"X" (2001) TV series 2001-2002

Directors:

Koji Aritomi
Hideo Hayashi
(more)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

3 October 2001 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Two sides. Two choices. One future.

Plot:

Kamui Shirou and Fuuma Monou have been best friends ever since they were kids. Fate, however, separates...

Plot Keywords:

Fate | Angel | One Letter Title | Teen | Unrequited Love

Cast

Mona Marshall	...	Girl / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Bob Papenbrook	...	Kanoe's Boss (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Jamieson Price	...	Additional Voices / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Philece Sampler	...	Tokiko Magami / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Tony Schnur	...	Fisherman / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Terrence Stone	...	Gang Member / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Karen Strassman	...	Satsuki Yatouji / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Julie Ann Taylor	...	Hokuto Sumeragi / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Dave Wittenberg	...	Basketball Player / ... (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Barbara Goodson	...	Maid / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2002)

Series Directed by
Yoshiaki Kawajiri		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Masahiko Ôta		(3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Koji Aritomi		(2 episodes, 2001)
Hideo Hayashi		(2 episodes, 2001)
Shigetaka Ikeda		(2 episodes, 2002)
Haruo Sotozaki		(2 episodes, 2002)
Kou Matsuo		(1 episode, 2001)

Series Writing credits
Mokona Apapa		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Satsuki Igarashi		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Mick Nekoi		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Nanase Ôkawa		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Yoshiaki Kawajiri		(15 episodes, 2001-2002)
Kazuyuki Fudeyasu		(5 episodes, 2002)
Hiroko Tokita		(2 episodes, 2002)

Series Produced by
Masao Maruyama	....	producer (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Hideki Goto	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Shinji Komori	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Joichi Mizuno	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Akira Shinohara	....	assistant producer (unknown episodes)
Michiko Suzuki	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Naoki Sato		(25 episodes, 2001-2002)

Series Cinematography by
Hisao Shirai		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Carmen Utrilla		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Yûji Ikeda		(1 episode, 2001)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Takuji Endo	....	assistant director (3 episodes, 2001)

Series Art Department
Yoshiaki Kawajiri	....	storyboard artist (5 episodes, 2001-2002)
Hiroshi Hamazaki	....	storyboard artist (3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Yûzô Satô	....	storyboard artist (3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Satoshi Hashimoto	....	color designer (3 episodes, 2001)
Masahiro Andô	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Hideo Hayashi	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Akio Sakai	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Norihiko Yokomatsu	....	art director: Studio Wyeth (2 episodes, 2001)

Series Sound Department
Yasunori Honda	....	sound director (unknown episodes)
Osamu Ichikawa	....	sound recordist (unknown episodes)
Kaoru Machida	....	sound assistant producer (unknown episodes)
Yuko Ochi	....	sound assistant producer (unknown episodes)
Erina Watanabe	....	sound recording assistant (unknown episodes)

Series Animation Department
Takatoshi Anbe	....	animator: opening credits (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Yoshinori Kanemori	....	character designer / supervising animation director (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Yoshiaki Kawajiri	....	animator: opening credits (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Rintaro	....	animator: opening credits (25 episodes, 2001-2002)
Satoshi Tazaki	....	animation director / key animator (6 episodes, 2001-2002)
Kunihiko Hamada	....	animation director / key animator (4 episodes, 2001)
Kunihiko Sakurai	....	animation director / key animator (3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Masayoshi Tanaka	....	animation director (3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Kazuo Watanabe	....	animation director (3 episodes, 2001-2002)
Shigeru Fujita	....	animation director / key animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Jeung Yeoun Hee	....	in-between animation checker (3 episodes, 2001)
Yoon Suk Hue	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Soon Ha Hwang	....	in-between animation checker (3 episodes, 2001)
Kazuaki Imai	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Lee Ga Jin	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Eriko Kubokawa	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Choi Se Kwan	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Michiko Nagano	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Yun Mi Oh	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Masayuki Ojima	....	inbetween animator (3 episodes, 2001)
Kayo Sakazume	....	in-between animation checker (3 episodes, 2001)
Myung Hee Youn	....	in-between animation checker (3 episodes, 2001)
Ryotaro Akao	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Mamoru Hoshino	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Nao Karino	....	background artist (2 episodes, 2001)
Naruyo Kiriyama	....	background artist (2 episodes, 2001)
Seo Kyoung Mioe	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Takahito Nakazawa	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Yasuhiro Saiki	....	animation director / key animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Shinichi Uehara	....	background artist (2 episodes, 2001)
Yuko Yazaki	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2001)
Hideki Hashimoto	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2002)

Series Music Department
Masao Fukuda	....	music producer (unknown episodes)
Masatoshi Nishimura	....	music arranger: "eX dream" (unknown episodes)
Shiro Sasaki	....	music producer (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Mi Ae Na	....	digital paint chief artist (1 episode, 2001)
Lee Young Shin	....	digital paint chief artist (1 episode, 2001)
Rika Takahashi	....	translator (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Mad House

Distributors

• FUNimation Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

24 min (24 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Certification:

Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Germany:16

Company:

Mad House

Trivia:

Like other CLAMP anime and manga productions, X contains crossover references to other works by the group. Specifically, Subaru, Hokuto and Seishiro come from Tokyo Babylon, while the CLAMP campus originated in CLAMP Campus Detectives.

Quotes:

Kamui Shirô:[after Sorata talked about Kamui's mother] You came to Tokyo to die!

Movie Connections:

Remake of X (1996)

Awful theme song, brilliant series

Two months ago, I'd have told you that I despised anime, because two months ago I was under the heavily mistaken impression that all anime was "Dragonball Z" and "DigiMon". Having recently viewed all 24 episodes of "X", I was clearly mistaken. This was the first series I have ever seen about which I have had nothing serious to criticize.

Once one gets past the absolutely godawful, mood-killing, schmalzy theme songs at the beginning and end of each episode, one discovers immensely complex characters and plot lines. Our hero is 16-year-old Shirou Kamui, your very untypical high school sophomore. He's quiet, bitter, has no family left, and he doesn't know or particularly care that he's supposed to decide the fate of the world. This is beginning to sound cheesy, but surprisingly enough, it's not. Basically, we have two opposing sides - the Seven Seals, who are fighting to preserve the world and contain everyone from a hyper 14-year-old to a devout Christian woman who happens to be a prostitute, and the Seven Angels, the "bad guys" who really aren't that bad - they may be fighting for the destruction of Planet Earth, but they're likable and very human. Kamui comes in because he's the only one of this group who gets to choose which side he wants to be on. And it only really begins to matter when he realizes that his two best friends are going to be affected by this.

Kamui (and everyone else) are your standard shoujo posterboys - gentle, selfless, and (as Arisugawa Sorata, one of the primary players in this apocalyptic game comments) ridiculously attractive. But at the same time, they are characters anyone can relate too. The animation is gorgeous, and the non-theme music is actually pretty good. The series also features a trench-coat-clad young medium named Sumeragi Subaru, who seems not to have a personality. He is, in reality, one of the most complex characters ever created. For more on him, read the Tokyo Babylon manga.

If you're skeptical, that's understandable - I was. Now, I'm giving this fascinating series 10/10.