It follows Kamui Shiro, a young esper who returns home to Tokyo after a six-year absence to face his destiny as the one who will determine humanity's fate.
Kamui's choice to protect mankind solely by his desire to based on his love towards his childhood friend Kotori and Fuma Monou transforms him into a Dragon of the Heaven.
In the final battle, Kamui sacrifices his life to create a barrier that will protect mankind and passes Fūma his will, which restores his personality.
In the epilogue, the survivors from each side resume their lives with Subaru's late sister Hokuto joining the Dragon of Earth Kakyo Kuzuki in the afterlife.
Because Kamui did not have many lines in the original video animation, his voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura, lacked a full impression of him before more of his character was explored in the television series.
Kotori's character was modified for the TV series as Kawajiri wanted to portray her as a more regular teenager in contrast to her weaker persona from the manga.
[citation needed] The music for the series was composed by Naoki Satō, with two original soundtrack albums released on 19 December 2001[5] and 6 March 2002.
Written and directed by Kawajiri, the OVA tells the story of the upcoming battles through the prophecies of Kakyō Kuzuki, dreamgazer for the organization Dragon of Earth, and acts as primer for viewers not familiar with Clamp's manga.
[9] A total of twelve DVD volumes from the series, each containing two episodes, were released in Japan from 25 February 2001 to 25 January 2002, by Bandai Visual.
[21] The DVDs came with re-mastered video and audio, including remixed 5.1 Dolby Digital AC3 surround sound for both the Japanese and English tracks.
[22] They re-released the series on a DVD box set on 15 June 2010, using the original Geneon dubbing for the English-language audio track.
[25] The 2001 incarnation makes use of its longer running time and episode format to explore the original mythos and works the characters' back-stories into the narrative through the use of flashbacks.
[30][31] On the other hand, Andy Hanley from UK Anime Network found that despite the appealing backstory of Kamui to understand his emotions, it still "doesn't make him any less enjoyable to watch" when compared to other characters.
[32] Beveridge found Subaru's introduction in X one of his favorite episodes from the volume he reviewed because of the portrayal of the character's state since Hokuto's death.
[28][36] Finding most characters interesting, THEM Anime Reviews found Sorata and Arashi's bond one of the best written relationships because of how close they become and the plot twists the television series gives them for the climax.
[31] Similarly, Beverdige—now writing for The Fandom Post regarded Kamui's and Fūma's relationship as one of the best parts of the anime series, stating while the rest of the cast is still amazing, few might make the audience miss the main conflict of the two characters.
[37] DVD Talk had positive thoughts about the characters' relationships, finding them "strong" and praised the amount of violence they provided in the anime's second half.
[30] Clamp headwriter Nanase Ohkawa stated the manga group left everything in the hands of staff in charge for it, including the scripts, the cast choices and everything else.