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Review

by Druzilla,

X - Complete Collection

Synopsis:
X DVD

After a 6 year absence, 15 year old Kamui Shirou returns to Tokyo to face his destiny and ultimately the fate of the world. The future of the planet rests with Kamui whose destiny it is to make a preordained choice, to become a Dragon of Earth and preserve the planet by destroying humanity or by becoming a Dragon of Heaven and protect humanity from annihilation. Upon returning Kamui attempts to protect his childhood friends Fuma and Kotri and avoids yielding his support to either side. But fate and destiny soon conspire against Kamui, pulling him and his loved ones into the ultimate battle that will decide the fate of the world.

His choice will decide the fate of humanity and the planet, but has the future already been determined?

Production Company: Madhouse Studios
Australian R4 Release: Siren Visual
Runtime: 250 min
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Rating: PG

Review:

You're probably thinking to yourself this can't be new, that you have heard of this series before. And you would be right. The X complete collection is a single box set including all 24 episodes of the original X TV series, spaced over 3 DVD discs. The TV series is based on the original 1999 manga series by CLAMP. Oh and there's even a movie out there for the uninitiated. X was extremely popular during it's initial release and to no surprise Siren Visual has re-released this title in one neat package.

Fans of the series looking to sink their teeth into bonus features, interviews and the like will be severally disappointed. This collection is a bare bones release featuring only the episodes with Japanese and English 2.0 Dolby dub and English Sub options. And that's it. So for the X fan that already purchased the series this isn't going to be worth your money (unless you're that die hard X fan that must have it all). For people like myself that missed X the first time around this is a great chance to pickup a classic anime release and not break the bank or the DVD shelf.

Watching X today feels as fresh as it would have been back in 2001 or even 1999 when the story was first released in manga form. Smooth, solid and beautiful animation really brings the story to life and the series features many real life Tokyo locations such as the Diet building in downtown Tokyo. The story has strong environmental themes woven into its plot. Humanity has polluted and tainted the planet. Should all humanity be destroyed in order to save the planet or does humanity deserve a second chance to change its ways? This is made all the more relevant by the present debate over climate change and humanities impact on the environment.

X even has all the trade marks of a classic anime series, likable characters that aren't all generic, interesting side stories and even a cooking episode!

X is definitely worth watching at least once. It's a classic anime series that grew from a large manga following. It's story can be quite depressing at times as it does chronicle the end of the world, but if you can get over the sad tone its an enjoyable ride. Decent characters and side stories take you down story tangents which made what would have been a straight forward and boring story of the end of the world fun and interesting to watch.

Grade:
Overall : A
Overall (dub) : B
Overall (sub) : B
Story : B
Animation : A
Art : A
Music : A

+ Brilliant animation and a great soundtrack.
Lack of bonus content.

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Production Info:
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Script:
Yuki Enatsu
Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Kenji Sugihara
Hiroko Tokita
Storyboard:
Masahiro Ando
Makoto Fuchigami
Hiroshi Hamasaki
Hideo Hayashi
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Katsuyuki Kodera
Masayuki Kojima
Akio Sakai
Yūzō Satō
Kazuhiro Soeta
Sayo Yamamoto
Takashi Yamazaki
Episode Director:
Koji Aritomi
Takuji Endo
Hiroshi Hamasaki
Shinya Hanai
Hideo Hayashi
Masahiro Hosoda
Shigetaka Ikeda
Shigeru Kimiya
Yasuhiro Matsumura
Kou Matsuo
Yukio Okazaki
Masahiko Ōta
Toshiyuki Sakurai
Hidekazu Sato
Jun Shishido
Haruo Sotozaki
Jun Takada
Masahiko Watanabe
Music: Naoki Satō
Original creator: CLAMP
Character Design: Yoshinori Kanemori
Art Director: Yūji Ikeda
Art:
Yūji Ikeda
Takafumi Nishima
Hideyuki Ueno
Norihiko Yokomatsu
Chief Animation Director: Yoshinori Kanemori
Animation Director:
Hisashi Abe
Shigeru Fujita
Kunihiko Hamada
Hideki Hashimoto
Miyuki Inoue
Ho Sum Lee
Kenichi Ōnuki
Yasuhiro Saiki
Hironobu Saitō
Kunihiko Sakurai
Masayoshi Tanaka
Satoshi Tasaki
Takashi Uchida
Kazuo Watanabe
Sound Director: Yasunori Honda
Cgi Director: Takahiro Miyata
Director of Photography: Hisao Shirai
Producer:
Shinji Komori
Masao Maruyama
Jouichi Mizuno
Michiko Suzuki
Licensed by: Geneon Entertainment Inc.

Full encyclopedia details about
X (TV)

Release information about
X - Complete Collection (R4 DVD)

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