Becoming at least aware of "anime" in the early 2000's, there were a handful of series or films that seemed to hold more weight in the fandom then others, the types of things you simply "had" to see to be a true fan. Among them were a few films, with great action and cool character designs. "Blood - The Last Vampire," "Vampire Hunter D," "Ghost in the Shell" and "Ninja Scroll," to name a few, all released in that prior decade. Another was the film "X - 1999" (as refered to in the English release), which I still hope to watch one day, but alas, that movie has long been out of print and difficult to find (my understanding is that it was one of the first DVD's released by Manga Entertainment in the USA, although I could be wrong). Story aside, the animation is supposed to be outstanding. In it's place, we have "X," a 2001 television series that readapts the story, originally written as a manga (that remains unfinsihed to this day), into a longer runtime than a single film could allow. It's a bit easier to find on DVD, thanks largely to Funimation's license rescue keeping it in stock and affordable. It's still difficult to search online (try searching "x" in Google and see what pops up), but naming aside, the show seems to keep enough attention to be relevant, if not quite as much as the film. Yes, animation won't be as good as a theatrical movie, but surely the extra time allotted to character development would make it worthwhile?While "X" did impress me in some ways, the story is was of the worst-written and most boring pieces of melodrama I can recall. It reminds me a lot of the anime adaptation of "Tsukihime - Lunar Legend," also a piece of a larger fictional universe (Type-Moon instead of CLAMP). The story of "X" starts with Kamui, a young teenager returning to Tokyo after years of absence. Against his will, he is at the center of a prophecy, telling of seven "dragons of Heaven" and seven "dragons of Earth" that will wage war against each other. If Earth wins, the human race will be destroyed to save the planet. If Heaven wins, the humans will be saved. Kamui learns that he represents the most powerful dragon warrior, and not yet having an allegiance, he gets to make his own choice. His decision will decide everything. So will he fight to save the human race, or to destroy them? I think that's what the story premise is... the show wanders aimlessly before describing all this through exposition five episodes in.It seems like a silly dilemma. Kamui is supposed to be the hero, and who wouldn't want to fight to save the Earth? But things seem less certain in the beginning: the Kamui we are introduced to is a depressed kid that perfectly represents "emo," a common type of loner in the early 2000's. He keeps himself emotionally distant, refusing to care about anyone, and even rejecting his old childhood friends. Had anyone else been the chosen one, I wouldn't be worried. But with this kid... yeah, the world might be doomed after all. It's not that Kamui doesn't have good reason to feel this way, but I couldn't help but feel frustrated with his character.But wait, there's more! About halfway into the show, Kamui is able to make his decision (making a complete 180 in his character traits from that point on), to fight to save the human race to protect those childhood friends of his. But then all parties involved learn the true nature of the prophecy: there was always two Kamui's, not one. Hence the repeating use of Kamui fighting himself, one with white wings and one with black, as a visual metaphor. As soon as Kamui makes his choice, the second appears, only to fill in the other side. And it happens to overtake one of Kamui's childhood friends! Why? No one knows. But now, his worst fears from his dreams are realized: instead of himself killing off his other friends to trigger emotional turmoil, he watches his best friend, unaware of his actions, doing so in his place. Oh the humanity!The whole idea of a supernatural war between superpowered humans, with dragons as the motif, is a cool one. As is the theme of destiny and being unable to change the future. On paper, the events are almost biblical. But in practice, the actual important parts of the story could have been summarized in 90 minutes, rather than 600. Funny, that happens to be the length of the original film, isn't it? All the poorly-written exposition doesn't improve the experience. Without editing it down to something more concise, it just detracts from it. It doesn't help that the ending, at least as seen in the television anime, is a huge letdown.
Did I mention there's seven dragons on each side of the war? "X" has a large cast of characters. And to its credit, they are good characters, most of them with traits and motivations interesting enough to be able to lead their own show. But within "X," there isn't much point to them at all. Everything rests on Kamui (and his double) to decide the final outcome. Yes, the others each get at least one full episode to fight each other, but it doesn't change anything, only acting to add more drama and weight to the whole thing. Their entire presence could be removed, and I wouldn't have noticed a difference.Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh. The show does slowly get better (if you can stick with it past the first dozen episodes), as it slowly unviels twists and as individual characters meet their end. It's all those side-characters that give the story any real meat. And I can imagine the dialogue on paper reading as inspiring rather than corny. If entering with the right mindset, I can imagine certain audiences loving "X." I almost got there... but the whole thing was just too stupid to fully invest myself.The big highlight of the show was the production values. Of course, it doesn't look as good as the film, but it has aged surprisingly well. The key word being "aged"... it still wouldn't fool anyone as being a modern show. But animation, particularly during action scenes, is pretty sharp. And the character designs, while sometimes dated, still look ok and relatively cool, thanks to it being a CLAMP anime with their distinctlve style. A modern fan might still get a poster featuring these characters. Specific recurring visuals, like feathers falling like flower petals in the wind, long ribbons, and intricately-detailed holy swords, look espcially impressive. Stupid, yes, especially when we see them over and over in each episode to represent the inner thoughts of the characters rather than real events, but it looks good regardless. Modern DVD releases also look sharp enough for a viewer to think it was a Bluray, high praise to the current remaster.The old English dub is pretty poor, but the musical score is fairly good. At least, one specific track is good: "Destiny," a theme also used in the film. It's iconic and memorable. And used a bit too often at the end of almost every episode, but not actually being the ending or opening theme. I kept getting the sense that there was less than 20 minutes of unique music in the entire show, a far cry from the truth, but even so... Anyway, all composers looking for inspiration in creating a rousing dramatic piece for film or television should seek out this one song.Oh, and there was an extra OVA episode, called "Episode 0 - Omen." It's just a mashup of events in the series. Yes, almost 600 minutes' worth down to just 25. And I didn't feel like I missed anything... in some ways, certain scenes actually came off better. But it's a waste if you are watching the full series anyway."X" is an exceptional series in many ways, but the writing really needed a revision. At the very least, they could have cut it down to keep me awake during the runtime. I think the show will come across better for certain viewers, but it just wasn't for me. I do respect it enough to be interested in the original manga or a modern adaptation, or at least to try harder in seeking out the original feature film. So they did something right.