Anime X [television series, movie]

[MamoruAlpha]

[quote name='AniSmith']...and the music is pretty decent too, orchestral and rock...interesting[/quote]

To this day, the X OST Vol. 2 is my no. 1 favorite anime soundtrack. Kohei Koizumi's "STRENGTH" is beautiful, and I could listen to the bonus song, "Crystal", sung by the seiyu that plays Kamui, all day.

[Adora]

Okay. I thought the movie was horrible. Really it was. I wanted to gouge my eyes out with a spoon after watching it.

The series was much better. I liked it a lot.

The manga, well, you can't go past the original, can you? I liked it a lot (not loved it, but liked it a lot) even though sometimes it swung between decent action and character relationships and "Feathers"*.

So yeah.

[size=1]*for anyone who doesn't get the reference "Feathers" can be be described as "Self-indulgent CLAMP being bastards not giving us anything substantial but just using up print-space and fanservice quotas". There was a lot of this in X. Too much sometimes. Though it was not as bad as Evangelion. [/size]

[Verykawaiineko]

I really really like X the manga..i ahve 1 gripe...its NEVER going to be finsished...CLAMP has dragged this series on for about ten years...while the TV ending was really anti climactc and rather strange..at least it gave some closure..X manga..has just been..hanging out for a while since 2002

anyway as i read more and more X that have been translated it seems to me the Fanservice is getting more and more intresting XD..though i dont know if i can handle finally reading vol 16 though...

[Arcadia]

[size=1]While I've never read the actual manga, I've seen both X the movie and the series and I liked both of them, when I first saw them. Looking back on the movie, I probably wouldn't have liked it as much if I had seen it recently. The series is far superior to the film, hands down. It covers so much more about the characters and their stories and unlike the movie, it doesn't leave you feeling like you've been shafted. That, and the art is simply gorgeous.

Unfortunately I don't remember the ending as well as I should, but I think I was pretty happy with it. It was definitely better than the movie version, but that's all the comparison I can give without watching it again.

On a side note, one of my favorite things about the series is the jokes that my friend and I have made about it. If you've seen it or are a good ways into the series, you'll know that [spoiler]every time Kamui tries to fight Fuu he gets knocked out (rather easily, might I add) and then one of his friends dies.[/spoiler] For a series as dark and brooding and angsty as X is, the few laughs you can get out of it are very needed. All jokes aside, though, it's an excellent series. Gorgeous. [/size]

[Guest iamrobin]

[QUOTE=densuke]I have seen pretty much every anime adapted from CLAMP manga and for me it's more a feeling of increasing dislike than skepticism. The storytelling is often weak and formulaic. X is one of the better efforts.

X: The Movie was not a good movie [b]but[/b] to me it [i]looked and sounded great[/i]. X is just too big of a story to tell in the short timespan of the movie, so the characters just come zooming in and things happen to them right away.

The TV series can spread out, doing justice to the characters and giving the story time to unfold. The story was always there, it just gets told properly. Madhouse, which did the X Movie, also did the TV series. Madhouse is a very accomplished studio with many very good series to their credit. They also take the time to get very good music for their projects.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, most of Clamp's mangas I haven't really gotten into, either. But I like Angelic Layer, especially the crazy madman scientist guy that's in it! :devil: lol. But ne ways, I love X!!! It's my favorite anime ever! Yes, the movie's animation was not that good, and I haven't read the mangas, but I do have the entire X series on DVD ...I love it! (a bit repetitive, oh well) I REALLY recommend it to anyone who hasn't already seen it.

[ShadowHimura13]

The other day I was watching X the movie and it was really interesting. The battle between the dragons of the Earth and Heavens. It has a lot of action in it. At first I didn't get the movie until I was it again for the 2 time yesterday. But The movie was so interesting that I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was just so cool but sad at the end when [spoiler]Fuma killed everyone execpt for Kamui, I cried at the end cus Kaumi had killed Fuma.[/spoiler] The epic battle was full of suspense but It is just sad thoughout the movie and I'll give it a thumbs up for that.Well Ja!

[COLOR=Navy]To create spoiler tags, simply type [spoiler*]text[/spoiler], minus the asterisk. As densuke mentioned, it's best not to ruin important plot twists for those who haven't seen the X television show or movie. And in the future, please be sure to check the Directory for pre-existing topics before creating a new series-specific thread.

~Dagger~[/COLOR]

[densuke]

Not for nothing, but your post is packed with [SPOILER]spoilers[/SPOILER]. It may be interesting to you to see blah-blah-blah, but it would certainly be less interesting for someone who watched the movie for the first time after reading your post.

As far as this movie goes, I thought it tried to cram too much into too short a time. It conveyed Kamui's dilemma but did nothing with most of the other characters. It looked and sounded pretty good but that's about it. Saying that you needed [i]two viewings[/i] to comprehend it seems like faint praise to me...

X is a big story and came off a lot better in the TV series, which was long enough to do it justice.

[JenniKate]

X - TV is the latest anime to make it to my favourites list. My only problem is that disk 6 was damaged and I'm waiting for a replacement. So while I've seen X the movie and know how it all ends, I don't know how it actually ends!

I watched the movie over a year ago and wasn't overly impressed but the TV series instantly grabbed my attention as having potential and by episode 4 I was hooked.

The main reason I love it is that the story is all about the characters and who they are which is satisfying. I like to know about the people and where they've come from. They also interact so well with each other forming realistic relationships.

My two favourite things about the series are actually two characters.

Subaru Sumeragi, he seems to have been emotionally hurt so badly that he never really recovered

Arashi Kishu, she has so many barriers to stop people getting into her heart but they're all coming down

My least favourite thing is the English voice actor for Yuzuriha Nekoi, it's high pitched and hard to listen to!


ADDITION: 18 Jan

I have finally finished watching X and have to say I'm satisfied with the ending.
I think the only reason I disliked the movie was that it had too much information in too short a time and the series has really allowed it to expand into a very watchable show.

I liked it so much that I have now ordered the manga for Tokyo Babylon (about Subaru). Being in Australia we haven't had this released on region 4 DVD so manga is all I can do for now.

I know many people dislike the fact that Clamp often use characters in more than one series but in X I think it has worked perfectly fine. It allows you to be intrigued by a character and then go to past publications to find their back story - rather than having to tie it up into the series.

Overall I think Clamp have done an excellent job and recommend X TV to everyone!

[Meggido]

I recently started buying the manga X without having seen the movie or the Tv series. I think the manga is awesome. The storyline is a lot more detailed and graphic then some of the other manga's that I have read.

[natetron46]

I completely agree. I really like the manga for this anime. I think it is among the best I own. The detail and the character development are among the best that I have read.

[Dagger]

A few days ago, I [i]finally[/i] got around to ordering the last four discs of X TV, so I'm really happy that people have started posting in this thread again. I can't wait to see how the series ends (amazingly enough, I haven't been spoiled for this one yet). I assume it's at least a little different from the movie.

For those of you talking about the manga: please keep in mind that it's perfectly okay to discuss the manga here if you plan on comparing it to the anime. But if you just want to discuss the manga itself, you should probably find/make an appropriate thread in the Manga Workshop. This thread's title originally included the word "manga," so I apologize if anyone was confused--I created it before the Manga Workshop existed, heh.

~Dagger~

[JenniKate]

A question for those that have finished watching X/TV.

There is one thing that I don't understand (actually two), and it could be that I missed something and need to watch the whole thing again! But I'd like others opinions - it's all going to need spoiler tags as I don't want to ruin things for people that haven't seen it!

[spoiler] Towards the end one of the characters mentions that they've lost Subaru. We then see him in the dream with his sister where he seems to have withdrawn from everyone - I missed what happened to take him there! Was it the battle with Seishiro? [/spoiler]

and again at the end [spoiler] at the very end we see where everyone is and how they are, he seems to be alive, but I thought he'd been killed by Fuma - anyone know what's going on there![/spoiler]

:D

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=JenniKate][spoiler]Towards the end one of the characters mentions that they've lost Subaru. We then see him in the dream with his sister where he seems to have withdrawn from everyone - I missed what happened to take him there! Was it the battle with Seishiro? [/spoiler]

and again at the end [spoiler] at the very end we see where everyone is and how they are, he seems to be alive, but I thought he'd been killed by Fuma - anyone know what's going on there![/spoiler]

:D[/QUOTE]

[spoiler]After Seishirou's death, Subaru (understandably) went into shock. He was so overwhelmed by grief that he lost his ability to create a barrier field, and basically sank into a kind of waking dream. The desolation of the landscape in his dream world reflects his emotional desolation.

I also thought that Fuma had killed Subaru, but apparently the wound wasn't fatal. I'll admit that I kind of wanted him to die--I mean, I love him as a character and all, but what the heck is he suppposed to live for? Not only he is now totally alone in the world, but he is also the Sakurazukamori. I don't know exactly how Seishirou's sakura tree operates, but won't Subaru have to feed it? That can't be too good for his mental health, heh. And besides, Subaru & Seishirou ought to stick together. ^_~[/spoiler]

Though I enjoyed the latter half of the series, I felt let down by the very ending (the last ten minutes or so of the final episode). [spoiler]Fuma did not deserve to frolic off happily into the sunset. Hinoto told Kamui earlier that even if Fuma was saved, he would still remember killing Kotori and everyone else. I can't imagine the real Fuma cheerfully playing with birds while bearing those memories on his shoulders.

Let all the other survivors live peacefully (although I still think Arashi would have gone psychotic at Sorata's death, and it would have been pretty cool if the world ended); Fuma, however, should have realized what he did and either a) lived an incredibly tortured existence, or b) killed himself. Hokuto's wish regarding Subaru and Seishirou didn't come true--why should Kotori's wish for her brother prove to be any stronger?[/spoiler]

One thing I didn't get was what happened to [spoiler]Hinoto and her sister. Hinoto committed suicide, that much I gathered, but what was up with her having split personalities and all? Plus, where did her sister go after learning of her death? After being such an important character, and a major catalyst for the entire conflict, she just kind of disappeared.[/spoiler]

For me, the highlight of the series was episode 16 (?), when Subaru and Seishirou's story was resolved. After those two, my favorite character was probably Yuuto--I found his laid-back attitude refreshing and appealing. I thought he was rather underused, and would have liked to learn whether or not he [spoiler]was truly interested in Satsuki.[/spoiler] I never cared for Karen or Aoki, but I went from disliking Yuzuriha and Arashi to rooting for and really loving them.

Still, I felt kind of cheated when [spoiler]Seishirou vanished so early on. He was one of the most powerful Dragons of Earth, in my opinion.[/spoiler] But at least [spoiler]Subaru got to play an important role in the very end.[/spoiler] That made me very happy.

~Dagger~

[JenniKate]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1][spoiler]

One thing I didn't get was what happened to Hinoto and her sister. Hinoto committed suicide, that much I gathered, but what was up with her having split personalities and all? Plus, where did her sister go after learning of her death? After being such an important character, and a major catalyst for the entire conflict, she just kind of disappeared.[/spoiler]
~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

That was bothering me too! I've been searching the net and have been reading a lot about the manga. While there are big differences between the manga and the series the characters seem to be heading towards the same fates. From that I've got the impression that it was just easier [spoiler] to have Kanoe disappear than to explain what happened to her [/spoiler]

I think I may have to buy the manga to suppliment the series.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=JenniKate]That was bothering me too! I've been searching the net and have been reading a lot about the manga. While there are big differences between the manga and the series the characters seem to be heading towards the same fates. From that I've got the impression that it was just easier [spoiler] to have Kanoe disappear than to explain what happened to her [/spoiler]

I think I may have to buy the manga to suppliment the series.[/QUOTE]
I really want to buy the manga as well, but two things are stopping me... First of all, both of the North American editions are flipped. Secondly, the series doesn't have an ending. It stopped at book 18 about two years ago or so, and I don't want to buy eighteen volumes of a manga that cuts itself off in the middle. One could just pretend that it segues into the anime's finale, but there are too many differences between them for this to make sense (and at one point CLAMP stated they would write a different ending for the manga).

But if the manga does seem to be heading in the same basic direction as the anime, I may re-consider picking it up, assuming it eventually comes out un-flipped.

I do hope that CLAMP will follow through and finish up X/1999 sometime in, oh, the next five years. But unless they're planning to suddenly tie in some of their never series like Tsubasa and Legal Drug, I see no reason for the huge delay. *sigh*

~Dagger~

[JenniKate]

I've read in a few other boards that one of the main writers of the manga has arthritis in her hands - if that is true that could be a reason for the delay!

Unfortunatly Australia has the same versions as the US so it's flipped here too.

On the plus side I have a friend who has read the manga and said that even though it doesn't have an ending you can see it eventually ending up the same as the tv series - it just takes some imagination!

[Dagger]

[quote name='JenniKate']I've read in a few other boards that one of the main writers of the manga has arthritis in her hands - if that is true that could be a reason for the delay![/quote]
Hmm... that [i]would[/i] explain a lot, although it doesn't really account for CLAMP's apparent compulsion to start so many new series. Ah well. This puts fans between a rock and a hard place--depending on what you believe, either a very talented artist is struggling with a debilitating disease, or the entire group just doesn't care enough to throw together a real ending. -_-

Which character(s) did you like least? I didn't empathize with Kanoe, for obvious reasons, and I didn't find Hinoto to be particularly appealing either. And I have to admit that I also thought Kotori was boring. She was supposed to be this amazing Aeris-like figure, but she was actually pretty bland. ^_^;;

~Dagger~

[JenniKate]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]Which character(s) did you like least? I didn't empathize with Kanoe, for obvious reasons, and I didn't find Hinoto to be particularly appealing either. And I have to admit that I also thought Kotori was boring. She was supposed to be this amazing Aeris-like figure, but she was actually pretty bland. ^_^;;

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]
I didn't particularly like Hinoto either. It felt like she was working against them, although that could be explained by [spoiler] her split personality that surfaced for a split second![/spoiler].

I'm torn with Yuziriha. As a character she has a lot of interesting aspects but the voice actors (both English and Japanese) I found very annoying.

Early on I didn't like Satsuke, but towards the end she seemed to grow as a person and grew on me so in the end I didn't dislike her.

I'd agree Kotori was boring, but I still liked her!

I've just started re-watching and discovered I must have slept through an entire episode. I was wondering why [spoiler] they didn't show Kotori and Fuma's father's funeral - but now I've discovered they did![/spoiler]

[2010DigitalBoy]

I saw the movie 2 years ago and it remains my favorite anime movie of all time. MY favorite part would have to be [spoiler]when Fuma cruses that guy into nothingness[/spoiler]. I saw the first DVD and bought it around 5 months ago, but with all the new games I never got around to buying any more. My least favorite charachter is Subaru. Also, has any one here seen the prequel, Tokyo Babylon? The one about the 2 guys who [spoiler] die at the begining of the series?[/spoiler]

[Kune]

X TV was one of the first anime's I ever watched, and it completely inspired me and held my interest. I think the best thing about it is the characters - especially Sorata, I think he's really cool. :)
The whole series kept me on the edge right up until the end...I was extremely disapointed.
I don't know how anyone else felt about it, but my friends were equally not so happy with the ending. We then started to look up on the manga, and discovered that it's still ongoing. I feel that the end of X TV was simply put there for a filler and because no one really knows how the manga is going to end. The manga is (so I hear and have seen a little of) more detailed and of course longer, leaving more room for character development. There are also (I believe) more characters in the X manga, so I'm really hoping that one day I can get around to reading them.
I don't expect that the movie could be any good - is there really enough time to put all the characters in? :P Also, the theme/plot seems to get lost in X TV, as if they're going around in circles...when you think about it, the plot is actually quite simple...Hmm...

Well...besides my dislike towards the TV series, I ultimatly am in much awe for the story of X by Clamp (although, what's with the title? :P). There's so much symbolism, and every one of the characters is supposed to represent the "typical" types of people...making it very relatable and interesting to analyze. Hmm...thinking it through, I suddenly feel like watching it again...lol.


*edit> I forgot to mention that Tokyo Bablon actually stars Subaru and his twin sister, and that guy with one eye...I believe they fight ghosts? Or demons...? Well, it holds a lot of history to Subaru's past.

Subaru - very likeable character...unfortunatly he has a bad habit. Smoking = tsk tsk. I think anyone who's seen Tokyo Bablon wouldn't like Subaru because of how much he changes...or maybe they would like that. I see him as a kid who was severely tramatized as a child, and in X turns out pretty facked up...Still cool though. lol

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=Kune]*edit> I forgot to mention that Tokyo Bablon actually stars Subaru and his twin sister, and that guy with one eye...I believe they fight ghosts? Or demons...? Well, it holds a lot of history to Subaru's past.

Subaru - very likeable character...unfortunatly he has a bad habit. Smoking = tsk tsk. I think anyone who's seen Tokyo Bablon wouldn't like Subaru because of how much he changes...or maybe they would like that. I see him as a kid who was severely tramatized as a child, and in X turns out pretty facked up...Still cool though. lol[/QUOTE]
The guy with one eye is Seishirou Sakurazuka, the single coolest and most intriguing character that CLAMP has ever created (well... in my opinion, at least :p). Subaru may be the protagonist of Tokyo Babylon, but Seishirou is ultimately the one who drives the story. And besides, he just kind of rocks.

I wouldn't say that Subaru was a "child" when [spoiler]Seishirou murdered Hokuto. I mean, back then he still had his trademark optimism and undying faith in humanity, but he was also a responsible teenager who saw and experienced some pretty awful stuff while doing his day-to-day work.[/spoiler] I'm basing this on what I know of the manga (I still haven't seen the OVA, sadly), so I can't speak to any discrepancies between them.

However, I did derive a sort of sadistic pleasure out of seeing the quietly angsty Subaru in X TV. Though he was allotted the minimum amount of screen-time needed to appease my inner Subaru maniac, I thought the show's writers did an excellent job of defining his personality. What I'm trying to say (in a rather roundabout way, heh) is that for me, Subaru's changed persona was one of X TV's biggest draws. And I felt that the resolution of Subaru's rivalry with Seishirou was among the most emotionally honest parts of the show. If I weren't a Tokyo Babylon fan, I doubt I'd have enjoyed the X anime nearly as much.

[quote name='Kune']The whole series kept me on the edge right up until the end...I was extremely disapointed.[/quote]
I'm curious, which specific aspect(s) of the ending turned you off?

[quote name='JenniKate']I'm torn with Yuziriha. As a character she has a lot of interesting aspects but the voice actors (both English and Japanese) I found very annoying.[/quote]
Lord, yes. Her English voice drove me to start watching X TV subbed--until I realized that her Japanese seiyuu's performance wasn't even incrementally less irritating. So it was back to the English track for me. After a while, though, I became used to hearing her speak in that weird falsetto tone. I was very touched by how she reacted during the episode in which [spoiler]Inuki[/spoiler] died.

~Dagger~

[Weaver_Karuko]

I liked the movie, although they really didn't develop the characters that well, I think that they did a very good job with the time that they had allotted. Now, the end is just a little messed whereas [spoiler]Camui kills his best friend and then holds his severed head in his hands... and cries... [/spoiler] Other than that, the characters were funny in most cases, although you don't get to [spoiler] see most of them very long [/spoiler]

[Dagger]

[quote name='Weaver_Karuko']I liked the movie, although they really didn't develop the characters that well, I think that they did a very good job with the time that they had allotted.[/quote]
The TV series more than makes up for the movie's shortcomings, most especially in terms of character development. If you ever get the chance, I strongly encourage you to check it out. Geneon recently re-packaged it in two far more affordable box sets (well, they're cheap compared to the original release, at any rate), so now's as good a time as any to buy it. The show also presents an alternative ending.

~Dagger~

[Kune]

I never watched Tokyo Bablon, so I don't know much about Subaru's history XP. What happened between him and that guy just confused me lol, I still don't get why they [spoiler] killed his sister [/spoiler]. As for the ending...well, I thought that'd be obvious :P - [spoiler] it was sooo dissapointing! [spoiler] I wanted the world to blow up or something, lol but I suppose that's a bit too much. But still, the ending was really corney and cheezy, and solved so simply all that build up for something not so great. [/spoiler]

Yuzuriha was an awsome character...i liked her an Karen a lot, Karen probably even more. Her japanese voice..I don't remember if it bothered me but I don't remember it doing so; it's the english voices that tend to annoy me

[Hayama]

Although I love Subaru from Tokyo Babylon and I like the main plot, some of Subaru's little onmyoji missions aren't as intersting to me because they make the manga seem too episodic. Like instead of "monster of the day" its "exorcism of the day." I understand thier valuable contributions to Subaru's characters but I can't help what I like and don't like. I love Tokyo Babylon, just not all of Subaru's missions.

As for X! I love it! I've seen some of the anime and if I had more money I'd buy the whole thing. For now, I have the manga and I love it. Arashi is my favorite female character, Sorata is hilarious, the Subaru/Seshirou thing is so tragic, I feel so bad for Nataku. The art is amazing!