X (1996)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Rintaro

Writers:

Mami Watanabe (script) and
Mick Nekoi (comic) ...

Release Date:

3 August 1996 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

The story takes place in 1999, the Year of Destiny, and the beginning of the end of the world. The future of the universe rests on one young man...

Plot Keywords:

Destiny | End Of The World | Tragic Villain | Manga | Wings

Cast

Tomokazu Seki	...	Kamui Shirô
Ken Narita	...	Fûma Monô
Junko Iwao	...	Kotori Monô
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Toni Barry	...	Karen Kasumi (voice: English version)
Rupert Degas	...	Shuogo Asagi (voice: English version)
Denica Fairman	...	Kanoe (voice: English version)
Mike Fitzpatrick	...	Sorata Arisugawa (voice: English version)
Tôru Furusawa	...	Seishirô Sakurazuka
Teresa Gallagher	...	Arashi Kishu (voice: English version)
Jeff Harding	...	Kusangi (voice: English version)
David Harris	...	Seiichirou Aoki (voice: English version)
Adam Henderson	...	Fuma Summit (voice: English version)
Masako Ikeda	...	Tôru
Kazuhiko Inoue	...	Yûto Kigai
Stacey Jefferson	...	Hinoto (voice: English version)
Mami Koyama	...	Karen Kasumi
Annemarie Lawless	...	Yuzuriha Nekoi (voice: English version)
Alan Marriott	...	Kamui Shirou (voice: English version)
Rica Matsumoto	...	Nataku
Yûko Minaguchi	...	Hinoto
Kotono Mitsuishi	...	Satsuki Yatôji
Issei Miyazaki	...	Subaru Sumeragi
Larissa Murray	...	Kotari Summit (voice: English version)
Jôji Nakata	...	Kusanagi Shiyû
Yukana Nogami	...	Yuzuriha Nekoi
Liza Ross	...	Toru (Kamui's Mother) (voice: English version)
Toshihiko Seki	...	Shôgo Asagi
Emi Shinohara	...	Arashi Kishû
Junko Takahata	...	Kanoe
Hideyuki Tanaka	...	Seiichirô Aoki
Nigel Whitmey	...	Yuto (voice: English version)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Sorata Arisugawa

Also Known As:

X/1999 (USA) (promotional title)
X: Their Destiny Was Foreordained 1999 (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore and some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Ireland:12 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | France:-12 | Germany:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The two characters that fight as Kamui watches near the beginning of the film, Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirou Sakurazuka, were originally from CLAMP's manga, "Tokyo Babylon" before crossing over into the X manga. Their relationship mirrors that of Kamui and Fuma's, as they were both close friends until Seishirou killed Subaru's sister.

Quotes:

Seiichirô Aoki: Don't you realize that this battle is meaningless? What do you Dragons of Earth hope to achieve?
Nakatsu: It is not the Earth we wish to destroy. It is mankind. Men kill, they hate, and they devastate this planet. What reason, then, must they exist? What the Earth needs now is tranquility.
Seiichirô Aoki: Perhaps you are right. But there are people who I need to protect! For them, and for those people who have died fighting for this Earth, I am unable to let you live!

Movie Connections:

References Tokyo Babylon 1999 (1993)

Soundtrack:

Forever Love

Watch it for the graphics, but read the manga first!

X, or X/1999, is the work of CLAMP, a group of four highly talented female manga artist group, consisting of Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi. X is undoubtedly one of their most famous works, which has been running as a manga (comic book series) since 1992.

The basic storyline is about a 16 year old boy, called Kamui Shirou. He returns to Tokyo after 6 years absence, being instructed by his mother to do so before she... okay, to say more would give away the story. ^.^ Anyway, he must choose his destiny - to become a Dragon of Heaven or a Dragon of Earth. Because the Earth is dying, due to the destruction wreaked by mankind, the aim of the Dragons of Earth is to eliminate all humankind, so the Earth can recuperate. However, the aim of the Dragons of Heaven is to save humankind, and defend the 'kekkai' (magical barriers) of Tokyo from collapsing (because if they collapse, they will cause huge earthquakes, which kill thousands of people).

Hinoto, who is blind and mute, therefore communicates telepathically, can see into the future in her dreams, and guides the Dragons of Heaven, while her younger sister, Kanoe, can 'shadow' her dreams, therefore being also able to see into the future. Kanoe in turn guides the Dragons of Earth.

There are mixed opinions on the X movie... while some say the plot was TOTALLY ruined by trying to squeeze the epic, already 13 volume and approaching 22 volume story, into a meagre 2 hours (?), the graphics are FANTASTIC, definately superior to many other anime movies, and the music and sound effects are wonderful (especially 'Forever Love', the ending song, sung by X Japan - a Japanese band, not to be confused with X the manga or movie - is particularly beautiful and suits the mood of the movie perfectly). As many people have already mentioned, you must read the manga first, because in the movie everyone appears too quickly for the audience to become attached to the characters, and there are hardly any introductions. The movie is also THE most gory anime movie I've ever seen (the only slight rival being a bit of Mononoke Hime). There is MUCH violence, the plot is EXTREMELY dark... not your typical light-hearted Miyazaki film, and definately NOT for the weak-stomached... people being decapitated, in slo-mo, eh, that's a feature (oops, did I give some of the plot away? ^.^;;). Some of the character's personalities are kinda (or vastly) distorted, and they REPLACED Kakyou with some cocky high-schooler (damn, Kakyou is so much more adorable ::sigh::). But, it is definately worth seeing if you're an X or Clamp fan... if you're not, I actually don't recommend it (even though I'm avidly obsessed with Clamp ^.^), until you've read the manga at least, and decided whether you like it or not, because it may... uh, put you off other perfectly okay animes. X is, unique, to say the least.

But if X isn't your cup of tea, Clamp has a WIDE range of works, with vastly differing themes, from cutesy magical girl series (and I mean that in a GOOD way) like Magic Knights Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura, they've ALSO done kind-of hentai (if you don't know, don't ask ^.^) titles like Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, to adventure tales from ancient myths like RG Veda... find a title that suits you and give Clamp a chance!

Oops, wrote a bit too much, didn't I? Oh well, my only advice is like everyone else says, read the manga first! ^_^