Yukito Tsukishiro (月城 雪兎, Tsukishiro Yukito) is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. He is known as Julian Star in the English adaptation Cardcaptors.
Yukito is also a character in Clamp's series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
Naming
The characters in Yukito's given name (雪兎) mean "snow-rabbit". The characters in his surname (月城) mean "moon-castle". Chinese folklore tells of a Rabbit in the Moon and his alter-ego Yue is associated with the Moon. In reference to his surname, this could also be a reference to the fact that Yukito is Yue's false form; essentially a "castle". Tsukishiro could also be translated as tsuki (moon) and shiro (white).
Appearance
Yukito has brown eyes and gray hair, often parted on the side. He has large circular glasses, giving him a scholarly appearance. While he is usually seen in his school uniform, he can also be seen wearing in casual clothes, namely jeans and a hooded sweatshirt.
Personality
Yukito is the best friend of Toya Kinomoto and is initially Sakura Kinomoto's object of affection as well. Yukito's nearly omnipresent smile is evidence of his kind and gentle nature. Yukito also loves food and has an enormous appetite. However, it is mentioned somewhere in the third season that Yukito's true form Yue is unable to eat. This suggests that the reason Yukito has such a large appetite because he is eating for two. Near the end of the series, it is shown that Yue is losing his power and there is a strong possibility that he will disappear, so Yukito has to eat five times as much than usual. Yukito said "I eat and eat and eat, but I'm never full..." and feels very frail, which is a big worry to the survival of not only Yue but Yukito himself.
Storyline
Clow Card Arc
During much of the Clow Card arc, Yukito appeared as Toya's friend and would accompany him and Sakura to school. When Sakura began her quest to capture the cards, she ran into him several times in areas the cards were hiding in, or before she was heading out to find the cards. Strangely, he didn't seem bothered by Sakura's odd behaviour and would just shrug it off, promising to keep whatever she was up to a secret. Even when faced with some of the odd occurrences around town, he seemed unbothered by it, most likely due to subconscious influences from Yue. Some of the Clow cards also seemed aware of his true nature and would avoid attacking him when he was around.
As the series progressed and the Final Judgment came closer, Yue's energy would occasionally flare and bleed through to Yukito during the full moon. While Yukito himself was unaffected by this, it produced odd effects on those around him. Sakura passed out during the full moon when the pair were on a scavenger hunt. Fellow guardian Cerberus would occasionally sense Yue, but due to the fact Miss Mizuki possessed Moon style magic, he mistook her for the false form of Yue. Miss Mizuki, however, was fully aware there was something different about Yukito, and would give subtle hints to him, though he didn't catch on to her behaviour.
Sakura Card Arc
As a home economics project, Sakura made a teddy bear. It was decided that she would give it to Yukito, but not before Eriol Hiiragizawa helped finish it. When Sakura handed him the bear, it glowed with a red light, then Yukito fainted, and the bear grew to an exponential size. Sakura was forced to transform a new card in order to stop it.
Yukito stops by Sakura's house to drop off a school book for Toya, and as he is standing in the doorway, he transforms into Yue. Yue tells Cerberus that his magic is running out and that Sakura can no longer sustain him. He then mentions there may be another source, but doesn't tell Cerberus what that is. Sakura comes back and Yue instantaneously transforms back into Yukito. Naturally, he was a bit confused.
Later, Eriol notes that Yukito is having an even harder time than Sakura nowadays. Yukito thinks to himself about the blackouts he has been having and how worn out he has been feeling lately, and that's when Toya approaches him. Just as Toya was about to tell him something important, Ruby Moon falls out of a tree and interrupts. Annoyed, Toya leaves, and Ruby tells Yukito that with him as oblivious as he is, her job should be much easier.
When Sakura was trapped in her Alice in Wonderland book, several of her friends played the characters. Yukito was the white rabbit, running down a path because he was late for a meeting with the queen. Suddenly, he changes into Yue and flies Sakura up in the air. Once high enough, he drops her. In order to escape, Sakura needed to transform two new cards.
Clear Card Arc
Cardcaptors
All overt references to Yukito's homosexual relationship with Toya were removed, and Syaoran's 'crush' was changed to fear. However, Sakura's crush was still present, but was changed into just an ordinary elementary school crush as opposed to the full blown infatuation as in the Japanese dub.
Powers and Abilities
Yukito is in fact Yue's false form
Transformation: If Yue wills it, Yukito is able to transform into his real form. However as seen in episode 65 it is also shown that Yue takes into account Yukito's wishes as well when transforming.
Appearances in Other Media
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
High Priest Yukito of Clow, as seen in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
Yukito makes multiple appearances in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. He is first shown in the Kingdom of Clow, where he is the High Priest and the best friend and confidante of Touya, the King of Clow. It is Yukito who uses his magical knowledge to send Syaoran and the stricken Princess Sakura to Tokyo to meet with Yūko Ichihara (in xxxHolic), whom he refers to as "The Dimensional Witch." Like his counterpart in Cardcaptor Sakura, Yukito's powers relate to the moon; he possesses the ability to send others across dimensions and also the ability to see the future and spirits of the dead. The magic circle he uses to send Syaoran and Sakura to Yuuko Ichihara is almost identical to the one used by Clow Reed in Cardcaptor Sakura. It was also revealed that one of Yukito's job as priest is to keep the time still in Clow country's ruins. In Chapter 188 of the manga, it is revealed that Sakura was a candidate to succeed the current priest, which was implied to have been Yukito, until it was revealed that Nadeshiko was the priest of Clow Country.
Another version of Yukito appears as a waiter in the restaurant with Touya in the Hanshin Republic, the first world Syaoran and his companions visit. His appearance, along with Touya, illustrates the concept that Syaoran will encounter people he already knows, but are the not same person in the sense that he knows them. In the anime series, he appears in Outo Country along with Touya as patrons in the cafe run by Sakura and her travelling companions as well as in two filler episodes.
Trivia
- Certain Clow Cards affiliated with the Moon appeared to be aware of Yukito's true nature and would avoid attacking him or divert their attacks away from him. This is most evident in the battle with the Mist Card. During the Mist's attack on the stage Yukito tries to help Toya and another student of the stage. He is able to run through the Mist and is knocked into it and the Card doesn't try to dissolve him has it with everything else in its path.
- While Yue was forbidden from aiding Sakura during her capturing of the cards, Yukito gave Sakura advice that subsequently helped her capture several cards like Watery and Illusion.
- While Yue was against having a new master, Yukito was highly protective of Sakura throughout the Clow Card arc.
- Yukito shares a trait with Yugi Mutou from the series Yu-Gi-Oh, the trait being that both are high school students who at the beginning of their respective series were unaware that they shared their body with another individual that was completely different to them in terms of physical appearance and personality, but the two eventually became aware of their other self's existence and have a good relationship with their alter-egos, often referring to them as "the other me". In the Japanese version, Megumi Ogata who plays Yukito and Yue played Yugi/Yuugi Mutou and Dark Yugi/Yami no Yugi in the first series of Yu-Gi-Oh. Interestingly, both series aired during 1998.
- In the Greek dub, Yukito's name was changed to Mathew.
- He is voiced by Megumi Ogata in Cardcaptor Sakura and by Kouki Miyata in Tsubasa. In Cardcaptors, he is voiced by Sam Vincent, Steve Staley in the 2nd Movie, and Robert McCollum in Tsubasa Chronicle.