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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Caught as the Crossroads, August 7, 2002
I have several of the graphic paperbacks from the X/1999 clamp production. I've read and puzzled over those, and now I have spent several hours with this DVD. There comes a point in the quest for value where one has to finally ponder why a work is the way it is. I don't expect every DVD or book to be a work of art, but I do expect that each such effort have some sense of its purpose or potential value.In the case of 'X', I confess I am mystified. On the surface, a young man (Kamui) returns to Tokyo at the behest of his dying mother to defend those he loves. But he fails to defend Kotori, who loves him, and forces his friend Fuuma to make impossible choices. On the layer below this Kamui and Fuuma are doomed to become the primary antagonists in a struggle over whether the human race should be allowed to survive. In the ensuing fight, shared with the other dragons of heaven and earth, the destruction is sufficient to wonder whether the cure is worse than the disease. In truth, the plot is a pre-ordained ballet of opposing forces driven to a tragic conclusion. I am not familiar with Japanese literature, but 'X' reminds me of a Greek tragedy where anyone could stop the inevitable end, but no one does. Kamui's tragic flaw is his inability to act until it is too late. Fuuma, supposedly the villain of the piece, seems to be the nobler of the two, simply because he throws himself into his role. All of the characters are disjointed archetypes, but despite all of the symbols and portents, nothing really gels. So this becomes an apocalypse in search of a cause. Harumitsu Shimuzu as put together an excellent score, which seems to capture Kamui's perpetual agonizing and the film's ambivalent perfectly. The film's theme, 'Forever Love' by Yoshiki, is worth keeping as well. But good music and interesting artwork are not enough to overcome a skeletal plot that never moves in any direction for long. A glance at the final credits reveals that this was a production with a cast of hundreds, and perhaps that is the problem. Tragedy is best when it is not designed by committee.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lack of a plot, February 10, 2003
By A Customer
Overall, I heard many great reviews for this movie, so I decided to rent it. It was not what I expected. Perhaps, I was expecting too much from it, but it was a great disappointment. It seems that too much money was spent in the art and not enough in plot or character developement. After the movie ended, I can honestly say, I didn't understand a thing. At the start of the movie, they briefly list off the characters and their traits. That's about it in the character developement department. From there, they explain how the these characters need to save mankind or all humans will be obliterated. Mainly, they have to battle the "earth dragons" to save the Earth. That almost makes sense. Then, through all of the jumbled flashbacks, flashforwards, possible outcomes, precognitions, dream-sequences, and computer simulations, you find out that the main character has to fight an evil double of himself to decide the fate of the humanrace. Because of the premise, the whole movie sikes you up for a spectacular fight scene. In truth, it lasted maybe thirty seconds. It was extremely disappointing. I don't recommend this movie, if you are looking for an anime was plot, structure, or character developement. However, the art in itself, is rather stunning. This visuals are gripping, if not violent. I would definantly recommend this movie, if you are looking for an artsy, dramatic show and aren't interested in story. But you would be wise to first rent this before you seriously consider buying.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favorites......, August 9, 2000
X is probably one of my favorite anime movies of all time. It's based on a manga of the same name by CLAMP. However the movie version tells a slightly different story than the as yet uncompleted manga (which is currently compiled in 10 tankabon).The shojo animation by CLAMP and the character designs by Nobuteru Yuki are absolutely beautiful and are far better than the animation in some of CLAMP's earlier OAVs (i.e. RG Veda and Tokyo Babylon). The music is also excellent with the dark and gloomy soundtrack complementing the gothic feel of X perfectly. However the movie's plot suffers from two major problems. Firstly, the plot is rather slim in comparison with the X manga, sacrificing a lot of the character interaction and backstory to fit the whole manga series onto one 90 minute video. Because of this it also suffers from the same problem as RG Veda, in that there are a few parts of the movie which are seemingly unrelated to the rest of the film. It would have been much better if X had been made into a series of OAVs instead of a single movie to preserve the manga's story in its entirety. The only other problem that I had with X was that the main character, Kamui, came off as a wimp because of his voice actor. The other characters were voiced excellently but Kamui seemed to lose a lot of resentment against his fate and because of this the feeling of angst that pervades the manga series in less evident in the movie version of X.
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