X/1999, Volume 02: Overture

X [エックス] #2

by Clamp, Fred Burke

Holding the Earth's destiny in his hands, Kamui Shiro dances between light and dark--friends and enemies--as he finds himself sought by opposing sets of occult forces.

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

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art. THE ART! The manga looks amazing, I adore the art style. The horror/gore scenes are so vivid and detailed and beautifully rendered.
I’m not sold on plot yet, so many players and lore but I’m enjoying the ride.

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like Kamui. I mean, I get why he feels the need to do this, whatever "this" is, alone, that he wants to protect his loved ones, but Sorata was right, Kamui really is choleric - he has no idea what's going on but his first reaction is to attack. Also, this manga loves to repeat itself. Over and over again. So the story moves along molasses slow.

[this_eel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume one was gentle enough but they're really in for it now. In this book we find out more about the two groups that are fighting over Earth's fate (the destined day in 1999!). The SEVEN SEALS and the SEVEN HARBINGERS...!

The Seals, we will see, are the Dragons of Heaven, who are on team "let the humans live." The Harbingers, or the Dragons of Earth, say, "Then Die."

I have to say, after all this time, it's hard to feel completely opposed to the Harbingers/Dragons of Earth viewpoint, which is that humans really screw things up and the planet deserves better. CLAMP makes it somewhat hard for me to root for them, though. At this point in the proceedings we've met a few characters from each side:

The ringleader of the pre-Kamui Seals is Hinoto, the blind princess in the Diet building who guides the future for all politicians (I actually really have to question how great or sympathetic she is if she's functionally a government think tank?). So far we have met:

* Sorata, the jocular teen priest from Osaka who is so romantic and is useful in a tight spot despite his flashy personality. Rating: I love him.

* Arashi, the cool-headed unsmiling teen girl who can produce a sword from her hand. Somewhere deep within her is a heart, but she is all business. Rating: Sorata will love her, and he is right to do so.

On the other side, we have Hinoto's extremely tall younger sister, a high femme murder secretary whose style sense is a mashup between shoulderpad office matriarch and dominatrix. She is the kind of person you search for if your entire criteria for sexual encounter is "please step on me." I will be honest: I hate this woman. However, I can imagine being someone for whom she is the forbidden dream.

So far from the Dragons we have met:

* Yuto, a public official whose smiles are lies. Rating: Does this man think his coyness is interesting? He is the most boring person alive.

* Satsuki, a teen who has a lot of sex with her big computer. Rating: to be honest Satsuki really unnerves me and I don't like to perceive her at all.

In the aftermath of Kamui's injury and removal to Fuma and Kotori's house, Sorata arrives, and tries to make headway with Kamui - I really like this, because they don't waste a lot of time making you think Sorata isn't very deep. He's quite deep, responsible, smart! He is able to get at Kamui in ways that the siblings aren't, because Kamui isn't in love with him or afraid for him.

But becomes clear that, in some way or another, not only Kamui but Fuma and Kotori are involved in the end of the world. The foreshadowing mostly pins disaster on our Kamui, in the form of literal awful visions that haunt Hinoto (and she kind of meanly sends these to Kamui in full technicolor to make him try and stop it from happening). These visions include a shattering planet, a devastated Tokyo filled with mutilated, fly-swarmed bodies, and the violent murder of Kotori.

This is a group project, however, not just a Kamui Problem. Something goes on with Fuma and Kotori. This volume kicks up the violence intensely, and almost right out of the gate there is a flashback to the death of the siblings' mother - her dismembered body scattered around a room in their family-run shrine, Fuma trying to tell a young Kotori that she isn't seeing what she's seeing. We know that Kamui and his mother fled Tokyo because this woman "died for Kamui" and his mom. And we know that Kotori has visions. We know that Fuma can enter a psychic barrier that no one should be able to walk through. We know because everything is screaming about it that something is going to go horribly wrong. It's been going horribly wrong for years.

And this grand plot, the fate of the world plot, is anchored by the smaller but vital inner lives of our characters. BADASS KAMUI is already revealing himself to be angry out of trauma, and beneath his coldness to his old friends is terror that something bad will happen to them as it's happened to their mothers. (Which...is a reasonable concern to have.) Kotori and Fuma are distraught at his bizarre reappearance, immediate injury, and strange behavior, yearning for the gentle kid they used to know. The pathos is gripping, and it's the balance of these private concerns with the planetary ones that really hits home.

But this book hits with all its weapons. All the hinted-at violence of the first book is splashed vividly across the page in volume two. The gore in this series is the most intense and religiously detailed of anything I've read from CLAMP, and they utilize it with a kind of romantic brutality. It is over the top, but the entire series is an exaggeration - I'm not just saying this because of the titling of the volumes, but it is indeed operatic, and the decadance of the art, including its portrayals of violence, is part of that heightened dramatic mode. It's awfully effective, and both hard to look at and hard to look away from. It is a curated violence, ripe with portent and consequence, and it's also just shocking stuff.

But it wouldn't work without the painfully well-realized character dynamics - the pulls of loyalty and adoration that are tested minute by minute in apocalyptic circumstances. With such a large cast, it would be easy to lose track of someone's specific pathos, but CLAMP manage to give almost everyone some depth (seriously to heck with Yuto) and keep a tight rein on everyone. And everyone is up in their feelings at all times, so that is plenty to manage. (Not that there won't be a LOT more soon - we haven't even gotten to Subaru yet).

The horror is visible, the tension is building, oh my god their dad just got murdered by a gender-weird robot, the girls are doing a great job at ruining lives!

"Kamui...he is your..."

*eel mouths the words "twin star"*

[✨Meryem✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is amazing but the story is very confusing

[psyche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kotori es literalmente el meme del chavo que entra a la habitación con la pizza y se topa que todo es un descontrol 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Marie Graßhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heute endlich mal wieder Zeit zum Lesen gehabt, zumindest für einen keinen Manga im Bus. Hach, die Reihe gefällt mir immer besser - der erste Teil war ja noch etwas verwirrend. Dieser hier auch, aber so langsam nimmt es ja klarere Züge an, ich bin sehr gespannt darauf, wie es wohl weiter gehen wird. (:

[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.

[~ goldie ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two down, sixteen to go. This was a bit more confusing compared to the first volume, because there are new characters and the story doesn't really get to show them really well (who they are, were they come from) but I'm pretty sure the following volumes will clarify everything. I would give it three starts but I'll wait to see what's happening. So, after facing Seiichiro (was that him? I'm already confused, you see? The plot was a bit confusing) Kamui finds himself in trouble, he's physically hurt and Fuuma rescues him, takes care of him. We see a battle between Sorata and Yuto, each one defending one specific group. We have the The Dragons of Heaven, who are trying to protect humanity from the world's end (they are led by Hinoto) and The Dragons of Earth, who we haven't seen much yet. They start to explain a little bit about certain aspects of this universe, and Sorata is being super nice to Kamui when we see what happened six years ago. Kamui and his mom were living in Tokyo, they were neighbors with Fuuma's family etcetera, until their mom (Fuuma and Kotori's mom) was brutally murdered. Kamui's mom then move with her son to a different city but then, six years later, she's also killed, and everything is relatively linked to Kamui and the fact that he's the one responsible for saving humanity or not. Fuuma's dad is attacked by Nataku, and before dying he say that, somehow, Fuuma and Kamui are connected. Looking forward to what's happening next...

[Noelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do think that perhaps I’m missing something here...... because I got very confused.

The art is stunning but I feel that I’m missing something about Kamui because there’s just constant references to him...... but I have no idea what is happening.

It just kinda went over my head and a lot of the pages just call out different people’s names..... but it’s definitely pretty

[Daniel Bosé · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★
Muy fuerte. Las cosas ya están andando con más velocidad y agilidad. Me está gustando bastante. El único problema es que cada vez presentan más personajes y aún no termino de conocer o ubicar bien a los principales...fuera de ahí todo está perfecto. Cómo siempre Clamp mostrando su estilo tan único, ahora con un tono incluso más oscuro que el de Tokyo Babylon.

[Ryofire · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art's fine enough for CLAMP, but not their best, nor otherwise remarkably interesting. The writing is incredibly bad. The narrative is silly, the world-building is silly, and very few of the characters are actually interesting. None of them seem to exist in the same plane of existence. They're just there to be dramatic in different panels, which doesn't exactly form a cohesive story.

[Bee (BacchusVines) · Rating 3 out of 5]

CLAMP always takes forever with the world building, but I do still enjoy this!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Once upon a Dream · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diventa sempre più interessante, ma continuo a capirci sempre poco 😂

[Mosley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic apocalyptic manga. I enjoyed that the manga is more gory than the anime.

[Cis]

👍

[néïs (0_0)3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
jolis dessins belles envolées lyriques ou que sais je mais l'histoire est encore un peu floue à la fin du deuxième tome j'ai du mal à retenir les noms et le rôle des personnages

[Mica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walaaaah. Akhirnya baca volume 2 juga. Tjukuuuup x(

Kamui terluka karena serangan Saiki dan dirawat oleh Kotori. Tiba-tiba Nataku datang dan membunuh ayah Kotori untuk mengambil pedang suci.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whelp. Wasn’t prepared for that. The storm is about to begin. 4.5 stars.

[Yufel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vamos viendo a donde nos lleva la historia, solo me dejaré llevar con ella

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como que no estoy captando algo
Que son Los Ángeles y los sellos? 🫣

[Dama Viveros Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6/ 5
Even if I have no idea about what will happen in the next volume, I'm enjoying so much the story that I can't wait to know more about the plot.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

sapevo sarebbe stato dark, ma non credevo sarebbe stato così graphic.
inizia l’ultima leggenda di questo pianeta…

[consumedshadow-mysticmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume shocked me, caused me to exclaim WTF! multiple times. I wasn’t expecting CLAMP to dive into graphic depictions that wouldn’t be out of place in a work by Junji Ito.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Characters and conflict continue to develop with Sorata having a flirty flight with Yuuto until Fuuma ruined their fun to everyone’s surprise, including Fuuma’s. Not wanting to tick off the mystery boy with the power to disregard theirs, Yuuto took off to flirt with Kanoe instead, Kanoe being a mysterious, voluptuous woman with an intimate, yet adversarial bond with Hinoto, along with connections to the various powers within Japan. Speaking of flirting, Kanoe seemed quite preoccupied with flirting with anti-social, bespetacled girl named Satsuki, who's linked in, in more ways than one with one monstrous Beast of a computer. Literally. Amidst all the flirting, Yuuto shared information, revealing a little more about himself, even if he is playing coy with everyone, especially those he flirted with. Not to be inequal to Yuuto, Sorata went home with Fumma and continued to flirt with an abashed Kotori and a skittish Kamui, never an angry Fuuma. Perhaps we can forgive Sora (Sora-chan? I’m guessing that’s what he was called in the Japanese version) because he had a huge information dump to knock Kamui over the head with about who he was and the End of the World. Not that he had a chance to finish the dump. Trouble came calling at the Monou family home, looking for the sacred sword, and willing to leave bloody tragedy in their wake, trouble wearing a lovely, androgynous face and calling themselves Nataku. Nor was it the first time tragedy has struck the Monou family, leaving them scarred. It appears there are more scars to come, for all Kamui’s resolution to protect his childhood friends.

Blood, gore, and emotional trauma were offset by the surreal beauty of the artwork, the exquisite design of the characters, to which some new ones were introduced, weaving a web of dark mystery, tantalizing the reader with their promise of more to come. Amidst the brooding atmosphere of aesthetic menace, Sora’s cheer and Yuuto’s playful flirting were a welcome release of pressure. The stage was set, the storm was brewing, and the reader waits, entranced by the exquisite meance, eager to see more.

[duniamimpigie Anggi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan apa ada pembaca yang bakal nyangka kalau Fuuma yang di jilid ini masih abang-abang bertubuh gede yang super pendiem kayak hewan (kalau kata adiknya, Kotori) itu seiring perkembangan cerita bakal jadi abang-abang yang masih bertubuh gede tapi super sadis dan demen nyiksa Kamui sampe-sampe rasanya itu kebahagiaan tertinggi buat dia?

Di awal-awal jilid ini saya cekikikan mulu liat pertarungan Sorata vs Yuto. Ngelawak banget mereka berdua ahahaha x"D
Btw, Yuto emang salah satu tokoh yang memorable di seri ini (seenggaknya bagi saya): abang-abang PNS yang tampang dan kelakuannya macem host di bar-bar :v

Tapi seusai itu, dimulailah goreeeeeeee ||orz
Potongan-potongan tangan dan kaki, penggalan kepala, usus dan organ dalam tercerai berai ||orz
Bagi saya yang udah lama gak baca manga aksi-fantasi dengan bumbu gore, langsung baca yang sekaliber X ini bikin saya fokus terhadap hal-hal yang sebenernya gak perlu difokusin kalau gak mau mual sendiri ||orz

Dan Kamui masih amat menjengkelkan di jilid ini -______-

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

X Clamp #2

Sejak Kamui terluka, para pelindung dan musuh musuh Kamui bermunculan mereka itu disebut para naga bumi dan naga langit.
Dalam tidurnya ketika tak sadarkan diri Kamui bertemu putri Hinoto (seorang dreamgazer, yg selama ini menentukan pergerakan politik dan pemerintahan Jepang). Sebagai salah satu sosok yg berada di pihak Kamui, sang putri membagi penglihatannya yg berkaitan dengan orang orang yg Kamui sayangi (saat dan alasan kematian ibu Kamui dan juga ramalan kematian Kotori). Dalam mimpi itu juga putri Hinoto memohon pada Kamui untuk melindungi bumi dan terutama Tokyo sebagai pusat bumi.
Disaat yg sama, pihak yg bertentangan dengan putri Hinoto, Kanoe saudara kandung putri Hinoto, mulai melakukan aksi. Pedang yg seharusnya milik Kamui hilang dari tempatnya. Bahkan ayah Fuma dan Kotori yg menjaga pedang tersebut menjadi korban.
Dengan hilangnya pedang tersebut, leganda kehancuran bumipun dimulai.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Monou is sopposed to protected the sword only met for kamui until he get killed by an enemy and now the fate of the world is in Kamui hands.