Related Titles: X (movie) | X/1999 (manga) | Tokyo Babylon (anime) | Tokyo Babylon (manga)

Alternate Title: X TV (used by fans to clarify that it is the tv series, not the movie or manga)
Genre: Philosopical | Psychological | Occult | Fantasy | Apocalyptic | (hint of) Shounen-Ai
Company: ???
American Licensing Company: Pioneer Entertainment
Format: 24 episodes (plus 0 [OVA] episode)
Dates: 10/03/2001 to 03/27/2002
Original Creator: CLAMP
Age Rating: Not suitable for young children; 15-18 and up

Synopsis: It's the year of destiny, and 16 year old Kamui Shiro, a powerful psychic, has returned to Toyko after a 5 year absence, having left when he was very young. 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 himself and his beloved childhood friends. It is his destiny and sole decision to decide the fate of the world, no matter if he wants this role or not. Will he join the side of the Seven Seals and become the Dragon of Heaven to save mankind? Or will he join the Seven Angels and become the Dragon of Earth to destroy all civilization so the earth can heal itself from man's destruction? And can he still protect the ones he loves?

SCORE: 94%

This is one of my fav anime, and I'm glad that I didn't lose interest in X after seeing the movie, which I saw before the tv series, since it was created first while the manga was (and still is, I heard) being written. The tv series is better (though I hate the ending of this version of the story too, lol).

Gotta love bishonen! Damn Kamui is so damn skinny. And so damn pretty too! LOL

Plot: Oh, geez. A series about the Apocolypse. Well, we know what's going to happen...wrong!

For one thing, this apocalyptic story isn't really about the destruction of the world, but about the fate of mankind. The planet won't be blown up or all life won't be killed off, just humans. So, this makes the audience feel for the Seven Angels too, who want to help the earth and get rid of destructive humans.

Hardly ever are any of the Seven Angels actually portrayed as just plain evil. Often these people are confused souls, have had their minds completely taken over by fate, or know they can't escape their fates. This can also be the case for the Seven Seals, Kamui being the one that wants to resist his fate the most.

This series has numerous characters you'll have to keep track of. There's the seven seals, the seven angels, their dream gazers, and their families, friends and lovers and other people who interfer to all take in account for. I liked so many of the characters, and so many of them were lovable. Nobody can beat Sorata. His attitude is great and he kicks so much ass!

Oh, man! You've got to love the Kamui and Fuma action! LOL, it is so ambigiously yaoi! It's awesome! Subaru and Seishiro too! ^_^ Kamui and Subaru have something going too! And then Kamui has Kotori...man, Kamui has something going with every frickin' person he knows! LOL, male and female!

Unlike the movie, Seishiro and Subaru weren't jilted this time. Their backstory is such a cool and important one left completely out of the X movie (and that backstory would be Tokyo Babylon, a fav of mine). I was wondering just who the hell they were when I saw them get killed off immediately in the movie.

Many want to accuse Kamui as being another Shinji, but you have to be kiddin' me! Kamui kicks a lot of major ass right off the bat, and the only time he becomes soft and starts to quietly feel sorry for himself is after a major loss for him, but it's only a short time. After a few setbacks, he definitely knows what he wants to accomplish.

The story does make sense, and it was very good. This is one of my favorite series. I still hate the ending though. Oh-de-well.

Visual: Pretty, pretty, pretty! Including Kamui, lol. Ya have to love the character designs by CLAMP with their extraordinary detailed eyes. The use of petals and feathers was pretty overwhelming, but whatcha gonna do? It's suppose to be really pretty. ^_^ Blood was great! And the use of computers for numerous shields and the petals and flowers worked well.

Man, seeing Kamui being prettier than Kotori is great. LOL

Sound: The soundtrack is awesome. The opening is kick ass! The ending is not halfbad I suppose. The soundtrack sounds familiar however...while kick ass, (and I've downloaded a lot of it) it sounds like some tunes from the Angel Sanctuary OVA. This music was exactly the same, not just the tune played by different people, the exact same track and performance. So, that's not good, but it still was a good sountrack.

Voices were awesome! Sorata was great, his voice really matched his personality! Kamui had the just deep enough voice needed to affirm he's a guy (since he's so pretty! lol). And Fuma...mmmmm...he has one deep, sexy man voice. Mm-mm! I also like Subaru's voice. Hinoto's fit pretty well, and I also enjoyed Kakyo's. Kotori's was a run-of-the-mill faint pretty girl voice, but it did fit.

The Dub: I've seen a very small account. From what I can tell, it's okay, if a little painful.

Dub Letter Grade: C

Extra Rants and Bitching: Kamui...mm-mm yummy! LOL The ultimate bishonen, LOL, Fuma too, as is Subaru and Seishiro. LOL. If you've read the whole review, you definitely know that I think Kamui is pretty! Hee-hee! Yaoi hinting is so much fun! LOL, for us girls anyway. ^_^

Score Comments: This is just a beautiful piece of art, but not without a story and great characters. I hated the ending, but I suggest you at least watch this series once!

Websites:

Have a website about this series, or do you know of a good one? Want me to link to it on this review? Well, the feel free to email the sucker to me! Just make sure to put "Review Link" in the subject.