Ripple Sword. In the manga translation, it seemed more like Claire simply could not read where Opelia’s blade was going, due to the wild motions her technique created. I don’t think it was actually supposed to warp and curve around Claire’s sword or armor as she blocked.
If Shirukii is amused by Ripple Sword, he’ll enjoy Jean’s even more. “Giga… Drill… BREEEEEAKER!!!”
In Jean, it will also be nice to see a Claymore who’s the polar opposite of Ophelia. GARlatea is will also pick up some fans in the next arc.
I think I understand it better after that diagram.
I took a pencil, held it on one end between two fingers and have mastered the Ripple Pencil O_O
Thank you sensei!
@Silvering : -_- who the hell is Jean? lol , Are u a spoiler? u better dont spoiled them like that, it is too specific.
what i can say for now is Claymore starts from here on is going to be a super crazy anime and Claymore is not like Naruto that took Naruto 220 ep and he only know how to use 2 skills, lol.
I have read the manga for 73 chapters and the anime right now is at episode 13 where the manga is at chapter 37, so i guess maybe 13 more episodes is where i am now. i want to stop reading the manga so after 13 more episodes i can be feel free to share my thought about the future episode.
@ Shirukii
Great theory (you know you’re passionate about a series when you start creating diagrams in an attempt to apply scientific logic to an manga/anime LOL).
BTW, a new Claymore manga chapter has been released, it’s a extra/past story featuring everyone’s favorite dearly departed Claymore, Teressa of the Faint Smile (it’ll give you a better idea of just how strong Teressa really was). It’s very unlikely that this chapter will be animated and it doesn’t have any connection to any of the manga’s current storylines, so you probably needn’t worry about spoiling anything in the anime by reading it (Sorry Shirukii, if you’re trying to COMPLETELY avoid the manga and this just adds to your temptation).
Actually about avoiding spoilers in the new chapter, you would want to not look at the advertisement pages at the beginning, since they contain a couple of images that might be spoiling, sorry about that and sorry for the double post. ^^;;
lol i actualy read that one last night, and it is just like u say it may wont go to anime or a spoiler for anime either but it may went to the movie instead, lol who know?
lol, after reading it , i am now fully understand why they called her “Teresa of the Faint Smile” .
It would be nice if we could have this side story animated instead of Naruto-like filler episodes. Not that I’m complaining about Naruto filler episodes. As a manga first person, I take the animation as a bonus.
Ophelia should get some sort of shounen award for pre-fight psyche out moves. Normally characters will crack their knuckles or crick their necks but Ophelia breaks her neck and looks at you backwards…..without turning around!!!
I was expecting Clare to retaliate by dropping 50 lbs of armor like Rock Lee or son Goku, not by dropping her body parts.
@Trellisaze : “I was expecting Clare to retaliate by dropping 50 lbs of armor like Rock Lee or son Goku, not by dropping her body parts.” lol nice one, i cant image that >.
Another sweet write up, Shirukii. Having seen 14 I look forward to the next.
- Advocate of the proposed rippling sword analysis