Seishiro Sakurazuka
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character
created by Clamp
in their 1990 manga
Tokyo Babylon
. In Tokyo Babylon, he appears as a kindly veterinarian engaged in a love-hate relationship
with the onmyoji Subaru Sumeragi
. He is also known as the Sakurazukamori, Japan
’s number one assassin
. The character returns in the apocalyptic manga X
as a combatant in the battle of Armageddon
, a Dragon of Earth.
An alternate version of the character appears in Clamp's crossover
series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
.
and represented by an inverted pentagram
.
A Sakurazukamori is expected to kill their target without compunction, as well as their relatives and anyone else who sees them at their grim work. Sakurazukamori's attacks involves shikigami
, ofuda
(paper spells often thrown at targets) and hand-to-hand combat. They can also wield massive illusions, heralded by uncanny showers of cherry blossoms, in which victims can be trapped and killed. A person targeted by the Sakurazukamori may glimpse a ghostly cherry tree, whose blossoms are always in bloom even out of season.
Although it is stated to have many "allies and clients", the clan of the Sakurazukamori in fact consists of only one member at a time, with the new Sakurazukamori killing their predecessor. Thus, from an early age Seishirō was trained to become the next Sakurazukamori, both in terms of his physical and magical abilities; he was also raised to be devoid of emotions such as love and hate, and to place no value on human life.
At the age of 15, Seishirō killed his mother Setsuka and assumed the role, subsequently noting that: "I felt nothing. Though drenched in my mother's blood... I felt nothing. And those I killed after that were the same." As she died, Setsuka prophesied that her son would one day be killed by the one he loved most (as she had been), a notion that Seishirō dismissed as impossible.
In the mid-1980s, Seishirō had an encounter during one of his assassin missions: he had just killed a small girl when an innocent 9-year-old boy approached him, and attempted to exorcize
the illusionary cherry tree that accompanied him. Seishirō, not realising at the time that the child was the future head of the Sumeragi clan, was nonetheless intrigued, and held off from killing the boy as he should have done; instead, he whispered a bet to him (much of which he subsequently obscured from the boy's memory):
Seishirō then kissed the boy on the backs of his hands, marking them with inverted pentagrams, so that he would recognise him if, as in the bet, they ever met again.
" of a humble, bespectacled veterinarian
working in Shinjuku, Tokyo
. His concern for animal life is entirely false: the animals in his surgery were in fact "sacrificed in his stead", suffering the from deadly attack spells he had used.
In 1991 he meets up with 16-year-old Subaru Sumeragi
, Japan's most powerful onmyoji
, after the latter's shikigami causes an unlikely meeting between the two at Ikebukuro
train station.
Seishirō, now 25 years old, recognises Subaru as the boy he had marked as "prey" years before (despite the fact that Subaru now wore magically-enchanted glove
s to conceal the pentagrams), and begins a year of courtship that will ultimately change both of their lives. Often he professes his love for the boy, with Subaru's eccentric twin sister Hokuto enthusiastically supporting the pairing, much to Subaru’s embarrassment. Seishirō also protects Subaru on several occasions, even sacrificing his right eye to protect Subaru from a knife-wielding attacker.
Though freely sharing his knowledge of the occult and occasionally using his powers, Seishirō obscures his true identity and personal details (as an onmyōji could be attacked by someone knowing their true date and place of birth) and avoids admitting even the derivation of his own last name. Hokuto suspects he is the Sakurazukamori (even half-jokingly threatening to kill him if he ever hurt her brother), but continues to try to bring the two together. Seishirō appears amused by the decadence of Tokyo society ("Where else on Earth do so many people enjoy their descent into destruction?"), and notes that people are entirely self-motivated ("Even when we want to do something for another person, it's only because we want the satisfaction that we made someone else happy"). However, by himself, Seishirō often broods on his own nature ("Kindness... and a "pure" heart... two things that couldn't be more alien to me."), and frequently hints at the bet he made with Subaru.
On one occasion he conceals his assassin nature from Subaru by rendering the latter unconscious when about to carry out a hit.
When the year had passed, Subaru finally realises his love for Seishirō, but at this point Seishirō reveals his true nature as the Sakurazukamori, as well as the nature of the bet. He traps Subaru inside an illusion (featuring the same cherry tree under which they had met many years before) and tortures him, all the while insisting that he was unmoved and thinks of Subaru as no more than an "object", and wondering why Subaru is upset when similar "betrayals" happen across Tokyo every day. He almost kills the young onmyōji, but Subaru's grandmother intervenes to free him from the illusion, leaving herself crippled as a result.
Seishirō disappears from Subaru's life after this point; Hokuto, fearing that he will come after her brother, offers up her own life in his place. Seishirō accepts and stabs her through the heart; with her last breath, Hokuto casts a spell whose effects would subsequently be revealed in X.
Though still unemotional, Seishirō makes an unlikely friend with Fūma, the most powerful Dragon of Earth; the two share a love of decadence and decide to eat out in all the best restaurants of any place they were about to destroy.
The final battle between Seishirō and Subaru takes place during volume 16 of the manga, on the Rainbow Bridge. After some time of fighting, Seishirō heads in for the finishing blow. Hokuto’s final spell takes effect, leaving Subaru with his hand through Seishirō’s chest, killing the Sakurazukamori instead. Hokuto’s final wish was Subaru could not be killed the same way she was. Seishirō knew this, effectively committing suicide.
Seishirō's decision to invoke Hokuto's spell resulted from his belief that it is Subaru's wish to kill him. His last words, of which only "Subaru-kun, I... you..." are revealed, leave Subaru in a state of disbelief. Coupled with his mother's prophecy that he would be killed by the one he loved the most, and Fuma's remark that it is his wish to be killed by Subaru, it implies Seishirō had emotions and loved Subaru, regardless of his previous claims.
After the incident on Rainbow Bridge, Subaru is slated to become the next Sakurazukamori, for the ritual of succession for Sakurazukamori is to kill their predecessor. Fūma later offers Subaru Seishirō's remaining intact eye (his only remnants), revealing that it was Seishirō's wish to erase Fūma's trace on Subaru (his eye which was gouged by Fūma), which Subaru accepts. This act completes this ritual and, after regaining his full sight, Subaru becomes the 14th Sakurazukamori and one of the Dragons of Earth.
for a dōjinshi
novel about an onmyōji who hunts elves, of which only the beginning exists. The characters were twice drawn for covers, and when South asked Clamp
to create a new series for them, these characters were used. In the dōjinshi, Seishirō was also a veterinarian, but though he had a dark side, it was nowhere near as pronounced. Thus, he was the character who underwent the most change from this early conception to the creation of Tokyo Babylon. In the dōjinshi, Seishirō's shikigami was named Nandaro ("Just what is this?"), and Clamp
privately still refer to it by this name.
Subaru and Seishirō appear in X
because their relationship parallels Kamui and Fuma's. They serve as an example to Kamui and Fuuma: One of X's most important developments is the question what these two will do so they won't end up like Subaru and Seishirō.
, Seishirō appears as a mysterious traveler from Syaoran
's past who also gained the power to travel between worlds from the witch Yūko Ichihara. He searches for the vampire twins and initially believed to be a vampire hunter. He started hunting them ever since Subaru gave him his blood, and Kamui states that if finds them, he will kill. him His younger brother, Fūma, establishes that he and Seishirō are actually treasure hunters. Seishirō's abilities include summoning Oni to fight for him. He is able to turn the Oni into different weapons. He gained such abilities with the help of one of Sakura
's magical feathers, which Syaoran fails to retrieve in their encounter in Ōto Country. An experienced fighter, Seishirō also taught Syaoran how to fight by utilizing the longer reach of his legs to compensate for the lack of sight in one eye.
Later he appears in Nihon Country and discovers that Fai D. Flowright has vampire blood, initially believing that Fai and his friends know Subaru's location. After realizing they do not, he intends to leave Nihon but is challenged by the original "Syaoran for the feather. After Syaoran unleashs his ultimate spell on Seishirō, he reclaims the feather and is sent into the dimension of dreams alone to rescue Sakura's soul. However, Fūma wonders if Seishirō was planning to give the original Syaoran the feather to confront his clone. After the fight, Seishirō leaves the country to continue his search for Subaru. In the series' finale, he is shown alongside Kamui, Subaru and Fūma.
referred to Seishirō as one of the most deep villains from X, pointing that he was already developed in Tokyo Babylon. His confrontation with Subaru in the TV series was praised mainly because how their character designs were updated from the ones from Tokyo Babylon. Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge agreed with Bertschy, calling the episode of their final battle one of the best ones from the series focused on how their backgrounds are shown and tragic elements portrayed. In a character popularity poll from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Seishirō was voted as the sixth most popular character from the series.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
in their 1990 manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Tokyo Babylon
Tokyo Babylon
is a manga series created by Clamp. The series follows Subaru Sumeragi, the head of the Sumeragi clan, and his sister Hokuto as they work to protect Tokyo from a myriad of supernatural perils....
. In Tokyo Babylon, he appears as a kindly veterinarian engaged in a love-hate relationship
Love-hate relationship
A love–hate relationship is an interpersonal relationship involving simultaneous or alternating emotions of love and hate. This relationship does not have to be of a romantic nature, and may be instead of a sibling one...
with the onmyoji Subaru Sumeragi
Subaru Sumeragi
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, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.- Early life :...
. He is also known as the Sakurazukamori, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
’s number one assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
. The character returns in the apocalyptic manga X
X (manga)
, also known as X/1999, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. It premiered in Monthly Asukas May 1992 issue and ran there until the magazine's editors showed concern with the increasingly violent...
as a combatant in the battle of Armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
, a Dragon of Earth.
An alternate version of the character appears in Clamp's crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. It takes place in the same fictional universe as many of Clamp's other manga series, most notably xxxHolic. The plot follows how Sakura, the princess of the Kingdom of Clow, loses her soul and how Syaoran, a young...
.
Early years
Seishirō was born in the mid-1960s to Setsuka Sakurazuka, a member of the Sakurazukamori , an assassin clan empowered by black onmyōdōOnmyodo
is a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of Wu Xing and Yin and yang, introduced into Japan at the turn of the 6th century, and accepted as a practical system of divination...
and represented by an inverted pentagram
Pentagram
A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
.
A Sakurazukamori is expected to kill their target without compunction, as well as their relatives and anyone else who sees them at their grim work. Sakurazukamori's attacks involves shikigami
Shikigami
Shikigami are a kind of spirit, found in Japanese Mythology summoned to serve a practitioner of onmyōdō, much like a western familiar. Shikigami cannot be seen by most people, but according to the Heian period onmyōji who were said to control them, shikigami often looked something like a...
, ofuda
Ofuda
Ofuda, is a gofu or a talisman issued by a Shinto shrine. It may also be called shinpu . It is made by inscribing the name of a kami and the name of the Shinto shrine or of a representative of the kami on a strip of paper, wood, cloth, or metal.It is to be renewed yearly, typically before the end...
(paper spells often thrown at targets) and hand-to-hand combat. They can also wield massive illusions, heralded by uncanny showers of cherry blossoms, in which victims can be trapped and killed. A person targeted by the Sakurazukamori may glimpse a ghostly cherry tree, whose blossoms are always in bloom even out of season.
Although it is stated to have many "allies and clients", the clan of the Sakurazukamori in fact consists of only one member at a time, with the new Sakurazukamori killing their predecessor. Thus, from an early age Seishirō was trained to become the next Sakurazukamori, both in terms of his physical and magical abilities; he was also raised to be devoid of emotions such as love and hate, and to place no value on human life.
At the age of 15, Seishirō killed his mother Setsuka and assumed the role, subsequently noting that: "I felt nothing. Though drenched in my mother's blood... I felt nothing. And those I killed after that were the same." As she died, Setsuka prophesied that her son would one day be killed by the one he loved most (as she had been), a notion that Seishirō dismissed as impossible.
In the mid-1980s, Seishirō had an encounter during one of his assassin missions: he had just killed a small girl when an innocent 9-year-old boy approached him, and attempted to exorcize
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
the illusionary cherry tree that accompanied him. Seishirō, not realising at the time that the child was the future head of the Sumeragi clan, was nonetheless intrigued, and held off from killing the boy as he should have done; instead, he whispered a bet to him (much of which he subsequently obscured from the boy's memory):
Seishirō then kissed the boy on the backs of his hands, marking them with inverted pentagrams, so that he would recognise him if, as in the bet, they ever met again.
Tokyo Babylon
Seishirō subsequently created the "legitimate frontFront organization
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations...
" of a humble, bespectacled veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
working in Shinjuku, Tokyo
Shinjuku, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
. His concern for animal life is entirely false: the animals in his surgery were in fact "sacrificed in his stead", suffering the from deadly attack spells he had used.
In 1991 he meets up with 16-year-old Subaru Sumeragi
Subaru Sumeragi
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, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.- Early life :...
, Japan's most powerful onmyoji
Onmyodo
is a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of Wu Xing and Yin and yang, introduced into Japan at the turn of the 6th century, and accepted as a practical system of divination...
, after the latter's shikigami causes an unlikely meeting between the two at Ikebukuro
Ikebukuro
is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits....
train station.
Seishirō, now 25 years old, recognises Subaru as the boy he had marked as "prey" years before (despite the fact that Subaru now wore magically-enchanted glove
Glove
A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...
s to conceal the pentagrams), and begins a year of courtship that will ultimately change both of their lives. Often he professes his love for the boy, with Subaru's eccentric twin sister Hokuto enthusiastically supporting the pairing, much to Subaru’s embarrassment. Seishirō also protects Subaru on several occasions, even sacrificing his right eye to protect Subaru from a knife-wielding attacker.
Though freely sharing his knowledge of the occult and occasionally using his powers, Seishirō obscures his true identity and personal details (as an onmyōji could be attacked by someone knowing their true date and place of birth) and avoids admitting even the derivation of his own last name. Hokuto suspects he is the Sakurazukamori (even half-jokingly threatening to kill him if he ever hurt her brother), but continues to try to bring the two together. Seishirō appears amused by the decadence of Tokyo society ("Where else on Earth do so many people enjoy their descent into destruction?"), and notes that people are entirely self-motivated ("Even when we want to do something for another person, it's only because we want the satisfaction that we made someone else happy"). However, by himself, Seishirō often broods on his own nature ("Kindness... and a "pure" heart... two things that couldn't be more alien to me."), and frequently hints at the bet he made with Subaru.
On one occasion he conceals his assassin nature from Subaru by rendering the latter unconscious when about to carry out a hit.
When the year had passed, Subaru finally realises his love for Seishirō, but at this point Seishirō reveals his true nature as the Sakurazukamori, as well as the nature of the bet. He traps Subaru inside an illusion (featuring the same cherry tree under which they had met many years before) and tortures him, all the while insisting that he was unmoved and thinks of Subaru as no more than an "object", and wondering why Subaru is upset when similar "betrayals" happen across Tokyo every day. He almost kills the young onmyōji, but Subaru's grandmother intervenes to free him from the illusion, leaving herself crippled as a result.
Seishirō disappears from Subaru's life after this point; Hokuto, fearing that he will come after her brother, offers up her own life in his place. Seishirō accepts and stabs her through the heart; with her last breath, Hokuto casts a spell whose effects would subsequently be revealed in X.
X/1999
After leaving Tokyo following the events of Tokyo Babylon, Seishirō returns to the city to assume his place as one of the Dragons of Earth. He meets Subaru in X after destroying one of the city’s kekkai, and encounters him again several more times throughout the year, most of these encounters ending in magical combat.Though still unemotional, Seishirō makes an unlikely friend with Fūma, the most powerful Dragon of Earth; the two share a love of decadence and decide to eat out in all the best restaurants of any place they were about to destroy.
The final battle between Seishirō and Subaru takes place during volume 16 of the manga, on the Rainbow Bridge. After some time of fighting, Seishirō heads in for the finishing blow. Hokuto’s final spell takes effect, leaving Subaru with his hand through Seishirō’s chest, killing the Sakurazukamori instead. Hokuto’s final wish was Subaru could not be killed the same way she was. Seishirō knew this, effectively committing suicide.
Seishirō's decision to invoke Hokuto's spell resulted from his belief that it is Subaru's wish to kill him. His last words, of which only "Subaru-kun, I... you..." are revealed, leave Subaru in a state of disbelief. Coupled with his mother's prophecy that he would be killed by the one he loved the most, and Fuma's remark that it is his wish to be killed by Subaru, it implies Seishirō had emotions and loved Subaru, regardless of his previous claims.
After the incident on Rainbow Bridge, Subaru is slated to become the next Sakurazukamori, for the ritual of succession for Sakurazukamori is to kill their predecessor. Fūma later offers Subaru Seishirō's remaining intact eye (his only remnants), revealing that it was Seishirō's wish to erase Fūma's trace on Subaru (his eye which was gouged by Fūma), which Subaru accepts. This act completes this ritual and, after regaining his full sight, Subaru becomes the 14th Sakurazukamori and one of the Dragons of Earth.
Creation and Conception
Subaru and his twin sister Hokuto, as well as Seishirō, were first conceived by series creator Nanase OhkawaNanase Ohkawa
is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the director of the team and is primarily responsible for writing the stories and scripts for Clamp's various works....
for a dōjinshi
Dojinshi
is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
novel about an onmyōji who hunts elves, of which only the beginning exists. The characters were twice drawn for covers, and when South asked Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
to create a new series for them, these characters were used. In the dōjinshi, Seishirō was also a veterinarian, but though he had a dark side, it was nowhere near as pronounced. Thus, he was the character who underwent the most change from this early conception to the creation of Tokyo Babylon. In the dōjinshi, Seishirō's shikigami was named Nandaro ("Just what is this?"), and Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
privately still refer to it by this name.
Subaru and Seishirō appear in X
X (manga)
, also known as X/1999, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. It premiered in Monthly Asukas May 1992 issue and ran there until the magazine's editors showed concern with the increasingly violent...
because their relationship parallels Kamui and Fuma's. They serve as an example to Kamui and Fuuma: One of X's most important developments is the question what these two will do so they won't end up like Subaru and Seishirō.
Tokyo Babylon 1999
In the live-action sequel to CLAMP's manga, Seishirō Sakurazuka is portrayed by Shihodo Wataru. In the film, the Sakurazukamori assassinates a former enemy of the Sumeragi clan; however, his signature hand-through-the-chest style of killing is dropped in favor of magically strangling his victims. No references to his characteristic cherry blossoms are made.Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
In Tsubasa: Reservoir ChronicleTsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. It takes place in the same fictional universe as many of Clamp's other manga series, most notably xxxHolic. The plot follows how Sakura, the princess of the Kingdom of Clow, loses her soul and how Syaoran, a young...
, Seishirō appears as a mysterious traveler from Syaoran
Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle)
is a fictional character appearing as one of the protagonists from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, a manga series written and illustrated by Clamp. In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran is introduced as young archeologist who is in love with Sakura, his childhood friend and the princess from the...
's past who also gained the power to travel between worlds from the witch Yūko Ichihara. He searches for the vampire twins and initially believed to be a vampire hunter. He started hunting them ever since Subaru gave him his blood, and Kamui states that if finds them, he will kill. him His younger brother, Fūma, establishes that he and Seishirō are actually treasure hunters. Seishirō's abilities include summoning Oni to fight for him. He is able to turn the Oni into different weapons. He gained such abilities with the help of one of Sakura
Sakura (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle)
, also known as , is a fictional character and one of the protagonists from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, a manga series written and illustrated by Clamp. In the series, Sakura is a princess from the Kingdom of Clow who has her memories separated from her body to parallel dimensions...
's magical feathers, which Syaoran fails to retrieve in their encounter in Ōto Country. An experienced fighter, Seishirō also taught Syaoran how to fight by utilizing the longer reach of his legs to compensate for the lack of sight in one eye.
Later he appears in Nihon Country and discovers that Fai D. Flowright has vampire blood, initially believing that Fai and his friends know Subaru's location. After realizing they do not, he intends to leave Nihon but is challenged by the original "Syaoran for the feather. After Syaoran unleashs his ultimate spell on Seishirō, he reclaims the feather and is sent into the dimension of dreams alone to rescue Sakura's soul. However, Fūma wonders if Seishirō was planning to give the original Syaoran the feather to confront his clone. After the fight, Seishirō leaves the country to continue his search for Subaru. In the series' finale, he is shown alongside Kamui, Subaru and Fūma.
Reception
In the book Understanding Manga and Anime, writer Robin E. Brenner referred to Seishirō's and Subaru's relationship as one of the most explicit ones from X. Brenner stated that Seishirō's unheard last words were meant to force readers to interpret them into their own ways, something characteristic in manga series. Mania Entertainment writer Mike Dungan found Seishirō's role in Tokyo Babylon as comical, with his romantic intentions for Subaru being hard to find genuine. Zac Bertschy from Anime News NetworkAnime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
referred to Seishirō as one of the most deep villains from X, pointing that he was already developed in Tokyo Babylon. His confrontation with Subaru in the TV series was praised mainly because how their character designs were updated from the ones from Tokyo Babylon. Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge agreed with Bertschy, calling the episode of their final battle one of the best ones from the series focused on how their backgrounds are shown and tragic elements portrayed. In a character popularity poll from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Seishirō was voted as the sixth most popular character from the series.