Review Statistics

Times Read

928

Comments

11

Reviews

Tv, Manga

Plot Synopsis

Shiro Kamui has returned to Tokyo after 6 years, following the wish of his mother, and ultimately, his fate. It is 1999, and Kamui, gifted with psionic powers, has been foretold to either save the world, or to destroy it. The Seven Seals (Dragons of Heaven) wish to save humanity, while the Seven Angels (Dragons of Earth) wish to destroy humanity in order to save the physical Earth and cleanse it. Kamui must choose a side, but unbeknownst to him, his twin star awaits to serve whichever side will become his rival.

The world can only watch the destruction after the choice is made as time draws nearer to the Promised Day... and perhaps the Apocalypse.

Screenshots

First volume, one of the smaller action scenes. Death comes to us all. Mother.

Story & Characters

[I'll be reviewing the X movie, as well as a bit of the manga.]
Shiro Kamui has returned to Tokyo after 6 years, following the wish of his mother, and ultimately, his fate. It is 1999, and Kamui, gifted with psionic powers, has been foretold to either save the world, or to destroy it. The Seven Seals (Dragons of Heaven) wish to save humanity, while the Seven Angels (Dragons of Earth) wish to destroy humanity in order to save the physical Earth and cleanse it. Kamui must choose a side, but unbeknownst to him, his twin star awaits to serve whichever side will become his rival. The world can only watch the destruction after the choice is made as time draws nearer to the Promised Day... and perhaps the Apocalypse.

The first time I heard about this anime, I knew it was something you just couldn't miss. The plot sounds very interesting, and surprisingly enough I've seen more apocalyptic movies than anime. This definetely makes it original, and as far as I know this anime is unlike any others that CLAMP has done in the past. It really draws you in and makes you want to find out as to what will happen to the Earth, and whether or not Kamui can save it - or destroy it.
The format in the movie is somewhat different than that in the manga, because in the movie it starts right off introducing everything and explaining things. The manga, however, does it in a slightly different order where we slowly meet the characters and that is going on around.
The manga tends to be slightly confusing in the beginning, so if you haven't seen the X movie or the episodes it takes longer to figure things out.

Rating

9 (very good)

Art

The CLAMP women have always been amazing artists, and even though this is an older series the art is perhaps one of the best they've ever done!
The character design is interestingly unique, with each one having a different personality and clothing to match.
My favorite character is Hinata, the older sister, the seer of dreams. Her chracter is amazing, but she seems to always be sad. The long flowing hair and soft colours really fit her, so that was a good match.
Kamui himself was the mystery man, so he had an outift that was not too flashy, but rather one that hid him more, and a cape to match. This makes sense because shady and unfamiliar characters usually tend to wear dark clothing, not something bright.
There are a lot of fighting and explosion scenes, again something I haven't seen often with CLAMP, but in the manga and movie they managed to do an amazing job. I think explosions are one of the hardest things to draw, because they have to be realistic and frightening at the same time. Both of these factors were achieved, and there were many a time when I was shuddering because of it.
The art in the manga was great, it was very original and had it its own style. especially loved theart that took up full two pages, such as where Kamui and his twin star are shown with different wings. It was frightening but beautiful, and I wanted to read more of it.
Some of the scenes in the movie really stood out, but I'm not the type of person to reveal spoilers so you'll just have to find out what I'm talking about. Tv or manga, you really got attached to the characters so when something bad happened you wanted to share their emotions.
This is how attached you get.

Rating

10 (excellent)

Sound

The sound was nothing unusual or special, but it did fit in with the tone of the anime. Right off the bat you could tell this was a somewhat grim anime, not by just the art but the sounds as well.
Since there were a lot of action scenes, there were a lot of loud noises full of explosions and the clashing of swords. I think this was portrayed well, because the sounds varied. Deep and powerful to quiet and sad, the sounds were portrayed very well in the series.
The voices of the characters fit in with them very well, and were portrayed accordingly. Joy or sadness, screams or laughter, you really felt for the characters when something good or bad happened to them.
On a random note, I love Hinata's voice! It really fits with her character because it is sad and full of emotion at the same time. A lot of anime have this type of person, but I think Hinata does it the best. She didn't have any music surrounding her, but I think it would have been an extra nice touch.
Speaking of which, background music was absolutely beautiful. I could pick apart some of the different instruments that played in the orchestra. From the drums, to the chimes, down to the last flute. You could tell that the people playing the instruments were serious about what they were doing, because the music sounded very professional. It fit very well with what was going on in the anime so portraying emotions was done even better.
Basic sounds like walking or the wind blowing were present too, so it seemed as if everyone and everything in the anime had a sound accompanying it.

Rating

8 (good)

Presentation

The anime was very enjoyable to watch, although I must admit I didn't like it very much the first time I saw it. This could have been to the fact that I was 12-13, whcih says something. I think this anime is better for an older audience, because some of the themes and context is very heavy on the younger viewer. However, I think that if you know your anime and you've seen this, you will have to agree that X is brilliant from the very beginning down to the very end.
Depending on the type of anime, I don't usually find a lesson. This was a dark anime, but one which was also clearly put. It had a bit of Princess Mononoke in it, because the Dragons of Earth were trying to cleanse the planet. This was somewhat of a lesson to us to take better care of it or it might be destroyed one day. o_O
Other concepts tied in around this, and it made the viewer (or reader in some cases) very sad, as it should have.
One concept I really like is the two Kamui's. No matter which side Kamui chooses, the other Kamui takes the other. Which Kamui lived? Which Kamui died? You'll have to watch or read to find out!
The series itself is a very sad one, because no matter which character you get attached to, you will probably find something to weep over. The end of the world is not a pretty thing, especially in a dark anime like this one.

All the factors mentioned above combined made a very effective point, and not just about nature. Hold on to the ones you love, and no matter what happens - never forget them.

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

9.00 (very good)

Reviewed by daos, 2y 24wk ago