wow the illustrations are so beautiful, no matter how depressing the ending of X is I really want to read it, it's so upsetting that the final volume is not being released, I thought maybe they were going to tie in the ending of X with Tsubasa but i dunno, oh well, maybe someday......

Fuuma looks *a lot* like Kurogane in that cover. I like CLAMP's current style, but at times I think I liked their old drawing style better.

I also fear X' ending will be too depressing but I really want to see the end. Soon, hopefully.

Is this an art book, a manga story, or an anime?

Do you guys think X will ever end? It has been going on for years, and I gave up on the manga at Volume 13. At least the anime had an ending, and a damn fine one at that.

Question. What does Clamp's refusal to tone down the ending have to do with the incompletion of the manga?

Dr Kain, these are just art books containing manga illustrations. The contents are mostly derived from the artworks that were featured in the original ASUKA magazine's covers as well as the DVD boxset covers. Having said that, I just realised that the 2nd artbook doesn't actually contain any images from the TV series.

Dee, apparently ASUKA (the monthly magazine where X was serialised) thinks that with all of the violence that has happened in the series so far, X probably shouldn't be run inside a Shoujo magazine. Apparently they got a lot of complaints from readers about the violence. CLAMP agrees with that assessment and doesn't want to alter whatever storyline they had in mind. As a result, the serialisation is halted. I'm not sure if they'll continue it in ASUKA or if they will look for another magazine.

Mai Hime was more kamen rider ryuuki than X.

I liked X, but I must say the anime still had a copout ending.

OMG X!!! It's *THE* CLAMP signature series. That's the best of CLAMP, in my opinion.

Hmm. I have the manga up to 18...still waiting. And waiting...

Well in order to continue serialisation, Asuka would have to allow them to move to another magazine or they would have to have justification such as the magazine being taken out of print to move.

Thing I'd heard was that Asuka hadn't just said they thought it was very violent but they'd tried to not just cut down the ending but to also change it to basically a reset-type happy ending. They didn't like the fact that the series was going to end all morbidly and planned to change that, however CLAMP still have 5 more Tankoubon to go as it was intended to run for around 24 Tanks. And unless Asuka allows Clamp to finish X, theres no other place to publish it due to ties in contract, and as a result, X cannot be finished.

I wish Asuka would just let the ending be - I know they don't want some plummet in sales, but wanting to reset the ending... and now that X is still not continued, the fans will of course be mad at Asuka... How are they planning to do this now?? I don't want the ending to be toned down either, X was wonderful the way it was going, although yes, it was depressing, especially ever since Seishirou died. (Well, there goes the OTP for X and Tokyo Babylon altogether)

How I wish there was some loophole somewhere in the contract... how many years is the contract valid? Or does the contract stay valid as long as a certain title is still not finished? (I'm ignorant as to these things, sorry) Sorry, when it comes to X I tend to get a bit opinionated. Not to mention emotional.

The Sun, Judgment, and The World. Well, we all know Fuuma's going to be on at least one of the three.

X is Clamp's magnum opus. I doubt they're going to let anyone tell them how to end it.

X is still my most favorite manga and anime next to Gankutsuou (anime NOT manga). The style the story - it's one of CLAMP's greatest works ever :D

I gave up on the manga a couple of years ago (used to read it in Anime Extra mag). I knew there wasn't a real ending yet, but reading today it still hasn't finished? *sigh*

Thanks for sharing the info and pics of the new artbooks. Too bad there's nothing really new to it. :( Oh well, in the meantime I can finally read RG Veda in English thanks to Tokyopop *ureshii*

Mai-Hime is like Kamen Rider Ryuki meets Utena to me.

As for the X ending, why doesn't Clamp just release the end in a regular manga volume rather than in a serialized manga? There is no law that says manga HAS to be in serialized form.

Hi ! Thanks for the great pics ! Hey, I have a rather weird question xDD Could you tell me the weight of X Infinity? Is it lighter than X Zero OLD version (hardcover)... My friend is planning on shipping me and we need to know the weight ^^

Thank you

Dr Kain, I think they can't do that either because Kadokawa is the one who publishes both ASUKA and X manga.

Chibi Yuuto, unfortunately I can't exactly tell you the weight since it's not mentioned in the book and I don't have scale either in my office or at home. But I have the old version of X: Zero and this new version is indeed lighter than that one. Although I assumed it's not a great deal difference because the amount of pages remain the same.

Yes, I know is a difficult task... but what I wanted to know is indeed if it's lighter or not, it is then. Thanks ! ^_^

Hello, I was wondering if there's any word about releasing X:Infinity as a hardcover book? Since Zero is a hardcover, I'd like Infinity to be as well. Not to mention, the binding is excellent in the former.

X was one of the first manga/anime obssessions of mine. A few years later I kinda got tired of CLAMP, partially because every fankid seemed to love them indiscriminently--and works like Chobits and Sakura held ZERO interest to me. But I still enjoy some of the series and I love the whole Tokyo Babylon/X world.

I know the English translation is at vol 18 and so is the Japanese original volumes--has ANYTHING come out in Asuka or another magazine since then? I always suspected 19 would be the end too...

E

Oh and I already own the first art book and find the art in it spectacular... Certainly not "bad" (it's personal taste I know)

I still have a video of the X image videos (done to still images) and the short animated "teaser" from 1996 I think and it's still pretty powerful

In X Zero new version there's the old tarot .. right?!

EricMontreal22: There are five chapters of volume 19. I have the zip files I can give out if you want to email me for them.

wow thanks for the info! i'm so sad that Asuka is not releasing any new chapters~ T_T i just finished vol 19 and its such a cliff hanger! i dont care if it goes on for 1 more volume or the rumored 5, but i want to read an ending to this manga! the whole sorata/arashi thing is killing me, as is subaru's situation! i love how clamp makes you feel so attached to the characters; i know i'dprobably cry if any of them died, but i would still like closure on the series! is there anything we can do to convince them to publish the last volumes? coz yeah, even though they claim its getting to violent, the fact is, it was always violent, and when your dealing with the end of the world stuff, it should be violent. if they think its too violent for a shoujo magazine, then move it to another magazine! asuka, don't be so greedy!

X is really the best manga I have ever read. Now that I know why Clamp is not publishing the ending, I'm quite disappointed : it means we are gonna have to wait forever...

Unless, I don't know, we do some kind of petition against Asuka... Anyway, I prefer that Clamp wants to write the story the way they want, instead of adaptating it to Asuka's wishes. (Come on, Asuka, let them write the story the way they want it, or give it up, you see they won't give up, it's pointless !)

Besides, I don't think Fuma is the Sun. Clamp always manage to let us think the wrong way. If you watch volume 16, you already see Nataku's clothes but he's only volume 18. So, I think Fuma will be the Judgement and maybe Saiki will be the Sun (don't forget him ! It's still more logical than Fuma being the Sun...) and the World will be the Earth. The Earth has a huge part in X !

X has too much violence for Asuka ?
Err... Asuka is actually publishing Trinity Blood, and it's still very violent...I don't know... That's a bit strange.