Tokyo Babylon 1999 is a live-action sequel to CLAMP’s manga Tokyo Babylon. It was released in 1993, shortly after CLAMP released the final volume of the manga. According to fjmovie.com, Tokyo Babylon 1999 was written and directed by Iida Jouji (George Iida), and Ohkawa Nanase of CLAMP (now known as Ohkawa Ageha) is listed as one of the producers.

The live-action movie is not to be confused with the animated OVA also released in Japan in 1993; the OVA takes place during the Tokyo Babylon manga storyline, while the live-action movie takes place after the manga and sometime before the beginning of X. It, like the animated OVA, is a stand-alone short story with a negligable bearing on the main Tokyo Babylon / X storyline. It is a relatively dark B-flick, and, even for its release time of twelve years ago, is relatively low-budget. I do not know if it ever had a theatrical release or went straight-to-video. It is nearly impossible to find, especially anywhere but Japan. It has never had a domestic release here in the United States (or anywhere else in the world but the Orient, to the fullest extent of my knowledge). English-language information on the movie is almost non-existent; even hardcore Tokyo Babylon fans have almost next-to-no idea about the movie.

Tokyo Babylon 1999, despite its title, does not take place in 1999. There is no indication that a climactic battle is about to occur for the world’s fate; barring Subaru and Seishirou, none of the X characters appear in the movie. CLAMP originally wanted to use this title for its sequel to Tokyo Babylon, which was going to feature Subaru and Seishirou as its main characters, but the sequel evolved into X, which features Kamui and Fuuma as its main characters. The promotional art toward the end of the Tokyo Babylon artbook featuring X-version Subaru and Seishirou is subtitled “1999” and “Tokyo Babylon 1999”, which may either show this preliminary stage of development or may be promotional art in anticipation of the movie and X itself.

The movie itself has a running time of approximately an hour and is a short-story in the fashion of the Tokyo Babylon manga: Subaru undertakes a supernatural case in which people who were in some way wronged commit their own wrongs on the world, and he must make them realize the magnitude of harm they are inflicting before they cause more damage to others or themselves. In the process, he learns more about himself and humanity at large. Since the movie takes place after the manga, Subaru is living on his own and is the broken, tortured wraith featured in X and the epilogue of the Tokyo Babylon manga.