The Twin Stars and the Doppleganger

December 5, 2003 | 10 Comments

It looks like CLAMP is still on hiatus when it comes to writing fresh new chapter of X manga. It's been 6 months since the series was last seen inside ASUKA magazine. So now I am a bit worried because the manga have been running for 10+ years, and yet, there is no end in sight. Meanwhile, the film and the TV series versions have been concluded a couple of years ago. I hope CLAMP have a plan to finish the story properly and not just leave it in its current state for a long time. Especially since the last chapter of the manga ends in a cliffhanger.

X Chapter 20

So many things happened in the last two chapters, 20 and 21 (April and May 2003 issue, respectively). To begin with, Kamui and Fuuma have started their final battle. Meanwhile, Evil Hinoto has successfully taken over the good Hinoto and convinced Kamui that Fuuma has killed Kanoe. The problem is, when Kanoe was killed, Fuuma was in the battlefield with Kamui. How can Fuuma be at 2 places at the same time? If it's not possible for Fuuma to do that, then who killed Kanoe? Is it Evil Hinoto? She is a very likely candidate since she was last seen strangling her own sister inside the dreamscape. Does that mean one person's action within the dreamscape has a real effect in the real world? If it's not her, is it Subaru? This is a possibility since he is now the new Sakurazukamori and has finally revealed his new alliance with the Dragons of Earth to his former friends.

Despite all of these questions, Kamui, being the hot-headed character that he is, decided to charge first - ask questions later. The problem is, he doesn't have the intention of killing Fuuma. Therefore, the attacks he dished out on his twin star are half-hearted efforts that are meant to incapacitate Fuuma instead of killing him. However, thanks to his reluctance, he got his ass kicked by Fuuma and now is facing the sharp face of the Shinken. Seeing this situation from afar, Evil Hinoto laughs merrily only to stop when she realised that Sorata has been watching all of her machinations. Sorata also knows what she has done to Arashi. Apparently when Arashi was depressed because she can't produce her sword from her hands, she went to see Hinoto, who then proceeded to trap Arashi using her dark magic.

X Chapter 21

Meanwhile, Kamui, who's about to be skewered by Fuuma finally realises his true wish. And that's where the manga ends. I hate when that happens. So we're left wondering if Sorata will be able to make it out of his confrontation with Hinoto, if Arashi will appear again - but this time mentally controlled by Hinoto, if Kamui will tell us what his real wish is about and if his wish is actually similar to Fuuma's, amongst many other questions. One thing for sure though, the manga has thus far show a rather different story from the TV series and the movie. Some of the things that I remember are:

1. Karen is still alive and able to make it to the final battle. In fact all of the Dragons of Heaven are still alive at this point in time. In addition to this, it looks like the final battle will be one big rumble between all of DoH and the remaining of Dragons of Earth rather than seperate little battles between one or two DoH with other one or two DoE.

2. After killing Seishirou, instead of turning catatonic until the final battle like in the TV series, Subaru actually decides to run away from his friends and use Seishirou's eyes to replace one of his that was lost in a battle with Fuuma. In doing so, he becomes a Sakurazukamori and by default, a Dragon of Earth. So now he becomes one of the opposing forces of the DoH, as well as a suspect in Kanoe's murder.

3. Which leads us to Kanoe, who obviously has a different fate here than in the TV series. Her death seems to be turned into a murder mystery. As for the other characters, Nataku is dead in the manga because it was trying to protect Karen from Fuuma. And as mentioned above, in the manga version Arashi doesn't betray her friends in order to save Sorata like in the TV series. Instead, she asks for Hinoto's guidance, unknowingly walking into the trap that Hinoto has set up for her. Hinoto is also still alive at this point and unlike in the TV series, Sorata manages to confront her 'evil side' plans to kill Kamui and the rest of the Dragon of Heaven.

© memento 2003