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X TV
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Animation - 9.3 |
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Sound - 8.9 |
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Story - 8.5 |
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Character - 8.8 |
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Value - 8.6 |
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Enjoyment - 8.7 |
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Average - 8.8 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| It the second time I watched this series, and I must admit it easily one of the best I know. X set the bar as an incredible show on it’s second take to the screen. Everything in it is just full of wisdom inside every questions asked during the whole story.
X from Clamp is the kind of anime to make you think. Humanity as always seeks for fundamental questions about life, morals and perception toward our world. You will not find answer, but you will find something that you are. I think every type of personalities can be found in this masquerade of good vs. good. There is no evil here because there is no definitive answer to the situation. There is no clear side and there are no wrong ones either. So what is X? It’s the perpetual question about humanity.
One of the main concepts about the story is the constant inclusion of fate. In reality, the show is mainly about destiny, SADAME. What is the conception of the future and what can we do to be able to have some control over our destiny.
Here is another concept of X :
Should we cherish human life more than other forms of life, or should we protect the earth at the cost of our lives? Why are human lives so important that we can decide, as human, of the fate of other creatures? X is full of that and it’s the kind of animation we can easily define as art, pure and simply. Sincerely it’s probably the closet thing to Neon Genesis Evangelion I have seen to date. It’s really philosophical and made so that anyone can find something an important meaning. The representation of many aspects of everyone visions about living is in there.
One of my favorites is probably this mind space fully present to give impact toward characters thoughts, but this space is so well represented that it’s shocking. This place was made to represent dreams. Characters are under a greenish light in an empty and endless black room. This is probably to describe the loneliness that everyone is facing. It’s really fascinating and I must admit that I got a similar feeling when I fall into my own little world, alone and cynical.
Another conception of our reality has really got my attention. This one was also in Evangelion, it’s the self projection of our childhood into our mind. We all grow up one day, but for some kind of reason, we all project ourselves as how we were once we were children. Usually when we are sad, the little kid that we were is surfacing back from the bottom of our soul. We are as weak as any little kid unable to face reality. It’s one of the most powerful type of scene I have seen in any kind of media, but only Japanese animation render it so well. X, Evangelion and Haibane Renmei are really strong in this department. They are easily some of the best anime I know because of their deepness.
To simply put it straight, X is simply a glimpse of our real motive for living inside a story concerning the battle of the end of humanity, or the end of the earth as we know it. There is no way we can escape our fate, but we can choose what it could be… that’s the reason we dream.
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| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| X is one of the many series I've picked up as a result of me being a collector of Geneon DVDs. Two very rare auctions ended on eBay.co.uk on the same day, one for the rare remix set and one for the less rare two bailey box sets - I won the latter.
The series description sounds interesting enough to interest most anime fans: In X there are a total of fourteen people from various walks of life who have psychic abilities (varying from controlling machines to controlling elemental forces). Seven are destined to be Dragons of Heaven; a group who fight to preserve the Earth as it is now by protecting seals located in Tokyo, while the other seven are destined to be Dragons of Earth; a group destined to destroy the Earth by destroying the seals. Among these psychics is one known as Kamui, the only one that can select his own destiny by becoming the leader of either group and, with him being the most powerful, save or destroy the earth as a result.
Very disappointingly, the above description is practically all the plot you're going to get out of X. As interesting as the concept is, it wasn't executed very well at all and there really wasn't much depth at all.
What frustrated me about the story was how flashbacks appeared far too often and went on for far too long when the series is only 24 episodes long, one episode actually being a recap. The time spent needlessly treading over old ground repeatedly could've been spent improving the story, but...
The part of the plot I found most poorly executed was anything and everything related to the seals. The Dragons of Heaven are supposedly there to protect certain areas of Tokyo (where the seals are located), yet the seals can actually be broken easily by simply killing someone close to the seal protector and making them lose the will to fight. And, even if I was to ignore that, there's also the small matter of every other psychic aside from Kamui being worthless when only Kamui can kill Kamui (this will only by understandable if you watch the series) in order for the final seal to be broken.
Thankfully, the plot weakness caused by the needless amount of characters didn't ruin the series, the opposite being true. X wasn't created with the intention of providing a deep story with lots of twists, the goal instead clearly being to make X into one of the better character driven series out there. While very little time was spent developing the plot during the 24 episodes, a huge amount of it was spent on developing the large cast of characters, with the characters frequently getting episodes all to themselves so that you get attached to them. After those attachment episodes (once the manga author/animation team was sure you cared for the characters), the cast start to shorten in number due to tragic event after tragic event, resulting in the characters sticking in the tradgic character section of my memory.
So, in a nutshell, X isn't recommend to those looking for an excellent story...but is recommend to those looking for well developed/likeable characters. Wouldn't it have been great if we could've had the best of both worlds?
Anyway, time to move on to everything else that needs mentioning, starting with the art/animation. The art looked good for a series that aired in 2002, my only real complaint about it being that some of the female characters looked more like ugly males. The animation wasn't very impressive at all for a series that involves fighting, the fights all being static and usually involving an attack being made and then a short conversation taking place before the next one - It isn't a series that people looking for action would be best pleased with. But, overall, X looks more than good enough for a series that's focused on character development and emotions.
The other thing that needs mentioning is the music, but there's really not much to say... I found it to be an easy to forget soundtrack that fitted the series good enough. None of the tracks stood out in an amazing or awful way.
Note: Before my last words, I want to mention something else in case people want to know: There's very light yaoi in X. There are many moments where straight guys won't be best pleased with what they're seeing, although nothing of a sexual nature takes place. When 4 females create a manga with a cast that's nearly all male I suppose it isn't surprising to see some minor yaoi goings on, such as hand holding, a gay love sub-plot and a man licking another mans neck... I know what would happen if the reverse occurred!
That's pretty much it. All that remains is for me to say that I thought X was heavily flawed but worth my time. I recommend it it to anyone looking for an emotional ride.
Rating: 7.5/10
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I cannot express how overall beautiful X is. The story, the characters, the music - it's all done well. This one can break even the strongest person and reduce them to tears, so make sure you have a box of tissues on hand.
This series, however, is truly for a more mature audience given the nature of its apocalyptic scenario as well of the more subtly hinted at character relationships. There's also somewhat of a prerequisite of having read Tokyo Babylon to understand two of the more complex character relationships.
Animation - It's well done, staying true the CLAMP style. Some of the more graphic scenes involving blood could have been done a little more realistically. The character movements had the fluidity that is difficult to find with regards to animation even in more modern series.
Sound - I honestly don't know where to start here. The music, especially 'Sadame', gave more depth to the overall emotion of the story. hte sound effects didn't overshadow what characters may have been saying and vice versa; there was avery good balance.
Story - As one of the first anime I ever watched in its entirety, I fell in love with the story. The apocalyptic setting was well done and original in many aspects, to me. As of yet (with over 150 series under my belt since then), I have not found a story that has moved quite as thoroughly as this one since.
Character - The characters in this series are at once both simple and complex. When ou take them at face value, it makes for godd watch, but when you go back and take a deeper look at \each character and their various relationships, the whole series just takes off. I think my only complaint was that I had to go out a read 'tokyo Babylon' to have a greater understanding of two of the most complex relationships of the series.
Value - If I understand this one correctly, then I highly value this series as one of my top 5. It's definately something to watch over and over because you'll undoubtedly find something new everytime.
Enjoyment - X is usually one of the first two anime I rec. when people ask me for suggestions, and I stand by that as I can't just watch one or two episodes at a time - I usually take a day and do nothing but watch X.
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| Average |
4.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| It is extremely pretty, and it sounds good, but I could not finish X TV. Generally, I finish everything, but now with a number of things competing for my time, I cannot afford to waste it watching boring, pretentious drivel such as this.
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2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| This anime is truly a work of art, and not because of its actual animation. No, its secret lies in the fact that it has perfected the disjointed jaw. Who needs such worthless molds of calcium anyway? Triangular faces are, without a doubt, the sexiest facial feature a man can possess. What a shame...to think that, had I been born without jawbones, I could have been that attractive. Oh yes, where was I...X TV? Right, right. My apologies; on with the review!
Let it be known that I am no fan of "pretty boy" or "pretty girl" series. This isn't because they are designed as eye candy; no, it's because shallowness generally follows right in their wake. Though X possesses more substance than most of its peers, I can't for the life of me understand why this has so much appeal; like all those in its genre, at its very best X screams mediocrity. In all irony, I found most of my inspiration to continue watching by laughing at the pure abundance of cliches, plot stupidities, and failed attempts at establishing serious moods. I mean honestly, I don't think I was supposedly to be laughing when people died.
Anyway, graphically X TV is pretty appealing. It's got some real nice scenery, though I did notice it cheating many times. For instance, there would be an incredibly detailed ground shot with the skyline being reflected in a pool of water, but the sky would be pure white. Coupled with the "black screen with slash" swordfighting, it never really appealed to me as all that great. Were this just a few scenes I wouldn't be complaining, but I noticed such cheating a fairly consistent basis. It is redeemed, though, by exceptionally fluid framerates for a 2001 production; I was impressed here. Characters, however, were another story. Though I'm certainly no expert, the guys were obviously aimed at being eyecandy for a female audience. The biggest problem here is that that they all look alike; after about the seventh Kamui clone I gave up trying to remember names and faces. Couple this with absolutely horrendous female designs (Kotori was the only one who looked somewhat natural...and even then) and it leaves a lot to be desired.
Musically speaking, again there isn't much worthy of mention. The opening and ending themes are decent, though I particularly like the opening "eX Dream." Again, though, at its best it's mediocre, and this rings true for the soundtrack as well. Insert songs didn't always fit the moods, and this probably contributed to my lack of interest in the seriousness of the story. Tag on a Seiyuu that left a lot of room for improvement and you can't help but sigh and put your head in your hands.
As far as the story goes...what a disaster. I couldn't even finish the series it was so bad. It's your typical imminent apocalypse scenario, only everyone involved with it seems to have the IQ of a gnat. In addition, "I will protect you!" finds its way into all the male dialogues and gets old real quick. Every episode seemed devoted to one of the side characters rather than the main story, and some (episode 8 for example) lost me completely. Even worse, the episodes are vaguely tied together so it makes the series seem very fragmented and disjointed.
My biggest gripe, however, lies in the characters. Kamui seemed entirely motivated by making the plot dramatic, not by any natural or rational causes. Though they did try to give him some depth, it's like taking a crumbled piece of paper and attempting to make an aerodynamic plane -- it's just not going to happen. Additionally, character relationships are very artificial. Sora and Arashi are prime examples; Sora meets her, Sora immediately "falls in love" and begins spewing crap about how he's going to protect her because she's the most important girl to him. Hell, why didn't he just pick some chick off the street? Again, he was another character that seemed entirely driven by the plot, and thus was an immediate turn-off. All in all, more cliches, more mediocrity, more low scores.
Ultimately I ended up making it through twelve of the twenty-four episodes upon choosing to write this review. I don't know, I might finish it up watching a scattered episode here or there, but I was thoroughly unimpressed. Despite all the high scores, however, I wasn't all too optimistic going in -- it seemed decent, but nothing spectacular. Even so, it still managed to suck worse than expected. While I could understand how it would appeal to some people, if you're looking for substance X is definitely the wrong place to turn.
Discouraged.
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Myself |
(2006-12-31 14:50:08) 2006-12-31 14:43:09 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Overall, I enjoyed this anime. I thought It was pretty decent. The story itself is well thought it, and is presented in a way where there will be lots of twists and turns. However, for the average viewer this anime can prove to be quite a challange to stick through with it since its so confusing. The first few episodes you are bombarded with tons and tons of information, alot happens too quickly. To be enjoyable since your gonna spend most your time trying to figure out "whos that guy, is he a good guy?", "Who the heck are the dragons of Heaven and Earth?". Because all of this eventually gets cleared up, I will not rate the story too harshly. I definatly found there to be lots of character development which I thoroughly enjoyed, how Kamui went from being a prick to a heartfelt sensitive guy. I feel as if the whole story is told to you before it happens through unusual fortelling such as the Priestess (Dreamseer) and it seems to always happen the way they predict. However, I suppose the only thing that would surprise you is how their predictions come true. Worth watching, but be prepared to stick all the way to the end if you want a clear conclusion.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Imagine the backdrop of an isolated highway: jagged slabs of pavement lying below and a sandy-coloured dry sky hanging overhead. The world appears on the breaking point of death. On the sides of one grandstanding tower, two men engage in a sword battle for the destiny of this planet: to allow it to flourish with its sinful humanity with the hope of redemption, or perish and be born anew in the purity it was intended to have, yet without the prescence of humans. Such a fight carries such a heavy weight of blood sacrifice and ideals carried in the people who've protected the men until that fated point, and sees a battle between men once regarded as friends in an epic story over the apocalypse of the world.
One enters the story of X/1999 TV series with the vision of two young men who battle for the destiny of the world: one seeks to perserve the state of humanity, while the other wishes to destroy it for the supposed corruption of the Earth's balance. The groups that support these ideals respectively are the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth.
Kamui Shirou isn't your typical likable protagonist, at least not on the surface when you come to meet him in the start of the series. He returns to town to find the sacred sword destined to help him on his journey, but with an encounter of his old childhood friends, Fuma and Kotori, he seems cold and brute, partly on account of his tainted past. Little does he realize that his fate will lead him to encounter his friends in a way that's epicly tragic and intriguing at the same time. Add in the interesting guardians that serve on each of the Dragon camps and you have the collective cast of X/1999 TV.
I cannot say that I've seen the X/1999 movie, so I cannot expand on how this TV series compares to the former. However, this series is a perfect example of what an epic story should entail, yet has a few shortcomings that take away from its presentation in terms of pacing. If there were a shoujo series for the shounen crowd, this would certainly qualify as a tittle worth its merit.
I didn't have a dry eye watching X TV, to be honest, it hurt to watch its events at times. This series does such a great job of establishing its characters, their struggles, and their backgrounds accordingly. Animation is gorgeous, right down to the cityscapes and beautifully crafted characters. The music is equally of high caliber, nice dark toned and symphonic pieces to couple the story to a tee. Debatably, this series has the best character development for an epic story I've seen for a while in an anime series, yet the problem is that it chooses to deviate from the main story in order to develop its characters. This is both a vice and a virtue as I'll expand upon in my extended review. However, this is an effectively mature series, with a heavy atmosphere to boot. I believe it's also CLAMPs darkest work to date. Highly recommended, especially to those who like epic stories, tragic heroes, dark drama with underlying tones of romance.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I'm really glad that they made this anime cause the movie left out a lot, but I mean a lot of things in the air. This is indeed one of my all time favorite anime cause from animation to enjoyment they did an awesome job on this one and present a much more complex and logical story than the movie did.
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SR-95 |
2006-08-22 06:59:22 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I think I should start with synopsis:
"It's the year of destiny (1999) and 15 year old Kamui Shirou, a powerful psychic, has returned to Tokyo after a 6 year absence. He wants to be with his childhood friends, Fuma (his best friend) and Kotori, Fuma's little sister (and Kamui's possible girlfriend). He wants to protect them from all dangers, but destiny and fate are haunting Kamui and pulling in him and his beloved childhood friends. It is his destiny to decide the fate of the world, no matter if he wants the role or not. Now it is a matter of whether he will join the side of the Seven Seals and become the Dragon of Heaven to save mankind, or join the Seven Angels and become the Dragon of Earth to destroy all civilization so the earth can heal itself from man's destruction."
I have to say that this is one of my favorite anime. I started watching it at the beginning of 2003, on VIVA TV; it became very fast the highlight of "viva anime" (as the program was adequately named), it also represented the main anime for witch the commercial spot created for viva anime... if you want to find out what actually appealed so much to me from this show read on...
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| This is the Worst Anime I have watched So far.... & This is the Worst review I've ever written for an anime ever....
Okay... I can't complain about Animation, It has CooL animation and the divine sword was definitely cool......
Sound was rather okay... I liked the ending theme....
Story.... I think it was rather good... It had quite a good storyline... The idea of the Future of the earth, the powers and the dragons... It was rather cool. & explaining the life of a dream seer was quite good...
Character.... It was satisfactory... Explaining the character's life... & their true wishes ... I don't know why Kamui was so cold at the start.... & i can't understand people with that personality... It was rather sad and surprising that the characters changed their characters so fast.... =\
I didn't really like or enjoy this anime... It has splendid animation, but i got kinda bored of the feathers.... I think like, almost every episode has at least a feather dancing around.... And when someone got injured or died and they cried... I didn't really get emotional... Usually i would, but X TV just didn't get to me... & I found it rather boring....
It has a good storyline, good animation, but......... I just didn't enjoy it.... The emotions just didn't struck me..... The Characters had good personalities and good pasts too... But.... yeah, what i look for in animes are Characters and Emotions... This anime certainly didn't fulfill my tastes in its emotions...
I was also really confused when the story didn't go the way i expected it to be... which is the movie, X 1999.... It's supposed to be the more detailed version of the movie, and the ending changed... in the end, some of the dragons survived instead of them all dying, fuma lived, kamui died instead... I was like.... What Happened to The Ending?!
Anyways, CLAMP could certainly make a better anime than this... Much BETTER!!! Chobits & CardCaptor Sakura is a MUCH better Choice for me since i'm into shojo animes...
It is good anyway, maybe i'm just not the kind of person into action, dark and slightly bloody animes....
I just didn't enjoy X TV.... Somehow...
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Avalanche |
(2006-04-09 16:24:34) 2006-04-09 08:47:05 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Considering this was from CLAMP - the studio known for it's shojo, comedy and heartwarming stories, X was something of an anomaly. Dark, depressing and full of angst - X was full of promise from the very beginning. With breathtaking animation, a wonderful soundtrack and a captivating storyline X remains a decent anime. Is it a masterpiece? Definitely not. For though it has all the elements of a good anime - it also has the flaws which cannot be ignored.
The plot is not original - there have been many stories about - The End of The World. How many times have you heard - To go against destiny, Things to come in the future cannot be changed etc etc. But indeed eventhough X takes this theme head on - it remains quite decent. What we have in this story are - 8 people to protect Earth, 8 people to destroy Earth and one character split down in the middle. X begins in a rather unusual way - introducing the plethora characters one after another. The anime remains engaging throughout the first 12 episodes (infact excellently done till this point) but then goes down the drain after the 'super' (Read: contrived) twist. The villain of the anime is made in a way that I first had my mouth hung open in disbelief - and then I burst out laughing over the stupidity. It is one thing to make someone a villain due to a circumstance, it is another thing when he is made because of someone's elses choice. The twist in episode 21 was very predictable. The same goes for the ending - people say that it was touching/rushed. It is none of these - it is incredibly lame and very predicatable. In fact so much so - that the last 5 minutes had me laughing hard since I had guessed that something of this nature would happen by episode 20 itself. It's a pity I cannot reveal what was so funny, but lets leave it as - Kamui is no Mahatma Gandhi.
The characters too are nor handled properly. Since there are 17 characters, it would be foolish to develop them all of them. And that is exactly what CLAMP tried to do. The result is that we have episodes 14 to 19 of forced character developement. And it does not suit the series at all. The main story in these was forgotten completely - an unforgivable thing to do since this anime is a plot driven anime. I was pissed especially when Yuzurihia starts crying in an episode when unable to answer a stupid question. The same goes for Subaru and Sakurazumori - not handled well and not needed. Many characters are very ironic. I was intrigued by the fact that the bad guys were shown so likeable - especially Yuto, the military guy etc. And some good people were incredibly stupid - Ayase now takes the prize for the character with lowest IQ in the anime universe. Kanae, Satsuki, Hinoto also join this list. However there were some nicely done people as well - Sorata was wonderfully developed. I also enjoyed seeing windamster guy - nicely handled.
What are the good points of the show? Well the setting is quite well done - I was sucked into the story from epiosde 2. Kamui's feelings were well done save for the last episode. The overall plot is handled surprisingly well - considering it has no originality. And of course, the the animation was stellar. Fangirls will swoon over the males of the anime. It's a bishonnen fest. All the males seem 6 feet tall, except Fuma - he looks like 8 feet tall. The faces were a characteristic V shaped. The colouring was splendid and the feather effects were awesome. The fights sequences were extremely engaging. Considering this was a 2002 series - this has one had an excellent animation. Also enjoyable was the sound. The OP was really good. And the BGM is among the best I've heard - the theme though remains the same when used in different scenes does the work splendidly - be it a piano, violin or full fledged orchestra score. X really has a wonderful soundtrack.
X remains a good series to watch . Though it has it's flaws it is certainly better than other works out there. The first half of X was really handled well. Though it slips in the last half due to predictable 'twists' and forced character developement - it still remains a decent watch. This anime could have been made much better if the some of the forced character developed was replaced for plot building instead. All in all - a good work but by no means a masterpiece.
Random Fact: X is based on the manga of the same name. An unfinished work by CLAMP - there are 18 volumes. No new chapter has come out since 2003.
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petran79 |
(2007-11-30 05:07:28) 2006-03-27 15:00:00 |
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| Average |
5.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I admit that if the manga of X-1999 had a definite ending I wouldnt have bothered with X-TV at all. It is stuck in volume 19, chapter 5. As with most of CLAMP work I prefered their manga adaptations. Though my first introduction with CLAMP began with X-Movie which I didnt like at all even if I had no idea what the anime was about.
Then I read the manga that I consider their best work so far in terms of design. But it lacked in character and story.
Unfortunately the anime in many points has not to do much with the manga. Some scenes of the manga are toned down here like Kotori's death and also the death of Kamui's mother and aunt as well as the mother of Fuuma and Kotori. In the manga these scenes are of the most gruesome and violent, even surpassing X-Movie and leave an impression immediately. Not here though.
If you've read all the published manga volumes so far I'd recommend watching the anime if you want:
background of some characters that is not featured in the manga like Yuzuriha and Satsuki.
a romance developing between Yuzuriha and a dragon of earth (the military guy). In the manga they dont go that far.
A much better Kamui than the manga overall in terms of character. Kotori looks also nice.
A completely different turn of events regarding Sorata and Arashi.
A good, if rushed, ending. This should be the most important reason anyway, second only to the quality animation ,music and voice actors.
Things that could deterr the manga fans from enjoying this title:
as mentioned above, toned down death scenes and battles.
Nataku's and Karen's side stories and battle and Subaru's and Seishiro's rivallry not so well presented. Some major facts are completely omitted. I'd recommend reading Tokyo Babylon too. These stories were that made the manga worth. Lack of episodes isnt an excuse. Two of them (#0 an 17) were synopses anyway.
Fuuma in the manga is much more evil and cruel.
Kanoe (Hinoto's sister) is omitted in the last episodes and not given that much screen time.
CLAMP visual style may look a little odd while animated.
Is this the real ending the creators of the manga had in mind? or the more pessimistic of X-Movie? Till their work is finished we'll never know.
As things with the manga stand now this is a must watch for the manga fans and for CLAMP fans in general as it is considered one of their best works. Credits to Madhouse Studios for trying their best to keep the manga's dark atmosphere even if censored in some scenes.
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maya |
(2006-02-15 05:39:13) 2006-02-15 05:26:52 |
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| 'X'... is a difficult review. I enjoyed it, certainly. But in the end... I wanted more. And I was greatly disappointed... it has some serious flaws. At least in my point of view.
The first one is the ending. Although the story was pretty much finished, the ending it was kind of... anti-climatic? I was expecting something more spectacular I admit. But that is just one tiny thing. 'X' could have still made it as a great anime if it wasn't for... the story. Or, to be more precise, the way the story was told.
It was messy. It started pretty well, I'll give them that, but after a few episodes it all went downhill. The main story seemed to loose a lot of it's importance as most of the episodes were used to introduce the various characters that would take part in that same story. Meaning, almost half the episodes of 'X' give us only detailed information on every character's past and feelings. The other half (roughly) is the story.
To make this even worse, the 'character presentation episodes' are scattered. They don't choose to introduce them all at the same time... oh no. You have three character episodes... then one episode about the main story... then two more character episodes... and so on. The result? 'X' is as confusing as this explanation. To make a long story short, the character's past keeps intruding on the main story at random intervals. Which is a very bad thing... in my opinion, as it makes the story harder to follow and the viewer more confused. It also gives the series a high 'boring' rating. Because, believe me, there are a lot of characters.
Even so, 'X' has some positive aspects... a good animation, nice sound, likeable characters and even a nice plot. It's worth one watch at least by every fan of CLAMP or by any fantasy story lovers.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I'm a big fan of CLAMP and i've watched many of their works, but for some reason this is far from my favorite CLAMP but it still is very interesting show. It's hard to find any action animes with depth these days, but this anime has much depth... may be a bit too much of it even.
This anime's best trait is its presentation. this anime looks spectacular from beginning to the end. The animation is super smooth throughout. The movements of the characters during the action also is done flawlessly. the character design however got to me just a little bit at times. They looked way too thin at times and it just made the character look a bit weird.
Accomplanying this great animation is it great music. The OP is catchy and ED is also very good, but what really standout is its background music, which sets the mood flawlessly.
The action scene I found however lacked a bit of punch. May be it's because i saw this anime after i watched HELLSING and R.O.D. Everything just felt a little weak and lacked a bit of style.
This anime could be characterized as a constant character development. From beginning to the end this anime introduces characters after characters and explain evey single on of their lives. character development is absolutely necessary, but the problem with this anime was the fact that the cast for this anime is gigantic. this anime spends a lot of time with every characters background and motives and it really is exausting. At times i thought "Hey wheres the action?"
Another problem that spurs from the gigantic cast was its pacing. Becuase so many episodes are spent on characters the story went bit stale and slow throughout. This eventually led to rather cramped and anti-climactic ending.
I think this is the first anime that i said there's just too much character development...
Nevertheless this really was a surprising and enjoyable experience. Everything looks great and sounds great, but I thought the whole anime lacked a bit of punch to make a truly enjoyable action anime.
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Summoner |
(2008-09-01 11:45:43) 2005-08-30 12:25:19 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The future is none but one. Every human is merely a slave of fate and whatever path he chooses it'll lead him to the inevitable. That's what this anime is trying us to tell. It's quite interesting philosophy after all, I believe every one of us tried to think about destiny theory at least once in our lifetime. It's always easy to blame fate for your problems, isn't it?
I've never watched X the movie, but I did hear that it's just a bloodshed without any character development or even a decent story... Well X TV is nothing like that, actually it's quite the opposite. It seems CLAMP figured out their mistakes of the failure they have called X the movie and tried to correct them at their best. Well and they sure did succeed, but... I got the feeling that not only they did acknowledge such thing as Character Development, but they became obessed with it... To keep it short - half of the episodes of this anime are the flashbacks of particular character's past in order to develop him better. It could sound bad for some people or it could sound good for others. Well just to conclude it, thanks to this the main line of story is extremely slow-pacing and I personally favor the story over characters.
As this show has interesting philosophy, likable characters, a decent story and some eye and ear candies, it's definitely recommended. Don't be scared of the bad reviews about X the movie, it's nothing like it, it's completely opposite - I can do nothing else but to repeat.
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| X TV is a really mind blowing show, i love everything about it.
The animations is superb even though the show is 4 years old now, it really shines and the art and animation remain elegant and mystic through the whole show...this show has a really great ambience and mood, it is very mystic, prophetic, epic, nostalgic..i don't know, it reflects different emotions in different times, but it remains mystic and prophetic most of the time.
Also ALL the characters are impossibly good looking in usual Clamp-ish fashion !
The action scenes are really superb and for me the face expressions of each character reflect perfectly the emotion they are feeling, with very subtle but nototious details...such expression is rare in animation in general.
The music is wonderful though ONE track is very overused, good thing it's a wonderful song.
The story is very good, it involves the end of the world in a way not done before, there are two factions ; the dragons of heaven, who wish to protect the world, and the dragons of earth, who wish to destroy it, Kamui, the key to the end of the world, must decide wich side to join ; though there is allegedly only one destiny...there are two choices, what will happen?
Both sides have their own valid points....the story is quick paced and never drags, and has lots of (rather ironic) twists and turns, it will surely keep you interested.
It is bitter sweet though, so don't expect every one to end up with what you would normally think would be a happy ending, and since the begging you KNOW some pretty nice people are gonna die, but this just ups the angst/excitement factor i think.
Much like the story, there are no black and white characters in X, and all the Dragons of Heaven and Earth, as well other important characters are given their own time in the limelight.
You'll get to know why they are figthing and what they hope to accomplish by taking part in the important time that will come, and you will also know about their past life and the experiences that have mae them the way they are.
You get to feel sympathy for both factions and you actually care for most of the characters by the time the show ends.
One thing that may turn people away (not me, but i know people that would be turned off by it) is the "pretty boy" character designs in X...though i find the art to be nice and classy, i know there are people who just don't swallow it...but really don't judge the show by it, it can be quite misleading, the show is pretty violent and intense, and has tons of depth, don't ignore it by the character's looks!
summary...action and story are top-notch but the deal sealer are the characters themselves, all of them are so 3 dimensional and human, they will really make you feel !
In the end, this is a classic show that balances action and drama perfeclty! a must see !
BTW, the dub for this show is awesome !!
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I thought this would be a more exciting anime to watch, but I was disappointed fairly on with the anime. Nothing much happens and it just feels like your wasting your time.
The animation and action are fairly well-done, but that only doesn't make an anime appealing. Especially when the character development in my view was pretty poorly done - it had some potential for some interesting characters but were ruined. The destiny theme seemed pretty good and interesting however with the rather thin character development it didn't progress to far.
Whilst the anime does have its rather weak points - overall it's a decent anime that can be used to kill some time.
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|
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ahh...X. One of my most favorite animes of all time. This, in my opinion is Clamp's best manga work ever, and the anime does the manga complete justice, unlike X the movie, which was a total trainwreck.
The story of X is one of the best I've ever encountered in an anime. On the outset, it might look like another bishonen show, with mysterious young boy holding the key to the salvation or the destruction of the world. But the twist that is put into this 'story of armageddon' plotline is wonderful. X goes through lots of twists of turns, but it never boring as it reaches towards its very satisfying, if bittersweet conclusion.
The story is helped immensely by a deep cast of characters. All the Dragons of Heaven and Dragons of Earth are given a good amount of screen time and going over their background stories, their own personal motives and interactions with each other is a highlight of the anime. What is really interesting is the shades of grey in all of the characters. There really are no absolute good or bad guys in X, and you end up caring for the Dragons of the Earth (those who want to destroy the world) almost as much as you care for the Dragons of Heaven (those who want save the world).
The animation is pretty good. It was beatiful when it first came out(back in 2002) but it still holds up well now. The music is just stupendous. The opening and ending songs are beautiful, and all of the background music is appropriately used, in consistent with the dark mood of the show.
All in all, this is one hell of an amazing anime. Those who were turned off by X the Movie should give X TV a chance. It rights everything the movie messed up and then some...and I cannot recommend it enough. One of my top 3 favorite animes of all time.
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|
|
| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| X TV is a thoroughly enjoyable "apocalyptic" type story, filled with great characters, interesting music, astounding animation and a very conclusive and satisfying ending. I would recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys a bit of drama, mixed with magical/mystical fighting, or if you're a fan of works by Clamp, then this is a must!
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|
cain |
(2005-10-13 20:44:45) 2005-07-22 02:32:48 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| One of the best anime titles I have ever seen, and I give it this high score for many reasons. X TV is not just a plain story about any old destiny, it is about the predestined fate of someone who doesn't even believe in fate, and that is Kamui, the protagonist. He is a character with deep emotions that are powerful enough to influence you to also be sad or angry along with him, and this aspect of X TV is very true to reality.
In X TV, the whole plot about destiny and fate isn't just some stupid repeated theme - they make a good tale out of it, and the story is so well told that it actually deserves the word 'cool'. You will find that all of the philosophy is very meaningful but also depressing (conveying the sadness of truth). The twists and turns of the story eventually lead to the battle of the end of the world that will decide the earth's fate.
The wide range of characters is obviously very important, the story and epoch of the Dragon of Heaven and their mirrored rivals the Dragon of Earth spawns a story of sadness and sacrifices. What the characters say are so compelling, and what they do reflects their very destiny, and they are all unique.
X TV is a great anime. Please try it, and give it a chance, and if not, buy the soundtrack, which is filled with enriching, beautiful songs. The storyline may be deep at times, but it's all to do with reality. =)
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