AKA: X: Episode 0

Genre: Supernatural fantasy

Length: OAV, 23 minutes

Distributor: Currently licensed by FUNimation.

Content Rating: 16+ (violence, intensity)

Related Series: X the Movie, X TV, Tokyo Babylon

Also Recommended: X TV

Notes: Based on the X/1999 manga from CLAMP, available from Viz. This single-shot OAV is included in the first DVD of the X TV series and is not available separately in North America.

Rating:

X: An Omen

Synopsis

Kazuki Kakyou is a dream seer. Traveling through dreams, both his own, and those of others, he is able to see the future. A future that is frightening, horrifying, full of death and despair, but also of hope. Through his dreams he meets two women: Sumeragi Hokuto, a priestess whose impending and inescapable destiny will begin the wheels of fate that will reveal the ultimate fate of the Earth- and Monou Kotori, whose own tragic destiny may redeem all mankind...or doom our species for all eternity.

For soon, the Dragons of Earth and the Dragons of Heaven will arise, and one man, named Kamui, must decide whether mankind will forge on, or be cleansed from the Earth forever.

Review

When it first aired, X: An Omen was a tantalizing glimpse at the events to come. After all, the X movie had been revealed to be an alternate story, as the X/1999 manga was at the time barely beginning to show its first signs of resolution. If anything, the movie was just a bit of conjecture to entice the fans, but as a story in its own right, it proved to be quite flawed, and ultimately incorrect (as far as the manga continuity is concerned).

But nowadays, is this really necessary for the X completist? Not really, but since X: An Omen is already shipped as part of the first X TV DVD, the point is moot.

There is very little in this OAV that is actually original - rather, it splices various scenes from the TV series into a story told largely from the point of view of Kakyou, a Dragon of Earth who had been absent from the movie continuity. What this single-shot succeeds in doing is reiterating the thrust of the series (the impending apocalypse), reintroducing the important characters of the story, and setting the stage for the TV series events to occur.

Interestingly enough, while the background music is much the same as that for the TV series, the end theme is a different piece by Koizumi Kouhei that was specifically aired on the OAV and is not included on the TV series, perhaps to reward those fans that bought into this video release.

What it all boils down to is that X: An Omen is an extended trailer for the 26-episode X TV series. Chock-full of spoilers and baroque imagery, it will leave the audience with more questions than answers, which essentially fulfills the very purpose of a trailer.

It's a nice DVD extra, but I'm glad I didn't have to view this as a standalone like the Japanese did.

It's not bad, but a trailer is still a trailer. Feel free to skip this and go straight into the excellent TV series. — Carlos/Giancarla Ross

Recommended Audience: Not quite as violent as the movie - most of the worst violence is implied, if still quite bloody. (Think impalements as opposed to decapitations.) No sexual content, and no language. Definitely not recommended for young children.