Subaru Sumeragi

Infobox animanga character
name = Subaru Sumeragi
series = Clamp


caption = Subaru as he appears in the anime version of "X/1999"
first = "Tokyo Babylon"
last =
creator = Clamp
voiced by = Japanese
Kappei Yamaguchi ("Tokyo Babylon")
Issei Miyazaki ("X" feature film)
Tomokazu Sugita ("X" TV series)
Hiro Shimono ("Tsubasa Chronicle")
English
Ben Fairman ("Tokyo Babylon")
William Dufris ("X" feature film)
Dave Wittenberg ("X" TV series)
oaux1 name = Portrayed by
oaux1 = Tonesaku Toshihide ("Tokyo Babylon 1999")
nickname =
alias =
age =
gender = Male
species =
born = 19 February, 1974Subaru gives this date of birth in "Tokyo Babylon" book 3, vol.3, though at the same time he lies about his place of birth being Tokyo.]
death =
nationality = Japanese
class =
occupation = 13th head of Sumeragi clan, functioning as "onmyōji" (spiritualist/exorcist)
title =
relatives = Hokuto Sumeragi (twin sister)
Name Unknown (grandmother)
paux* name =
paux* =
divider =
aux* name =
aux* = nihongo|Subaru Sumeragi|皇昴流|Sumeragi Subaru is a fictional character created by Clamp. He is the protagonist of "Tokyo Babylon" and one of the Dragons of Heaven in "X".

An alternate version of the character appears in Clamp's crossover series, "".

Profile

Early life

Subaru was born in Kyoto on 19 February 1974, the younger of a pair of fraternal twins, his elder twin being a girl named Hokuto. Their parents (who are never seen) were members of the Sumeragi, a clan of "onmyōji" who have served Japan and its emperors for hundreds of years. [The kanji used for the family name literally means "emperor"; "Sumeragi" is an archaic pronunciation.]

Subaru was trained from an early age to become the 13th head of the Sumeragi clan, replacing his grandmother. At the age of nine, he was separated from his sister Hokuto for a year of intensive training in Tokyo. On the day he ascended to the head of the clan, Subaru encountered a strange young man under a cherry tree. The meeting would subsequently be expunged from his memory.

Subaru's grandmother ordered him to wear gloves from that day onwards, and never to allow anyone else to see his hands. The old "onmyoji" cast a spell that would repel any attempts by others to remove them. Subaru never removed his gloves, and was known to wear them even when sleeping.

"Tokyo Babylon"

By 1991, Subaru had grown into a cheerful yet bashful teenager, utterly devoted to helping others -- both in his capacity as Japan's most powerful "onmyōji" and in "normal" life. As well as exorcizing demons, helping lost souls ascend to the afterlife, entering the minds of comatose people to bring them back to the world, and fighting those who abused spiritual powers, he would often also stand up to bullies and provide comfort and friendship to their victims.

Subaru lives in an apartment in Tokyo, in the same building as his sister Hokuto, whose personality had become the polar opposite to his own -- eccentric and outgoing. Hokuto is vexed by her brother's selflessness, encouraging him to think of himself once in a while, rather than placing the good of others above himself. Although she encourages him to be cheerful and polite, she also criticizes his excessive deference to others, including his habit of bowing to people on the phone "like a salaryman". ["Tokyo Babylon" OVA episode 1.] Subaru wears effeminate costumes designed by his sister, her own outfits being even more outlandish.

Subaru and Hokuto are good friends with a kindly and magically-aware veterinarian named Seishirō Sakurazuka, who they met at a railway station after Subaru's "shikigami" led him on a bizarre chase. Seishirō acts as guardian to both and claims to love Subaru romantically. Subaru is frequently embarrassed by these claims, as well as Hokuto's gleeful attempts to bring the two together, but gradually grows to accept the older man's apparent love.

During "Tokyo Babylon", Subaru has dreams of the day he became the head of the Sumeragi clan: he recalls the strange meeting beneath a cherry tree unseasonably in bloom, with a young man who told him the Japanese folk tale that every cherry tree has a corpse buried beneath it, whose blood dyes the white blossoms pink. When the 9-year-old Subaru asked if the buried people were in pain, the young man, initially confused but becoming oddly amused, made a bet with him, the only words of which he heard were: "If ever we meet again..." and "...but today... I will let you go." ["Tokyo Babylon" book 1, vol.1.5 (English translation by TOKYOPOP). Note that a slightly different translation appears in book 7.] Recalling this dream, Subaru begins to wonder if the sinister young man is actually Seishirō, despite the different personality shown between the two. He also ponders Hokuto's suggestions that Seishirō's surname links him to the "Sakurazukamori", a ruthless magical assassin clan, but dismisses it due to Seishirō's kind nature.

After Seishirō loses the sight in his right eye protecting Subaru, the "onmyoji" realizes he loves the man. Unfortunately for Subaru, Seishirō reveals that he is indeed the "Sakurazukamori", raised to be incapable of either love or hate. Lifting the veil he had placed on the boy's memory, Seishirō states the nature of the bet he had made: that if they met again, he would live with the boy for a year to see if his heart could be moved. However, the assassin claims he was as barren of emotion as ever, and attempts to kill Subaru, only for the boy's grandmother to rescue him at great personal cost. Subaru becomes catatonic as a result, but recovers when, telepathically, he senses Hokuto's self-sacrifice to the "Sakurazukamori".

Subaru decides at this point to drop out of school so that he can focus on training. He continues his work as an "onmyōji", remaining compassionate to others; he also takes up smoking, like Seishirō before him.

"X/1999"

By the time of "X/1999", Subaru is his twenties, continuing his work as an "onmyōji" under direction from his grandmother. Although he is recognized to be one of the Dragons of Heaven, and thus capable of creating a "kekkai" (spiritual barrier) to protect others during his battles, he has no interest in the fate of humanity; his only concern is to settle his score with Seishirō. However, with persuasion from Sorata Arisugawa and Arashi Kishū, he joins the other members of the group in Tokyo. One of his first acts is to bring Kamui Shirō out of the catatonia into which he had fallen after seeing his childhood sweetheart, Kotori Monō, killed by her brother Fūma. Subaru and Kamui develop a close friendship based on their similar hardships, with Subaru acting as a mentor to Kamui during his further trials. Series creators Clamp, jokingly, refer to Kamui and Subaru's relationship as "sisterly".Ten years of X. "PUFF magazine, January 2002", 19-21.]

Subaru faces Seishirō several times, but each time, though defeated, is allowed to live; he begin to imagine that the assassin does not consider him "worth" killing. When Subaru faces Fūma in battle, he sees the younger man as Seishirō, and allows the Dragon of Earth to blind him in his right eye -- a lesser wish Subaru had held for some time. However, in single combat against Seishirō at Rainbow Bridge, Subaru reveals his true desire: he no longer wished to kill Seishirō (having tried unsuccessfully to eradicate his feelings for the man), but instead wished to be killed by him, as thus he would exist in Seishirō's heart, even if it was only as "another victim of the cherry blossom". However, due to a spell cast by Hokuto at her death, the killing strike (a "spearhand" stab through the heart) is reversed, and Subaru kills Seishirō instead. The assassin's last words to Subaru -- which are not fully stated to the audience -- have a profound effect on the young man, being something he had not expected.

From this point, the manga and TV series differ. Following Seishirō's death, Subaru becomes the new "Sakurazukamori" and thus a Dragon of Earth, charged with destroying humanity; although he refuses to harm innocent people or function as an assassin, he is rendered unable to create "kekkai" any longer. His fate beyond this is unknown as the manga remains incomplete.

In the TV series, his status as "Sakurazukamori" is not directly alluded to. Instead, Subaru sinks back into a catatonic state, urging Kamui to look to his own wish and advising him that "it is impossible for everyone to be happy". He is, as in the manga, unable to create a "kekkai", having lost the one person in the world for whom he truly cared. However, in the final episode, the rebellious Dragon of Earth dreamseer Kakyō Kuzuki allows the spirit of Hokuto to cross into Subaru's mind, to convince him to continue the fight; Subaru realizes he cares for Kamui, and joins his final battle against Fūma, protecting him from a fatal strike. Before his apparent death, Subaru urges Kamui to realize his wish. Thus, Kamui sacrifices himself to bring Fūma back to his original, kind-hearted personality and save humanity from destruction; as a side effect, Subaru is revived and lives on.

Subaru appears briefly in the movie version of "X/1999"; he and Seishirō destroy each other in magical combat early in the film.

Appearances in other media

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

In "", Subaru reappears as one of a pair of twin vampires (the other being Kamui Shirō) for whom Seishirō Sakurazuka is searching.

He makes his first appearance in the Tokyo arc, in which he talks to a comatose Sakura and urges her to wake up before she is lost to her dreams. It turns out that he himself was left in a comatose state at the bottom of a large water reservoir, leading to Kamui's fierce protection of the site, particularly from Fuuma. Eventually he wakes and is at last rejoined with his twin.

xxxHolic

In volume one of xxxHOLIC, Yūko Ichihara mentions knowing an onmyoji with a twin sister whom she has known since the onmyoji was very young. She hopes that the boy will be happy, but there are many definitions for happiness. The onmyoji turns out be Subaru, as explained in the extra pages at the end of the book.

References