Toya Kinomoto
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Toya Kinomoto (木之本 桃矢 Kinomoto Tōya?) is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. He is known as Tori Avalon in the English adaptation Cardcaptors.
He appears in another Clamp series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and is known there as Tōya, although his name has also been spelt as "Touya".
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[edit] Character
Toya is the brother of Sakura Kinomoto. He holds the belief that as Sakura's older brother, he is the only person entitled to make fun of her, a belief that his best friend Yukito Tsukishiro refers to as a "sister complex." However, he is also protective and caring of her, which leads him to dislike Syaoran Li when he finds Syaoran cornering Sakura in the schoolyard. Though Syaoran and Sakura eventually stop fighting, Toya continues to dislike Syaoran when he becomes friends with Sakura, knowing that Syaoran will eventually take Sakura away from him. He is a perceptive young man and has had a vague idea as to what Sakura has been up to as a Cardcaptor, despite Sakura's attempts to keep it a secret.
He is often working, and a running gag in the series involves Sakura and Yukito running into him while he's at work, which can happen virtually anywhere. It is later revealed in the series, however, that the reason for him bumping into Sakura all the time was not just mere coincidence but deliberance on his part (he was following her in case she needed protection from any danger). In the first few episodes, a running gag was Sakura purposely stepping on his foot when he mocks her. Later on in the series when this gag is attempted again, Toya often moves his foot out of the way, causing Sakura to feel the effects of the impact instead.
Toya was born with some magical ability, allowing him to see ghosts (including the one of his late mother). His magical ability is also what helps him sense when Sakura is in danger or when she is doing other "magical" things (which enables him to follow her as described above).
Late in the series, Toya gives up his magical abilities in order to keep Yukito alive. Yukito's alter-ego Yue was being weakened from a lack of supporting magic after Sakura became Master of the Clow. Sakura's magic was not strong enough to maintain Yue's existence at the time, and if Yue ended up disappearing, so would Yukito. Toya was more than willing to give up his magic to save Yukito, but he knew that doing so came at another cost: losing the ability to sense when Sakura was in danger. Therefore, Toya made a deal with Yue and had him promise that he would now protect Sakura with all of his power.
Toya and Yukito are extremely close, and there are strong hints that they are more than just close friends. This is somewhat confirmed towards the end of the series when Yukito openly admits his love for Toya in front of Sakura, after Toya sacrifices his powers for both Yukito and Yue. In addition, Yukito, now aware that he is Yue, expresses insecurity about his real self, but Toya says that he would not be able to stand losing Yukito and that their common memories are real. The manga also reflects on their relationship more deeply than the anime does.
Toya briefly dated Kaho Mizuki for a year starting in 8th grade (she was his student teacher), but they broke up when she decided to move to England to pursue her career. She told him also that he should not grieve over that, for she would be back, and by those days both of them would have other love interests. After returning, she treats him affectionately, but more as a younger brother than a boyfriend.
[edit] The Mirror
While Toya still had magical powers, he would never be fooled whenever Sakura used The Mirror to cover for her during a card capture. Rather than be upset, Toya instead hopes (optimistically) that Sakura would soon return safely and, in the meantime, treats Mirror as an individual person.
In the anime, Toya encounters Mirror three times. The first occurs in episode 25 when Mirror is a loose card entity, causing mischief throughout town while in Sakura's form. The disguised Card mischievously leads a somewhat suspicious Tōya off a tall ledge in the park but soon apologizes to him (while he is unconscious) right before the real Sakura performs the capture.
Since then, Mirror appears to be indebted to Toya for the trouble she caused him. Tōya sees Mirror again in episode 39 when the Card covers for a sick Sakura one night. He is downstairs when the switch occurs but figures it out the moment he enters Sakura's room with food and medicine. He plays along by giving Mirror the rice-meal but takes the tray away after she's finished without giving her the medicine. Mirror, still playing Sakura, asks about taking the medicine, and Toya responds, "You shouldn't take medicine if you're not sick." Mirror knows she is caught, but Toya reassures her that it is fine and also requests that she help look after Sakura.
The third encounter occurs in episode 61 when a magical disturbance (Eriol-related) forces Sakura to "cancel" her afternoon shopping plans with Tōya. She calls Mirror to the rescue, who again smiles innocently at Tōya when he arrives to pick her up. Again, Tōya is not fooled for a moment and sighs, commenting that he senses the real Sakura somewhere in the distance. Mirror again looks sullen, but Tōya instead invites her to go shopping in Sakura's place.
At a cafe later on, Toya presents Mirror with a long green hair ribbon. "You actually have long hair, right?" he asks, suggesting that Tōya's magic is strong enough for him to see through Mirror's disguise. Mirror happily accepts the gift and can be seen wearing the ribbon from then on when in Card form.
It can be argued that The Mirror had fallen in love with Toya, though he never returns these feelings in either the manga or the anime (depending on the interpretation of the ribbon gift). Nevertheless, their bond is unique and special in the series by building on Tōya's caring character and by showing that the Cards are capable of individual and complex emotions.
[edit] List of part-time jobs
- Episode 03 - Penguin feeder and waiter at an aquarium
- Episode 04 - Waiter at a restaurant
- Episode 16 - Chef at a Korean barbeque restaurant (mentioned)
- Episode 34 - Quiz show attendant
- Episode 35 - Waiter at the amusement park
- Episode 38 - Assistant at the strawberry farm
- Episode 40 - Ice cream vendor
- Episode 44 - Bear mascot
- Episode 63 - Ice soda waiter
- Movie 2 - Bunny mascot and waiter at Nadeshiko Festival
[edit] Statistics
- Birthday: 29 February
- Blood Type: O
- Favorite Subject: Chemistry
- Least Favorite Subject: None
- Extracurricular Activities: Soccer
- School Club: Choir
- Favorite Color: Blue
- Favorite Flower: Peach blossoms
- Favorite Food: Steak
- Least Favorite Food: Fried Tofu
- Favorite Recipe: Omelet with fried rice and fried noodles
- Wish List: New sneakers
[edit] Notes
- In the anime, like Syaoran in the Sleeping Beauty play, Toya plays the lead female character in his high school's Cinderella play.
- Toya's "kaijyuu" (monster) nickname for Sakura in Cardcaptor Sakura is reused in Tsubasa.
- Toya's running gag about his part-time jobs is retained in Tsubasa as he frequently and conveniently appears as a waiter or chef in restaurants where Syaoran and company eat.
- The first kanji of Toya's given name (桃) means peach, and peach blossoms are one of his mother's two favorite flowers, the other being cherry blossoms, or sakura (桜).
[edit] Tōya in Tsubasa
In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Tōya is not only the older brother of Sakura but also the King of the Kingdom of Clow. The former king, Tōya and Sakura's father, is Clow Reed. Like his Cardcaptor Sakura incarnation, he dislikes Syaoran and refers to him as a brat (though the antagonism is one sided now). His reasons are similar; from the predictions of the High Priest of Clow (who is Yukito, his best friend and confidante), he knows that Sakura and Syaoran are meant to be together and their destinies are linked. Additionally, Tōya had initially felt that Syaoran possessed a rather unsettling presence within him and confronted his father about it, though Tōya later admits that the feeling went away as Syaoran opened up to Sakura.
Another incarnation of Tōya appears with Yukito in the Hanshin Republic, where he and Yukito are waiters at a local restaurant. In the anime, Tsubasa Chronicle, he appears again in the Outo Country where he and Yukito are patrons in the cafe run by Syaoran and the others as well as in two filler episodes.
In the anime he is voiced by Miki Shinichiro in the original Japanese version, a close friend and fellow band member (Weiss) of Seki Tomokazu, who did Toya's voice in Cardcaptor Sakura. In the english version he is voiced by Eric Vale.
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| Episode Guide: Clow Card Arc: 1-18, 19-35, 36-46 | Sakura Card Arc: 47-59, 60-70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
