Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle)
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| "Syaoran" | |
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| Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle xxxHolic character |
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.jpg/250px-Tsubasa_Reservoir_Chronicle_-_Syaoran_Li(The_Real_One).jpg) The Original "Syaoran" in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle |
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| First appearance | Episode one (Tsubasa anime) Chapter one (Tsubasa manga) Chapter eight (xxxHolic manga) |
| Created by | Clamp |
| Voiced by | Miyu Irino (Jpn Tsubasa) Jason Liebrecht (Eng Tsubasa) |
| Profile | |
| Nicknames | Brat, kid "Syaoran Li" |
| Age | 16 [1] |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of birth | April 1 (given birthday by Sakura) Unknown (actual birthday) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Archaeologist Oni Hunter |
| Known relatives | Fujitaka (Adopted father, deceased) Sakura Kinomoto (Mother) Syaoran Li (Father) Clow Reed (ancestor, deceased) Toya Kinomoto (Uncle) Fujitaka Kinomoto (grandfather) |
| Residence | Tomoeda (Original residence),  JapanKingdom of Clow |
| Power & abilities | Highly skilled martial artist Expert archeologist Skilled Swordsman Excellent use of magic, spells, barriers, and detection. |
"Syaoran" is the protagonist in Clamp's crossover manga series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and its subsequent anime, Tsubasa Chronicle. His characterization here is mostly independent of his characterization in Cardcaptor Sakura and is discussed further below. He is voiced by Miyu Irino in the Japanese version, and by Jason Liebrecht in the English version.
"Syaoran" has also appeared in Clamp's xxxHolic.
Contents |
[edit] Story
In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran is an archaeologist who is excavating ruins in the country of Clow and the adopted son of Fujitaka. In the anime, he is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese, and in English by Jason Liebrecht. Other than having a completely different family line, Syaoran is very mature and polite, unlike his father's more arrogant incarnation in Cardcaptor Sakura. However, he still maintains the overtly serious streak, which often makes him believe in almost anything, making him come off as a greatly gullible person.
In the series, Syaoran is shown to be an excellent fighter, centered around his devastating kicks (taught to him by Seishirou Sakurazuka. This is to compensate for his lack of reliable depth perception due to being blind in his right eye. He was later trained to sense attacks coming from the left by Kurogane). He is also an experienced archaeologist, with the attendant skills and experience of a hardened adventurer somewhat reminiscent of Indiana Jones. In Outo, he receives a sword named Hien ("scarlet flame"), whose blade can be made to burst into flame, and is trained in swordsmanship by Kurogane. In the Tsubasa Character Guide, Syaoran's fighting abilities are given a score of 380/500, only 20 points behind Fai and making him the third-strongest fighter at the start of the series.
It is revealed in chapter 189 that Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li, the main characters in Cardcaptor Sakura, are the parents of the original "Syaoran". It should be noted that "Syaoran" adopts the name of his father, but his real name is thus far unknown.
[edit] Clone Syaoran: "The Clone"
He was found by Fujitaka as a young child without any memories. Fujitaka thus named him and introduced him to the princess of Clow (Princess Sakura). The two became very close friends, Sakura going so far as to give Syaoran a birthday (her own, April 1st) when she discovers he does not remember his. It is shown that they love each other romantically, though both of them hide their true feelings.
One day, Sakura displays mystical powers, but in the process she loses her memories, which are scattered through different worlds in the form of feathers. The loss of her memories puts her life at risk, forcing Syaoran to go on a journey across many dimensions in order to find them and save her. In order to travel from dimension to dimension, he must sacrifice his most valuable possession: his current relationship with Sakura. Even if Sakura were to get all her feathers back, she would never remember how she felt about Syaoran before.
Clone Syaoran's personality differs from that of real Syaoran. Before having his heart returned to the original; Clone Syaoran was an overly polite and mature boy; although somewhat rash. His counterpart, who is much more serious and less rash, was polite but not to the extreme of Clone Syaoran.
It is later revealed that this Syaoran was actually a clone of the tattooed fiqure imprisoned in Fei Wong's fortress. Fei Wong's intention was to use the clone to collect all of Sakura's feathers for himself, but the original Syaoran gave half of his own heart (his left eye) to the Clone and put a seal on the Clone's right eye. Fei Wong did not care if the Clone had feelings, as long as he had the determination to get the feathers, and let the child go without removing Syaoran's alterations. Everything had been going as he had planned until he was met with interference by Yuko.
Once the original Syaoran, a distant relative of Clow Reed, broke free from Fei Wong's hands, the Clone's right eye seal also broke (which is the reason why the Clone's right eye was blind). As The Clone's heart did not actually belong to him but to Syaoran, this means the feelings for Sakura and his companions were actually the original's: however, this might be contradicted by the original Syaroan telling his clone that 'what treasured that Sakura (meaning the clone Sakura) the most did not come from him, but from the clone'. Although Syaoran had hoped The Clone had developed feelings of his own after his long journey, The Clone became a ruthless being apparently without any feelings or heart, hurting his former friends mentally and physically, including Fay D. Flourite whose left eye (the source of Fay's magic) was removed and consumed by The Clone in order to eliminate anyone from interfering with the collection of feathers. With this he became capable of sight through its right eye (which turned blue) and also gained the ability to use fire based magic similar to Fai's. Once he collected all of Sakura's feathers in Tokyo, The Clone left behind his former companions.
After the Tokyo arc, The Clone (now known in the series as "The Clone") is briefly seen in a world he single handedly destroyed to find a single feather. The Clone then entered the dream world to battle Syaoran for the feather he was using to save Sakura's soul. They began fighting despite Sakura's pleas for them to stop. Seishiro (who is now on friendly terms with everyone) has stated to the others that the more The Clone uses his new right eye, the more powerful he will become. This is shown as he overpowered Syaoran's lightning spell with his fire spell. With Syaoran incapacitated, The Clone moved to eliminate both him and Sakura, with Fei Wong commenting that he only needs the girl's body and not her soul. Though The Clone wounded her shoulder, he was incapable of completely killing her, stopping his sword just inches above her head, much to his surprise. At the same time, Yūko makes a comments that even though the heart can sometimes forget, the body will continue to remember, implying that The Clone's own body is refusing to harm his former childhood friend.
Being unable to harm Sakura, The Clone decided to take the feather that Syaoran placed within himself. This quickly prompts them to start battling over the feather. As he and Syaoran jump to grab it/strike each other, Sakura gets in the way and prevents The Clone from killing Syaoran by sacrificing herself. Before she dies, she informs both that she is just like The Clone, and that the real Sakura is waiting for Syaoran. She then falls into The Clone's arms and confesses that even though they were both created she still loved him, and as long as the Real Sakura and the Real Syaoran live, "it won't end". The meaning to this is not clear yet. The Clone Sakura then disintegrates completely into cherry blossom petals, right in The Clone's arms. The whole time, The Clone has a blank look on his face, somewhat surprised. Upon her disintegrating, one of the leftover sakura petals appear in his hand, and he grabs onto it; screaming a silent scream.
[edit] The Original: "Syaoran"
The original Syaoran appears as a tattooed figure floating in a tank in Fei Wong Reed and Xing Huo's headquarters (who, instead of being blind in his right eye, was blind in his left due to him ripping it out). He was kidnapped by Fei Wong Reed when he was very young, and is his captive so he was forced to make him a clone. Then he was sealed within a chamber since he knew about his plots while the clone would go to the Kingdom of Clow without having any memories. He remains in this tube for roughly 120 chapters, until he regains his power and escapes. With the assistance of Xing Huo, he is sent to the Witch of Dimensions, Yūko Ichihara (he can be seen making a cameo appearance in Volume 9 of xxxHolic). It is then revealed that he is the original Syaoran and was captured and cloned by Fei Wong Reed.
After The Clone becomes an antagonist, Syaoran takes the role of protagonist of the series (now simply known in the series as "Syaoran") and becomes a "leader" of the group, like The Clone was, in order to stop Fei Wong's plans. However, as Syaoran continued to lead the journey with Sakura and the others; Sakura acts very distantly with him and did not see him as a new companion. It is revealed that she acted so coldly towards him because of a vision she saw when Fay touched her back in Tokyo. She finally does call him "Syaoran-kun" (which she used to call the Clone) at the end of the Infinity Arc, saying she heard from Mokona that he too is called Syaoran. Syaoran at first attempts to deny it, saying, "No, I... Right..." [2]. Sakura's addressing of Syaoran causes Syaoran to think she was leaving because of him. She denies this, but then Fay, possessed by a curse, stabs her. It is later revealed by Fei Wong Reed (and Sakura, in xxxHolic), that Fay was supposed to stab Syaoran, but Sakura changed the future so that the curse was activated before this event.
When Sakura was stabbed, she split up her body and soul. Yūko tells Kurogane, Fay, Mokona, and Syaoran that the body should be rescued first, then the soul. The group then travels to Celes country (where Fay is originally from) to retrieve Sakura's body. Syaoran develops a severe headache upon arrival, and collapses due to it. This headache is connected to Watanuki, as shown in xxxHolic. It, however, does not stop him from protecting Sakura's soulless body from Ashura, who uses his magic to show Syaoran, Kurogane, and Mokona visions of Fay's dark past.
After King Ashura's defeat, the Tsubasa group returns to Nihon Country where Syaoran wakes up to find Sakura's soulless body in a magical sakura tree which heals the wound Fay gave her. This puts Syaoran at ease for the time being until the arrival of Seishirō, who had sensed Fay's vampire blood. He then goes into battle against his clone's former teacher, proving he too has learned from him by looking through The Clone during his captivity. Syaoran enters this fight to get back the feather from Outo country. After Syaoran unleashed his ultimate spell (all four of his elemental spells combined) on Seishirō, he reclaimed the feather and was sent into the Dream alone to rescue Sakura's soul.
Within the Dream, Syaoran finds Sakura and encountered The Clone, who had just entered, looking for feathers. The Clone sensed the feather from him and both of them quickly summon their respective blades. The Clone attacked both Syaoran and Sakura, despite Sakura's pleas for The Clone to stop. Syaoran then placed Sakura in a protective wind barrier and then announced to The Clone that since they are one in the same, he will end their dispute once and for all.
As they both reach to grab the feather/strike each other, Sakura got in the way and saved him from being stabbed by The Clone. As he screamed out in horror she told him she is not the real Sakura, she is just a clone. [a clone of both body & soul]. The Clone Sakura said to the real Syaoran "Your Sakura is waiting", then she falls into the arms the Clone and confesses her love for him.
After that, Syaoran fell down as he was released from the black goop that invaded the area for the short time Kyle appeared. Fay rushed over to help Syaoran up and then Syaoran glares hard after Fay informs them that The Clone disappeared.
After this, the clone situation regarding Sakura is explained further. Syaoran asks Yuuko to tell them where both of the Sakuras are. He then confidently remarks: "I'll never allow Sakura to die". Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona then agree to help him on what appears to be their final stop. Of course Yuuko says there is a price, which has already been paid for by Watanuki. He paid his memories of his past which is why when he was in the Dream World with Sakura's clone soul he didn't remember his parents' names at all. It was paid beforehand.
He later then sits on a roof remembering Sakura and thanks Fay for being a form of a big brother to her. When the group prepares to leave, Fay and Kurogane wearing their original outfits; Syaoran makes an appearance. The surprise is what he is wearing: the clothes from Clow Country, which Clone Syaoran has only worn beforehand in Tsubasa. Mokona mentions "Those clothes.." and Yūko continues on to say that they are Syaoran's clothes she has held on to. As well, it should be noted that the outfit Syaoran is wearing is exactly the same as the controversial scene from the beginning of Tsubasa, with Syaoran and Sakura separated in a tube. This leads to assumption that Syaoran is about to meet Sakura in the tube later. He, Kurogane, and Fay then depart to Clow country to save Sakura.
In a flashback, Syaoran is revelaed to be the son of Sakura and Syaoran Li. He was sent to Yūko by his father and he travels to Clow Country, where he meets Sakura. He was told by Yūko he would only be able to remain there for seven days before he was transported back to his world: after that, Syaoran would have to make a choice. Syaoran always gives his name as "Li Syaoran", which is his father's name.
Due to the revelation of him being the son of Syaoran Li, and not actually having the same soul as him; it complicates CLAMP's "soulmate" rule. He is not actually "Syaoran", he is but the son of the actual Syaoran. The end of chapter 190 proves that "Sakura" and "Syaoran" are destined for each other although, as the last page states he is "Sakura-hime's destined person". Chapter 191 hints at the "Sakura" of Clow Country actually NOT being a Sakura. When Syaoran exclaims that Sakura looks exactly like his mother and shares the same name, Sakura responds by saying "But.. My name..". Syaoran responds with a typical "eh?", though Sakura shakes it off and immediately changes the subject.
[edit] Syaoran in xxxHolic
Syaoran appears in xxxHolic in two forms, a clone self and his real self. The clone self appears throughout both the xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle timelines via Mokona, who acts as a communication apparatus for Yūko.
The real Syaoran enters the xxxHolic manga storyline in Volume 9, when he visits Yūko after being freed by Xing Huo. In order to travel to the world where his clone is currently located, Syaoran pays with "the relationship", "the freedom" and "the time" (aka the time he spent in captivity, and the relationship with Sakura paid by the other Syaoran). It is later revealed that Syaoran was one of three people who paid a price (i.e. his freedom and time) to Yūko in order to save Watanuki's life after he had fallen out of a window.
In Chapter 140, Watanuki realizes he cannot remember his parents' names, and holds his head in pain, in the exact same way as Syaoran in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Syaoran is also shown telling Watanuki, "Don't disappear." What exactly this connection means has not yet been revealed.
In Chapter 146, a hand was hovering behind Sakura. Watanuki runs towards her, and the real Syaoran enters, indicating that that hand was the real Syaoran's hand. He comments that it is a dream, when suddenly, cherry blossoms begin to blow rapidly. A second hand appears, and before Watanuki is able to run to Sakura, the cherry blossoms slowly cloud his vision. The real Syaoran, as he holds Sakura, says to Watanuki, "No matter how painful it might be... I'll do everything in my might! So please..." Unfortunately, Watanuki does not hear the rest as he awakens in his own world.
In Chapter 174 of Tsubasa, it is revealed that Syaoran says, "So please... you, too, act according to what you believe in!"
Then in Chapter 181 of Tsubasa, it was revealed that Watanuki paid for the price to know the location for both of the Sakuras, his price was his memories of his past. That's why when he was in the Dream World with Sakura's clone soul he forgot his parents' names when Sakura asked something about his parents. Watanuki did this to pay back Syaoran after he paid a price to help save him when he fell out the window.
[edit] Spells
In Tsubasa Chronicle, "Syaoran" has more power and more control over his spells than his father had, such as using wind-based magic to fly and create protective barriers. He also appears to have a spell that is a combination of all four of his spells; whether it has a specific incantation or if it is a summoning of four spells separately to attack in unison is still unknown. He also does not need the paper seals to perform the spells.
| "Syaoran's" incantations and spells from Tsubasa: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE: | |||||||
| Lightning Based | Raitei Shourai! | Wind Based | Fuuka Shourai! | ||||
| Fire Based | Kashin Shourai! | Water Based | Suiryuu Shourai! | ||||
[edit] Trivia
- In The Hanshin Republic of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran's kudan is identical to the mashin Rayearth of Magic Knight Rayearth.
- Syaoran Li's cross-dressing in Cardcaptor Sakura, where he played the role of Sleeping Beauty in a play, is repeated by his son in Tsubasa when Syaoran stays with the performing Troupe in episode 33 and 34. It is also repeated in the manga during his stay in the country of Shara, where he and Sakura land in a village of women.
- The original Syaoran summons and uses his father's Jian sword in the manga, as well as his trademark "Shourai" spells.
- Seishirō, in Tsubasa chapter 170, remarks that the real Syaoran is just like his father. Who Syaoran's real father is remained a mystery until the release of chapter 189, which revealed that the real Syaoran's parents are Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li.
- Prior to the release of chapter 189, several fans theorised "Syaoran" was actually Syaoran Li from Cardcaptor Sakura due to his blood relation to Clow Reed and his use of the Jian and Shourai spells. Others argued that the timelines and character ages did not match up ("Syaoran" is captured as a child in TRC (around 7 years old) and leaves as a teenager, while he was around 10 years old in the events of CardCaptor Sakura).
[edit] References
- ^ In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle chapter 1, Sakura states that it had been seven years since "Syaoran" had arrived in Clow Country, and in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle chapters 188 and 189 "Syaoran" was revealed to be just seven when he met Sakura. He reversed his time back to 7 years old, as revealed in chapter 188, and lived the same seven years in the captivity of Fei Wong.
- ^ Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle chapter 189 reveals "Syaoran" uses the name "Syaoran Li", the name of his father.
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