Claymore vol. 22

Things quickly escalate from bad to, “Oh god!  Oh god!  We’re going to die!” as the reanimated Claymores each awaken in turn to become new Abyssal Ones.  Though this would seem to be the end of Miria’s crusade against the Organization, two of them are focused on hashing out their.  The other… well, she wants to settle things with the rebellion’s leader right here and now.  Such dire straits would make it an ideal time for the rest of the cast to show up for a last-minute rescue, now wouldn’t it?  Though there’s very little about the storytelling that surprises here, mangaka Norihiro Yagi still manages to keep the momentum going through this volume which is essentially just one long fight scene.  It’s not one of the series’ best volumes but it’s still satisfying to see the characters work out their drama by slicing and dicing as well as biting and eating.

We do reach a turning point at the end of the volume as one long-disconnected member of the supporting cast finally joins up with the main plot while the fate of one of the reanimated Claymores is left wide open to be picked up again at a later date.  There are also pressing issues such as what they’re going to do with the Organization now that it’s effectively at their mercy (this isn’t a spoiler, the writing has been on the wall for two volumes now) and finding out just what happened to Claire as well.  For being the titles ostensible protagonist, the series has managed surprisingly well without her for a while now.  In short, my interest remains held as the title’s strengths and weaknesses are as present as ever.