Re: Raki: I'm with you on the Raki's yawn-inducing nature, and I frequently get the sense that the manga-ka does, too, based on the boy's long stretches of absence from the narrative. It's like Yagi Norihiro occasionally remembers he's writing shonen, and that, oh yeah, shonen is supposed to have a boy-character for the audience to identify with--didn't I have one of those around somewhere? But then goes back to his main interest, namely blonde women killing monsters.

Re: monstrosity & strength in shonen: I had not noticed that before, but you're definitely on to something. Naruto and Dragonball are two examples that leap to mind. Bleach, too, although the monstrosity that accompanies Ichigo's strength is not *drawn* in such an obvious manner as in Claymore, Dragonball, etc. I shall think about this some more!