The dark fantasy manga by Norihiro Yagi is getting the live-action treatment!
18 years after receiving an anime adaptation, Norihiro Yagi’s dark fantasy manga, titled Claymore, is getting a revival through a live-action television series adaptation. The project is now in the works, with its production now actively searching for a writer for the show.
Claymore to get live-action television series
According to an exclusive report by Deadline, American television production company CBS Studios and Los Angeles-based distributor Propagate Content have teamed up with Japanese actor and producer Masi Oka to develop a television adaptation of Claymore. The project is revealed to be in partnership with Shueisha, the publishing company that serialised Claymore’s manga from 2001 to 2014.
Oka is set to serve as executive producer alongside Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, and Rodney Ferrell from Propagate Content, including Shueisha. A search for writers is already underway.
The live-action series adaptation is reported to aim at “preserving the action and complex moral dilemmas of the original manga and anime TV series.” The idea for the Claymore adaptation surfaced thanks to Oka being an avid manga collector. Oka also produced the 2017 movie adaptation of Death Note for Netflix.
Claymore plot and other details
Claymore’s manga first came out in Shueisha’s defunct Monthly Shonen Jump from June 2001 to June 2007, and continued serialisation in Jump Square from November 2007 to October 2014. The manga has 27 tankobon volumes. The series was licensed for English release by Viz Media, and was released from April 2006 to October 2015.
Claymore’s anime version began broadcasting from April to September 2007, with the adaptation being done by animation studio Madhouse. The anime was directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka, with Yasuko Kobayashi handling series composition. Takahiro Umehara designed the characters, and Masanori Takumi composed the music.
The anime only adapted the first 11 volumes of the manga, and employed an alternate ending for the last two episodes. If the television series follows the source material completely, this will be the first time that the original ending for Claymore will be broadcasted.
MyAnimeList describes the plot for Claymore as:
When a shapeshifting demon with a thirst for human flesh, known as "youma," arrives in Raki's village, a lone woman with silver eyes walks into town with only a sword upon her back. She is a "Claymore," a being manufactured as half-human and half-youma, for the express purpose of exterminating these monsters. After Raki's family is killed, the Claymore saves his life, but he is subsequently banished from his home. With nowhere else to go, Raki finds the Claymore, known as Clare, and decides to follow her on her journeys.
As the pair travel from town to town, defeating youma along the way, more about Clare's organization and her fellow warriors comes to light. With every town cleansed and every demon destroyed, they come closer to the youma on which Clare has sought vengeance ever since she chose to become a Claymore.
