X is mostly Kamui Shirou’s story, faced with the decision to become a Dragon of Heaven or Dragon of Earth. Should he become a Dragon of Heaven, one of the Seven Seals, he will fight to protect Earth. Should he become a Dragon of Earth, one of the Seven Angels, he will fight to destroy the world. With the exception of one character, nothing is forcing anyone to fight. There are few dramatic turns pitting them against each other in twists of fate, and the Seven Angels have no reason in and of themselves to destroy the world. They fight simply because it is their Destiny to do so.
I would’ve preferred more nuance with the premise, but the show takes itself seriously enough to where it’s usually a non-issue. It does this partly with a soundtrack that can be ironically playful in its disposition, playing to the ‘Encounter’ between an Angel and Seal as dutifully opposed but with no reason to despise each other. In other moments, a ‘Hyper Battle’ shoots off a fearful feeling for a formidable foe. But perhaps THE theme of themes for X is ‘Destiny.’ It always delivers a rare confluence of despair and hope, and especially captures the essence of friends on opposing sides.
As perfectly as the music lends itself to the show, the cast it stands for varies considerably. For all the time we see the outgoing Sorata and the aloof Arashi together, it’s only near the end when Arashi suddenly drops the cold shoulder for a warm smile. Then there’s the breezy Seichiro and the jaded Karen, who are beautifully realized characters despite so little screentime. Then there are guys like Kusanagi and Nataku who are mostly ‘just there,’ while Yuzuriha is reasonably well-written on her own but crumbles into someone annoying around most other characters.
But there’s almost a sense that few of them matter compared to Kamui, which gets into one of the biggest problems of X: Kamui himself. Kamui, and his ‘counterpart’ by extension, often display tremendous feats of power, such as both scrapes against the facetious Seishirou, that makes me wonder just why exactly they need six other Dragons on their team. On the other hand, Kamui’s gradual loss of attitude for amiability, the extent of his motives, and his ultimate choice are handled spectacularly. He is a believably flawed character, bringing intrigue to one who can so easily be boring.
Unfortunately, boring is a good way to describe quite a number of X’s episodes. In fairness, over half its episodes solidly realize its cast. Not all of them are developed before a certain point, and some sagas wouldn’t fit anywhere else (the easygoing Yuuto comes to mind). But when the show is mostly building its setting or story, it drags. Not slow, but drags. For every new revelation or plot point the show introduces, the episode around it is essentially coming up with different ways of saying ‘the end of the world is approaching,’ and ‘you must choose.’ It’s repetitive padding in the worst way possible.
Despite some of the negativity I’ve lashed out with, though, I do think that when X is good, it’s fantastic. It’s lackluster narrative is bolstered to emotional crescendos by not only a well-orchestrated soundtrack, but highly vibrant visuals. Studio Madhouse demonstrates artistic work that makes colors that shouldn’t pop out, pop out to great effect. The use of cutaways and jump cuts during many fight scenes can prove distracting, but a number of battles also show the full brunt of every impact to brutal effect. X’s aesthetics have kept their splendor as they’ve aged gracefully.
It’s those aesthetics, especially the music, that have made X stand out in my mind before I recently watched it in full. But what makes it a little special for me isn’t its presentation or writing, but how they work together for raw emotional impact despite its problems; despite some characters; despite its pacing. It’s not everyone’s destiny to feel what I feel for X, but then again, neither me nor the story’s prophets can fully see the future.
