For days I was captivated by the TV rendition of CLAMP’s X/1999 manga series. While it’s not as good as it’s manga counterpart, it comes pretty close, summarizing the events of this epic tale in 24 episodes. I watched the episodes pretty much back to back, and in the wake of its ending, I really want more.
For those of you who have no idea what X is, the storyline basically deals with the apocolypse. It makes use of mythology from the Bhuddist and Shinto religions, and takes the Christian Bible’s book of Revalations in an interesting direction. While there’s a mix of theology in this series, nothing about what’s being presented can be taken as absolute truth or accuracy. CLAMP blends the mythology into their stories in a way that fits the story best, making it both interesting and sometimes annoying for theology fans. Nevertheless, what they’ve presented works out of be one exciting story.
Kamui, our jaded hero, returns to Tokyo after a long absence, and is thrust into a battle for the fate of the world. It’s revealed to him that he is the central figure, the one who will choose to protect humanity or destroy it. He can choose to do the will of God or defy God’s wishes. This is a choice he doesn’t want to make. Why should a teenage boy take on such a great responsibility? Why should anyone? The answer that’s continually forced down his throat is that one can’t deny their destiny; no matter how long you run, your destiny will make itself known and present in your life. But Kamui doesn’t believe in destiny; all he wants to do is protect his loved ones.
Where some good vs. evil plotlines clearly define what side is the right one, X leaves that decision up to the viewer. Not all of the Dragons of Earth (those against the will of God) are out-and-out bad people, and not all of the Dragons of Heaven (those fighting for humanity) are upstanding citizens. Both sides show loyality and compassion and love between the sides seems to be an issue of relatively little concern. X takes an omnipresent, un-biased look at the end of the world, which was refreshing for me.
X is ladent with beauty; it’s filled with bishoujo and bishonen, all unbelieveably tall and slender. The art style is early CLAMP, out-and-out. We’re looking at flowing hair, full eyelashes, and class all the way. It’s got rather shoujo-like overtones without the typical annoyances present in other shoujo styles. There’s also blood. Lots of blood. So if you like gore, this one’s for you. All of the standard gothic elements are present, as might be expected in this type of storyline.
The pace of the story is fast and filled with action. Things move at the right speed for an action anime, with enough fighting to keep you interested and enough dialogue to keep you from being confused. The character development is good, too, with 1-2 episodes devoted to the personal stories of the cast; each personal story is tied in somehow to that of the main. There’s character depth and enough episodes to see some character growth.
The music is fantasticly scored and preformed, with a wider variety of songs than typically used for most action anime. My only complaint in this being that the X Theme was used way too much, but it was used often on purpose, I think.
Really, the only downside to X is its rushed ending. 24 episodes doesn’t seem like enough to cover this vast storyline. The ending came as a huge suprise, so much so that it almost ruined the series for me. It’s the kind of ending that sneaks up on you and leaves a lot of loose ends.
Ignoring the ending saves the series, but for some that may be hard to do. If you’re looking for some good, emotional, visually satisfying series about end-of-the-world drama, X may be just your series. If blood, mythology, and bad endings make you mad, skip this one. Die hard CLAMP fans will see it/have seen it, regardless.
Art: 10
Character Development: 8
Plot: 9(-1 for rushed, anticlimatic ending)
Music: 8
Fan Boy/Girl Appeal: 10
Overall: 47/50 or 9.3/10
Reccomended: Yes (VERYY much)
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