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Post by phanax on Feb 8, 2005 14:53:15 GMT
OK, quick question (as I have too little time to do anything useful before labs). As I've missed several sessions due to prior engagements ( ) I'm not following the plotthat well, and was just wondering if this series makes any more or less sense when watched propperly? if so, should I really put in the effort to come more regurly, I recall this is how I got into fruits basket, but that's another story
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 8, 2005 15:30:45 GMT
well, no plot is going to make sense if not "watched properly". x is based around quite an intense narrative, and all the episodes are heavily linked to this narrative, particularly thanks to the theme of inescapable destiny / fate; hence the recurring music (not because the composer is lazy ), the frequent revisiting of particular events, and the symbolism of the cogs. is it possible for someone to change their preordained fate? very basic plot synopsis thus far; kamui has returned to tokyo months after his mother died taking on the role of his shadow sacrifice in order to prevent any catastrophe from coming to harm him. meeting up with his childhood friends fuma and kotori, he soon realises that he is caught up in the final battle for the fate of the earth, being fought between the dragons of heaven (those who wish to save humanity) and the dragons of earth (those who wish to destroy humanity and so save the earth from it's scourge). for some reason, kamui is different, special, to the other combatants; his decision for which side he will fight for will change the future (there are two possible futures for humanity, but is there one true future that has been foretold, or does the future actually remain uncertain?). just before fuma and kotori lose their father, fuma is told that he is kamui's twin star, but he is unsure as to what this means. meanwhile, the dragons of heaven (led by the dreamseer hinoto) have started to gather, as have the dragons of earth (led by hinoto's sister, the psychic (NOT a dreamseer herself) kanoe). the divine sword that was being looked after by fuma and kotori's father has been stolen by an attacker known only as nataku, but kamui has just in the last episode been presented with the second divine sword, when his aunt gave birth to it, killing herself like saya (kotori and fuma's mother) did when the first sword was born. there are now two divine swords for the battle for earth. kamui has still to choose his destiny, but he knows the things he wants to protect are those close to him; fuma and kotori.
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Post by phanax on Feb 8, 2005 19:50:42 GMT
here's a theory, perhaps the battle to decide for which side he will fight is going to be external not internal, we already have two swords, and a dream of two kamui's (sorry If I've got the name wrong) it kinda reminds me of the heir to the empire trilogy (yes I'm a rehabillitated star wars fan)
does that count as a spoiler?
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Post by Kitty on Feb 8, 2005 20:13:34 GMT
Also Katori and Fuma have had dreams about Kamui and Fuma fighting.
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 8, 2005 20:17:52 GMT
there isn't a battle for him to decide which side to fall to, unless you mean the inner turmoil in having such a momentous decision given to you as your responsibility. i think however, the main way to take it is as a purely external, physical battle; the power of god against he who hunts the power of god. there are indeed two swords, and there have been dreams showing kamui fighting kamui. but if u look carefully, not all the dreams are entirely kamui vs. kamui. kotori, fuma and kamui have all seen dreams where it is kamui and fuma fighting. but fuma is not kamui, so where, and how, does the second kamui fit into things as the visions have predicted he will? just something to think on...
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Post by phanax on Feb 9, 2005 12:53:57 GMT
though the sword birth thing is really very disturbing, but then again this isn't the most cheerful of series
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 9, 2005 15:06:14 GMT
no-one said it was going to be a little bit of nihilism does us the world of good now and then.
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Post by fallenangel on Feb 9, 2005 18:43:41 GMT
there are indeed two swords, and there have been dreams showing kamui fighting kamui. but if u look carefully, not all the dreams are entirely kamui vs. kamui. kotori, fuma and kamui have all seen dreams where it is kamui and fuma fighting. but fuma is not kamui, so where, and how, does the second kamui fit into things as the visions have predicted he will? just something to think on... I noticed that the dreams were not all kamui-kamui, and got a bit confused admittedly. i'm assuming that this has all to do with Kotori being his twin star, whatever the hell that is. plus him jumping in that thing that time was a hint of great things to come. totally loving the series btw ;D
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 9, 2005 19:35:43 GMT
the names for x can get a bit confusing (took me ages to get my head round them all!), but it's fuma who is kamui's twin star. there is a very important reason that some dreams are kamui vs. kamui and others are kamui vs. fuma. you might have noticed that the location of the fight is the same in both dream sequences. i can't say anything more without giving away spoilers, but more will be revealed shortly glad you're enjoying it tho should go without saying that it's my favourite of CLAMP's works. there's just something about it that got me all worked up first time i read the manga... the characters are fantastic i think... i love the antagonism between subaru and seishiro (the sumeragi clan leader and the sakurazukamori) in particular. for those of you who haven't read tokyo babylon, subaru, seishiro and hokuto (subaru's now dead sister) were all main characters. however, they were all good friends, and seishiro and subaru certainly had a "thing" going... something obviously happened to change all that; now they fight on opposing sides, and seishiro killed hokuto. just something to bear in mind when you next see the pair of them on screen; adds more depth to their characters and their antagonism.
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Post by fallenangel on Feb 10, 2005 1:30:44 GMT
i hate getting names wrong.
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Post by phanax on Feb 10, 2005 18:35:45 GMT
i hate getting names wrong. me too, though the fact I'm bad with names kinda set's me up to be annoyed!
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 11, 2005 1:51:30 GMT
im normally not too bad with names (it's a prerequisite of classics i'm afraid; you gotta know the difference between leonidas and leontiades in a split second [for those who are in the slightest bit interested - leonidas; spartan king who died at thermopylae opposing the persian invasion, and leontiades; the theban pro-spartan xenos who potentially bribed phoebidas into garrisoning the theban kadmea. yeah, have had a teensy bit to drink tonight, so wooooooo classics!]).
but i can sympathise with x; i had a nightmare trying to get all the names remembered for some reason. no other series gave me this problem!
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Post by fallenangel on Feb 11, 2005 9:57:28 GMT
we science bods have our fair share of wierd names to remember: MAP = mitogen-activated protein MAPK or ERK = MAP kinase or Extracellular signal Regulated protein Kinase (yes they are the same thing; you don't get that do you, you and your easy one-named people ) MAPKK or MEK = MAP kinase kinase or MAP/ERK kinase MAPKKK or MEKK = (take a guess) MAP kinase kinase kinase or MEK kinase. okay, so it does get a bit repetitive, but it's still hard to remember: assuming you have no idea what they do (like me), one slip up of a 'K', and you are paying for it the rest of the exam. because stupid biology has stupid essay questions about stupid things and is just stupid *grumble*mumble*grumble* ad infinitum.
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Post by phanax on Feb 11, 2005 12:20:50 GMT
not of course forgetting us poor physics students who have run out of letters in both the english and greek alphabets (lower case and capitals!) to the extent we endlessly have to specify what we mean by P, rho etc
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Post by marshall_banana on Feb 11, 2005 13:33:15 GMT
it's not really true to say that individuals with one name are easy to remember, as although greeks didn't have patronimics like we do, they had their own little quirks. you have the father's name and your locality in the genetive cases after the persons name, so cimon would be; cimon miltiadou philaidon (cimon, the son of miltiades of the clan of the philaids). and that's just for athens. every city worked it differently (although fathers were typical), and it doesn't help when there are about 5 important figures called pausanias, or the opposed kings of thesally and macedon both called Alexander (not the great). you gotta remember quite a lot but again, that's just in greece. in persia, you've got the added bonus of names being in both greek and persian; darius (english), dareios (greek) or darayawaush (persian). which to go for? then you've got to worry about dynasties etc etc and how rulers try to link their shaky family trees to royal lines. and trust me, the greek and (by extension) english alphabets are very easy to remember. akkadian/babylonian (and it's evil cuneiform) is one hell of a monster language to get your brain around (http://www.language-museum.com/a/akkadian-cuneiform.gif - fear it, the first few lines of enuma elish). you want normal verbs, you want understandable nouns? pah! babylonian isn't the language for you; why shouldn't you have a stative case, where you can have both at the same time? and infinitives (to go, to run etc); let's have them be conjugational nouns! i do enjoy it though and that's the main thing! let's get back to talking about how ace X is!
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