1999 is over; Armageddon wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. You can imagine the disappointment of the Y2K-fearful and the New Agers who expected massive computer meltdowns, international terrorism, and a fleet of flying saucers. The 21st Century is just a continuation of the 20th Century, and many of the doom-and-gloom apocalypse stories that were popular in the past decade now look badly dated.
CLAMP’S X:1999 holds up better than most of the 1990s sci-fi rewritings of the Book of Revelation. No one can deny that the all-female CLAMP team is one of the most powerful teams in comic book history, and the animated adaptations of CLAMP’s work have been equally high-caliber. CLAMP is a trademark anime fans can rely on for beautiful character design and (for anime) thought provoking plot twists. There isn’t a team of creators alive today that I respect more.
X:1999 is no exception. The animation is breathtaking, from the initial Oedipus-like sequence to the heartbreaking finale. The character design is top-notch; CLAMP neatly toes the line between realistic representation and anime distortion. The music is powerful, the direction is fluid, and this is a film that will provoke comparisons to Miyazaki’s mature work.
The plot, like many other doomsday scenarios, involves ordinary people with hidden extraordinary powers who must band together in an attempt to save the world. The realism of the character designs, along with several of the characters’ concerns that no bystanders be injured in any of the dazzling fight scenes, reminds me less of Toriyama-style slam-bang anime and more of Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come graphic novel.
X: 1999 chronicles the battle between the Land and Sky Dragons. Each dragon has an earthly human counterpart, and the dragons’ goals (while in conflict) are both related to the preservation of the earth. The battle intrudes upon the friendship between Kamui, a young man predestined to play a major role in the conflict for the Sky Dragons, and Kotori, his slightly older friend and predestined to oppose Kamui for the Land Dragons.
Like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, the two previous anime movies with similar mainstream potential, X: 1999 is both futuristic and graphically violent. Some nightmarish footage is definitely not for children or younger viewers. I strongly recommend this film to anyone who has seen either Akira, Ghost in the Shell, or Mononoke Hime and would like to see another fine example of high-budget, state-of-the-art Japanese animation.
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Other Anime Reviews Dragonball Z:The Movie Review* Fushigi Yuugi Review* Galaxy Express 999:Eternal Fantasy Review* My Neighbor Totoro Review* Neon Genesis Evangelion Review |
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