Syaoran Liedit

From CardCaptor Sakura

This article deals with Syaoran Li as he appears in Cardcaptor Sakura. For the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle version of the characters, see Syaoran Li (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle) and Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle).

Syaoran Li (Li (李) 李 小狼; pinyin: Li (李), LǏ Xiǎoláng (Xiǎoláng - lit. Little Wolf); katakana: リ・シャオラン Ri Shaoran) is a fictional character from CLAMP's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. In the English adaption of the show (known as Cardcaptors) his name is changed to Li Showron. He is also mentioned in the CLAMP manga series' xxxHOLIC, and is finally (partially) shown in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Personality 3 Relationships 3.1 Sakura 3.2 Yukito 3.3 Cerberus 4 Powers and Abilities 5 Appearances in Other Media 5.1 Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 6 Trivia 7 References

[edit] Appearance

Normally, Syaoran wears the uniform of his elementary school, but in combat, he can be seen adopting a more Chinese-style wear. He has short brown hair and amber eyes. In Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card , he is given a set of green battle robes from Tomoyo. To match with Sakura in the most epic battle of finding the antagonist ( the sealed card ) which turns out the card is only confused by emotions.

[edit] Personality

As a member of the Li clan of sorcerers from Hong Kong , of which Clow's mother was a member, Syaoran believes that he should be the one to inherit the Clow Cards, not Sakura Kinomoto.^[1] He first appears as an antagonist in the story, capturing a few cards for himself in the anime. He acted cold and nonchalant and is very socially awkward, especially towards Sakura. He never even says her name until the second season.^[2] As the series progresses, and especially after Sakura is officially deemed the new master of the Cards, Syaoran drops his rivalistic attitude towards her and becomes her ally and friend, eventually falling in love with her. However, Sakura is completely oblivious to these feelings and thinks of him simply as a close friend.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Sakura

In the beginning of the series, Syaoran is more antagonistic, spawned from his belief that they should compete for the cards to see who is worthy of wielding them.

After the Final Judgment, Sakura is declared the new master of the Cards, leaving Syaoran, essentially, a failure. At the start of the third season, Syaoran plans on returning home to Hong Kong, until newcomer Eriol Hiiragizawa comes along and starts charming Sakura.

At this point in the series, Syaoran's feelings toward Sakura have slowly changed from that of rivalry to that of an elementary school crush. Sakura's consistently cheerful attitude and warm smiles cause more and more blushes on Syaoran's cheeks. Much to his surprise, Syaoran finds himself jealous over the fact that another student is getting too close to Sakura, and he in turn stays in Tomoeda for the remainder of the school year.^[3]

Syaoran finally confesses that he is in love with her face-to-face at the end of the next-to-last episode of the series.^[4] The news comes as a major surprise to Sakura, who had always viewed Syaoran as a close friend. Sakura broods over the thought, which ends with Syaoran planning to leave Tomoeda for Hong Kong. Sakura hears about his unannounced leave just in time to run to find him at the airport. He is holding a homemade teddy bear, which he had considered giving to Sakura but never found the right chance.

Instead, Sakura asks if she could have the bear in his arms. There is a tradition stated in the series (it is not an actual Japanese tradition) that when one person gives another a personally-made plush, if the receiver names the plush after its creator (the giver in this case), then both people will be together forever. Sakura is never seen giving a name to the bear, but the symbolism of her accepting his bear is enough to suggest that Sakura returns the feelings, despite how sudden they appeared.^[5]

The manga concludes the development of their relationship differently, as there is no movie for which to create a cliffhanger. Instead, after a major battle, as in the anime, Syaoran finds a quiet moment in Penguin Park to confess his love to Sakura. Sakura, again, is left in a mild state of shock as she tries to absorb the words, while Syaoran, content after revealing his feelings, tells her to be careful going back home and then leaves.

Some time passes, and Sakura is seen in a secondary school uniform, obviously older, preparing to leave for school. Along the way, she sees Syaoran, who is also dressed in a Tomoeda secondary school uniform, holding the bear that she gave to him. Syaoran is happy to announce that he is through with his duties in Hong Kong and is now in Tomoeda to stay. There would be no more need for letters and phone calls any longer. Sakura, filled with happiness, jumps into Syaoran's arms and happily exclaims that they can be "together forever".^[6]

[edit] Yukito

Before his relationship with Sakura, Syaoran found himself attracted to Yukito Tsukishiro, often blushing madly and abruptly running away at the sight of him. While Sakura also harbored a crush on Yukito, Syaoran would compete with her for his affections, usually by getting him a better present, making him better food, or giving the better compliment. As he shows no interest in Sakura in the first season, the impression is given that he and Sakura are rivals, for the cards and for love. It is revealed later that Syaoran was magically attracted to the magical energies of the moon, which were residing within Yukito, as Syaoran drew his magical power from the moon. Sakura, although she was drawn to a person that housed "power", was truly in love with Yukito, as stated by Cerberus (Kero).^[7]

[edit] Cerberus

Syaoran and Cerberus often fight in the series, where Syaoran often calls him a "plush toy", or a "stuffed animal", while Cerberus retorts with patronizing terms like "kid", and "brat".

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Swordsmanship: Syaoran is shown, or at least implied, to be an excellent swordsman, wielding a chinese jian, which he uses to activate his magic.

Magic: Using several elemental ofuda, he is able to create the same effects as the Clow Cards, which he used to fend off Yue during the Final Judgment.

Clow Cards: Although he claims certain Clow Cards for himself in the anime, Syaoran does not actually capture any Cards, as the act of capturing can only be performed using Sakura's sealing wand. However, if Syaoran has played a major role in weakening or cornering the Card entity prior to its capture, credit for the capture is awarded to him (as the materialized Card floats autonomously to its owner after capture). While Sakura writes her name in rōmaji on the Clow Cards, Syaoran writes his name in Chinese characters.

[edit] Appearances in Other Media

[edit] Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Syaoran is mentioned in xxxHolic as living in the same world as Yuko Ichihara and Kimihiro Watanuki. Sakura Li implies that during a dream in which Sakura Kinomoto gave her the Star Wand, she also met Syaoran Li^[8].

[edit] Trivia

• A major change to Syaoran's character in Cardcaptors involves elevating Li Showron to become the male lead character, rather than a supporting character for Sakura in Cardcaptor Sakura. Here, Li is also referred to as a Cardcaptor, while he has no such title in the original series, as Cerberus never selected him, and has no initial ability to seal cards for himself.
• Syaoran's four sisters are mentioned in the anime, and are only seen in the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie. His sisters are Fanren, Fuutie, Feimei and Shiefa (alternative spelling Xiefa?). His mother and sisters are briefly mentioned in the Cardcaptor Sakura manga when Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran are trying to capture the Maze card. His mother's name is Yelan.
• A common theme in fan fiction is that Syaoran is a prince (with Sakura taking various roles). It may have been this which at least partially influenced Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
• Syaoran's father is said to be deceased. In the anime it is implied he is responsible for the wealth of the Lis.
• Syaoran's voice actor Motoko Kumai sang Syaoran's theme called ki ni naru aitsu which was first in episode 57 of Cardcaptor Sakura

[edit] References

1. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Chapter 6
2. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Episode 57
3. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Episode 47
4. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Episode 69
5. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Episode 70
6. ↑ Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 12
7. ↑ Episode 51
8. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 224

Cardcaptor Sakura
Timeline of events
Media	English dub • Episodes (Clow Card: 1 2 • Sakura Card: 3) • DVDs • Albums • Clow Cards • Media
Theme Songs	Catch You Catch Me • Groovy! • Tobira wo Akete • Honey • Platinum • Fruits Candy • Tooi Kono Machi de • Ashita e no Melody
Locations	Tomoeda • Hong Kong
Main Characters	Sakura Kinomoto • Syaoran Li • Meiling Li • Tomoyo Daidōji • Cerberus • Yue • Clow Reed • Eriol Hiiragizawa • Yukito Tsukishiro
Minor Characters	Toya Kinomoto • Fujitaka Kinomoto • Nadeshiko Kinomoto • Sonomi Daidōji • Spinel Sun • Ruby Moon • Kaho Mizuki • Chiharu Mihara • Rika Sasaki • Takashi Yamazaki • Naoko Yanagisawa • Yoshiyuki Terada