Tsubasa (ツバサ), usually called Syaoran (Japanese: 小狼, Hepburn: Shaoran; also officially written as『小狼』) is a fictional character from Clamp's manga series' Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. In the series, the character is initially seen as child imprisoned by the sorcerer Fei-Wang Reed and appears in visions of the series' protagonist, the clone Syaoran. Upon being freed from his prison, Syaoran goes to kill his doppelgänger but fails as he escapes to carry Fei-Wang's will. As a result, Syaoran decides to join Sakura's journey across dimensions to accomplish his own mission. Syaoran also appears in the Clamp's series xxxHolic, where he often interacts with the teenager Kimihiro Watanuki whom he often sends messages to and in the Tsubasa spin-off Tsubasa World Chronicle: Mirai Nikki-Hen he goes in another journey to find his clone. Clamp created Syaoran as the series' second protagonist of Tsubasa who would replace the clone in the second half, while developing unique traits alongside Watanuki. As most of Clamp's works involve twin characters, for Tsubasa, the team instead decided to create the dynamic of the two Syaorans as doppelgängers in order to set them up apart, despite being identical. Like the clone counterpart, Syaoran has been voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese and Jason Liebrecht in English. Critical reception to Syaoran was initially mixed due to his unknown identity and objective. This was mostly because of the large amount of exposition done in his introduction among other characters but the animated version was noted to have introduced in better form. Nevertheless, the characters' continues fights and backstory portrayed in the climax of the manga earned positive response for being well written as he is finally explored.
Creation and development Syaoran was conceived as the second protagonist from Tsubasa: Reserrvoir Chronicle who would replace the first Syaoran, revealed to be his clone. Like the clone, Clamp developed Syaoran characters using the Osamu Tezuka's Star System. Both clones and originals Syaorans and Sakuras were based on Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto respectively from their previous series Cardcaptor Sakura. Since twin characters are common in Clamp's works, for Tsubasa they decided to do something different from that. However, it was difficult to have only their outward appearances be the same – to have them be a different person about whom the reader did not know anything up until now – so because of that, they had them share memories. Clamp aimed to make both Syaorans of them equally different based on their actions despite being virtually identical. The usage of two characters with the same appearance was noted by Clamp to be a common elements in their stories, but Clamp also aimed to create another link between Syaoran, Sakura and Watanuki, the protagonist of xxxHolic. They distinguished the characters by staying conscious of their pre-established environments. The two Syaorans more specifically endeavored to have Clamp depict them as being fairly different outside of their earnest aspects, too. With the ending of Tsubasa, Clamp wrote the spin-off World Chronicle in order to elaborate on Syaoran's never-ending journey and the people he would encounter.
Casting In the animated adaptations of Tsubasa, Syaoran is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese and Jason Liebrecht in English. Irino said that ever since the introduction of the original Syaoran—who he also voiced—he sometimes had problems voicing both characters. Fellow voice actress Yui Makino also discussed Irino's role, saying that he was the most difficult character to cast because of the requirement to portray the two Syaorans. Upon reading the series and the script for the OVAs, Irino found the story of the original Syaoran too sad so he faced difficulties with voicing the two characters. Nevertheless, he looked forward to Production I.G's work in adapting the manga.
Characterization and themes Clamp further elaborated the Syaoran clone also has his own doppelgänger commonly referred as "The Other Syaoran" who at the same time shares the same identity as the protagonist from xxxHolic, Kimihiro Watanuki. The main idea was connecting these two series was to have protagonists from two different manga with different personalities and designs. However, during the ending they would be stated to share the same existence, and had to go on different paths. The constant interactions between Watanuki and Syaoran were made to build up why both of these characters are important in their respective series as well as to explore more the crossover element Tsubasa has with xxxHolic. While the two meet in the first series, they do not have personal conversations until the climax and the sequels through their friends, the two Mokona Modokis. The character's backstory is not properly explored until the series' climax. As a result, Syaoran's remains a mystery in regards to his intentions. However, once Syaoran is revealed to have turned back time to save the original Syaoran, writers noted that the character has lived through his entire life carrying guilt for the possible sins he might have created when reversing time. Similar to how Syaoran often supports Watanuki, Syaoran receives comfort from Kurogane and Fai who understand his fears and loneliness.
Appearances
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