Yue (Cardcaptor Sakura)
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| Yue | |
|---|---|
| Cardcaptor Sakura character | |
 Yue in his true form |
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| First appearance | The Last Card (Sakura and the Final Clow Card) |
| Last appearance | Chapter 48-final chapter(Sakura and her True Feelings [last episode]) |
| Created by | Clamp |
| Voiced by | Megumi Ogata (Jpn CCS) Sam Vincent (Eng) Steve Staley (Eng CCS 2nd Movie) |
| Profile | |
| Aliases | Yukito Tsukishiro/ Julian Star |
| Age | 300+ |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | Born in England or China, currently lives in Japan |
| Occupation | Guardian of the Clow |
| Title | Guardian of the Clow,The Judge |
| Powers & Abilities | Crystal Projectiles Superhuman speed, stamina, agility and reflexes Skilled Archer Telekinesis Aerokinesis Hydrokinesis Flight Energy Bow Forcefield Projection Sensing Celestial magic (Moon magic) Control over moon attributed Clow Cards |
| Blood Type | AB |
Yue (月 ユエ?) Chinese Pinyin: Yuè) is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. He is voiced by Megumi Ogata. In English, he is voiced by Sam Vincent, and in the 2nd Movie by Steve Staley.
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[edit] Name
Yue (月?) means moon in Mandarin Chinese. (The Japanese word for moon is tsuki, but uses the same kanji.) Because his name is not of Japanese origin, Yue's name is spelled in katakana, not hiragana.
In the English anime and the later printings of the English manga, his name is romanized as "Yue" (after the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of his name). In the early English manga, his name is romanized as "Yueh" after the Wade-Giles romanization "Yüeh".
[edit] Character
Yue is the one of two Guardians of the Clow Cards, along with Cerberus. While Cerberus acts as the elector, choosing a candidate to become the next Master of the Clow, Yue is the judge who will test the candidate. Though very little of Yue's critical information is known for certain, it is logical to assume that his blood type is AB, as it is the type listed for his temporary form and is also the type corresponding to his personality according to the Japanese theory of Blood Type Personality (which is used throughout the Cardcaptor Sakura series). Some fans originally believed that because Yue, like many of the powerfully magic characters in the series, doesn't appear to age, that he was immortal, but this theory was shot down by Clow Reed who said in the fourth book of the manga that "every living thing must come to its end", including himself, Yue and Cerberus though they never seem to age or weaken. On the outside he acts very cold and aloof and is much more serious and intimidating than his counterpart, Cerberus. He shared a special bond with Clow that made it hard for him to accept Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Avalon in Cardcaptors) as a "replacement" for his creator during the Final Judgement, although Sakura manages to work her way into his heart at least as a very good friend. Yue has jurisdiction over all things wind and water, the elements "under him" which in part draw on him for their existence. The known Clow Cards under his jurisdiction are Dark, Windy, Watery, Wood (and Time in the anime), but also probably The Fly, The Flower, The Shadow, The Mirror, the Illusion, and the Shield. He would also have rule over Cards relating to water or weather.
Yue makes his first appearance when Sakura, the Cardcaptor, captures the final Clow Card, The Earthy. He then announces that he must judge Sakura's worthiness: if she can defeat him in combat, she can be the Mistress of the Cards. Sakura, however outright refuses to harm him, in part because Yukito Tsukishiro, a young man for whom Sakura cares deeply, is his temporary form and would be likewise wounded, and also, as she confirms in the manga chapter entitled "The Final Judgement" because of her natural determination to befriend even the most distant of people she encounters. At first, Yue was determined that nobody succeed Clow Reed, and even threatens to shoot Sakura when she tries to ask him about it. Eventually, after transforming her staff to one of her own star power with some help from Clow Reed's Moon Bell, Sakura manages to nonviolently defeat Yue by capturing him in a ball of wind created by the Windy card. After this she finally asks her opponent about his love for Clow, and follows up with a speech in which she freely admits that she's "still just a kid... and [she doesn't] know anything about magic" "but..." she continues "I love the Cards, and Kero-chan. And I'm sure I can come to love you too." she quickly changes this, however, saying "No. I already love you! I don't want to be your master. I want to be good friends." Surprisingly her words seem to reach Yue, and he ends the Final Judgement declaring that he accepts Sakura as his new master, something he had previously sworn to Clow he would never be able to do.
Afterwards, Yue becomes a more active protector of Sakura, even once risking his own life to protect her by taking the full impact when his wings vanished and the two fell out of the sky. Unfortunately, the presence of his true form becomes too great for Sakura's magic to support him, especially since transforming all the cards into Sakura Cards is draining her energy, and the strain soon threatens his own existence and that of Yukito. Since Yue represents the moon, his powers mimic the way the moon reacts to light; the moon cannot make its own, and it dependent on the light of the sun to shine, just as Yue is dependent on his Master's power for strength. Yue and Cerberus carefully keep this fact kept secret from Sakura, since there was nothing she would have been able to do about it, and telling her would have only caused her unnecessary worry. Both Yue himself, and Eriol Hiiragizawa's (Eli Moon) guardian Ruby Moon realizes that the magical powers of Toya Kinomoto (Tori Avalon), Sakura's brother, could save him, but Yukito does not know this, despite him being Yue's temporary form (Yukito knew nothing about Yue's existence at the time), and so Yue is not able to transform around Toya. However Toya realizes what was going on and finally offers Yue his power, securing his and Yukito's survival.
Yue rushes to Sakura's aid in her final confrontation with Eriol, arriving just in time to save her and Syaoran from Spinel's attack. He was prevented from helping her for a time during the battle by Ruby Moon, but when Sakura falls crashing through the nearby trees, he overpowers his opponent due to what Spinel describes as "the power of the heart that believes in their owner." He also helps her transform The Light and The Dark along with Cerberus by combining his powers into Sakura's staff. Later that night he confronts Eriol (who had left Sakura and company with Nakuru to join him in the garden) about why it was that Clow made him go through all the pain and suffering when Clow had still existed as Eriol. Eriol responds that, though he has retained all of Clow's memories and most of his magic, he himself is not Clow Reed, and there is no way to bring back the dead.
Yue tends to try and distance himself from others as much as possible which is likely due in part to a fear of being hurt as he was by Clow's death. Sakura, however, seems to be able to see through his cold and icy façade, and from the very beginning shows him nothing but friendship. This seems not to be the reaction that Yue is used to, as he is quite surprised by the amount of concern Sakura shows for him after he falls out of the sky in the second book of the manga. Despite his original determination never to accept the girl, Sakura actually becomes quite close to Yue, and he seems to be quite unable to stand seeing her in any kind if pain, most especially over him. Indeed, by the end of the series he more than once comforts Sakura when she is at her most distraught, and manages to halt her tears. This shows the more kind and compassionate side of Yue's personality which he seems to keep locked away from most of the world.
In the second movie, Yue aids Sakura in defeating a monster that was attacking her at the beginning of the movie. Towards the middle of the film, Yue also comforts Sakura when she despairs and weeps after a conversation with Syaoran, saying Clow Reed wouldn't have created a card that would just cause pain, sorrow and destruction, displaying his sense of compassion and sympathy. At the performance of Sakura and her class, he is one of the few people who escapes the Nothing (The Sealed Card)'s assault. At the final confrontation with the Nothing, he saves Sakura by destroying the horses of the carousel ride that the Nothing sends at her. He also battles the Nothing, but is unable to defeat her and is soon captured. He plays no further role in the rest of the movie.
[edit] Powers, abilities, and role
Yue's appearance is that of a beautiful young man with long silver braided hair and violet (alice blue in anime) cat-like eyes. He has a pair of angelic wings that he can use to fly. True to his namesake, Yue draws his power from "softer" moon energies--which Cerberus tells us to be stronger during a full moon.
He is a capable fighter who can raise powerful magical barriers, send deadly crystal shards at his adversaries, draw up energy around his hands which seems to be able to cut like a blade, shoot energy arrows from an energy bow that he can summon at will, in addition to other magical attacks, such as telekinesis, which he uses in the 4th book of the manga (after he takes Toya's power) to throw back the curtain behind which Sakura was hiding ( he does this in episode 65 of the anime as well, though with a door). In the anime he also seems to have some sort of telepathy, as he was able to put Li and Sakura into a trance like state during the final judgement, and then teleport them a small distance. Yue's skill with the bow manifests itself even in his human form, as can be seen in the archery competition when Yukito's arrows unfailingly land on the bull's eye. As the final confrontation with Ruby Moon demonstrates, Yue is a truly formidable and deadly combatant when enraged.
Beyond his role as The Judge, Yue was also a favored companion to Clow Reed, and is speculated to have much deeper feelings for him than that of his creator, which Kero supports by once cryptically commenting that Yue has "his own reasons" for missing Clow. He is highly intelligent, and usually cool and focused, although prone to fury when Clow or, later, Sakura is endangered. He is also a very kind and sympathetic character, though he is reluctant to show it.
[edit] Yue's "True Heart"
Although no canon pairing is ever acknowledged in the series for Yue, there are at least three possible pairings suggested or hinted at throughout the series.
[edit] Clow
It is suggested in both the anime and manga that Clow and Yue were romantically involved, or at least that Yue's feelings for the magician ran deeper than just love for his master. For a long time he was extremely opposed to having to choose another master, having told Clow that "no one else is worthy". There are also other signs of something more than a family-like love between Clow and Yue. For instance, during the final judgement when Sakura begins to ask Yue about his previous relationship with Clow, he suddenly turns emotional and violent and threatens to shoot her. Another indicator can be seen in the number of times Eriol is alone with Yue, when he is often seen acting quite seductively, often lustfully running his fingers through Yue's hair. The anime version of the series goes even farther into this issue. In one episode Kero casually mentions that Yue has "his own reasons" for having Clow on his mind, while Sakura once pointed out that Yue has "a very kind expression" on his face when he speaks of Clow. Yue makes no objections as she goes on to compare his love for Clow to the love her father feels for her late mother.
[edit] Controversy
- Whether or not a true romantic relationship existed between Yue and Clow, or rather whether or not that love was equally shared, is still the topic of some debate. What ever went on between the two existed only in the past which the series rarely ever delves into, and as such exists only as implication rather than any definitive proof.
[edit] Sakura
Throughout the series, Yue warms up to his new mistress. Yue's false form of Yukito was clearly designed to be everything that would be attractive to Sakura, and she did harbor a large crush on him for a very long time. However, Yukito ended up in love with Toya instead, something Eriol admitted that he did not predict. How true Clow's prediction proved for Yue, however, is questionable. In volume 10 of the manga Clow tells his guardian "When I am gone, you will learn to love another." This implies that Clow is indeed assuming that Yue will fall in love with another as he did Clow. Eriol mentions several times in the series that Yue's heart is much different from Yukito's. Furthermore, in volume 12 Clow's reincarnation, Eriol asks Yue if he hates Sakura for replacing Clow, to which Yue begins to respond while carefully hiding his face from view “It’s not that I hate her...” When Yue is at a loss for words, Eriol finishes his sentence for him, saying "And for Yue that means 'I love her'". To this comment Yue says nothing, but rather chooses to continue hiding his face behind his hair until Eriol changes the subject. This implies that, although Yukito did not fall for Sakura, she may have another suitor yet in his true form, Yue.
[edit] Controversy
- Although Yue does act kinder to Sakura towards the end of the series, and does, by means of Eriol confess some kind of love for Sakura, it cannot be determined beyond all doubt if this is romantic love or the much more family like love that she is shared between Sakura and other characters in the series (including Yukito).
[edit] Toya
The basis for this theory lies mainly in comments from Sakura and Toya near the end of the series. In both the anime and manga, Toya, before giving all of his powers to save Yue and Yukito, smiles and tells Yue that he and his false form aren't so different after all. Sakura supports this in the manga when she says that they "are alike...In every way!" This may imply that Yue, like his false form, has come to be quite friendly towards Toya.
[edit] Controversy
- Despite the considerable amount of evidence for this pairing, it is easily the most controversial. In one book of CLAMP's original manga Eriol is quoted saying to Yue (who was unconscious at the time) "It's too bad that your borrowed form's and you true form's hearts are so different. But, your different feelings will develop. “This suggests the exact opposite of the Kinomoto sibling's later comments by saying that Yue and Yukito’s hearts are being drawn in two different directions. Additionally, it is important to note, Yue and Eriol's talk in the 12th volume of the manga is turned toward the topic of Toya, but Yukito is the only one mentioned by either party as his lover.
The bottom line is, the anime and manga both show both sides of the argument, which contradict each other. As there is not enough evidence to come to a decisive conclusion, the topic of Yue's "true heart" is mostly left open to fan interpretation.
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