Tuesday, March 29, 2011

X/1999: Volume 4: Intermezzo

by CLAMP, 190 pages

Sora and another of the Seven Seals take Kamui to meet the seer Princess Hinoto, who shows him her vision of the future and his role in saving the world. But when her sister seer and Harbinger supporter Kanoe crashes the meeting and reveals that Hinoto has failed to mention the other half of the vision, in which Kamui destroys the Earth, the confused and insecure boy lashes out at all of them. Meanwhile, Kamui's friend Fuma wrestles with the "truth" he's been shown, and the lines between good and evil, between the Seven Seals and the Seven Harbingers, are further blurred. According to Hinoto, the Seven Harbingers are linked to the seven Dragons of the Earth, who, if unchecked, will tear the planet apart with earthquakes. Only the Seven Seals, linked to the seven Dragons of Heaven, can overcome them and prevent the Earth's destruction. With whom will Kamui ultimately choose to ally himself?

I love Eastern interpretations of dragons. They're long, graceful, giant flying serpents with seahorse heads, majestic jaws, delicate twisted goat horns and shaggy goat beards, tiny clawed feet, catfish whiskers, and dorsal manes, and they can consist of any element, like water or vapor or fire, and not just flesh and blood and scales. Whenever I get done with the books (not all of which are released yet in Japan, so it could be a while) I'll probably watch the animé (unless I'm too traumatized by a depressing ending to the manga) just so I can watch those mythical creatures twist and barrel through the sky.

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