Adapted from CLAMP's popular debut manga, this is mainly aimed at fans of said manga. As such, it holds little interest for people who aren't familiar with the manga. To them, this will probably seem like a nicely stylised sort of LSD-induced X-files episode. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then give this a try, as it's a really rather nice video. But keep in mind that the second video (with the killer in the subway) is far superior and a better buy overall.
The story revolves around a building project where several mysterious deaths have occurred. Subaru is called in to have a look, and eventually meets a young woman out for revenge on the man she believes to have murdered her brother. However, the man in question seems to be able to avert any disaster that may be drawn to him, and abuses of this ability, making him a very dangerous force indeed. Subaru and Seishiro eventually have to face off with the human disaster repellent atop the nearly-finished building.
What we have here is mostly typical Tokyo Babylon fare; Subaru apologises a lot and Hokuto shouts at him. Only Seishiro is different from the Seishiro we know from the manga. His "dark side" is never explored, and instead of rampantly flirting with Subaru, he shows more inclination towards Hokuto in the videos. No doubt many fans will feel the video version of Seishiro is rather...wrong (a large part of Tokyo Babylon -is- a homosexual love story, learn to live with it). Instead of a proper adaption of the manga, these videos seem more like extra filler episodes to go alongside the manga.
Nevertheless, it's good fun, with pretty character designs and backdrops (even though the overall animation quality isn't really breathtaking), a well-paced and interesting story, and some cool psychic fighting at the end, backed by a very good music score. The appeal of this video will only be very limited for those who haven't read the manga, and they'll also miss out on a lot of the finer points of the story. But even for them, this can still be quite enjoyable as a little something different, or as a way to sample some CLAMP-style artwork. Give it a go, and you might find yourself growing very fond of this elegant little psychic romp.
