X TV Volume 1

‘Two Choices. Two Sides. One Future. X’

Kakyo is a dream seer. Too ill to leave his bed, the young man is forced to lie still, attached by tubes and wires to the machines that keep him alive. He lives through his dreams in which he sees visions of the future… and of the Seven Dragons of Heaven, pitted against the Seven Dragons of Earth who are set on the destruction of the world//the eradication of all living beings. He finds himself walking alone through a terrifying vision of Tokyo in ruins, a desolate, windblown landscape, dominated by the awry vestiges of that iconic structure, Tokyo Tower. Is this future inevitable? Or can the world still be saved from destruction? And why is the name Kamui significant?
 
Kamui Shiro, a fifteen-year-old high school student returns to Tokyo after five years. But when he encounters his childhood friends, brother and sister Fuma and Kotori Monou, he rejects their warm greetings coldly, warning them that they must stay away from him. Attacked by sinister men in black, and kept under surveillance by an all-seeing red eye, it seems that his life is in danger. Yet not all those shadowing him wish to do him harm; the cheerful, wise-cracking young monk, Sorata, has been sent from Mount Koya Monastery to protect him, as has the shrine maiden Arashi from Ise Temple. They are two of the Seven Seals, or Dragons of Heaven, that Kakyo has seen in his vision. They have been granted considerable powers, as Sorata is soon forced to demonstrate when challenged by Yuto, the first of the Dragons of Earth to reveal his presence. Sorata instantly creates a kekkai, or barrier field, which lifts the battle into a parallel dimension, causing no harm to innocent bystanders – unless, of course, he is injured, when the kekkai will fail, with potentially disastrous consequences. But as they duel, someone enters the barrier – which, by all rights, no one should be able to do. It is Fuma Monou, Kamui’s closest friend. Has he latent powers as well? 

The wielder of the all-seeing red eye has taken an obsessive interest in Kamui; she is Princess Hinato, a dreamseer, who works for the government; like Kakyo, she sees the future in dreams and has dreamed the same terrible vision of Tokyo in ruins. She has plans for Kamui – but he has ideas of his own and resists. Scarred by a terrible personal tragedy, he has returned to Tokyo in search of the legendary shinken, or holy sword, which is kept at the shrine where the Monous’ father is priest. Yet others have taken an interest in the shinken – ruthless individuals who will stop at nothing to get what they desire.

‘X’ is based on the dark and doom-laden manga series ‘X:1999’ by CLAMP which was criticized at the time it first appeared in Japan (in the 1990’s before the millennium) as being far too realistic for comfort. The four mangaka have still to finish the series which reached 18 volumes before going on hiatus.

In the UK, we’ve waited a long time for the TV series to be released on R2. Until now, we’ve only had the animated film ‘X’ (1996) which attempts to compress the eighteen volumes into one session and fails, leaving most viewers (certainly me, at any rate) wondering what on earth it was all about and who all those people were… Fortunately, the TV series does an excellent job of adapting the original manga, letting us get to know the main characters and relate to their loves and losses. Madhouse also gives us a stylish visual experience, faithfully bringing to life the distinctive character designs and the dark imagery (giant cogs grinding, windblown angel’s feathers, snowstorms of cherry blossom) which CLAMP have made so much their own. With a memorable soundtrack by Naoki Sato (‘Eureka Seven’) filled with ominous drum beats, repetitive tolling bells, and a striking main theme that surges up whenever the action intensifies.
 
One of the most chilling aspects of ‘X’ is the way that CLAMP draw us into the everyday lives of the protagonists, showing Kotori daydreaming in class, Fuuma at basketball practice, Aoki in the office, wearing the garish tie his little daughter has picked for his birthday present – and then shock us by throwing the people we have come to care about into the most horrific situations. But CLAMP also play to our love of conspiracy theories: the dreamseer Prince Hinoto works for the government in rooms below the Diet Building and her sister Kanoe is secretary to the Mayor of Tokyo.

On the voice-acting front, it’s difficult to fault the original seiyuu: Junichi Suwabe (currently Frau in ’07-Ghost’) is excellent as Fuma, but so is Crispin Freeman in the US dub. Mamiko Noto makes an appealing Kotori, as does the ever-excellent Michelle Ruff (Chi in ‘Chobits.’) Kenichi Suzumura (Shinnn Asuka in ‘Gundam Seed Destiny’) and Steve Cannon (Neji in ‘Naruto’) complete the ill-starred triangle as Kamui Shiro.

Incidentally, this is ‘X – Remix,’ the digitally remastered/ revamped version dating from 2006 and including ‘Episode 0: An Omen’ (which was originally the OAV?) which serves as prologue to the series by using Kakyo and his relationship with Hokuto Sumeragi to reveal the tragic events from the end of ‘Tokyo Babylon’ which will be of great consequence in ‘X’ – and also to introduce us to the main protagonists.

In Summary
‘X’ the TV series gives us everything we were deprived of in ‘X’ the movie: a millennial supernatural conflict waged between the representatives of good and evil on the bustling streets of contemporary Tokyo. The main difference? The characters who appeared so fleetingly in the movie, are fleshed out here, creating an involving and heart-wrenching drama.