X (manga)

The action takes place in Tokyo in 1999 , where, after a long absence, fulfilling the will of the deceased mother, returns fifteen-year-old Kamui Shiro , one of the few people with special abilities. He meets his best childhood friends - Fumu Mono and his younger sister Kotori , people whom he wants to protect from all dangers even at the cost of his own life.

Kamui’s whole life is predetermined - in the upcoming battle of the Apocalypse, he must act either on the side of the Earth Dragons , Angels who seek to destroy the world, cleanse the suffering Earth from humanity, or on the side of the Dragons of Heaven , Guardians, protectors of people protecting the kekkai in Tokyo - the last barrier, holding the world from destruction.

In an effort to protect her friends, Kamui chooses the side of the Guardians, and causes an irreversible chain of events that bring pain and suffering to him and his friends and associates.

The first anime adaptation of the manga was made by Madhouse in 1996 , the director of the full-length picture was Shigeyuki Hayashi, better known under the pseudonym Rintaro . Since by the time the film was made, the manga was not even completed by a third, many storylines were greatly simplified and changed, and the main attention was paid to the relationship between Kamui and Fuma during the Last Battle. Significantly less attention is paid to other characters, and most of the screen time is occupied by colorful fights between them.

In the film, all Dragons of Heaven and Earth die before the Last Battle, in which Kamui kills Fumu. The dreamer Kuzuki Kakyo is not present in the film, either because he was not fully represented in the manga, or because his abilities were not too spectacular for a short film. Instead, Shogo Asagi, the Lord of Water, was introduced into the plot (Yuto Kigei’s ability to control water was not reflected in the plot of the manga, so there is no conflict of abilities between the characters in the film). After Kamui kills Fumu, he remains alone, losing all he wanted to protect.

Differences

Due to the longer duration of the television series compared to the film, the plot is more detailed, and less focused only on the confrontation between Kamui and Fuma. In addition, during the time elapsed since the release of the film, several volumes of manga were released, which made it possible to clarify the storyline. When creating the series, computer graphics were widely used.

At the end of the series, part of the Dragons of Heaven and Dragons of the Earth remain alive, and Kamui dies in the battle with Fuma, before his death bequeathed to him his desire to save the world, thus destroying the forces of the Earth Dragon and defeating the Last Battle.

Music

The music for the anime series, including the main musical theme “Sadame” ( “Destiny” ), was created by composer Sato Naoki , the opening composition (opening) “eX-Dream” was performed by the Muji group, and the closing (ending) “Secret Sorrow” ( “ Secret Sorrow " ) - Koizumi Kohei .

Each character depicts one of the tarot cards , the images of which are printed on the covers of volumes and in the ZeØro artbook.

Dragons of Heaven

Dragons of Heaven ( 天 龍 эн Ten No Ryu ) , or Seven Guardians ( 七 の 封印 Nanatsu No Fu: in ) - a group of seven people with special abilities and using them to protect humanity in the upcoming Battle of the Apocalypse . Unlike Earth Dragons, the Guardians believe that humanity is no less valuable than the Earth itself, and believe that the wisdom of people will allow them to peacefully resolve the conflict between them and nature.

Dragons of Heaven have a different origin and were usually brought up by various religious sects of Japan . The main feature of the Guardians is the ability to create kekkai , a magic barrier that protects the population from the effects of battles between the Dragons of Heaven and Earth. If the Dragon of Heaven loses the person whom he wanted to protect the most or the purpose for which he lived, then he loses the ability to create kekkai and ceases to be one of the Seven Guardians.

The Sigil of the Dragons of Heaven is the constellation Ursa Major ( Jap. 北斗 Hokuto ) .

• Kamui Shiro ( Jap. 司 狼 神威 Shiro: Kamui ) is a fifteen-year-old taciturn young man whose pain from losing his only loved one — his mother — only aggravated his usual teenage aggressiveness. Fulfilling the will of his mother, he came to Tokyo to pick up Shinken , trying to avoid any communication with old friends in order to protect them from the dangers associated with him. Initially, the attempts of the Dragons of Heaven to draw him to his side caused Kamui a sharp rejection and chagrin, he did not want to submit to the destined destiny, the path along which the Guardians readily followed. However, realizing the inevitability of choice, Kamui makes a decision, one of two possible, both of which led to the death of Kotori and put him and Fumu on opposite sides of the barricades.

  Seiyu : Tomokazu Seki (film), Kenichi Suzumura (TV series)

• Sorata Arisugawa ( Jap. 有 洙 川 空 汰 Arisugawa Sorata ) is a monk, a pupil of the Koya Temple, famous for its ancient astrological school. The abbot of the temple, following his own predictions, took the little Sorata from his parents in order to raise a Guardian from him. At the time of parting with him, his mother was crying, and although Sorata himself claims to be too small to remember this, he has not endured female tears since then and is trying to prevent this. Despite the life spent in a temple hidden from prying eyes, Sorata is a cheerful and sociable guy who looks more like a schoolboy-slobber than a monk, knows how to cook and loves to eat well and eat a lot. He takes only his mission very seriously, since in his childhood the old astrologer told him about his fate: to become a Dragon of Heaven, to be near Kamui, to protect him, not sparing his own life, but to die, for the sake of saving his beloved girl.

  Seiyu : Go to Yamadera (film), Mitsuaki Madono (TV series)

• Arashi Kishu ( я 咒 嵐 Kishu: Arashi ) is a pupil and the so-called "secret priestess" of the Ise Shinto shrine . She lost her parents early and wandered until she got to the temple, where the Guardian was prepared from it. Arashi is very restrained and well-mannered, has a strong, strong-willed character, fences perfectly with the help of the “spiritual sword”, which is invisibly present inside her body and is removed from her left hand. At first, Arashi was incredulous about Sorata, rejecting all his attempts at courtship, but gradually, amazed by his determination and selflessness, she began to feel feelings for him. Passes to the side of the Dragons of the Earth, and later becomes the cause of the death of Sorata and dies herself.

  Seiyu : Emiko Shinohara (film), Ryoka Yuzuki (TV series)

• Yuzurikha Nekoi ( Jap. 猫 依 譲 刃 Nekoi Yuzurikha ) is a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl, the heiress of the guardians of the Mitsumine Shrine. Since birth, next to Yuzurikha there are always Inugs (ghost dog) named Inuki, invisible to ordinary people. The stories of the little girl that a dog always walks next to her, which no one can see, almost made her an outcast at school, and since then Nekoi has always wanted to find other people who can see Inuki, and even decided not to meet and not going out with regular guys. Obeying the call of Hinoto, Yuzurika left her grandmother, and, together with Inuki, went to Tokyo. Secretly, she hoped that among the Guardians she would find people who would see her dog, but she met such a person even before she came to the Capitol to meet with the Dragons of Heaven. It was this Kusanagi.

  Seiyu : Kumi Sakuma (film), Yukana Nogami (TV series)

• Subaru Sumeraghi ( 皇 昴 流 Sumeraghi Subaru ) - this character appeared in "X" from the earlier CLAMP manga - " Tokyo Babylon " ^[3] . The betrayal of a loved one and the death of her sister killed almost all feelings and desires in the young ommyoji , except for one. This desire became the meaning of his life, and for the sake of his fulfillment, he is still looking for a man who changed his whole life, the head of the clan of Sakura’s killers - Sashiro Sakurazukumori ...

  Seiyu : Tomokazu Sugita (film), Issei Miyazaki (TV series)

• Karen Kasumi ( 夏 澄 火煉 Kasumi Karen ) is the lord of fire. She is an Orthodox Catholic, which is very strange combined with her work in a pleasure institution. I was familiar with Aunt Kamui - Takiko Mages. Kind, helpful person, capable of self-sacrifice. He dies by sacrificing his life for Seiichiro Aoki, who has become a person dear to her. All her childhood, Karen suffered from her abilities. Her mother called her “the devil,” and hid her daughter from everyone. One day, when Karen’s mother shouted at her again, she stumbled and dropped a heavy altar crucifix on herself. When the priest came, to bury her mother, Karen showed him her ability to control the flame. In response, the priest said that her eyes are by no means the gaze of the devil, that this is the gaze of a lost child. She then repeated this phrase to Nataku before dying.

  Seiyu : Yoko Soumi (film), Mami Koyama (TV series)

• Seiichiro Aoki ( 蒼 軌 征 一 狼 Aoki Seiichiro ) is the lord of the air. Principal and responsible. Seiichiro has a wife and young daughter whom he has decided to abandon in order to keep them safe.

  Seiyu : Toshiyuki Morikawa (film), Hideyuki Tanaka (TV series)

Earth Dragons

Earth Dragons ( 地 の 龍 Ti No Ryu ) , or Seven Angels ( 七 の 御使 City No Mitsukai ) - seven people with special abilities, fighting the Dragons of Heaven and striving to destroy humanity. Earth dragons believe that the conflict between people and nature cannot be resolved peacefully, and civilization must be completely destroyed to save the Earth . In their opinion, the destruction of humanity will lead to the revival of the planet and create a new, better world.

Most of the Angels are a typical example of uncommunicative, narcissistic and soulless people deprived of minimal compassion for others. Despite the fact that their main goal is the destruction of mankind for the sake of the future of the Earth, by and large it only serves as an excuse for their own actions.

Earth Dragon Sigil is a stylized image of menorah .

• Fuma Mono ( 桃 生 封 真 Mono: Fu: ma ) is Kamui's “ twin star ”. Whatever fate Kamui chose, the Dragon of Heaven, or the Dragon of the Earth, Fuma had to take the opposite side. At a time when Kamui was getting closer to choosing the side of the Dragons of Heaven, Earth Dragon awoke in Fuma. Fuma grew up in a Shinto shrine with his sister and father. They lost their mother at a young age, as she took on the fate of giving birth to the Divine Sword. Fuma himself is a kind and sympathetic person who still remembers the promise once made to Kamui - to protect him, by all means. He motivates his actions with “Fulfillment of Desires”. For this reason, he deprived Subaru of his eyes and killed Sorato. Also, becoming the Earth Dragon, he killed his sister.

  Seiyu : Tsutomu Narita (film), Junichi Suwabe (TV series)

• Yuto Kigai ( 麒 飼 遊人 Kigai Yu: then ) is the Lord of Water. Perhaps possesses the power of eternal youth. Cute and playful, prefers to "go with the flow." He showed sympathy for Satsuki and Kanoi. Karen was killed, in the film he died at the hands of Fuma.

  Seiyu : Kazuhiko Inoue (film), Mitiaki Furuya (TV series)

• Satsuki Yatoji ( 八 頭 司 颯 姫 Yato: ji Satsuki ) is a computer genius. Due to its unusual ability, it can connect its brain directly to a computer. Silent, calm, secretive girl. For her, the End of the World is just a way to get rid of boredom. From childhood, Satsuki was an unusual child. She grew up in a wealthy family and very early on found out who she really was. Seeing her daughter's abilities, her father began to bring her to many computer organizations where she was tested. Satsuki overcame protective programs for moments, but she was very bored. Having learned about the girl’s abilities, many influential people began to fight for her. Her father, in the end, agreed to place Satsuki at the disposal of one of these companies. Not wanting to leave home, Satsuki asked Him for help. With the help of fraud with traffic lights, she managed to kill her father. But the hunt for Satsuki did not stop there. Only Kanoi, who collected the Earth Dragons under her command, was lucky to get her. She built a BEAST supercomputer for her, which only she could work with, since he was directly connected to Him and, accordingly, to her brain. Soon, the Beast began to show romantic feelings for Satsuki. In a “fit of jealousy," the Beast killed her.

  Seiyu : Cotono Mitsuishi (film), Hoko Kuwashima (TV series)

• Siyu Kusanagi ( 志勇 草 薙 Kusanagi Siyu:) - Lord of the Earth. This is not like most Dragons on Earth. He is a kind and helpful person. He met Yuzurikha when she first arrived in Tokyo. I met her several times after that. For the betrayal of the Earth Dragons, Nataku was almost killed, but still survived.

  Seiyu : Joji Nakata (film), Masaki Aizawa (TV series)

• Seishiro Sakurazuka ( 桜 塚 星 史 郎 Sakurazuka Seishiro:) - the legendary killer, head and only fighter of the legendary Sakurazukamori clan. He is one of the main characters in the CLAMP manga - Tokyo Babylon .

  Seiyu : Toru Furusawa (film), Otoya Kawano (TV series)

• Nataku ( 那 吒 Nataku ) is a clone devoid of soul.

  Seiyu : Rika Matsumoto (film), Motoko Kumai (TV series)

• Shogo Asagi ( 浅黄 笙 悟 Asagi Sh С : go ) is a character who appears in a feature film instead of Kakyo Kuzuki.

  Seiyu : Toshihiko Seki (film)

• Kakyu Kuzuki ( 玖 月牙 暁 Kuzuki Kakyou:) is a dreamer.

  Seiyu : Yuji Ueda (TV series)

Other characters

Kotori Mono ( 桃 生 小鳥 Mono: Kotori ) is Fuma’s younger sister, a tender girl with a congenital heart disease . Able to see the dreams of others, communicate with animals and plants. Like her brother in childhood was very friends with Kamui. In the series, her image was changed, since the director Yoshiaki Kawajiri wanted to portray her more like an ordinary teenager. ^[four]

• X / 1999 Manga in the Anime News Network Encyclopedia

• Anime "X (Film)" (Eng.) In the encyclopedia of Anime News Network
• Anime "X (Film)" (Eng.) In AniDB Database

• Anime “X (TV)” in the encyclopedia of Anime News Network
• Anime "X (TV)" (Eng.) In AniDB Database