Tweekums In the year 1999 protagonist Kamui Shirou is sent back to Tokyo to fulfil his destiny. It is potentially the end of the world as two groups; The Dragons of Heaven and Dragons of Earth do battle; the former fighting to protect humanity, the latter fighting to cleanse the planet of humanity. Kamui must decide which side he is to fight for. It won't be easy and many of those he cares about will be killed along the way… and to make matters even harder whichever side he chooses to fight for his friend Fuma is destined to fight on the other side.This anime film quickly throws us into the action and that action barely stops until the end… and while the action looks great not enough time is given to introducing the characters. We are told that certain structures in Tokyo somehow protect the Earth and that a battle to protect them is destined to take place but we are hardly told why. The 'Dragons' are people with supernatural powers and their battles lead to widespread destruction which is pretty impressive. The character designs are a little dated in style but that doesn't detract from the film; they are distinctive enough and suit the style of the story. I've neither read the manga nor watched the later series so can't say how this compares but overall I'd say it is okay if you want plenty of action… just don't expect 'cartoon violence' this is pretty bloody and certainly not one for younger viewers.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

Rectangular_businessman It's the closest thing I can think of if there ever was a 'slasher' anime. Main villain goes around killing all the main characters then in the end he is finally killed by the hero of the story.That's it and that's all, despite all biblical references and the very good (But not without flaws) animation.You might as well just go watch a slasher flick than watch this. At least you will enjoy yourself watching those. Or you can watch the TV series that actually did justice to the manga and treats it's characters with respect. The only good thing was the animation and the character designs. Otherwise, it's pretty boring and uninteresting.There are much better anime movies, like the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon.3/10

benjamin_lappin When you find yourself skipping through large segments of a film just to arrive at something vaguely interesting, you know it doesn't have the longevity you want it to. X is decidedly niche which I believe to be a positive, but in its attempts to constrict a manga series down into the constraints of a mere ninety minutes, you know you're not going to create the desired effect, and you're more than likely going to end up with an equivalent to Evangelion Death&Rebirth without the extra something which makes you not skip forward large chunks.I will state (and prepare for the negative backlash) that I have not seen, but would very much like to, the accompanying mangas and series, because there is something about X that lurks in the background amidst all the faults that is desperately trying to get out, and desperately trying to impress itself upon you as the viewer, but just doesn't quite make it. But is that enough? Given that the directors new of these time constraints, could they not have created a film which did not cater to those like myself that hadn't known anything about it, and just plunged you straight into the world? Too much time in X is wasted on idle dialogue which is disguised as plot development but is as tedious as reading an instruction manual on how to work your DVD player. Yes the explanation of the dragons (I will come to this shortly) is necessary but in the films opening five minutes two characters wage an all out mystical battle and eventually both fall. Now during this sequence they have unnecessary banter, I know this can be common place in manga but if you wish to produce a slick opening, trying to set these characters up as long time enemies who we should feel a connection for (because many reviewers have claimed theirs to be an epic rivalry) only to have them killed two seconds later is madness. There is no logic behind it. This leads me to think that perhaps this was a film specifically designed for those which have a great knowledge over the "X" saga, but I would have thought the directors would wish to be inclusive rather than exclusive (I refrained from using the inane 'X' pun).There are positives however, one being the creepy Gothic animation which apart from being utterly unique in my experience lends itself to a creation of a sinister and severely dark overtone inevitably benefiting the film.The notion of the opposing forces of "good" and "different good" (I hesitate from saying 'evil') using the connotations of dragons, i.e. the good are the dragons of heaven who wish the world to continue seeing as it was "He" from Heaven that put them there versus the dragons of the earth who wish Mother Earth to regain her rule, is clever and again is unique. The means by which the dragons of heaven defend the planet through the usage of "shields" and the construct in which they work is also an absorbing premise as these sequences provide the high points but, unfortunately, it's not enough.The trouble with films like X is the content they must squeeze into a shorter time span, it therefore is inevitable that chances are it will not succeed at being able to tell its story fully (try compressing Broken Saints into 90 minutes), and here is the issue. I'm privy to that the directors wanted to create this film regardless, but they needed to make a choice, either completely forgo the notion of trying to be exclusive and create a film entirely for fans of the saga disregarding all outsiders thereby pleasing the contingency of fans that have done the hard work, or the alternative. The second choice is that the directors must create a film which explains everything to everyone and be completely inclusive, they must lay the construct of their world bare on the table and let people try and come to comprehend their universe; and unfortunately they did a little of both, to no great success. I wanted this film to give me more, and if I now want it to I have to put in the hard work which after having viewed the film I don't particularly want to do, and to do it this way around isn't as much fun either. No puns about missing the mark, X not being where the treasure is or 'wordplay' about the film being Xtremely disappointing, it's simply a shame.

FilmOtaku I'll say it straight out: I'm an anime fan, but the anime has to fit a certain niche. I'm not a big fan of comedy, so it can't be the silly anime, and I'm not real big on fantasy or science fiction. Like, at all. So when I mention that I love anime, those who know me aren't completely unsurprised. "X", a full-length anime feature directed by Rintaro was recommended to me by a hard-core anime fan who knows my limited criteria because of its utter lack of comedy and its fairly straightforward storyline.The fate of Tokyo lies in the balance (when doesn't it?) when two sides, Dragons of Earth and Dragons of Heaven fight to gain control. The Dragons of Heaven want to protect Tokyo and its inhabitants, and the Dragons of Earth want to go back to a nature-loving society, where the people don't matter, and the Earth is at peace. Kamui is asked by Hinoto of the Dragons of Heaven to help their cause since he has other-worldly powers. By joining the other six warriors, they will be able to protect Tokyo and its citizens from the seven Dragons of Earth. Led by Hinoto's younger sister Kanoe, the Dragons of Earth soon are joined by Kamui's best friend Fuma who has been designated as Kamui's twin; whatever side Kamui joins, Fuma has to join the other. All Kamui wanted to do was protect Fuma and his sister Kotori, and now he's got Kotori in a coma and Fuma fighting him for the domination of Tokyo.While the story is fairly simple, boy is chosen to protect the world while his best friend unfortunately fights against him (For just one example see Wars, Star in your local library's card catalogue) , what isn't simple is the number of characters involved in this story – at least 17 if you pair it down to just the two sides. Over the first half of the film is spent establishing the back story and the characters, so by the time the real action started, "X" was starting to really lose me. Basically, I wanted them to cut the novel and make with the action. When they did, I was not disappointed, and the film ended well and not without a few surprises, but I think that it was just a little too late for me to make the film anything better than just "okay". Additionally, and this is just a purely aesthetic criticism, but I am REALLY not fond of the animation style in "X"; I believe it's pretty standard in Clamp anime, but the pointy chins and ginormous eyes of the character designs are just not my cup of tea. Hey, I'll admit that it's a pretty minor quibble, but anime has to be held up to the same stylistic standards as live action films and as a lover of art I tend to look at character design when I watch my anime. "Cowboy Bebop" and even "Evangelion" or "Lain" contain some really slick animation where I can really appreciate them as "art". As minor a consideration as it is in my overall assessment of the film, I just didn't feel this way with "X".It probably looks like I disliked "X", but I really didn't. If I had I would have felt that I had wasted my time watching it, and that is far from the truth. There just was nothing that propelled it from average to great, the way I perceive most of Miyazake's films or recent animation offerings like "The Triplets of Belleville" or "Perfect Blue". "X" is seen as a classic anime and all of the elements are there if you're a die-hard fan, and it should be seen if you do enjoy anime. I'm glad I did, but I honestly don't need to see it ever again. 5/10 --Shelly