YBFREE.comIn Pursuit of Human Interests
| YBFREE.com In Pursuit of Human Interests |
Archives | BLOG | Auctions | Shoppe | Message Board | Company Info | Search |
Art and Story By: CLAMP
English Translation X/1999 Published by: VIZ
Genre: Drama
X 
the manga, by world renowned manga-ka group CLAMP, was an emotional experience that ran the gamut from hate to love, craving to annoyance, as I labored to understand the story.
X opens with a prophecy about the end of the world and a young man named Kamui Shiro. Unbeknownst to Kamui, he was born to decide whether the world would continue or end. So when he returned home to Tokyo after a six-year absence he was quite surprised by the number of characters who want to challenge his finely tuned psionic abilities. According to the prophecy, the Seven Seals (the good guys, a.k.a. the Dragons of Heaven) will fight the Seven Harbingers (the bad guys, a.k.a. the Dragons of Earth), and if the Seven Harbingers win, the Earth will be destroyed. According to the seer of Tokyo, Princess Hinoto, the side Kamui chooses will be victorious.
Unfortunately for Kamui when he returns to Tokyo he is reunited with his childhood friends, brother and sister, Kotori and Fuma. Particularly quickly, Kamui and his two best friends are now in the midst of the battle for Earth. Kamui desperately tries to protect the two from the evil that seems to follow him wherever he goes, only to discover that these two play a pivotal role in deciding the world's fate. As Kamui struggles to choose his side, he makes new friends such as Sorata, a silly animated priest and Arashi, a serious fighter with a sword that can materialize out of the palm of her hand.
Kamui, tortured and resentful about his destiny provided the key ingredient to an otherwise atypical CLAMP story line. CLAMP produced an eventful story that from volume to volume kept me wondering which side Kamui would lean to in the end. This constant uncertainty was really the only piece of the story kept me glued to the sixth tankoubon.
However, what is presented here is a brief summary. Even though I was able to labor through the manga, many times after reading for more than ten minutes left me with a blinding headache. The story contained very strange visions that made no sense, women giving birth to living swords, a girl who all the computers in the world are in love with, and flashbacks that went on for 20 pages that only served to retell the story, which to be honest became quite annoying.
The art of X was quite nice. The art became darker and mysterious as the story progressed lending to the pending war that would erupt. The only complaint about the art were the over top shojo style action scenes that made it difficult to see who was hurt and who did the injuring.
X was an appealing read, but took far too long to truly unfold. I am sure if I had not been forced to finish the six volumes for a review I would have most likely have given up on the series after the first volume.
Send your comments and or questions about this article to Bandwidth@ybfree.com.