Ask John: What Happened to the X Manga?

Question:
What is the story with CLAMP’s X series? Viz stopped publishing the book with volume 18 and since then has made no comments on volume 19. I feel that X is one of CLAMP’s most outstanding series. Last I heard was that CLAMP had completed X but the magazine it was running in refused to publish the conclusion due to it’s violent and tragic ending. If that’s the case, will we here in America ever see the end of the X manga?

Answer:
By the sound of it, you know about as much regarding the status of CLAMP’s X manga series as I do. Viz Media has published only 18 volumes of English translated X manga in America because there are only 18 collected volumes available in Japan. There are, I believe, 5 existing chapters of the X manga beyond those contained in the 18 tankoubon books. So the X manga series is definitely not finished yet, although its last new installment was published in Japan’s Asuka Magazine in early 2003.

Reportedly the members of CLAMP revealed in a July 2004 interview with Japan’s Puff Magazine that Kadokawa Shoten’s Asuka Magazine was unhappy with the increasingly grim and violent tone of the X story. CLAMP refused to compromise their plans for the series’ development, so it was pulled from serialization in Asuka Magazine in March 2003. I haven’t been able to confirm the existence of this July 2004 interview, but I have confirmed that Puff Magazine has published several interviews with CLAMP. So the rumor about CLAMP telling Puff Magazine that X went on hiatus rather than compromising may be true.

The fact that CLAMP has apparently not completed any more of the X manga since it went on hiatus in early 2003 seems mysterious. My own theory is that CLAMP doesn’t have a clear idea in mind of exactly how the X manga story should end. It’s not entirely uncommon for long manga series to get cumbersome for their authors. Mamoru Nagano, for example, has explained continuity errors in his epic Five Star Stories manga by admitting that the story is so complicated that even he can’t keep track of it all. Especially considering the popularity of CLAMP in Japan, the finale of the X manga could easily forego monthly manga serialization and just debut in book form. So unless there are contractual stipulations in place, or CLAMP simply wants to take some time away from X, the rumored dispute between Asuka Magazine’s editorial staff and CLAMP shouldn’t prevent CLAMP from finishing and publishing the rest of the story.

If CLAMP is honestly just taking a break from the X manga, then the series will eventually conclude and it will, I’m sure, receive an official English translation. If CLAMP doesn’t know how to end the series or has decided to simply leave the story permanently unfinished, obviously Viz Media can’t translate and publish something that doesn’t exist.