You’ve seen the manga – now comes the anime! After a suspenseful buildup over the past few days on their website, FUNimation has announced its licensing of Claymore, a 26-episode adaptation of the ongoing manga series. The television show, originally produced by Madhouse Studios, just recently finished its run in Japan from April to September of last year.

The premise of the story is that deadly, shapeshifting creatures called yoma are disguising themselves as humans and preying upon their human neighbors in a medieval world. The only way to defeat them is for a secret organization to create yoma halfbreeds and train them to become warriors called Claymores (named after the type of sword they carry). Yet the more often these Claymores use their supernatural strength in this ongoing battle, the more in danger they are of losing their human side completely, a phenomenon called "Awakening."

The anime follows Clare, the main character, as she rescues a human boy and goes on to deal with battles between Claymores and Awakened Beings. These conflicts create shifting loyalties, as they trigger tragedies that induce several Claymores to Awaken and turn on their former comrades. And through it all, Clare struggles to hold on to her own humanity.

Some expected that since VIZ Media has been releasing the manga in North America (the 11^th volume comes out in March), it would probably also license the anime as well. But FUNimation has snagged the series instead, and made the acquisition announcement in a very amusing clip on its site (do check it out, from the link below). There are no further details yet about when we can expect to see the English dubbed version on television, what channel it will be on, or who will be cast in the roles.

But obviously we have a great story to look forward to in the coming months!