X/1999, Volume 16: Nocturne

X [エックス] #16

by Clamp

Kamui Shiro is a young man who was born with the power to decide the fate of the Earth itself--a destiny he can barely bring himself to believe. But as other players in the prophecy begin to gather around him--the "Seven Seals," with the power to protect the Earth, and the "Seven Harbingers," who are fated to destroy it--he has no choice but to come to terms with his fate. Years of twisted love and bitterness lead at last to a final conflict, as longtime rivals Subaru and Seishiro face each other and their own darknesses in a desperate battle on the Rainbow Bridge. A four-woman shojo manga design team, Clamp began as fan artist but swiftly became popular professionals whoe art style appeals to both men and women. Their most successful series so far are Magic Knight Rayearth, which became a TV series and video game, and X/1999. Clamp is based in Tokyo.

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

184 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

[The_noxbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

La mejor pareja de Star-crossed lovers de la historia del manga.
Al fin la conclusión de Tokyo Babylon. Triste de cojones pero justo como la imaginaba y como la quería. Se ha ido seishiro, mi personaje favorito, pero se ha ido a lo grande.
Ahora a esperar el final inconcluso... Pero siempre nos quedará el anime

[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 5 out of 5]

No sabía lo mucho que necesitaba y esperaba ver esto. No sé si lo estoy evaluando como un tomo de X, o como el gran gran final de Tokyo Babylon. AMO!!!! De los momentos más impactantes que me he leído en todo el trabajo de CLAMP (Aunque no he leído tantos trabajos de ellas) Que fuerte todo!!! Me urge seguir leyendo.

[✨Meryem✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was my favorite volume ! I loved Subaru in Tokyo Babylon but I always felt that something was missing on it, that we didn't get the whole story either with Seiishiro or Hokuto, but it makes so much more sense here

[Hana Eka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duh!!!

Komik indah tapi membuat depresi...

Komik depresi tapi indah...

#plak

[Moi Self · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si conclude qui la storia iniziata in Tokyo Babylon.

Quanto dolore, poveri cuori 😭

[Alana]

why do I like pain

[Ctecain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mes grosses larmes.

[Iz Sanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subaru las CLAMP te odian 😢

[Clau MZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ship so good they kill each other 😭😭😭

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subaru è da Tokyo Babylon che non riesce a essere felice…

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This managed to be exquisitely epic and powerful along with excruciatingly unsatisfying at the same time. It was the final battle of Subaru and Seishiro, rising to the challenge of being worthy of them both, revealing some of the mysteries of Tokyo Babylon, bringing both Seishiro and Hokuto into sharper focus in their motivations. At the same time, there could have been so much more to satisfy my craving for more Seishiro/Subaru. Perhaps it wasn’t possible in this particular manga, in this particular universe, but I will always want more. Equally powerful was Kakyo’s reaction to the outcome, the results of Hokuto’s sacrifice. Only for Fuma to try to comfort him with surprising insight which felt both twisted and truthful, that this was a happy ending for Seishiro and Subaru. How tenderly he looked at both of them, expressing his own desire for a similar fate. A few panels later, he’s licking his lips and anticipating playing for Kamui later. Nor was he the only one licking his lips. Hinoto indulged in gloating, seeming like a bit of a maniacal third wheel adjacent to the tragedy. In spite of his loss, Subaru takes the time to comfort Kamui, sharing a little of his sorrow, and how he completely misjudged Seishiro. Just what did Seishiro whisper at the end to Subaru? Judging from Seishiro’s own fate prophecied by his mother in his side story, it may be something a lot of fans wanted to hear, including me. While Hinoto gloats, the other half of her cries to Kakyo for help. Kakyo isn’t feeling helpful or hopeful after the outcome of Hokuto’s wish. Poor Kamui is a mess, having lost yet another man he loved, and yes it is the end of the world. The hot messiness of it appears to reaching out for Arashi next, seeing how she’s responding to Sorata, how Yuzuriha is teasing her about it, and no one but Kamui has started to suspect something may be up with Hinoto. Kakyo and Fuma know, but they’re not telling.

The artwork was particularly extraordinary in this volume in how it depicted Seishirou and Subaru in their final battle amidst sakura petals and feathers, Hokuto dying in Seishiro’s arms while Kamui and Kakyo bear witness to the two events. Fuma of all people became the cheerleader and interpreter of this tragedy while Hinoto had to settle for gloating over the broken seal if not Subaru’s death. Seishiro can be so unpredictable. As darkly beautiful as anything was Seishiro’s backstory with his mother, the former Sakurazukamori. Even as she served the sakura, she enjoyed the camellias. Strange how the dead seemed to triumph in this while the living stand around (or sit) in stunned shock. Yuzuriha and Sora-chan have quite the challenge in keeping everyone’s spirits up. Perhaps they should take their cues from Fuma? Better not.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

X Clamp #16


Siasat keji Putri Hinoto berhasil. Saat Kamui cs menuju ke daerah yang ia katakan akan ada gempa, Subaru mendapat informasi yang berbeda. Maka di Rainbow Bridge terjadilah pertempuran hebat 2 onmyouji kelas atas. Kematian Subaru telah menanti. Akan tetapi kutukan Hokuto, saudara kembar Subaru terhadap Sakurazukamori, membuat kematian Subaru berbalik pada orang yang menyerangnya. Ada tragedi dibalik kisah Subaru-Sakurazukamori-Hokuto, ciri khas cerita clamp.

Kamui dan yang lain dibuat binggung dengan kesalahan informasi. Ketika Kamui berusaha mengejar waktu untuk menolong Subaru, keadaan sudah terlambat. Kematian Sakurazukamori malah berbalik merugikan pihak naga langit. Karena Subaru tak lagi memiliki keingingan apapun setelah orang yang disayanginya telah tiada dan itu adalah Sakurazukamori dan kemampunannya untuk membangun kekkai pelindung hilang lenyap bersama nyawa orang yang disayangi.

Kejadian Subaru membuat prihatin para naga langit. Mereka masing-masing memiliki orang yang disayangi dan orang yang ingin dilindungi.

Dan Putri Hinoto tetap melanjutkan niatnya menghabisi para naga langit satu per satu dengan jebakan yang sama. Tragedi para naga langit baru saja di mulai.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was really sad.Subaru killed Seishiro even though he didn't try to kill him,but because Seishiro tried to kill Subaru the same way he killed his sister, it backfired at him.Long ago,Subaru's sister risked her life to cast a spell on Seishiro that if he ever tried to kill her brother the same way he did to her, then it would backfire.I think it was a very touching thing for Subaru's sister(Hokuto)to do for her brother.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recuerdo que en el anime tenía sentido la mejor partecita, que es lo referente a Tokyo Babylon.

Pero una vez leyéndolo... como que sí tiene sentido, pero no es muy especial. Solo la última, última parte. Un buen planteamiento, no hay mejor manera de morir que a manos de alguien que amas. Una idea que solo los japoneses pueden manejar, plantear y elaborar de forma que no suene tan loco o imposible.

Y el enfrentamiento entre Seishiro y Subaru ufff.

[Samantha Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing volume and while Subaru and Seishiro have the most tragic story line imaginable, it was great to finally know how their love story ends. It was so emotional and heart wrenching (I cried), and just when you thought the angst couldn't get any worse - it does!

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume: the showdown on Rainbow Bridge. Or, CLAMP fans get some long awaited payoff. Sort of. Oh, the angst--it is profound.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong volume in X/1999 and a great ending to Tokyo Babylon.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Coming Soon!!

[Ricardo Marín]

5 / 5