X/1999, Volume 17: Suite

X [エックス] #17

by Clamp

Title page erroneously gives subtitle for this volume as "Nocturne."

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Shojo, Supernatural, Graphic Novels, Dark

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Ōkawa Nanase 大川七瀬
[born: 2 May 1967; Ōsaka, bloodtype: A]

Mokona Apapa もこなあぱぱ
[born: 16 Jun 1968, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]

Nekoi Mick 猫井みっく
[born: 21 Jan 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: O]

Igarashi Satsuki 五十嵐さつき
[born: 8 Feb 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]


CLAMP originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member dōjinshi circle, but by 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group during the production of the RG Veda manga. Other former members of CLAMP also included Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Yuzuru Inoue and Shinya Ōmi. Currently, there are four members in the group.

In 2004, CLAMP's 15th anniversary as a mangaka group, the members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi to Ageha Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi (her name is pronounced the same, but written with different characters) respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of CLAMP simply wanted to try out new names. In a later interview with Ohkawa, it was revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi's and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.

In 2006, they made their first USA public debut at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California. They were well received at the convention, with 6,000 fans in attendance at their panel.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for volume 1-18



While arguably less famous than some of CLAMP'S other works such as Card Captor Sakura, Tsubasa and xxxHolic, I personally believe X/1999 to be CLAMP's true masterpiece. It is all the more a shame that this series has been left as incomplete with only little hope of there ever being a conclusion. While on one hand, I would recommend this as a masterful manga, it always comes with the grain of salt that you will be left with more questions than answers.

Kamui returns to Tokyo where, much as he would like to see them again, he avoids meeting his childhood friends Fuma and Kotori. Strange things seem to happen around Kamui - earthquakes one after the other shatter the city. Soon, mysterious people called the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth try to recruit Kamui to join their cause: one to save the earth, and one to destroy and reform it.

Although one shouldn't expect any less from CLAMP, X/1999's art is stunning. The characters are beautifully drawn with intricate details and there is no other word than dedication to describing the Tokyo backdrops. The art does change significantly between the first and latest volume, which is quite natural to a longer running series.

Kamui certainly doesn't start off as the most likeable protagonist. But that changes fast enough once we become more familiar with his circumstances and also see his change toward others. Although this story has a lot of action, I believe it is foremost a character-driven plot. In addition to the seven Dragons of Heaven and the seven Dragons of Earth, there is still quite a vast cast of important and also lesser characters. What makes X/1999 so special is that they all have their legitimate intentions and wishes. If you like grey characters, well, this series consists of nothing but. There is really no saying which character is in the right or wrong - as the characters themselves point out - there is no ideal outcome in which everyone can be happy.

Not only are all characters relatable, they all have their own story to tell and are anything but flat characters. There must be at least one character everyone can adore, and - ok - relatable or not, I confess, I don't like Satsuki - at all. But apart from her? I can't say there is a single character who I don't care for. You'd wish each and everyone one of them could have their happy ending - unfortunately, you know it won't happen. And to make matters worse, we likely never will find out. I think, X/1999's status of being incomplete will forever be one of my personal biggest manga tragedies.

On another note, for those who have read Tokyo Babylon and/or CLAMP School Detectives, characters from both make a comeback in this series and the truly open ending of Subaru and Seishirou receives a somewhat decent conclusion. I say somewhat because, although their story continues and comes to a close of sorts, the last volume of X/1999 takes on a new turn which could go anywhere, so it's questionable whether it can really be called a satisfying conclusion.

[Daniel Bosé · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★ Me gustó muchísimo este penúltimo tomo. Si bien aún no se cierra nada, me gusta como se encamina la historia. Me gusta mucho que están indagando en personajes muy interesantes y fuertes. Cómo tienen tan bien reflejado los contrastes.

Cada cosa que en los primeros tomos no entendía o que me confundían, en estos últimos tomos, me lo conectan todo con todo, y me dan un sentido de estar ahí. Me encanta.

[✨Meryem✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUBARUUUUUUUUUUUUU !!!!!!
Gosh how is it that the next is the last volume ! I can't believe it ! It's making me frustrated just thinking about it

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arashi and Yuzuriha were at their lovelist and most heroic while Hinoto and Satsuki were at their loveliest and most sinister. The parallels between the characters were again striking, absorbing, and at times disturbing. Sensual and stomach-turning at the same time is Satsuki, the voluptuous, bespectacled beauty with the Beast’s wires enshrouding her as much as Hinoto’s robes enshroud her, the chords piercing her skin, sending her tentacles to attack the schoolgirls. Speaking of schoolgirls, there’s a striking contrast between Yuzuriha and Satsuki; the youngest of the Dragons, both drawing power from their familiars. Yuzuriha is emotional about everything while Satsuki seems to be emotionless. Satsuki doesn’t think she cares about anything, but she’s starting to look at Yuto a way she does no one else, something that’s making her computer companion grumpy. Yuto and Kanoe seem more sensitive to Beast’s moods than Satsuki is. She thinks Beast doesn’t have emotions either, but she may be wrong about herself. She may be wrong about Beast, too. Kanoe may be more sensitive to Beast’s emotions, but she has no idea that her sister is trouble, for all that Hinoto is her motivation for everything. The honeymoon is over between Hinoto and her other self. She’s a prisoner in her own dreams, unable to let anyone, even Kanoe know what’s happening to her. Kanoe did hear her, but she can’t believe her older sister would ever reach out to her willingly after what she’s done. Kamui, however, is starting to wonder about Hinoto, picking up on yet another clue that something is wrong. He and Sorata come up with a plan to find out what she’s up to, right before Sorata is struck down. No one knows why except Arashi, who ends up getting closer to Sorata than he’d ever hoped. Poor Kamui ponders the tragedy of his Seals’s strength and fragility, particularly Subaru’s. Only it’s Fuma who goes to see Subaru in Seishiro’s garden, tempting him with the chance to grant his lost love’s final wish. Fuma may have a tender relationship with Kakyo, but Subaru is the one he can really talk to. Perhaps this is because Subaru’s single-minded devotion may be very close to what Fuma himself truly feels? Kamui never seems to be far from his thoughts. I saw a little of the old Fuma mingled with the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth which made me ponder his motivations all the more. Once more the artwork was breathtaking, involving some beautiful battle scenes between Yuzuriha and Arashi, fighting Satsuki and Beast, powerful love scenes, and Fuma playing a quieter, more seductive role in this volume with Kakyo, Subaru, and of course Kamui. Once more I was drawn into every panel and left hungry for more.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

X Clamp #17


Tak berhenti pada Subaru, Putri Hinoto mengincar nyawa seluruh naga langit. Tapi sosok asli Hinoto yang tenggelam dalam kepribadiaan yang lain berusaha tetap dalam tujuan awalnya malah meminta bantuan saudaranya Kanoe yang berpihak pada para naga bumi.

Para naga langit yang terpencar sejak menghilangannya Subaru, mulai mencurigai Putri Hinoto. Bingung dengan tingkah Putri Hinoto, Kamui-Arisugawa memisahkan diri untuk menyelidiki Putri Hinoto. Sedangkan Yuzuriha-Arashi bertempur melawan Satsuki dengan monster komputernya yang sedang menimbulkan kekacauan dan gempa. Arashi berada dalam keadaan berbahaya jika tak muncul sosok makhluk yang menyelamatkannya. Yang tak lain adalah jelmaan Arisugawa. Kali ini Arisugawa yang terluka parah. Kisah cinta Arashi dan Arisugawa akan sangat tragis jika ramalan yang melekat pada diri mereka terwujud.

Di tempat lain, sosok Subaru yang menghilang ternyata dapat ditemukan Dark Kamui. Dari Dark Kamui, Subaru bahkan memperoleh mata kiri Sakurazukamori untuk suatu alasan.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siento que la filosofía de la historia me pega mucho.

Hoy salí a la calle, y es inposible no cuestionarte los planteamientos de la historia. Por qué está mal matar a otras personas, por qué la gente hace lo que hace por amor, por qué todos queremos amar pero estamos tan perdidos en nuestra comodidad, miedo o depresión. Por qué a veces quisíeramos abandonarnos al fin de la existencia, y otras daríamos todo por nuestro deseo más secreto, que a la vez no podemos ver cumplido.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this volume: suspicions among the Dragons of Heaven, Sorata and Arashi, Subaru's meeting with Fuuma,

[Aelita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of CLAMP, but they did a good job with X. The edition I own is the original Japanese (I'm a Japanese major so yes I can actually read it). I'm still sad the series was cut. :|

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was very nice how Sorata put his avatar on Arashi to protect her from getting any harm.

[Ricardo Marín]

5 / 5