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Customer Reviews of X - The Movie

It's also very clear from the beginning that the movie, made in 2000, was created for the fans of the complex Manga series. You get a quick scene of a boy - Kamui - being given a sword drawn from the stomach of his naked mother. She then recites a laundry list of "These are your friends, these are your enemies", showing each one briefly. While manga fans will instantly connect with them, newcomers to the series will be completely lost.

Kamui is sent to Tokyo to face the Final Battle of the Dragon of Heaven vs the Dragon of Earth. He and the "good guys" are on the side of Heaven. The "bad guys" think the city is full of corruption, pollution and slime and needs to be cleansed so there can be a rebirth. We start with a personal battle beteen a pair of enemies, which apparently is the overture. And on the battles go ... well, in between all the flashbacks and dream sequences and meandering. There's lots of religious symbolism, from angels and devils to pentagrams and people being crucified. Kamui, the hero, is told his name mean's God's Power.

The "good side", the Dragon of Heaven, gets power from the 7 stars of the big dipper. They are defeated one by one. Kamui is told the 7 Dragons of Earth solely wish to destroy the earth. He refuses to care and just wants to protect his friends Fuma and Kotori. As it turns out, the final battle is between Kamui and his best friend, Fuma. Whatever side Kamui chooses, Fuma must be the other. And just as Kamui got a sword from his mom, Fuma pulls one from his sister.

Interestingly, even though the original Manga's creators, Clamp, is made up of all women, I was disappointed to see either banana-brained girly-girls or lap-dancers. The two main girls - sisters - fall on the two sides of that coin. The two other main females both die gruesomely in order to 'birth' swords for their guys. The guys on the other hand are strong, intelligent and complex. It's a pretty bizarre vision to come from a smart group of women.

I'm sure it was really hard to fit the complex Manga story into a 100-minute movie. But there are so many ways that it COULD have been told well. As it is, you have a hero who doesn't seem to really care about or do anything for the city. He decides to protect his 2 friends instead, but doesn't even do that. There are many battles between sides that we don't care about, and teammates just 'stroll' along when their friends are in danger.

As far as the main sides, all we know is that there are the "earth cleansers" and "earth savers". In fact the 'earth cleansers' seem to have a pretty good argument against corruption and pollution. They say to look in the future and that this solution gives the future the best possibility. The "earth savers" just say "We must keep the status quo!" One of the heroes of Heaven in fact decided to become a prostitute and learned to use flames. She might have chosen the wrong side ...

When you get to the epic final battle, Kamui cuts off Fuma's head, and then holds the head tenderly. Flashbacks remind Kamui that he pretty much has failed at everything he tried to do. Talk about a bizarre, gory ending!

I came to Tokyo to protect the people I love...
I cannot judge this particular movie for the sake of comparing it with the "X" mini-series, since I wasn't able to see the episodes yet. Instead, I will try to provide an accurate description for this film ONLY. "X," first and foremost, is absolutely the most violent and grisly piece of Japanese anime I've seen so far. Basically, our hero Kamui returns to his home in Tokyo after a 6-year sabbatical, only to discover that fate chose him to defend the Earth in an apocalyptic battle for survival. Guided by the visions of Princess Hinoto (a blind, deaf mute who can mentally prophesise the future), Kamui soon dons the Dragon of Heaven, but finds out in horror that his childhood friend, Fuma, is his deadly opponent (the Dragon of Earth). After members of his team are massacred one by one in a towering inferno of lightning bolts, martial arts and falling skyscrapers, poor Kamui is forced to choose between saving the city or rescuing Fuma from the depths of his own self-destruction. "X" is littered with incredible fight scenes that transcend reality altogether: the participants leap across the roofs of tall buildings, glide in mid-air, and create cataclysmic weapons from the forces of nature itself. "X,s" 2 dominant characters are blessed with telekinetic powers so great that they can contort, twist and dismember human torsos at the blink of an eye. Many viewers will indeed be disturbed, even terrified, at the sight of the crumbling Tokyo; every graphic detail perfectly captures the severe images of cityscapes reduced to their ruin, burying the panicked civilians below, and all the while the action is shrouded by black, billowing clouds of smoke. To many first-time watchers (myself included), such disaster sequences too closely reflect the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City.
The captivating, surreal sequences of "X" place the concept of dreams on the forefront: At almost every turn, the main characters stumble onto beautiful, foreboding dreams conjured up by prophets. Soon enough both the conscious and unconscious realms tangle together, barely allowing us to determine whether people are awake or asleep (or even alive or dead). Unfortunately, such scenes have to be watched over and over to pinpoint EXACTLY what's going on. What is interesting about "X" is that the flowing, poetic and grisly nightmares that Kamui and Fuma experience represent every possible conclusion regarding Tokyo's future. Also adding onto the tension is the common bond they share; fueling the fire is an undying devotion the two men have for the virtuous Kotari, Kamui's love and Fuma's only sister. In most of the epic nightmares (which display traits of delicate falling petals, walls of flame and blood rivers), Kamui and Fuma each witness Kotari's life being savagely taken by his future opponent, and eventually the 2 men are manipulated into becoming bitter enemies. What also held up the suspense of "X" is how it repeatedly questions the social order of time and space: are events determined by fate, or by individual choice? Coincidence or cosmic intervention?

Great Anime
No matter what anyone tells you, this is one of the best anime's you will ever see. Not a great ending, but all in all it is great, good animation, good music, good storyline. I have seen many anime films, and this is one of my favorites.