Hiiragizawa Eriol/Kinomoto Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura)

[pleonasm]

Title: The Princess's Magician
Author: rhap_chan
Spoilers: the entire series with no warnings in the text
Email: dropsofviolet(at)yahoo(dot)com
Personal Website: unavailable

The Princess's Magician

This being the manifesto for the ship in Cardcaptor Sakura fandom, Hiiragizawa Eriol/Kinomoto Sakura.

All canon interpretation and speculation is only my opinion. As such, you may disagree. Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. This is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author. Manga scans come from HinaStar. Artbook scans come from Phoenix Temple.

Introduction

This is one of the strangest ships one can come up with in the Cardcaptor Sakura fandom. At the end of the series, both of these characters have canon ships, and CLAMP implies that love will last forever. If we look at Eriol and Sakura in a larger context, however, this becomes much more plausible.

Character Profile: Sakura

Sakura is the main character of the series. She's bright and friendly, capturing the adoration of everyone around her. When she accidentally opens the Clow Book, Sakura is charged by the guardian of the Book to capture all of the escaped Cards. With the aid of her best friend Tomoyo and her rival-turned-friend Syaoran, Sakura is able to bring all of the Clow Cards under her rule. At about this point in the manga, we see Syaoran begin to act strangely around Sakura, much like he did around Yukito originally. He blushes often and sometimes stutters. Clearly, it's puppy love, and Sakura is oblivious to it. Through most of the series, Sakura treats Syaoran as nothing more than a friend, loving him in the manner she loves Tomoyo.

When Eriol enters the scene, she does just the same, accepting him into her heart with a smile. The difference is that Eriol flirts with Sakura, attempting to provoke Syaoran. He kisses Sakura's hand, making her blush furiously, and he gives her flowers and compliments her often. It's clear, however, that Sakura is as oblivious to his advances as she is to Syaoran's.

After Sakura finishes capturing the cards, she has a vision of Clow Reed. He tells her that she's done well, but, "I might be causing you a little trouble. But I'm sure you'll be all right." This sets the stage for Eriol, Clow's reincarnate, the "trouble-maker."

Character Profile: Eriol

Hiiragizawa Eriol enters the series in the Sakura Cards arc of the manga and the third season of the anime. He has two very different motivations in the anime and manga. In the manga, Eriol seeks to have Sakura change the Clow Cards so that the Cards won't run out of magic, and so that she can be more powerful than he is, because he (Clow) didn't want to be the most powerful magician in the world. In the anime, he still wants Sakura to change the cards, but there's no mention of him wanting his magic lessened or split, and Fujitaka isn't part of Clow's reincarnation, either.

Eriol joins Sakura's class as an exchange student from England. As soon as he enters the classroom, he focuses on her. Sakura herself seems to sense a connection. Their meeting is fluid and dreamy, entirely unlike Sakura's first meeting with her canon beau, Syaoran. Almost immediately Eriol asks permission to call her by her first name, an informality that Syaoran had not yet achieved, despite knowing her and working closely with her for almost a year.

Here we pause, because anyone familiar with Cardcaptor Sakura is now screaming at me, "He loves her like a daughter! He says so!"

And that's true, at least at this point in time; often he looks on her with fatherly concern. Tomoyo notes this, and it surprises him that she had noticed, but he doesn't deny it. Instead he tells Tomoyo that she is very observant. There's another moving scene in which Eriol sets a challenge for Sakura, and after she defeats it, he realizes that she is very sick. He heals her sickness and wraps her in his own coat for Syaoran to find her.

What Changes: Syaoran/Sakura

At the end of the manga, we see Sakura safely ensconced in Syaoran's arms, and before Eriol returns to England, Kaho confesses her love for him and he reciprocates. Love lasts forever, right?

The problem is that sometimes love isn't enough. Sakura and Syaoran have a lot of obstacles surrounding them, even if his move to Japan is final. It's been four years with infrequent visits and the occasional phone call. Aren't they different people now? In reality, people who fall in love at eleven don't usually end up together. They grow apart. CLAMP looks with rose-colored glasses. In another of their series, a kindergartner and a third-grader find "eternal love." I'd like to see more proof of change, of growth in Sakura and Syaoran's character. I know it has to be there, and yet those two act exactly the same.

I'd like to believe it would all work out, but I see the possibility for a split. Touya is a huge issue, for one. I am in a relationship that my family heartily disapproves, and it's very, very difficult to deal with. Sakura would feel very torn if Touya continued to tear down Syaoran's character and threaten him with violence.

As for Syaoran, his life-long dream of retrieving the Clow Cards was shattered by Sakura, and though he seems to have dealt with it, it's difficult to believe that he wouldn't have some residual feelings of failure, guilt, and jealousy. He seems to have shifted his life focus to Sakura herself, but that sort of obsession isn't healthy for a relationship.

There's also the question of his family. Yelan seems to like Sakura a lot, but it is implied in canon that he has a very large family (he has four sisters, and at least one aunt who bore Meiling, and most Chinese clans are very large). Many of these people would look at Sakura as the person who "stole" the Clow Cards. The family might put pressure on Syaoran and make his life with Sakura very difficult. Yelan is the head of the family because Syaoran's father is dead. That makes Syaoran next in line. It's very plausible that the family would consider him a defector and relieve him of his duties as head of the clan. That would cause considerable friction in Syaoran's life and his relationship with Sakura.

Basically, I'd like to say that if you treat them honestly, like real people and not cardboard cut-outs, anything could happen. A lot of times we like to believe it won't. But there's possibility.

What Changes: Eriol/Kaho

Eriol and Kaho don't seem anywhere as solid as Syaoran and Sakura would be, in comparison. Kaho didn't appear in the Sakura Cards arc at all, except at the end, and in the letters she sent to Sakura. When Eriol reveals her to have been aiding him all along, we are just as shocked as Sakura.

Tomoyo is the only one of the group who notices their affection for each other; this again earns her a compliment from Eriol. Eriol and Kaho are very subtle together, until at the end, when Kaho gets on her knees to be at eye-level with Eriol, and she tells him that she loves him... "but you knew that, didn't you?" she says.

In no way do I want to deny that they have this intricate relationship, but I don't feel this working out very well at all. First of all, it seems sudden, like a last-ditch attempt by CLAMP to give everyone a happy ending (except Tomoyo, because they forgot her somehow). The nature of her "help" was never specified, and she never gives Sakura any concrete advice. She's simply gone for the entire arc.

But in the end Kaho admits her love for Eriol, and they return to England. Here is where the problems start. For one, Eriol looks like a child. He's looked like a child since his incarnation, and one assumes he will start aging again, from context, but for several years it will be impossible for them to be affectionate in public without persecution. When they see a woman and a boy who could arguably be her son acting in a romantic way, I believe they'll probably shun them at the very least. I would expect persecution on a more abusive scale-- "robbing the cradle" accusations, defacing of their home, and perhaps a well-meaning mother calling the English equivalent of Children Services and asking for an inquiry. Because, honestly, it looks strange. Who would believe Eriol when he said he was actually a lot older than Kaho? (If he was "born" at the same time as the other half-reincarnate, Fujitaka, then he's in his forties.)

So that's one obstacle. If Eriol grows up at a normal human pace, they will probably have trouble most of their lives together. Alternatively, if he ages quickly to his actual age, then he will have to suffer the cradle-robbing accusations. Since he's only half as powerful as he used to be, it's doubtful he'll have any control on the way he ages. Judging by the end of the series, and the fact that after the magic split, he looked exactly the same, it's probably going to be that slow normal aging.

Another obstacle is Kaho herself. I don't want to make her out to be a witch or a horrible person, like the fanbrats like to claim, but she does seem flighty. She left Touya without warning, because "it was time," and what's there to stop her from doing it again? The fact that she pursued a relationship with her student is also a bit disturbing, given the age difference. He was in eighth grade, so at most fourteen, and she was at least twenty-two at the time. She's also forgetful and ditzy-- Eriol says it himself, and my general impression from all of this is unreliability. She'll do what she needs to do, but sometimes she's inconsistent.

As you can see, there are plenty of barriers in Eriol and Kaho's relationship-- there's also a possibility of it working out, however, because it's CLAMP and that's how things work in the CLAMP-verse. But if it didn't, and Sakura and Syaoran didn't....

Their Chance

Sakura has a lot of time ahead of her, and Eriol might too. It's heavily implied in canon that Clow lived a very long life. (This is touched on in xxxHOLiC as well, because Clow had a relationship with the Dimension Witch, Ichihara Yuuko, and she is still alive now, even though Clow seemed to have lived a very long time ago, judging by his casual dress.) Who's to say that Sakura-- and Eriol-- wouldn't live a very long time too? Sakura will have to prepare for her own Sakura Cards heir, and there is the question-- what would Eriol do for Spinelsun and Ruby Moon after he is gone?

When their loved ones have passed away, it makes perfect sense for these two to come together, whether as simply friends or even more. In fact, since they are the only two in the world who know about their past, it would make sense for them to develop a deep relationship. By this point, Sakura would be matured enough that Eriol wouldn't think of her as a child.

It's also plausible for them to be together when they're still young, as long as Sakura were to mature. I think losing Syaoran would mature her greatly, because he spent a lot of time protecting her. She would learn that the world is a more complicated place.

Is it plausible that they could throw away the fact that Eriol is practically Sakura's uncle? Absolutely. She doesn't seem to see him in a familial way. It's definitely a friendship, even after he reveals his true identity. She does remark that he reminds her of her father, but psychology tells us that women seek out men like their fathers. And it's important to remember that they are not genetically related. Sakura is genetically related to her father, but not to Eriol. Plus, he reminds her of Yukito, and at this point she still has a crush on Yukito. They are Clow's reincarnates, not his clones. A reincarnate has his own DNA and looks different from his predecessor. Eriol doesn't look exactly the same as Clow does. He has a different face shape and different eyes, among other things. The most likely explanation why the Clow and Eriol look similar because CLAMP wanted you to get the reincarnation idea right away.

Why Do I Ship Them?

A few people have asked me this question, and it's a hard question to answer. Part of it is tied up in my psyche, I'll admit. This 'ship satisfies me somewhere deep down, and I'm not sure why. But there are several other different reasons.

They do flirt in the series, even if Eriol had a motivation behind it. He didn't have to act the way he did. He could have ignored the whole Syaoran dynamic, but instead he decided to play with it. He is a gentleman and Sakura is clearly charmed by it.

I ship them also because they compliment each other. Eriol is serious and Sakura is playful. Eriol is slow to trust, Sakura is quick to love. I ship them because she is the princess, and once in a while the princess can end up with the court magician. Life isn't always like a fairytale.

I ship them because theirs would be a mature relationship, unlike the puppy love of Syaoran/Sakura and Eriol/Kaho. I certainly believe those relationships are possible-- take a look through my fanfiction if you don't believe me-- but the deepness of their love is the deepness of a first love, and not a second chance. I'm a sucker for second chances.

I also ship them because I ship alternate pairings. If I'm going to write fanfiction, I'm not going to limit myself to canon relationships-- hardly anyone ever does. It's harder for me to write Syaoran/Sakura and make it plausible, because without Eriol as a contrast, Sakura becomes very dull to me; likewise, it's hard for me to write Eriol/Kaho without making Kaho boring.

How I Joined the Fandom

When I returned from my Livejournal hiatus in July 2006, the sole reason was the 15pairings challenge. I felt confident that I could write 15 different pairings in the Cardcaptor Sakura fandom, and it would pass some time at work (I don't really work very much, per se, but I'm certainly there often enough...). Previously, I'd only written Syaoran/Sakura and Eriol/Tomoyo. Something different would be fun.

I wrote Say It With Flowers, my very first Eriol/Sakura fic, and something clicked for me. This was a real version of Sakura for me. She isn't all flowers and sunshine. My dear friend sky_pirate_tat encouraged me to write more, saying that the pairing was intriguing. I joined the 30_nights challenge with the pairing and that was it-- I was hooked.

There really isn't any fandom for this pairing; I searched in vain for several months. Eventually I founded the eriolxsakura ship community, and I hope that it will become more active in the future.

Why You Should Ship Them

First of all, why not? There are several great reasons and no really bad ones, except for the age difference. There is a glut of Syaoran/Sakura and Eriol/Tomoyo fanfiction in the fandom, because these stories are very easy to write. Any generic story can be adapted into a S&S fic. Eriol/Sakura takes a lot of a thought. It takes skill, as well, to keep the characters in character.

Why not get in on the ground floor of something new? Why not step out of your comfort zone? Join me!

Fandom Guide

Here's a short guide to the available fic and communities for the fandom. I cannot find an active 'ship website outside of Livejournal, however.

Communities

eriolxsakura, the official ship community, which accepts fanfiction, fanart, meta, and pretty much anything regarding the Eriol/Sakura relationship or friendship

tsukimineshrine, the largest Cardcaptor Sakura fanfiction community on LJ; they accept fanfiction of any pairing, including Eriol/Sakura, though there is currently no E/Sa fic up

Fanfiction Recs

This section is difficult to build. There are three pages of Eriol/Sakura fics on ff.net, and very few are decent. So here's the meager list: me, khaas, and a couple of people we've roped into writing our favorite pairing for us.

30_kisses: Eriol/Sakura by khaas
Seven different stories featuring the Eriol/Sakura pairing, most assuming an established relationship. My personal favorite is If Dreams Embrace You, a get-together fic that's dreamy and well-written. [seven oneshots]

Immortal by rhap_chan
A plausible look at what might happen, should Eriol and Sakura outlive those they loved. [lengthy oneshot]

The Last Who Remember by cygna_hime
Another look at the possibility of a life for those two after everyone else is long gone. Short but sweet. [oneshot]

He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me by claire_chan
Claire's first Eriol/Sa fic. Sakura tries to hide her sadness when Syaoran breaks up with her, and Eriol tries to get her to smile. Slightly post-canon. [oneshot]

Infinite Sun by caesyrian
My Christmas gift from holiday_wishes, featuring Eriol as a painter and very picturesque language. [short oneshot]

more Eriol/Sakura fic by rhap_chan
Currently the largest archive of Eriol/Sakura fanfic, at my fic journal.

AMVs

A few people kindly recced me AMVs, but my computer dislikes Youtube and I can't watch them myself, so I have no claims about the quality of the videos, but an Eriol/Sakura shipper really reads/watches anything available.

Eriol is Everwhere by jinarocks
A video to Michelle Branch's "Everywhere." (Thanks for the information, splintercat and jinarocks.)

LATER ETA: I've watched this now and I LOVE it, go watch it! Youtube has some more if you search Eriol/Sakura.

The New Transfer Student by kestrelsempai
A gen Eriol and Sakura-centered video recommened by suppis_tenshi, which she says is E/Sa if you wear your shipping goggles.

As you can see, the fandom is hurting for fic, I'd kill somebody for art, and participation is more watching and reading that producing. I hope this manifesto gave you something to think about-- maybe even plotbunnies!-- and if you'd like to leave a comment with your thoughts or a fic rec or anything, I'd be pleased to talk with you. Thanks for reading!

Comments

Eriol x Sakura

[xxholicgirl21]

I loved your point of view! I thought the same thing and here's how I look at it. I don't like the whole "I hate you then I love you" stuff. And for some reason or another I really never liked Lei. He always rubbed me the wrong way and while Season 2 did have awe moments for some reason Eriol and Sakura's relationship captured my heart. I felt moved to read fanfiction. To work on my own actually and I made a few Amv's for it as i feel this ship is under appreciated. But them together feels right. Where Lei and Sakura seems so out of place. I laugh and the people who put Lei and Eriol together too lol. Here's my AMV's if you'd like to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWyKmaSLfLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MLNUGi55u0