Clay’s eyes can’t help but glitter. An aspiring clay molder, he’s attending his first golem competition, despite having only a “chocolate ball” size of a golem that he can carry one handed. Compared to the more mecha-sized golems Clay has his work cut out for him, but he is inspired by his competition rather than intimidated by it. It helps that he has his three human-esque golem pals by his side, Rose, Shirogane, and Kurogane. Not everyone at the competition has the best of intentions though…
So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a manga intended demographic, mostly because I am a nerd. As a manga consumer they’re starting to mean less and less to me though, and my mental mislabeling leads a lot of surprises. I recently fell in love with Your Lie in April which I had been convinced was a josei (and therefore targeted at me) only to find out it’s technically shounen. The exact opposite happened here with Clay Lord which I picked up assuming it was a cute shounen adventure. It’s cute, for sure, and it’s definitely an adventure, but its magazine serialization, Zero Comic Sum, means it’s technically josei. This is also the same magazine that gave us Loveless, 07-Ghost, and Saiyuki Reload, so in that regard it makes sense.
While the marketing demographic was a surprise this manga feels like a Seven Seas pickup. At only 3 volumes, with a bit of magic, adventure and solid art, it’s a series that I imagine would be overlooked by other publishers — author Jun Suzumoto isn’t a known name here — but it’s a good bit of fun. Clay is a sweet kid who’s obviously meant to be immediately loveable, which helps account for his golems undying devotion to him (there’s meant to be shipping potential there, I’m sure). They poke and prod over him — especially the boy golems, Kurogane and Shirogane — and are quick to fight when Clay is even the slightest bit threatened. The first chapter does a good job introducing the reader to golems place in Clay Lord, so when we find out a little more about Clay’s background in later chapters (and his place among other clay molders), the importance of his “special” golems make sense. The golems have essentially become his family, and there’s warmth between the main cast that I enjoyed, even if they don’t have any particular development yet.
Oddly enough, the art stands out to me too, if just because it’s so suited to the story. Nothing looks particularly out of place, and the character designs are ripe for an anime or video game adaption. If anything, the art serves the story and is never a distraction. It’s really that fact that Clay Lord is solid despite not necessarily treading new ground that makes me glad to have picked this one up.
