In Claymore, the world is overcome with demons called Yoma that constantly plague humanity. After Raki’s parents were killed by Yoma, he teams up with Claire, a Claymore, an order of powerful half-human, half-Yoma women that are shunned by society but fight to rid the world of Yoma. Together, each learns more about the each other and work towards their own goals.
While it had its rushed ending, Claymore set up a bleak world of struggle and tragic stories, if you are looking for more anime recommendations like Claymore, then head on down below.
Anime Like Claymore
For Fans of Dark Monster Slayers
Berserk
Gutts has been a mercenary for as long as he can remember, caring for nothing but moving to the next battle. One fateful battle puts him at odds with the rapidly rising mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk. Their charismatic, idealistic leader Griffith soon makes him join by force, but the bond he forms with the Band of the Hawk may very well mean the end of the world.
Back in the day, Claymore had the nickname of “female Berserk,” not because they are the same, but because they are similarly bleak. If you enjoy watching your main characters suffer in a world that is suffering, Berserk often goes beyond what Claymore has to offer.
Attack on Titan
Facing imminent extinction, humanity retreated behind a series of tall, thick walls to escape their most dangerous threat – massive human-like Titans with a taste for human flesh. With an enemy that eats humanity for fun rather than food, they are constantly threatened. As such, it is the duty of every human to defend the species. Enter Eren Yegaer who, after his village was destroyed by Titans breaching the outer wall, he and his adopted sister Mikasa join the Survey Corps. They are one of three factions of the military that scouts and combats Titans outside the walls. After joining in the brutal war, Eren discovers a secret about himself that could unravel what the world thinks they know about Titans.
Both series feature creatures that put humanity at risk and follow stories about the people that fight them. However, those are just surface similarities. What they most have in common is the politics and reasons behind the swords that guard humanity. Unfortunately, Claymore ends before it can really get into that depth like Attack on Titan does.
Demon Slayer
After the death of his father, Tanjirou has taken up the role of the man of the home, supporting his mother and five siblings. However, after selling charcoal in town, he returns to tragedy. All his family was brutally slaughtered, save for one of his sisters. Unfortunately, she has been attacked by a demon and mingled their blood, turning her into a demon as well. However, she still shows signs of humanity, thrusting Tanjirou onto a quest to find a way to change his sister back and preserve what is left of his family.
Claymores slay Yoma, Demon Slayer Corps slay demons. While Demon Slayer is more shounen in its action, like Claymore, it likes to give you a swift kick in the gut when it comes to the sad backstories of certain characters. If you enjoyed Claymore’s darkness, but want something that is sometimes less bleak, Demon Slayer can satisfy.
D Gray Man
After three years training with one of their prestigious Generals that saved him as a kid, Allen Walker is finally ready to join the Black Order, an organization of exorcists that fight Akuma and their leader, the Millennium Earl. With their Innocence weapons, Allen and his fellow exorcist embark on a journey to stop the Earl’s plot of ultimate destruction.
Like Claymore, D. Gray Man starts off in a similarly bleak world where much of humanity doesn’t know or shuns those that protect them from the monsters in the dark. However, D. Gray Man’s gothic charm gives way to the shounen elements in it. It becomes less bleak as it goes on and more battle focused.
Blood+
Saya Otonashi lives a dull life as an amnesiac in Okinawa City. However, her forgotten past comes back to haunt her one night when she is attacked by a creature that feeds on human blood. After being saved by a mysterious man, he forced her to drink blood, sending her into a monster-slaying trance.
While more modern than Claymore, Blood+ features a similarly cold main character whose purpose is to slay. She is accompanied by a man and both series feature much more going on beneath the surface.
For Fans of Disposable Soldiers
Witch Hunter Robin
Robin is a witch that has recently traveled from Italy to Japan in order to join the STN-J, an organization of witch hunters. There Robin learns that the organization tries to capture the ESP, telekinesis, or mind control-wielding witches of Japan alive in order to study them, but not all is as noble as it seems.
Both Witch Hunter Robin and Claymore are notably bleak shows about women who are tightly controlled under the thumb of an organization that dispatches them. Interestingly enough, as both series go on, you find out that the organizations do not have their best interests in mind.
WorldEnd
It has been five hundred years since humanity went extinct at the hands of the mysterious beasts that roam the land. Now the surviving races have retreated to floating islands in the sky out of reach of most of the beasts. However, there are ones nimble enough to put these people in danger. A small group of young girls, a race called the Leprechauns, are now raised as the only ones that can wield ancient weapons to fend off invasion by the beasts, but it often requires them to sacrifice themselves and they don’t often live to see adulthood. Enter Willem, the last surviving human woken from his slumber and sent to watch over these girls, still feeling the sting from the final battle where he lost everything five hundred years ago.
While WorldEnd seems wildly different in its tone and lack of overall crushing desolation, what are Claymores if not disposable tools like the Leprechauns? Both are expected to fight and expected to die, then they will be replaced. The suffering is there in WorldEnd, it just has a brighter color palate and more moe girls.
Black Bullet
In the year 2021, a parasitic virus has ravaged humanity by turning them into monsters, driving the remaining humans into massive walled cities. However, while a special metal can keep these monsters at bay and fight them, children are already being born with the virus dormant within them. It is decided that these “cursed children” are humanity’s best hope for fighting the virus.
What better way to fight something than someone who is mixed with just a little bit of that something? That is the premise for the warriors in both shows. Black Bullet trades swords for guns and an overall sense of melancholy for a more heroic action man attitude.
86
For years, the Republic of San Magnolia has been at war with the Giadian Empire. They were constantly plagued by their hordes of unmanned drones until the government created an unmanned solution of their own, finally able to wage their war without casualties. However, that is not quite the truth. The “unmanned” combat weapons are actually used by those of the 86th sector of the Republic, but they are not considered even human. This is the tale of both Shin, an 86er and battle commander, and Lena, their sympathetic handler who remotely commands the detachment from inside the city.
While wildly different in setting, being as 86 is a show about war waged in mechs, the similarities lie in other places. Both series tell overall bleak tales about very disposable soldiers and the life they live. While there is no threat of turning into a monster in 86, they are still just pawns akin to Claymores.
For Fans of Humans Turned Monsters
Tokyo Ghoul
The citizens of Tokyo now live in fear of vicious creatures called ghouls that blend in alongside humans and feast on their flesh. One day, Ken Kaneki, a shy college student, meets a girl called Rize who is also an avid reader like him. Unfortunately, as he finds out on his first date, Rize turns out to be a ghoul. Just when she is about to eat him, Kaneki is saved, barely clinging to life. In the process of surviving this attack, Kaneki finds out that he has now become a ghoul.
Though in different situations, both series feature characters that are turned into monsters that prey on humanity. However, instead of fighting against these monsters, Tokyo Ghoul presents a more complicated situation in which neither side is especially good or bad.
Land of the Lustrous
In this world, Gems inhabit the ruins of a world. Taking on certain characteristics, gems are assigned roles depending on their hardness. The hardest among them fight the Lunarians, aliens that seek to shatter them to decorate their own bodies. Phosphophyllite, or Phos, is young and fragile, but wants desperately to help the war effort of fellow gems.
While Land of the Lustrous features a predominately all-female cast, the women aren’t necessarily at risk of becoming monsters in the same way as Claymore. Instead they are made of gemstones and are varying degrees of at risk for shattering completely. Both shows are ultimately about what warriors give away in their long life of battle, but Land of the Lustrous is more literal about that.
Devilman Crybaby
Akira has always been a little weak and blends into the background, so when his childhood friend asks for help uncovering devils, he agrees. The pair head to Sabbath where many gather for debauchery and to be possessed by devils. When the devils begin to wreck havoc in their new living hosts, Akira agrees to merge bodies with a devil in order to save his friend. Though he now has a voracious devil inside him, he still has the heart of a crybaby.
Both series feature main characters who are imbued with a demon, but also manage to hang on to the scraps of their humanity as they battle other demons. While Claymores are eventually consumed, the devils in Devilman are more faced with a “pick a side” sort of situation. Regardless, both are pretty brutal and ultimately tragic.
Seraph of the End
After a mysterious virus killed every human over 13 years old, the vampires rose up with a promise to protect the survivors. The only thing they asked in return is donations of blood. For Yuuichirou and Mikaela, they have grown tired of being livestock and pose a daring escape plan. It ultimately fails with only Yuuichirou left alive. However, after joining up with a mercenary company, he swears vengeance on the vampires, no matter the cost.
At their root, both shows follow monster slayers who are protecting humanity from the predators that wish to consume them. However, Seraph of the End features humanity more on the brink. Also, Seraph of the End does end up more as a shounen-style battler rather than the moody seinen story of suffering that was Claymore.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Claymore? Let fans know in the comments section below.
