CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Title: Full-length feature film X/English translation manga (entitled X/1999). I do believe the movie is distributed by Manga Entertainment, and the manga is published by Viz Communications. Created, written, drawn, etc. by CLAMP. Animation done by Madhouse, directed by Rintaro, running time approx. 98 minutes. I believe the anime is actually rated R by the MPAA, since it was released in theatres state-side.

Summary:
Set in Tokyo, an apocalyptic story. The main character is Kamui, and there are two groups of people: the Dragons of Heaven(Ten no Ryu) and the Dragons of Earth(Chi no Ryu). If I remember correctly, the Dragons of Heaven want to save the earth; the Dragons of Earth want to destroy it. Anyway, Kamui, according to the prophetess Kanoe, is born with two futures: he can either save the world or destroy it.

Positive points:
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful art and animation. I would like to see more of this director's work, actually, because the animation was great. The director of the anime is not the creator/writer of the series, by the way.

Negative points:
There are many things that do not sit well with me and will not sit well with most other Christians. Fortune telling, "seers", psychic ability, and very graphic violence. Also, the story didn't shrink down to movie format very well and it was rather confusing.

Sexual content:
There is some nudity. Mostly it's when someone is being brutally killed. Other than that I don't recall there being any other sexual content.

Language:
I haven't seen the movie in so long, but I'm pretty sure there was at least some mild language in it. There was some language in the manga as well.

Violence:
The violence in this series is terrible. Blood, guts, severed limbs, etc. etc. It's very graphic (and unnnecessary if you ask me).

Spiritual Content:
There is some "spiritual content" but it is by no means Christian. There are priestesses and prophetesses and such, but there is nothing godly about this.

My final thoughts:
Do yourself a favor and -stay away- from this one. It's very gory and occultic. Yes, the art is beautiful, but don't let it suck you in. That's the mistake I made. I will not be providing any links because 1) I do -not- recommend this series at all and 2) I really don't want to have anything to do with sites that contain content from this series. If you want to know more, then try a Google search or go take a look at Anime Web Turnpike. But I implore you, be on your guard.

Note: there is an anime series now. I haven't seen it, and don't want to, but go ahead and stay away from that as well, because I've read the manga, and that's what it's based on.

Good review! I think it's better too read more reviews about movies instead of just digging it.. In case you won't like it.

Here's my flat opinion:
I also thought the movie was indeed very bad, one of the worst movies made... Too fast, the characters are flat.. and Kamui got annoying. A 18 (or more) volume manga in such a short movie? Doesn't work. 0.5 out of 5

The X TV series instead had much better in characterization (sp?) and not everyone got killed off in the first 5 minutes.. The animation was great either.. It was done quite well! From what I know it follows the manga vaguely.. 3.5 out of 5

in depth:
Umm.. yeah, the story isn't for the weak minds or children.. or people who constantly see bad things and go crazy at the end.. There are many bad things.. Ah yeah, it's merely a fantasy story, but maybe it's just me. ;P In the end, it's a shame the Japanese know so little about the Christianity..

Hmm *wants to write a Fruits basket review* ergh, don't have much time now.. sorry! ^^;

Thankee...^^;

Well, violence normally doesn't bother me that much...but this stuff was just...bizarre. And it really disturbed me. Cursing is really not that big a deal to me either. But all this...other stuff..that's what bothered me the most. This series just has kind of a...dark, sinister feel to it and I don't like it. But hey, everyone's entitled to their opinion ne. I just wanted to warn people so they wouldn't go through the same thing I did.

It -is- a shame that the Japanese don't know much about Christ...but hey, I believe in time they will be shown. And I think that's part of what CAA is here for! So pray pray pray about it! Japan is a -great- mission field.

I saw the movie and some of the TV series. The movie is not very good IMO. Too much gratitous violence and not enough plot or character development. From what I have seen of the TV series, there is much less violence than in the movie, better character development, and characters don't die every second. I definatly recommend avoiding the movie, but I think the TV series is a different story. I liked what I have seen of the TV series much better than the movie.

Well, if you like the series, that's cool..but there are just things in the storyline that I personally want to stay away from, so I won't be watching it...

Why would you want to see someone stab themself?

ShiroiHikari wrote:It -is- a shame that the Japanese don't know much about Christ...but hey, I believe in time they will be shown. And I think that's part of what CAA is here for! So pray pray pray about it! Japan is a -great- mission field.

Yes, and I hope to recruit some of you to go with me. However, my first trip will be with some controversy so I won't ask anyone to go with me then (PM me to know what I'm talking about) but after that, I would love to pick up some recruits. And especially the artistic ones... Particularly the computer artistic ones, storywriters, programmers, voice actors and actresses, etc...

If you do PM me, quote my message so I will know what you're talking about...

There is no comparison between X and Ninja Scroll. X is really pretty good. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's at all the best. I've seen some of the TV series and not the movie, so my remarks are only valid for the former. The show does have a dark feel to it, but that's not unexpected given the good/evil confrontation and the whole "world in the balance" theme.

Heard the Tv series was better....I watched the movie and didn't like it at all especially the ending. I've watched the series and it was surprisingly OK for me. Go Sorashi!

Anyway, it's the manga that actually gave me the uncomfortable feeling. The deaths are too violent for me. I also felt so sad for the characters....many of them were so depressed, angsty and hopeless. So this is another title I stay away...ok except the artwork (whichever one is not offensive to me 0.o) Just my two cents.

I thought the X manga was awsome, the movie wasnt the best and didnt have much of a stable plot. The only reason i bought it was for the ending theme ^^ (X Japan's Endless Rain, and Yoshiki did all the music in the movie )

X (movie)was, um... Boring... I didn't like it. It just never grabbed my attention... I never felt for any of the characters. But, I wasn't really disturbed by anything... It seemed like a lot of other fantasy stories I'd read, only set in modern times... End of Evangelion is about the only anime (or, um, thing) that I've watched that has left me disturbed...

I just shipped for my very own boxset of X/1999 TV seires. I got interested from reading reviews online. Then I searched CAA for any threads about it and this came up. Yeah, its a great series. I do want to see the movie tho (even tho it had all the bad reviews/quotes) but, this looks like a great anime. Clamp always makes hits, and this is one of them. A perfect Shojo one. Wat! What I am I saying! I havn't even seen the series yet! (but I did get my hards on A LOT of amvs) heehee ^^;;

I agree that X is very graphic in terms of violence although the art is very great.

I watched the movie and the only thing that I felt after watching it.... was depression.

why did they have to die?

[spoiler](esp. Kotori... she's my fave)[/spoiler]

I like the manga the best, beautiful artwork. The movie was pretty thrown together, definitely needed to read the manga then see the movie. Yeah TV series was much better.

Eh, yeah, the art for the X manga was awesome, but I still don't want anything to do with the manga/anime/movie. But that's my thing. If you can handle it, then by all means...what's wrong for me may not be wrong for you. Do pray about it though.

I don't feel the need to pray on X/1999, I understand it is merely fantasy. It's a complex story (well the manga is) with beautiful art. It's a bit occult and creepy but that's part of the fun. I love how they incorporated a variety of religous symbols. So I don't have problem, I don't spend my time praying on anime.

I luv X, the manga is GREAT... neva seen the anime-
The end of the movie umm ... *crys* HE WAS JUST MISSUNDDDERSTTTOOOOD -U_U;;;;
*trys not to say too much*
I guess im just not disturbed by such things 0_0

Thats why they made the Prequel to it. Toyko Babylon!

Hmm... I guess TOkyo Babylon is not a prequel to it.
CLAMP just simply like crossovers. (if you notice in the manga the CLAMP Campus characters are there too. )

lol
I loved X the movie ... but thats just me!

o yeah and also
[spoiler="X ending"]
the part where kamui is holding his best friends severed head is one of the few moments in anime that made me cry ... joining wolfwoods death and vegeta's sacrifice[/spoiler]

IMHO the movie X should have never existed. The story was rushed simmply because there was tomuch to tell, in the alloted time.They would have been much better off taking the time to make the searies first, if not only.

But that aside I still am not fond of the movie X. The blood and gore is a little more than I prefer and to mention the "dark" aptmasphere the story projects. However, the story does hold true to the principles of self sacrifice and ballance that are previlent in Japaneses culture.

The searies of X is a considerable improvement, and I found it enjoyable at times. You also get a better insight into the charactes, revealing one of my favorite heros in anime. (No, not Kamui) If you need a hint, check my Avatar.^^

I liked the part where Sorata Arisugawa was trying to tell Arashi Kishuu that he is going to marry her, and she is just like, "Uh, boys have coodies, besides we are trying to save the world here..... Did I mention boys have coodies."

However, I still could only recomend this (that being the searies version) to very mature viewers, and even then I would still have to question the benifits of this show. There are many better made anime out there that are far better for their viewers.^^

Someone should really change the title of this review in the Review section. I mean, the series is not as HALF as bad as the manga and movie. Really, you should change it too X/1999 Movie. Because they are seperate things. ...

I specified in the beginning of the review that I was reviewing the movie/manga.

kaji wrote:IMHO the movie X should have never existed. The story was rushed simmply because there was tomuch to tell, in the alloted time.They would have been much better off taking the time to make the searies first, if not only.

But that aside I still am not fond of the movie X. The blood and gore is a little more than I prefer and to mention the "dark" aptmasphere the story projects. However, the story does hold true to the principles of self sacrifice and ballance that are previlent in Japaneses culture.

The searies of X is a considerable improvement, and I found it enjoyable at times. You also get a better insight into the charactes, revealing one of my favorite heros in anime. (No, not Kamui) If you need a hint, check my Avatar.^^

I liked the part where Sorata Arisugawa was trying to tell Arashi Kishuu that he is going to marry her, and she is just like, "Uh, boys have coodies, besides we are trying to save the world here..... Did I mention boys have coodies."

However, I still could only recomend this (that being the searies version) to very mature viewers, and even then I would still have to question the benifits of this show. There are many better made anime out there that are far better for their viewers.^^

I Agree!

Except for I liked the movie... only because it shocked me to no end. For me it was a roller coaster ride. That is probably not a good thing. At this point I haven't read all the manga or seen all the Tv series, but I've found what I have seen to be very enthralling in the typical CLamp way.

Sorata is definitely going to be one of my favs forever. Arashi's cute...
Have you checked out the manga Tsubasa? It's clamps ultimate crossover series.

heres one movie that i could watch, yet it seems as tohugh the story sucks. convienneint (sp?)

I hated the movie for several reasons. First of all, it was all build (a very bad, boring build) and no pay-off. I've watched silent movies with more suspense than this (Charles Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" comes to mind where the house hangs over the cliff...and that was made in 1925!).

Second of all the characters made no sense psychologically. Obviously there was too much story and character development to fit into the time.

3rd of all, it was pretty disgusting. Bloody, violent, odd misuse of religious symbolisms, etc.

I can go on if I want to, but I'm trying to forget it.

I watched this movie with someone (whom I would not describe as religious) who liked "Ninja Scroll" but found "X" to be pretty stupid. I'm sorry, but there is no redeeming value in this movie...except maybe the animation.

xavier249 wrote:Sorata is definitely going to be one of my favs forever.

Yahh!!! Atleast some good came from the movie.

Sorata is just so cool. He should have his own series/movie. IMHO ^^

I still havent seen the movie yet, but all In hear is bad.. lol. Well, I read all the manga and seen about 5 episodes of the series and still Im sticking with, X/1999 series is my second fave anime of all time still! (first is escaflowne) X ROCKS!! ~ lol... it needed something good out of this thread. XD!

edit: Common, who cannot love the ending theme? XJAPAN/FOREVER_LOVE O(^.^)O ~glops

Forever Love is a great song...</offtopic>