Background Info : "X : The Movie" made its debute in Japanese theaters in mid-1996. The movie was released in LD and video as a limited edition in 1997. The X package included a CLAMP-illustrated inner jacket, X memorial booklet with 64 color pages,staff interviews, and Yuuki Nobuteru's illustrations, and 3 of CLAMP's illustrated sheets. The release date for the package was March 25, 1997, and it sold for anywhere from 14800 yen to 15240 yen. The novelization of the movie was publised in consecutive monthly issues of the shojo magazine Shousetsu Asuka (incidentially the magazine which Aoki Seiichiro works for, and the one which publishes a large portion of CLAMP's work. The X Film Comic came out on Sep. 30. with 260 pages of cuts from the X movie. The book is laid out so it can be read like manga.

Akiko-chan's Reaction : "X : The Movie" is a delightful, heart-warming story about a little dog who couldn't find his owner and found Kamui instead. NOT!!!!!! WARNING!!!The movie is pretty grotesque, almost as bad as "Ninja Scroll" (not as much nudity or gore). Not recommended for siblings younger then...oh say about 20! The movie was depressing, and did not include any of the humor which CLAMP included in the manga in order to lighten things up. That's why I like the manga better. It includes humor to lighten things up when people qre dying and things are being blown up, unlike the movie. Kakyou is suteki (cool), demo (but) -sniffle- -sniffle- he was replaced by Shogo in the movie, who isn't as cool (or as cute) as Kakyou. ;_; Still, it was good movie, although I've seen better. On a 1-10 scale, I rate it a 7 or an 8. However, I still prefer the manga.

Mordith-sama's Reaction : (A Broken Young Man and His Shattered Dream) After hearing about the movies for months and months, and buying every copy of new X manga I could get my hands on, I couldn't wait to see the motion picture. However, slight problem. No one could get their hands on a copy for me!!! So, finally I bit the bullet, pulled out my wallet, and ordered a copy from Acefly Distribution Service. A really nice place by the way. After biting my nails for weeks after uncountable weeks, I had to leave for New York City. What did I find upon my return? To my great surprise, it was a package from Acefly! Being the patient person that I am, I managed to restrain myself for a full three seconds before yelling at the top of my lungs and ripping the package open with my bare hands. The next few minutes were a blur, as I frantically crammed the tape into the VCR (wondering all the while why the damn thing wouldn't work) before realizing that the VCR wasn't plugged in, a little tibit pointed out to me by Akiko-chan. After that, I settled back for a comfortable viewing.

Initial Reaction : The movie is DEPRESSING. Every single lovable character dies except Kamui. In addition, there are strange twists to the plot which make it one of the saddest I've ever seen. The quality of the animation was excellent, as was the design of the characters (could we expect any less from CLAMP?). Overall, I thought it was pretty cool. However, a few problems came to light which made the movie a disappointment for me.


1) Many of the humorous parts which CLAMP included in the manga were not present in the movie. These parts lightened otherwise tense and depressing situations. Since they weren't in the movie, by the time it ended, most of Spiral Dance and friends were about ready to off themselves, It took a few Ranma 1/2 episodes to restore our equilibrium.

2) They left out my favorite part!!! For those of you who have read the manga up to book 9, the whole story moves at a very comfortable pace, with each character revealed in his or her own time. The reader learns about the personalities of the people through the course of the manga. Eventually, you feel like you know them. The movie lacked the time for such slow revelation. All the Seals and Minions knew each other and their mission by the time Kamui showed up. In addition, due to time crunch, many characters were changed. Kakyou, tragically calm and peaceful with a kind side, was replaced by the psychotic Asagi Shogo. Kusanagi went from a large, kind man who cared about the pain of all living things to a macho killer. Yuuto lost his cheerfulness, which offset much of the Minions' grimness. Satsuki just wasn't Satsuki. Sorata lost his cheerfulness (which matched Yuuto's) and child-like personality, assumed another macho personality. Kamui lost his devil-may-care attitude and was portrayed as a Tragic Hero (tm). Finally, and the one thing I absolutely cannot forgive the movie for, they left out the part where Nekoi Yuzuriha meets Kamui and teases him about his height.

3) Everyone died too quickly. For example, two of the coolest characters in X, Sumeragi Subaru and Sakurazuka Seishirou from Tokyo-Babylon, died immediately fighting each other at the beginning. Part of what makes any movie good is the connection the audience has with the characters. In X, there was no such connection, as each character died before the watcher fully got to know him or her.

Parts of the movie which were exceptional :


1) The adaptation of the storyline to movie format was done extremely skillfully. The movie plot contained all the main ideas embodied in the manga. I thought the ending was very well done, portraying Kamui's obvious sorrow at his fate, and that of Fuuma, Kotori, and all the Seals and Minions. The death scene between Arashi and Sorata was also quite touching, with Arashi clutching Sorata's hand and crying before Fuuma stabbed her through the back. The saddest death scene had to be Nekoi Yuzuriha's. She's killed by Yuuto when she blocks a strike meant for Kamui. Her last words are "I didn't want to die until I found someone to love." At 14, she died without ever being in love.

2) The drawing and animation were exceptional. The actions scenes, fight scenes, magic, and characters were all drawn excellently. The movie would have passed even CLAMP's stringent standards regarding the animation of their work.

3) The musical score and soundtrack were wonderful. The instrumental music of Shimizu Yasuaki combines both traditional Japanese shrine bells and instruments with computer generater synthesized sounds to create a haunting, often chaotic-seeming sound with an underlying layer of organization. The music fit the mood of the movie very well. Word of caution if you are planning on buying the soundtrack. The music is DEPRESSING and extremely SPOOKY. I do not recommend driving at night while listening to it. The end music contributed by X² Japan, "Forever Love", was very touching and sad. It ended the final scene in a fashion which brought tears to many of our eyes.

Mordith's Overall Rating of the X Movie : 9.