Ask John: Can You Explain the X Movie?

Question:
What happened with X? The movie made no sense to me and a lot of other people I know. The TV series is amazing. Was the movie rushed or what?

Answer:
The X movie makes perfect sense if you understand what it’s trying to say. The theme of the film is the irony of destiny, as suggested by the film’s odd tagline, “Their destiny was foreordained.” Destiny is inescapable, and all the dragons of heaven and earth are fated to die. Emphasizing the tragedy of preordained fate, Kamui left Tokyo in order to protect his friends Fuma and Kotori, but ironically, it is his very return to Tokyo to protect them which directly leads to the massive destruction and death that he was trying to prevent.

It’s impossible for a two hour long film to summarize the entire X manga story. The manga story is simply too long and complex to adequately cover in less than two hours of animation. So instead of trying to illustrate all of the subplots and intricacies of the original manga, the X movie simply concentrated on the primary theme of the manga. Furthermore, when the movie was produced back in 1996, the X manga was not yet even half way complete, so the animators at Madhouse studios had to adapt a cohesive story from an unfinished work, requiring them to invent their own original ending. The best way to enjoy and appreciate the X movie is to take it for what it is, not what it isn’t.