X/1999, Volume 09: Requiem

X [エックス] #9

by Clamp

Kamui finally makes his decision whether or not he wants to protect his friends more than the Earth itself. But having made that choice, another choice is made in opposition to his, and the results are beyond tragic.

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

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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

[S.]

Just as heart wrenching as it was ten years ago

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

you can stay here forever if you think it would make you happy. but here, there can be no beginnings and no endings. there is no change, no flow of time in this part of the soul. here, you can only watch, over and over and over, a mere bystander in your life’s most crucial moment! and each time you dream anew, another part of you will die—barren, impotent, hopeless, cold. the pain i feel and the pain you feel, they are not the same. this pain made me come back to reality, not avoid it, run from it. i did not give up. i can’t. i must continue to live, to create the future i want. there is still a chance that i can be happy. and yes, that’s probably going to sadden the people who love me. they may even hate me for it. but if i don’t follow my heart’s true path, no one else will. and you have the same choice to make. whether to live in your memories, blaming yourself forever, or to awaken from this dream, and choose a path—a path to your heart’s desire.

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[psyche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un abrazo para nuestros protagonistas por favor 🥲

[it's ya boy harv · Rating 5 out of 5]

we are getting somewhere and now I wish the ride would slow back down oh god oh god everything's on fire. anyway I missed Subaru SO much and I'm glad he's back.

[Marie Graßhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hm. Irgendwie dachte ich anfangs, der Manga würde noch ein bisschen besser/durchsichtiger und weniger melodramatisch werden, weil ich wirklich nur Gutes davon gehört hatte. Aber meine Hoffnungen wurden auch in diesem Band wieder enttäuscht. Ich würde den Manga echt super gern mögen, weil ich Clamp liebe, aber ich glaube, ich bin der einzige Mensch der Welt, der ihn nicht sehr toll findet ^^" Im Grunde ist die ganze Geschichte nur eine Mischung aus Abschlachterei (und auf jeder Seite sind Federn oder Blut) und hyper-melodramatischen Gelaber. Und es vergehen keine 5 Seiten, auf denen nicht irgendwas vom "Tag der Entscheidung" oder von "Kamui muss entscheiden" gelabert wird. Langsam nervt das arg ...

[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]

Me gustó mucho el paralelismo que hay entre Kamui y Subaru. Jamás me había planteado aquello, pero veo que encaja como anillo al dedo. La historia ""no avanzo mucho"" en términos de acción pero creo que sí en temas internos del personaje de Kamui. Ya veremos qué pasa después.

[The_noxbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si pudiera darle mil estrellas a este tomo, se las daría 😭

[Clau MZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The teams are finally assembled on both sides!!! Haha and thus the tragedy further unravels

[方 · Rating 5 out of 5]

the flashback when hokuto was killed.. subaru and kamui sharing pains…… my tummy hurts so bad……….

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tragic outcome of Kamui’s choice for the fate of the Earth and himself unfolds. Kakyo takes action to grant Kotori’s wish, to save Kamui from Fuma, his twin star. Kotori dreamed her final dream at Kakyo’s side, giving him hope, even though Kakyo knows the future. it’s his destiny to sleep at the side of the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth, but he’s not unsympathetic to the Kamui of the Dragons of Heaven, who he draws Fuma’s attention to, crying within his own heart in the form of a child when Fuma comes to collect him. I wonder what politican was keeping Kakyo at the Four Seasons Hotel? What will their reaction be when they find Fuma grabbed him? Perhaps they’ll simply wave it off as destiny since Kakyo was a Dragon of Earth, fated to guide the Dragons of Earth. He’s not the only one moved by Kamui’s tears. Subaru is roused to take action, going within Kamui’s heart, Kamui’s dreams and nightmares to try and bring him back. The landscape is only too familar to Subaru; one of losing the two people the traumatized boy held most dear, a state Subaru himself was once in. A bond of shared pain forms between two of CLAMP’s most beautiful characters in the surreal nightmare landscape of Kamui’s mind, one Kakyo and Fuma are only too aware of.

There are so many parallels to Tokyo Babylon in this, it gives this particular fan a bittersweet sense of coming full circle. Kamui’s innocent shock at the sight of Hokuto’s death mirrors Subaru’s reaction to one of Seishiro’s victims which his lover and stalker revealed to him. Subaru reveals more to Kamui than he has to anyone, galvanizing Kamui’s own sense of purpose. Kakyo seems intent on showing this to Fuma, the one responsible for Kamui’s trauma. Fuma alternates between violence and gentleness with Kakyo. Is he drawn to the dreamseer because he can grant his wish, make him happy in a way he can never make Kamui, let alone himself? Fuma, Kamui’s twin star, is such a complex, brutal, yet layered character in his concern about granting people’s wishes. The horrible, brutal fate he visited upon Kotori, was he granting her wish before anyone’s else? Her desire to be broken, rather than see the earth or Kamui broken? Or was he granting his own wish, destroying her rather than allowing her to cry any more? Was he going to kill Kamui rather than let him cry? Are sentiments like these what drive Fuma as Kamui of the Dragons of Earth? He inspires as many questions as Seishiro does. Nor is he the only one. Hinoto may be as driven by a wish as her sister, Kanoe is, something Kakyo confronts her about in the dreamscape. Hinoto’s wish may concern Kanoe as much as Kanoe’s concerns Hinoto. So many women dying and crying must make this world pure hell for Nokoru, but he, Suoh, and Akira, the three former CLAMP school detectives are doing what they can to help Kamui, the Dragons of Heaven, and to grant Tokiko’s last wishes. Karen joins the rest of the Dragons of Heaven at the CLAMP Academy, late to the tragedy. Not that the other Dragons of Heaven other than Subaru were able to do much, something Sora was acutely aware of. Another Tokyo Babylon parallel is how much Sora is acting like Hokuto. He was such a fun, flirty character, but the anguish and grief he feels when Kamui is locked inside himself parallels Hokuto’s pain when it happened to Subaru. Kamui himself seems gentler and even more beautiful after his ordeal, as if Subaru left something of his own heart, his own gentleness with him. All in all this was an exquisite and complex volume about a character putting himself back together after he’d been broken, how the fall-out affects everyone around him, and how destiny is entangled in a web of wishes. I found myself falling in love with Kamui, Subaru, Kakyo, and surprisingly Fuma. I’m curious about what Hinoto is up to, who has seemed relatively benevolent up to this point. All of these elements were depicted in surreal, yet beautiful detail, the artwork lovingly depicting the characters with the ambience of a dream. The moment when the Dragons of Heaven gather under the tree was a welcome breath of fresh air, yet felt like the calm before the storm which rumbles with awaiting thunder while whispering in an intimate voice in the stillness.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subaru piccola stella sono due serie che soffri, lui il padre di tutti gli angst enemies to lovers ㅠㅠ

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

X Clamp #9


Kamui: "Kita janji yuk Fuuma. Aku pasti tidak akan membuat Kotori menangis".
Fuuma: "Aku juga, kalau Kamui menjaga Kotori, aku akan menjaga Kamui".
Kotori: "Kotori juga, kalau Kamui menangis aku pasti marah. Kotori akan menjaga Kamui. Kalau ada
yang membiat Kamui menangis aku akan lindungi Kamui dari orang itu".
Tapi janji masa kecil itu hancur berkeping-keping saat Kamui memilih satu dari dua takdir yang harus dipilih dan dijalani Kamui. Tragisnya pengisi takdir Kamui yang kosong di isi oleh Fuuma. Takdir yang berseberangan dan saling bertentangan. Fuuma menjadi "dark Kamui". Pada saat itu juga Kotori harus menemui ajalnya di tangan dark Kamui. Kamui sendiri nyaris menemui ajalnya jika para pelindungnya, para naga langit tidak datang membantunya.
Dalam keadaan terkejut, Kamui terjebak dalam penyesalan. Untunglah Subaru, salah satu naga langit sang onmyouji berhasil membawa kembali Kamui. Keinginan Kamui kembali hanya satu yaitu merebut kembali Fuuma yang disayanginya.
Dengan kejadian ini lengkap sudah tujun naga langit (Karen Kasumi, Sorata Arisugawa, Arashi Kishuu, Yuzuriha Nekoi, Seiichiro Aoki, Subaru Sumeragi dan Kamui Shirou).

Di tempat lain, Sakurazukamori salah satu naga bumi berhasil menculik si pengintip mimpi dari keluarganya. Kakyou si pengintip mimpi ini tak lain adalah salah satu naga bumi.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aunque la historia no tiene mucho sentido, se va trazando mejor; y sobre todo, la historia de Subaru y la excelente forma en que fue tomada de Tokyo Babylon y cómo encaja al paralelismo de la historia de Kamui. Además sale Karen. ♥

///

Agregando: me di cuenta de cómo los dragones de la Tierra representan tabúes y preocupaciones de finales de los 1990 (y lo que se pensaba del fin del mundo): el planeta siendo destruído, la nanotecnología y la creación de vida, un soñador que quiere suicidarse, un asesino incapaz de sentir empatía por los humanos, y la tecnología controlando el mundo (quiza el otro morro, amigo de Kanoe representando la vanidad).

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's very sad and bad that Kotori got killed by the other Kamui(in the form of Fumi).

[andie]

grey cover apple green x
isbn 9789812606082

[Ricardo Marín]

5 / 5