Claymore (Volume 2) - Darkness in Paradise

Clare has been assigned a mission in the Holy City of Rabona, a place where monsters are outlawed. Luckily, she has Raki with her which will make her less conspicuous. That will make it harder to find the Yoma though!

Claymore (Volume 2) – Darkness in Paradise

What happened?

Clare and Raki entered the Holy City of Rabona disguised as brother and sister. They got a room at an inn and then went to the cathedral to meet with the person that hired her. Father Vincent asks her to come back at night, even though he knows it will be difficult with the city on lockdown after dark. However, all of the attacks have taken place in the cathedral, so she will need to come.

Raki stayed at the inn and was ready to cover for her if anyone came looking while Clare took to the rooftops. She made it to the cathedral and then got all the information she could from Father Vincent. It was looking like someone inside the church was the Yoma. It was also becoming clear that this Yoma was a Voracious Eater – a Yoma that has lived longer than most and eats far more frequently. This is going to be even more dangerous.

On her way back to the inn, Clare had a run-in with two guards, but they were unable to touch her. However, they tracked her down as there weren’t many new people in the city that matched her description. Even so, they had no reason to detain her. Clare went to the cathedral again that night and found the Yoma having already eaten. She fought it, but the two guards tried to help and ended up getting her injured as she saved them from death. Clare was injured in the fight and it took her two days to heal. Now to round up all the priests and check them out! Where was it hiding?

What did you think?

Raki managed to get even more annoying in this volume which is saying something. Anyhow, Raki aside, this was fantastic. A Yoma hiding in a city that a Claymore cannot enter is a great idea. It adds all sorts of extra tension and obstacles, especially as the church can’t admit that the Yoma must be inside the church as they should be protected by their divinity and faith. Whereas that’s the thing forcing Clare to sneak around and hide her powers that would make detecting it easy.

The art in these books is really hit or miss. Some of the larger spreads are fantastic with so much detail and energy. Then, there’s the problem with lots of people looking almost identical and having peculiarly shaped heads. If the story wasn’t so good and the action so engaging it might be a stumbling block for the series, but then when the artwork is good, it’s next level.