This isn't so much a review as a warning: Do not see X. It is the single worst anime movie I have ever witnessed (yes, whatever horror you're thinking of, I've seen it, and this is worse). It had tedious exposition, pointless dream sequences, two-dimensional characters, and a boring and predictable A-B-C quest.
Characterization was not just wafer-thin, it was nonexistent. There was almost no conversation between characters except for pre-combat taunting quips or repetitions of "Please join our side, Kanwe! Don't you care about the lives of everyone on Earth?"
Every time one good guy dies in a fight, the other good guy has to stop, while the enemy is still there attacking them, and cradle what's left of the deader in their arms. They always die, of course, because evil people are smart, and good guys are stupid.
Everyone in the theatre laughed at the end when the "hero" finally cut off the head of his best friend who was working for the other side, and then sat there cradling the head in his lap, crying. We laughed because it was supposed to be this big dramatic moment, and nobody cared about any of the characters or the resolution, we were just glad to be freed.
Typical anime disregard for anatomy gets taken even further, when most of the characters not only have no jaws, but have legs that really do go all the way up to their armpits.
A minor nitpick: three of the characters have the same nickname/epithet, "Kanwe" (which we are repeatedly told means "power of god").
The dubbed conversion was incredibly bad, even worse than usual; the speech was stilted and unnatural, and they didn't subtitle or explain the on- screen writing.
In addition, whoever the writer was, they have some serious issues. The hero's mother is naked in what may be a dream sequence or may not, and rips an 8' long sword out of her guts and hands it to her son (the hero). Then later the friend/enemy rips his 8' sword out of his sister's guts. Apparently chix are just sheathes to keep your... big sword... in. And it kills them when you pull it out.
Allegedly this is based on a manga series that actually has a plot and characterization. Great. But as a movie, X is an utter failure.
Last modified: 2000Mar14
Created, after watching the damned thing on 2000Mar13.