Claymore 22: Claire Awakens
Anime episodes almost always end in cliffhangers. For example, in Naruto Shippuuden 27, it ends with Kakashi revealing his secret weapon but we’ll have to wait for one week before we actually see him use it. This also holds true for the latest episode of Claymore. In the previous episode, we saw more than 20 Claymores gather in the northern town of Pieta. They were instructed by their elders to wipe out the Awakened Beings that were sighted there. The claymores successfully defend against the first few waves but the tide turns when Rigardo, one of the most powerful Awakened Beings, joins the fray and starts eliminating all the captains.
The Silver-eyed Lion King, Rigardo, engages the captains and easily takes out Undine, Flora, Jean, and Veronica. Episode 22 starts when he starts to move towards the last and most important captain - Miria. If you don’t want spoilers for Episode 22, then don’t take the jump.
Claire and Deneve were practically no match for Rigardo. Miria is barely able to keep up with the Silver-eyed Lion King and she eventually gets severely injured. Claire slowly starts to awaken and this is accelerated when Rigardo brutally mauls Deneve. Despite her slight awakening, Claire is still unable to even land a decent hit on Rigardo. After throwing Claire aside, Rigardo decides to finish off Miria. As he moves towards the last captain, Claire dashes forward in an attempt to save her. This triggers her to awaken to the next level and she’s able to make it in time, cutting off the arm of Rigardo.
Unfortunately, the episode ends there. If you look closely in one of the body shots of Claire, you’ll notice that her legs from the knee down have changed. It looks more metallic, as if she were wearing spiked battle greaves. This is the first time that we’ve seen someone damage Rigardo, and it’s interesting to find out what happens next. Will Claire be able to stand up against the Silver-eyed Lion King? We’ll know next week.
Personally I liked this episode especially since Raki wasn’t too much of an annoyance. He bitched around so much during the previous episode when he saw Prisilla eating the guts of some guy. Then again wouldn’t you freak out if you see something like that in real life? 
Guys I strongly encourage you to watch Claymore. It’s one of the most underrated anime titles but it’s definitely worth checking out. For me it ranks way up there together with Naruto Shippuuden and Bleach. It’s a little more bloody and gruesome compared to the two but at least it doesn’t have filler episodes (yet).
Click here to read my review of the latest episode Naruto Shippuuden (27).
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:52 am
parang Super saiyan si Claire ano? ngayon nasa Super Saiyan Level 2 na siya. What I’m anticipating is Raki and Claire’s reunion and what would Eisley be doing when he comes to Pieta already. ^^
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:19 am
Sir wauks san po pwde panoorin yan? Pwde po palagay ng links ung mga nkkalam ng malinaw na streaming videos ng claymore. Tnx
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:31 am
@Alkeizer: If you don’t want to buy DVDs, you can watch it on youtube or crunchyroll (crunchyroll.com).
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
i like the episode! actually ive already read the manga epi. and it ends only on ep 74 hmm one thing that excites me is that there is male awakened beings appeared. on the prev. ep only females were spoted stuffs like female claymores reach there limits and going to be awakened then claymores are only females of course! i think males cant handle the aggresive state of thier power thats why they turned to be awakend and thats the reason why only female claymores are being chosen.(theres a ep when they describe why male is not priority in the group better watch again hehe!) as ive said there are male awakened beings like this one. this name RIGARDO THE SILVER EYED LION KING oh men! name that is so powerfull when watch the ep his skills is awsome kind of flash killer thing wow! but in the end claire turns him into pcs AS in! PIECES and rigardo praised her as an imppresive one of awakened being! as claire cant hold back her state nuff said! hehehe better watch the next epi hehe!! oh men i cant wait!
September 2nd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
@wauks tnx po s links. Meron din me nahanap claymore episodes s stage6.divx.com sobrang linaw whole episodes inde putol-putol kc s youtube putolputol bwat parts. Pwde pa download ^^. Pero s ngayon episode 3 p lang ako pero aus n aus pandagdag n nman sa mga inaabangan kong anime every week. ^^ tnx sir wauks!
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
sarap manood ng claymore
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
@Alkeizer http://www.theanimelist.com try that site also, they have a limited number of animes since they are still starting, what’s nice about this site is that they are friends with http://www.onemanga.com & judging from the performance of onemanga, they have a quality site.. Hope theanimelist will be like that as well.. @RAEL there was an epi where they fight an male awakened, episode 10, the org stopped producing/using males since male cant resist the urge to have more power.. this anime just exaggerates reality, women can handle stress more than men..
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:04 am
waw pti pla claymore waukeen snasama mo sa blog mo hehe..d toh mshado kilala n anime kc phil. tv d p toh pnplbas..cguro wauks nkta mo toh sa crunchyroll noh /gg..heehee sna magkaronn n agd hanggang episode 300 nyan ang ganda eh..
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:01 am
ano site po pwde mg download ng manga? meron po kc online lng e ang bagal.. meron po ba ung download na manga pra mbilis mbasa.. ty..
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:50 pm
May difference ngayon ang manga and anime. I guess yun talaga ang inaantay ko ngayon. Sa manga, afaik hindi pumunta, or rather, hindi naisipan ni Raki na pumunta sa Pieta.
September 3rd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
@Croix: I noticed that too. And nakita ba talaga ni Raki kumakain ng human guts si Pricilla?
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 pm
This is the 1st anime-manga that I’ve seen that the anime didnt follow the manga although their story line is the same.. Both instances arent in the manga and another one which was longer was Flora & Claire fighting each other to see which one has a superior speed, the Wind Cutter or the Flash Sword.. I wonder how the outcome will be since in the manga (correct me if Im wrong) Raki still doesnt know Priscilla is a Awaken.. Will Raki see the battle..
September 4th, 2007 at 12:18 am
@Wauks, yup, if I remember correctly, he was thinking of slashing her, till he saw her cry while eating.
@Derek, yeah, in the manga version, Raki still doesnt know that Priscilla is an Awakened… Well I’m not sure what he did after the invasion (other than travel with her and Easley) since no updates were released yet.
September 8th, 2007 at 9:50 am
mr. wauks,
Claymore 23 is already out!! Really nice episode! I’ll be waiting for your post on that… I’m quite sure magugustuhan mo yung episode na yon =)