X TV Volume 5

Variations on the theme of the inevitability of destiny…

 
It’s a little unfortunate that ‘Wish,’ the first episode on this disc, is basically a resume of what’s gone before, as first Kakyo the dreamseer, then Kamui recall the events that have led up to where they are now. Ok, it’s a clip show. So, if you’ve been paying close attention to the show, it won’t hurt if you fast forward or even skip this one. That way, you won’t feel cheated to find – after the bleak and traumatic ending of #16 – that nothing happens for a whole episode.
 
Luckily, with #18 ‘Newborn’ the action – and the angst – click back into gear as bluff soldier Sergeant-Major Kusanagi and teenager Yuzuriha, meet again, and end up going to eat chocolate parfait together. There seems to be real chemistry between this unlikely couple, even though Kusanagi is a Dragon of Earth. Unfortunately, this means that Fuma is watching them intently which doesn’t bode at all well for their nascent relationship.   
 
Unresolved feelings haunt both Dragons of Heaven and those of Earth. Satsuki, the teenaged genius who, after a traumatic childhood, has only been able to relate to her computer Beast begins to experience buried emotions. The cloned experimental child Nataku (who has ‘no feelings’) begins to change when pitted against Karen. And Karen, the fire-wielding nightclub hostess, has hidden feelings of her own, which are only revealed when she takes the place of the one she secretly loves in a deadly encounter with water master Yuto. But it’s the punishing and bloody battle in #20 ‘Ripple’ that brings another couple of lonely hearts together – with devastating consequences.
 
Much of CLAMP’s work can be seen as a set of variations on the theme of the inevitability of destiny. Do the Dreamseers predict the future with absolute accuracy? And if so, how can they continue to live with themselves if there isn’t any hope left for those they care about? Princess Hinoto personifies this dilemma…and the strain begins to tell, just as the Dragons of Heaven need her guidance.
 
If you’re wanting a straightforward action series, ‘X’ is not for you. ‘X’ is all about relationships: Dragons of Heaven fall in love with Dragons of Earth, just like Montagues with Capulets – or they fall in love with each other, with disastrous consequences. By now the viewer will have stayed with this series because they desperately want to know what becomes of the protagonists. Will ice-maiden Arashi accept Sorata’s declaration of love or will she reject him? Will Yuto’s easy-going charm penetrate Satsuki’s self-protective shell… and if he does, how will his long-term lover, Kanoe, feel about it?
 
Four episodes to a disc again – and one is a clip show. Having just been listening to Todd Haberkorn of Funimation explaining why they prefer to do thirteen episode releases these days, I have to raise the question as to whether it’s better to wait for the box set or thinpac (if there’s going to be one, that is.) Because watching only four episodes at a time (while waiting weeks, maybe months, for the next release) can leave the viewer with an uneven, even skewed overview of the story arc. (The Geneon R1 re-mix compromised with five episodes on each of five discs.)
 
 
 
In Summary
A little disappointing that, just as the series builds to its climax, only three episodes on this penultimate disc contribute anything to the development of the story. But once that’s out of the way, the Dragons of Earth and Heaven clash in earnest over the fate of the Earth.