The third volume of the “Claymore” series is arguably more focused than previous installments, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. Though it’s nice to have a batch of episodes that tells a contained story for once – in this case, Clare’s battle with a sadistic Claymore named Ophelia – none of them are especially memorable. After teaming up with four other Claymores in the second half of Chapter Two, Clare just doesn’t seem as interesting when she’s on her own. In fact, I was beginning to hope that the rest of the series would revolve around this newly formed group taking down the Organization that has targeted them as potential Awakened Beings. Those familiar with the manga would probably tell me to relax, because that’s exactly what happened in the original story, but with only 12 more episodes to go, here’s hoping the gals reunite sooner rather than later. After all, for as much fun as it is to watch Clare get chopped to pieces only to be resurrected Darth Vader style, the last thing we need is for the story to slow down just before it approaches the final stretch.

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