People Like Me Ruin Feminism

Spoilers for the latest Claymore Chapter

So Claymore is one of those manga I like but my reserves of passion for it ran out after about a month and now I just follow it in a chill sort of fashion.

But one thing I know is people hated Raki because he cried a lot and was “wimpy”. The Raki I’m talking about started out as a twelve year old orphan who the protagonist Clare took in. He tended to cry like…a child would realistically what with monsters running about and terrible shit happening but apparently that is totally not okay with everyone BECAUSE BOYS DON’T CRY HE IS NOT TUFF ENOUGH TO HANG WITH CLARE ANNOYING BRAT. It’s also notable that he hugged it out with Clare when she was going berserk, calming her down by telling her how much he luved her and crying all over her. So yeah, basically he is the sensitive, bleeding heart innocent who was constantly protected by the badass stoic protagonist. Pretty common premise, but that made Claymore interesting was it reversed the usual gender roles- the badass warrior was a woman and the bleeding heart power of luv child who is *inspired* and *saved* by her is a boy.

I didn’t find Raki particularly compelling or anything, but it really rubs me the wrong way people HATE him for daring to exhibit emotion, not being a tough guy, not having what they percieve to be manly qualities, and daring to take on the role usually shoved on by a girl. The fact he has the qualities are the things that I find refreshing and interesting about the character. It’s again with the demonization of feminity- men are hated when they’re thought to act like women, and no one bothers to think that emotions may have merit, or the gender disparity in who is stuck in these roles and why we react so violently when a dude has to be that person for once.

Anyway, there was a timeskip in the manga, Raki aged up and now he can use swords and has muscles and shit. I was pretty concerned that the author had bought into fandom idea he had to be a tuff guy to be *worthy* of Clare, that he had to be a bigger badass than Clare or something to be a man for her. So I was pretty pleased when Raki, despite being an adult now, started crying all over the place in the most recent chapter, complete with wibbling and snot running out his nose, saying even after all these years he gets the same way when it comes to her, and he still thinks of her as so much stronger and his inspiration and all. And again, he manages to help Clare not through manly heroics, but by being *sensitive* and saying loving stuff.

So yay for that! Granted, despite all my defense of Raki here, I really DON’T want Clare and Raki to be a couple, because ugh I don’t read Claymore for bland romance geez, plus it’s too weird she knew him as a kid she took care of him! But I have a bad feeling the manga will go that way. Oh well, we’ll see.

PS apparently the deformity of the Claymore ladies bodies is just a huge gash they stitched up? Sort of ridic underwhelmed. Thought for sure it would be rotting flesh or twisted demon heads or organs falling out or SOMETHING not…completely not gross.