Examining Claymore as Gritty Fantasy
As Helen Young describes it, gritty fantasy contains glorified sex and violence (sometimes together), blurred morality, "minimalized" magic, continuing trends of whiteness and a "realistic" medieval setting. As I have in previous posts, I've chosen to use this lens to approach Japanese media, particularly anime and video games. Today's an anime day. Based on the manga by Norihiro Yagi, "Claymore" is a twenty-six episode series from 2007 that follows the adventures of Clare, a member of a specialized organization of half-monster female warriors known as the titular Claymores, as she slays human-eating monsters known as Yoma. Is it gritty fantasy? We'll examine each part of Young's criteria to find out. Glorified Sex and Violence The craziest thing happened when I started watching "Claymore." I sat down, saw the main character was a woman, and waited for the "boob shots" to ensue. None came. None. Don't ...