Manga Review – Claymore Vol 20 by Norihiro Yagi (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Teen+
Genre: Manga/Fantasy
Size: 192 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: July 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1421542119
Stand Alone or Series: 20th volume in the Claymore series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the 20th volume in the Claymore series. The last couple books (including this one) have been lagging a little bit again. The plot is kind of scattered and unfocused. This was still a good read but just not as spectacular as volumes 17-18 were. The series is supposed to wrap up later this year with volume 27.

In this volume we meet up with Galatea, Miata, Clarice, Helen, Deneve and others as Yoma and Awakened Ones overrun the holy city of Rabona. Then we flash back to the organization for a quick look at what has become of Raki and some insight into what the Organization has planned.

After that Deitrich joins up with Helen, Deneve, and others as they head east via a northern trail to further investigate the news that Miria has taken on the Organization herself. Along the Northern trail they meet four new Claymores; Anastasia, Phina, Nike, and Keira.

Following that we go back to the Organization, which sends a huge group of Claymore out to hunt down the rebel group. We also get a glimpse at the terrifying new monsters that the Organization is planning to unleash. The story wraps up with what happened to Miria after her attack on the Organization in the Volume 19.

As you can tell from the above the story is all over the place. Clare really isn’t in this book at all, so we are left in suspense about what the fallout of Volume 19 will be for her. I continue to be curious about what is going on with Raki, but we are only getting a couple short scenes each book on him.

I continue to enjoy the story and the illustration is really well done. There are a ton of well done action scenes as well. I like that there is the “story thus far” portion at the beginning of the book. I wish they had a page of faces/names because we are getting to the point in the series where there are more and more Claymore to follow and remember…something I am having trouble with.

Overall this was a decent continuation of this series. The story is getting a bit scattered again, but you know since I am 20 volumes in I am not going to stop reading it now. There are some interesting developments around the Organization in this volume, but I missed having Clare and Raki in the story. This manga series is recommended to those who enjoy action-packed fantasy manga. I feel like I say the same things over and over about these books…but well there’s only so much I can say about this series I guess.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge