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Kimihiro Watanuki

四月一日君尋 (Watanuki Kimihiro)
Profile
Age 15-17 (xxxHolic)
Chronologically: ±117, Physically: 17
Birthday April 1
Relations Tsubasa Li (alternate existence)
Sakura Li (mother, deceased)
Syaoran Li (father, deceased)
Clow Reed (relative, deceased)
Characteristics
Gender Male
Hair Black
Eyes Blue
Appearances
First Appearance
(Manga)
Volume 1, Chapter 1
Chapter 192 (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle)
First Appearance
(Anime)
Episode 1
Last Appearance
(Anime)
XxxHOLiC: Rou Adayume OAD
Voices
Seiyuu Jun Fukuyama
English Todd Haberkorn
Quote1 If at any moment you have a wish you need to be granted, Yuuko-san, if it's something I can do, I will try to grant it! will try with all my strength! Quote2
--Watanuki to Yuko
Quote1 It's been a while since I've seen the old Saya Quote2
--Watanuki to Saya Kisaragi

Kimihiro Watanuki (四月一日君尋, Watanuki Kimihiro) is the main character of the Clamp manga and anime XxxHOLiC and XxxHOLiC Rei. He is almost always referred to by his last name, Watanuki.

Watanuki means "April 1st" in kanji and is a reference to the old tradition of removing the kimono to keep children from suffering from diseases. His given name, Kimihiro, means prophet or "searching for you" [1].

Etymology[]

Watanuki Kimihiro is not his true name. It was changed by his parents so Fei Wang wouldn't be able to find and use him for his evil purposes.

  • The name Kimihiro means "lord, noble" (君) (kimi) and "fathom, armspan" (尋) (hiro).
  • Kimihiro's surname Watanuki means "the first of April" (四月一日).

Appearance[]

Watanuki has short black hair, and blue/indigo eyes at the beginning of the series. He almost always wears his school uniform which varies between his school's black jacket and trousers or simply his school trousers and a white short shirt.

When halfway through both the anime and manga he loses the sight in his right eye due to a spider's grudge curse, his right iris turns a dull milky grey color. After failing to retrieve his sight in this eye, he receives half of Doumeki's right eye's sight, which causes his right eye to turn a dark green with a brownish tint (in the Anime), or gold-brown (in the Manga).

For the majority of the series, however, he wears an ordinary pair of glasses, however at one point he loses them, and replaces them with a pair that resembles, or may possibly be the pair that Clow Reed wore. Fei Wong Reed once mentioned he does indeed resemble a young Clow Reed, also pointed out by Yūko Ichihara, yet the truth behind their similarities hasn't been revealed.

When Yūko leaves and Watanuki takes over the shop, his outfits begin to mirror the very ostentatious kimonos that Yuuko used to wear which he starts wearing.

Personality[]

Watanuki is known for having both volatile and caring in his personality.

Depending upon the person he talks to, his emotions tend to be overly exaggerated. When he's with Himawari, he is prone to throwing himself into the air and usually squeals "Himawari-chaaaaan!", accompanied by hearts. With Doumeki, he almost always expresses disgust or irritation with various facial expressions, ranging from screaming, to erratic arm motions that Himawari has noted reminds her of an angry cat. With the exception of these two and Yūko, Watanuki tends to address everyone around him with formality and kindness.

In the beginning of the story, he is exceptionally childish, often doing stupid things and complaining, but as the series progresses he starts to become more serious. He also gets along better with Doumeki and after the incident with his eye, keeps his distance from Himawari to make sure her bad luck doesn't affect him (until he gives her Tanpopo).

After keeping his distance from her, all his goofy expressions disappear, he no longer squeals " Himawari !"when she appears, and is shown to have a better friendship with Doumeki. He begins to question his own humanity and starts to understand more about the world and his own existence.

When Yuko disappears and he takes over the shop, his personality takes a drastic change as he adopts a number of Yuko's mannerisms. He still despises Doumeki and thinks that Mokona is annoying, but is shown to be considerably calmer; more reserved and a lot more mature, clearly shown by his acceptance of Himawari's marriage and wishing his condolences and his understanding of his customers' wishes.

Plot[]

xxxHolic[]

Watanuki lives alone because his parents died when he was young, but harder than these conditions is the fact that his everyday life is plagued with strange spirits that only he can see. (Apparently this was inherited- it is noted that his blood smells good to spirits.)

One average day, Watanuki is chased by a legion of spirits, when he falls and holds onto something which just happens to be a fence, surprisingly the spirits are repelled away from it, when rising to his feet, he sees a very strange house. Two girls then appear from the main door and welcome him in.

He insists that he entered by accident, but a voice replies that it was inevitable that he arrived to this place- it is fate. The voice belongs to Yūko Ichihara, who informs him that the store grants wishes in exchange for some sort of price.

Yūko asks Watanuki what his wish is; he asks for the spirits to stop chasing him, so she agrees to granting it but only if he works as a helper in the shop until he accumulates enough time for her to make his wish come true. This is the beginning of Watanuki's part time job, in which there is many meets that coincide, but as Yuko says there's no coincidence, only hitsuzen (fate; the inevitable).

As time goes by, Watanuki meets many different people who help him to develop and change his opinions on the world, and also to understand the world from Yuko's perspective, which also helps him to mature.

Watanuki, learns the power of divination, not noticing that this is the beginning of a transformation in himself. Since one of his biggest problems is his low self esteem – he'd gladly hurt himself if that helped someone else, and it's suspected that this is why Yūko asked him to work in the shop, since he had nothing of great importance to pay his wish with. For Watanuki, this causes difficulties when others decide to help him despite risking themselves. Watanuki cannot accept someone sacrificing themselves or something of importance just for him.

In one case he's exposed to great danger when spending time with the spirit of a woman, who lost her child when she was young. He at first doesn't realize she's dead, but has a strong connection to her as the woman has experienced the same loneliness he feels daily. He continues to see her despite falling ill (he even coughs blood), and is shown to be heartbroken when Doumeki, attempting to save Watanuki, helps her to pass her on.

Watanuki began to notice that strange things were beginning to happen around him, causing Yūko to get suspicious particularly of Himawari who she noted had a strange aura around her. One day, when Watanuki was walking through the corridor at school with Himawari, he tragically fell out of a window which he was leaning on and was fatally injured. Himawari and Doumeki took him to Yuuko's shop, and made a bargain that they would receive Watanuki's wounds from the accident.

In the seventh volume a curse that should have fallen onto Watanuki because of him destroying a spider nest at Doumeki's shrine, is instead transferred to Doumeki. To release Watanuki of the nest, Doumeki destroyed the nest, transferring the curse of the spider, originally intended for Watanuki, to invite itself into his open eye. Due to this curse being transferred, Watanuki is forced to suffer the guilt of seeing Doumeki's lost eye, so to save Doumeki from the pain, he wishes for it to be transferred to his own eye. Watanuki losing his right eye angers Doumeki, and he tries to find ways to restore his vision. However in the end, Watanuki's vision is irreparable, so Doumeki decides to share half of his right's eye vision with Watanuki. As a result, Watanuki's eyes become heterochromatic with one blue eye (left) and one golden eye (in the manga) or in the anime, one green eye (his right). Perhaps because they are both sharing the same eye, there is a great visible change in how Doumeki treats Watanuki as a person.

After losing his eye, Watanuki finds out that the Zashiki Warashi has been captured by the "Spider Queen" in an attempt to retrieve his right eye. Despite Yūko's warning about the risks of going there, he decides to rescue the girl. When he is captured and faces the Spider Queen, he offers the left eye and his body in exchange of releasing her. She rejects this offer; she wouldn't take something that is given up so easily and reprimands him for throwing away so readily what the Zashiki Warashi and Kudakitsune are trying to retrieve so badly. This teaches him an important lesson of self-value.

Not long after this, Watanuki starts to almost regularly fall into a dream-like state (regardless of the time of day or other circumstances) and starts to meet up with Haruka Doumeki, Doumeki's grandfather, who appears to Watanuki as the same age as Doumeki and is identical to Doumeki. When Watanuki first met Haruka, Watanuki couldn't tell the difference between the two and easily mistook Haruka for Doumeki, yet as time goes on, Watanuki learns how to distinguish him from Doumeki. Watanuki starts to regularly fall into dream like states, and In chapter 152 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Watanuki is revealed to be in a dream world with Sakura's soul.

It was later revealed in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle that Watanuki gave his memories to Yūko as the price to protect and help the travelers as well as to help locate each Sakura. It is revealed by Yūko in chapter 157 of XxxHolic, that both Watanuki's and the clone Sakura's memories are sealed in black Mokona's left earring (Watanuki's memories of his parents, Sakura's memories of Syaoran). Not only is his memory of his past erased, but so is his memory of the exchange.

In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle chapter 201, it is stated that Watanuki should not exist, and that he would 'replace' Syaoran (hinting that Watanuki is, in the altered timeline, the son of Syaoran and Sakura Li). xxxHolic chapter 167 takes this further by saying that the reason that Watanuki looks different is because Sakura and Syaoran had wished it. Yūko continues by saying that Sakura and Syaoran had died to save both Watanuki and Syaoran. Yūko also states that 'Kimihiro Watanuki' is not Watanuki's true name, rather that it was fabricated so that Fei Wong Reed would be unable to use Watanuki for his own ends. Fei Wong says that his existence will bring misery to his parents. Yūko cover Watanuki's ears and tells him not to listen. As Fei Wong takes Syaoran, he yells "Don't disappear" to Watanuki just as his eyes open for the first time.

During the final arc Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Watanuki briefly appears in Clow Country, witnessing his parents. He realizes he knows them, but not who they are, saying that they're hurt.

In xxxHolic, Watanuki goes searching for Yūko. He visits a client who was afraid of tasting her own cooking, and seeing that she's unable to remember Yūko, leaves in a panic. He and Doumeki bump into the twins seen in an earlier volume, and they do not remember Yūko either (despite the fact Yūko had granted one of the sister's wishes). Watanuki rushes back to the shop, only to step into a black void.

Watanuki meets Yūko, who explains to him that she should have died a long time ago, but due to someone's (Clow Reed's) power, her time was halted until the choice was made (refers to the choice made by Syaoran in Tsubasa by pulling Sakura free). Now her time has began to move forward once again; she is dying. He is of course, puzzled at her mentioning of saving the two futures, since he is unaware of this situation. He also reveals, from the depth of his heart, how much he cherishes Yūko and the experiences they had together (it is never actually stated how deep his feelings go. The context of their relationship, to this point, is still ambiguous).

Yūko reveals to Watanuki that her shop and job was for a purpose, and now that its purpose has been fulfilled, it is gone. We learn from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle that it was a price to pay for Clone Sakura's reincarnation. In addition, Yūko finally grants his wish of not being able to see and attract spirits. Although Watanuki pleads with her not to disappear, Yūko gently tells him otherwise, stating that he is precious to her. Finally, upon Watanuki's pleading, Yūko reveals that her wish is for him to continue existing. Watanuki makes a promise to himself and to her- that he will continue living and that if he wishes hard enough, he would want to meet her again. 

Watanuki awakens in the shop, with Doumeki by his side. Maru and Moro materialise and we learn that Yūko had used her remaining power to preserve the shop's existence.

Outside, Doumeki and Mokona chat, revealing a few things. Firstly, Doumeki also saw Yūko disappearing through his shared eye with Watanuki. Also, Watanuki's choice to stay behind to wait for Yūko has resulted in another choice that Doumeki should make, which makes the egg necessary (later on, it's revealed that this egg would be used to erase Watanuki's memories of Yūko). Only Kohane, the fortune teller, Himawari, and Doumeki remember Yūko because these are the people that she felt would be needed to stay by Watanuki's side after her passing. Mokona finally reveals that because of their shared vision, the decision when to use the egg depends on Doumeki.

xxxHolic Rei[]

Watanuki appears again in Rou's continuation, Rei [Return].

At this point, Rei's stand in the manga's general timeline is still unknown. But from what it's been seen Watanuki is still (as in xxxHolic) Yūko's assistant, which is the major twist as Yūko had died at xxxHolic's finale. He's also still going to the institute, being friends with both Doumeki and Himawari. Although Maru and Moro make their appearance, Black Mokona hasn't been seen yet. Kohane has not appeared either.

It's a recurring theme in the manga that Watanuki needs to make a choice, but later on it's hinted that he already has chosen. Also, each time Watanuki seems to remember something important regarding this choice, he passes out.

The first customers that come to the shop in Rei, are two women each of them carrying a doll that represent their other "friend". Although they do not come for their wishes, rather they come for necessity (which is another recurring theme in Rei). One of them "stole" the other's boyfriend and for this, she feels that she must suffer, using the doll to hurt her. Each time they come a greater damage is shown to these dolls, which shows that they are hurting each other, possibly resulting in each other's death.

He and Doumeki are later on, sent to investigate an event in a room in Watanuki's apartment building (which now it's revealed to be the same as Kobato's). They wait, watching a show recommended by Himawari but once it ends, Watanuki hears a voice. 

Watanuki hears the voice frequently since then and each time he answers the voice. Walking outside of school, he meets with the voice again only that this time it has a wish. A wish for him to "come back", but he doesn't understand the meaning of it.

The spirit chases him down to Yūko's shop where she destroys it.  

During the summer, Yosuzume goes to the shop with a wish. To grant it, Watanuki and Doumeki are sent into the forest to protect Yamainu (a spirit that protects the mountains). They give him a lunch box as an offering. After finishing their task, Watanuki and Doumeki return to the shop and talk to Yūko, as she explains that the past cannot be returned to, as well as explaining them that they are married. Yuko gives them the choice between two items that they had given her: Yosuzume's will guide them to a place they want to go once, but Yamainu's will guide them to a place they want to return to once. As she waits for their decision, Watanuki seems unable to choose.

Watanuki and Doumeki come across and old lady wanting to get rid of three hundred yen coins, as she comes into the temple and tosses them into the offering box. Watanuki finds out that these were used as a lucky charm, but nevertheless warns Himawari from doing so. They meet the old lady again, who explained them her situation as being too uneasy about it when an injured man forced her to exchange them. Watanuki then realizes that it isn't a lucky spell but a curse, and that the curse cannot be broken once someone has involved in it. Then Doumeki asks him how he can know so much, and seemingly losing consciousness he says that he saw too many things with Yuko. He then asks what did he do after those things "happened," and he replies that "he chose." Afterwards, his cellphone rings; he answers, but the caller hangs up. 

Once he's with Yuko, she explains the curse to him and Watanuki realizes that he said the same thing that she said, to Doumeki. He wonders if he's doing something wrong, but Yuko replies that he's not doing something right or wrong. As she tries to explain this to him, he loses consciousness and falls into Yuko's arms, who tells him he "should already know what will return and what will not."

xxxHolic Rou[]

KWIHR2

Watanuki becomes the owner of the shop after Yūko's death. He chooses to stay there until he finds a way to see Yūko again (as, by this time, his status as an anomaly in space-time is made greater, as is Syaoran's). He chooses to succeed Yūko, however to complete his task he needs to regain his power to see spirits (which Yūko had taken away). To regain this power, as a price, he can't leave the shop at all.

Watanuki continues to grant wishes in the shop, although often taking too little or too much as prices. He gets along better with Doumeki as now he acts like someone completely different and quite mature, he doesn't hide his emotions and stops making movements and weird expressions. He tries not to get hurt when granting wishes, since everyone wants him to continue existing without hurting his heart or body. It seems that the transformation has completed and his personality suffers a great change. His magic is finally released, according to the Spider Queen he might no longer be human.

Four years after, he meets Syaoran again (although it seems like two years to Syaoran). His coming inspired him to make a new signature, with a bird, taking this as a price he sends him and the group back to Clow Country so he can see Sakura again. [2]

Ten years after (Rou OVA only; this scenario does not appear in the manga) Watanuki, Domeki and Kohane are engaged in a dangerous task involving an Izuna user and the relics of a family. Then the Izuna's master speak directly to him asking for help and the price will be given through her lips. Once the task is met, Doumeki gives him the tape, rewinding it again and again to hear, "I'm back, Watanuki-kun," to which he responds, "Welcome back, Yuko-san." [3]

A hundred years passed since Watanuki took ownership of the shop. Doumeki's grandson, who looks exactly like his grandfather Shizuka and Haruka, is now keeping Watanuki company. Watanuki is now a powerful mage in his own right but finds a dream that takes all of his power to unlock. It is a dream of Yūko which reveals that Watanuki no longer has to be bound to the shop though he intends to stay just the same.

Doumeki's grandson has still not decided to use the egg on Watanuki.

Powers and Abilities[]

Watanuki Cooking talent

Watanuki's cooking skill are exceptional

At the beginning of the series, Watanuki has the power to see spirits and other things that are invisible for everyone else. He can also feel other people's emotions when they are talking. If they have a negative feeling, Watanuki starts to feel dizzy. If they have a positive feeling, Watanuki feels a calm and cheerful aura. Later in the manga and XxxHolic Kei season, Watanuki and Yuko buy some dreams balloons that allow Watanuki to enter the Dream World and have meetings with Haruka. In xxxHolic Shunmuki Ova, Watanuki follows a path made by Haruka to find five objects that allow him to break the barrier between his world and the Dream World, allowing him to enter when he wants. In the manga, Watanuki wins this ability by himself but he still can´t control the moment to enter. Later in XxxHolic Rou, Watanuki uses the smoke from Yūko's Kiseru to make spells. He can create or break barriers, make a road to find something or someone and travel or send people to other dimensions. He also mentions that he's more powerful inside Dream World.

Xxxholic213 - Watanuki Magic Circle

Watanuki's Magic Circle

Later, in the last chapter of the manga, Yūko told him through his dream that his powers had grew up enough and he doesn't need to stay in the shop.

Watanuki has an exceptional cooking skill, although he thinks of it as a hobby. Yūko will never get bored waiting for Watanuki's food everyday, though. It´s mentioned by Himawari that Watanuki is good at sports and that he could be on the soccer team. Watanuki never had a part-time job before and he´s not in any clubs, despite that he has many skills.

Relationships[]

Yūko Ichihara[]

Quote1 Why should a choice, in which I had no say, decide... Decide... Decide anything about a person who is so important to me?!

Quote2

--Watanuki to Yūko as she explains why she must die.

Watanuki has a mentor-student relationship with Yūko, one that evolves in strength and importance over time. Their relationship evolves throughout the anime/manga. At the beginning of the manga, Watanuki only respected Yuko because she was

Watanuki and Yuko copy

older and wiser than Watanuki but he didn't genuinely care for her and often thought of her as treacherous and selfish. As the story progressed, Watanuki started caring for Yuko's well being and helped her with customers. At this time Watanuki also became more tolerant of Yūko and did not yell at her as much. By the end of xxxHolic, Yūko and Watanuki shared a deep and understanding bond as friends and Yūko even acted as Watanuki's caretaker. At this point, Watanuki confided with Yūko many of his problems and even talked to Yūko about serious and more complicated topics that could not have been discussed before due to Watanuki's immaturity. Yūko and Watanuki also show signs of holding a sort of love for each other though the true nature of it is somewhat ambiguous and could vary in degrees between the two. For example, when Watanuki and Yuko found each other in their dreams and Watanuki told her that he would grant any one of her wish no matter what it was as long as it made her happy. They find each other in their dreams several other times, usually being in the shop's yard. In one of these dreams, Yūko asks Watanuki if he's happy with being and working at the shop and Watanuki says that he is, to which Yūko says that if the shop is "reason enough" for Watanuki to stay, she's happy and Watanuki takes and holds Yūko's hand that was touching his face. Watanuki's caring feelings for Yūko appear once again when she's dying and Watanuki tells her that he will stay in the shop waiting for her and if wishes can come true just by wishing them and wanting them enough, he wishes to meet her again no matter how long it takes her to come back.

Four years after Yūko's death, Watanuki meets Haruka Doumeki in one of his dreams and as they are talking, Haruka points out that Watanuki is wearing his glasses even though he does not need them. Watanuki then tells him that he forgets to take them off sometimes and then he starts to tell Haruka that before Yūko died, when all Yuko's past customers said that they didn't remember Yūko, that it was the most frightening thing that he had ever experienced. He explained that he was also scared that he too might forget Yūko, which is why he had decided to carry on her things (wearing her clothes, carrying her pipe, taking ownership of her shop etc.) and says "I will carry them so that I don't forget Yūko-san. And even if I do forget, I'll come close to remembering."

In Chapter 207 (xxxHolic Rou), Watanuki told a customer the meaning of "desire." He said it meant that you want to obtain something so much that you don't care what lengths you are willing to go to or even who you might hurt in the process. Watanuki later admits that his wish to see Yūko has also turned into a form of desire.

In the last chapter, Yūko meets Watanuki in a dream and tells Watanuki that he has waited in the shop long enough for her and that he could now leave the shop and be free. When Watanuki awakes, he explains his dream to Shizuka's great-grandson. When Doumeki asks Watanuki if he is happy that he saw Yūko again, even in a dream, he says yes. He then proceeds to tell Doumeki that even though he is free and has the choice to come and go as he pleases, he will stay in the shop and wait for Yūko. This shows the desire that Watanuki really feels for Yūko because even though he saw a dream version of her, but not the real one, he will keep waiting for her just for the hope that one day a miracle will happen and he will be able to see her just once again. Here, the series ends, leaving it that Watanuki will wait for Yūko for as long as it takes.

Clow Reed[]

Watanuki and Clow have never met but Watanuki and Clow resemble each other very much and are often being compared to each other by Yūko, Mokona and Fei Wong Reed. It is also revealed that Watanuki is a descendant of Clow's. Clow also gave him his appearance, purposely.

Chibi Kitsune[]

Watanuki and Chibi Kitsune are good friends. Watanuki met him for the first time at his and his father's oden stand that cannot usually be seen by humans. The two form a friendly bond but do not see each other often since they live in two different worlds. Once, When Watanuki went to the Monster Procession, all the monsters realized that Watanuki and Doumeki were humans and chased them, trying to kill them when Chibi Kitsune interfered and told them all what a good person Watanuki is until the monsters spared him. Later on, to express his thanks, Watanuki send Chibi Kitsune a dream (in a balloon) from the dream collector (which he had traded the broken arrow from one of his dreams for five of the dream collector's dreams).

Kitsune[]

He's Chibi Kitsune's father and he's very kind to Watanuki. He first met Watanuki at night in his oden stand. Watanuki always compliments Kitsune on his cooking, especially his famous oden (a type of stew). Kitsune is especially kind to Watanuki because Watanuki and Chibi Kitsune are friends and Watanuki is very generous, giving him a dream balloon and a sacred arrow, to Chibi.

Himawari Kunogi[]

Himawari Kunogi is Watanuki's primary love interest in xxxHolic. Himawari and Watanuki are best friends at school, often eating lunch together and walking home together after school, but there always seems to be something more than friendship between them. Since Himawari was first introduced, Watanuki already had a deep crush on her. He often says that he loves Himawari (he only says this in his head or to Yūko Ichihara or

Japanese Vol 4 DVD

Watanuki and Himawari on xxxHolic anime Season 4 cover

Shizuka Dōmeki but in reality, this is just a mere infatuation. Whenever Watanuki is asked why he likes Himawari, he answers that it is because she is kind and cute and even though these are good traits in a person, it is not nearly enough reason to be in love with someone and so all of his friends know that this is not real love but just a crush. Also, when Watanuki first told Yūko about Himawari, Yūko told him that Himawari might not be his "lady luck/ lucky lady." However, Watanuki does not give any importance to what others say and keeps on trying to impress Himawari with smarts or courage. Watanuki also reveals in Vol. 2 of the manga that he likes Himawari enough to ask her out on a date but he has not done it yet because he gets tongue tied every time he tries.

Later on in the series, Watanuki falls out of the second story window of the school and nearly dies until Shizuka brings him to Yūko's shop where she heals him. This is when Himawari displays care for Watanuki by paying half of the price to Yūko for healing Watanuki which was taking all the scars that Watanuki beared from the fall. When Watanuki finally wakes up, Himawari talks to him and reveals to him that she is bad luck - literally. Himawari had been born with a bad luck curse at birth which meant that she brought bad luck to those whom she meets, talks to, or touches with the exception of her parents. Himawari then tells Watanuki that they should not be friends or speak to each other any more because she does not want to hurt him. Watanuki then stops her and tells her that even though she is bad luck, he always felt lucky to have met her and that no matter what she said, he would still try to be with her. He then reveals that he likes her and promises her that he'll never do anything to hurt her or to make her cry.

Later on, Watanuki asks Yūko if there is a way to remove Himawari's curse and Yūko says that she can but the price it will be all her happiness. She asks Watanuki if he is going to pay the price but Watanuki says that if he hurt himself for Himawari's sake then she will be sad and it will hurt her more than him. Watanuki decides that the only thing he will do for Himawari is continue being her best friend and making her truly smile every time. Yūko does agree to help Watanuki with his relationship with Himawari by giving him an egg and telling him to sleep with the egg beside him and whatever he wants to emerge out of the egg, it will appear. In dreams, Watanuki wishes that something will be born that will keep Himawari company so that she will not be alone and so Tanpopo is born, a bird that is immune to Himawari's bad luck. Then, Watanuki gives the little bird to Himawari and they go back to being good friends though Himawari always touch Watanuki´s shoulder to get his attention but now she tries to keep her distance from touching him. Himawari remains the same but it can be seen that she starts developing feelings for Watanuki after his personality changes a bit. They spend more time together since Watanuki is being carefully after being with her. The last time Himawari appears is after giving some cookies to Watanuki made by herself.

In xxxHolic RO, Watanuki and Himawari grow apart and their relationship ends in a "more than friends, but less than lovers" relationship. Because her misfortune affliction and the shop cause problems to occur, she promised to never enter the shop except on Watanuki's birthday. Even if they only can see each other once a year, Himawari falls in love with Watanuki, however in Chapter 209, it is stated that Himawari is married with a unknown businessman who knows about Watanuki and accept their friendship. Watanuki sends Himawari and her husband a chrysanthemum wine to give them fortune and good health.

Shizuka Dōmeki[]

Doumeki

Watanuki and Shizuka's meeting happened before the manga started. They had first seen each other on the school stairway and Watanuki, annoyed with just Shizuka's face, started yelling at him. The first time we see the two together in the manga is after gym class when the two had been playing soccer. Himawari was telling Watanuki what a good soccer player he is and that he almost scored a goal. Watanuki said that he didn't score any because he felt bad for the goalie. Shizuka, whom was the goalie, then appeared and started arguing with Watanuki calmly though Watanuki at this point was scolding him furiously.

Through Yūko's bidding, Watanuki asked Shizuka to use his temple so that they could tell ghost stories an Shizuka agreed. After the event, Yūko concluded that Shizuka could purify spirits while Watanuki attracted them, and so while Watanuki and Shizuka are near each other, Watanuki will not be bothered by spirits. From then on, Yūko sends Watanuki and Shizuka on missions together in order to grant various customers' wishes.

Much to the annoyance of Watanuki, Shizuka is always asking for food and eats so much that Watanuki complains. The two are always fighting in a typical manner: Shizuka speaking and rationalizing calmly while Watanuki (always compared to an angry cat) is scolding and yelling. They don't get along at all though they will always stay together even when angry and help each other when the situation calls for it. They share a deep bond that cannot be broken by either words nor actions.

In xxxHolic Ro, Watanuki and Shizuka are still good friends and Shizuka often helps Watanuki with things like shopping that Watanuki cannot do himself due to being restrained to the shop. When Watanuki gets wounded when dealing with clients, Shizuka comments that it is times like these [he] wishes he studied medicine," but notes that if he did so, it would be too difficult to remain by Watanuki's side (along with the fact that the wounds Watanuki gains by supernatural means may not be effected by modern medicine techniques).  

By the time of his marriage to Kohane Tsuyuri, Shizuka experienced a series of nightmares that expressed his doubts in regards to his upcoming wedding and in relation to his relationship with Watanuki. This, coupled with the fact that the two married for the sake of bearing children who would eventually take over their roles of guardians and assistants of Watanuki, hints at the possibility of him having strong, probably romantic feelings for Watanuki. Kohane Tsuyuri herself has looked towards Watanuki as a parental figure, due to the care he showed her when she lacked a proper family and was going through tumultuous times with her mother. As such, she would likely agree to a "professional" wedding in order to bear children which can protect Watanuki, who, to her, represents strong familial values.

Kohane Tsuyuri[]

Watanuki and Kohane met under a haunted cherry tree. Even though they had just met, a connection was made (as Yūko often pointed out). They both sensed that they were similar with their abilities. Despite constant protest from

Kohane and Watanuki

her mother, he keeps in contact with her, all while trying to make her feel happy. He worries over her constantly due to her quiet nature, and when he finds out about her mother’s abusive nature, he goes out of his way to protect Kohane, such as shielding her from her mother hitting her. Watanuki also is the first person in a long time to ask to call her by her first name “Kohane-chan”. For this, she develops a strong bond of friendship with him.

After Yūko grants her wish, Kohane moves in with the old Fortune Teller, but keeps on visiting Watanuki in the shop. She is the only one to call him by his name, "Kimihiro-kun." This is probably because he was the first person in a long time who called her "Kohane-chan." Kohane confesses to Doumeki that Watanuki is her most important person. This is likely due to how he saved her and represents familial bonds, as well as safety. In many ways, Watanuki was more of a "motherly' figure to Kohane than her own mother was. Kohane agrees to marry Doumeki in order to have children with him; children who can protect Watanuki as his assistants since Watanuki stopped aging.

Zashiki Warashi[]

Japanese Vol 7 DVD

It's unknown how Zashiki Warashi came to hear/know about Watanuki but ever since she learned about him, she developed a huge crush on him to the point of panicking and blushing in his presence. In the anime, Zashiki Warashi has more appearances and even finds herself involved in some of Watanuki's tasks. Perhaps one of the greatest indicators of her feelings towards Watanuki was when she found out that Watanuki's eye was in the custody of Jorou-Gumo. She personally went to Jorou-Gumo herself and asked the Spider Lady to give it back to Watanuki but was ultimately captured instead. Watanuki went to save her in exchange of losing his right eye forever causing Zashiki Warashi to feel very guilty for his loss. Watanuki apologized to her instead for getting her involved. Much later when rumor reached her about Watanuki's near fatal accident, Zashiki Warashi went to visit him (in the company of Ame-Warashi). During the exchange Watanuki noticed that her voice sounded a lot more mature than it had previously. According to Ame Warashi, the Vestal Sprites feelings for Watanuki had caused her to age and become more of an adult. During her final appearance, she gives Ame-Warashi flowers to send to Watanuki which sprout thanks to the former's deep feelings for him. It is also implied that she wanted to bring the bouquet to him herself (despite the request having originally been made to Ame-Warashi) but was unable to due to the sun light intensity, which would have been toxic to her. This again is a demonstration of strong feelings for Watanuki ten years down the line.

Given the infrequent appearances of Zashiki Warashi it is unknown exactly whether or not Watanuki returns the Vestal Sprites feelings (especially since in the early stages Watanuki was originally fawning over Himawari). Even so, it is evident that Watanuki does think very highly of her despite rarely seeing her and cares very much about her well being. When he learned that she was captured by Joro-Gumo he did not hesitate to join the Karasu Tengu in trying to rescue her, and upon coming face to face with the Spider Lady was more concerned about rescuing Zashiki Warashi than he was in getting his eye back. In both the manga and the anime Watanuki said that whilst he has only meet and talked with the Vestal Sprite on a few occasions he thinks that she is a very nice girl and recognizes how important she is to people like the Tengu. Recently within XXXHolic Rei Watanuki has learned that Zashiki Warashi is in danger of disappearing but for some unknown reason she does not want to see him. Watanuki was left both shocked and upset by this remark, wishing that he could meet with Zashiki in order to find a way to save her.

Other Appearances[]

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Watanuki as he appears in Kobato

Watanuki has also appeared in episode 17 of Kobato, where he receives Baumkuchen from Ginsei.

In the manga Drug and Drop he hires its two protagonists for a job involving the encounter of a supernatural being. The main characters are both intrigued and suspicious when first meeting Watanuki. However, one most notes that there is a strong sense of loneliness coming from Watatnuki but can't figure out why.

Watanuki makes an appearance in Blood-C, a twelve episode anime by CLAMP (thus the name Blood-CLAMP). In episode 7, Watanuki, reveals himself to be the shop owner of a wish granting shop in the body of a dog to the main character Saya. Throughout the anime, since episode 1, the dog has appeared many times and is always around Saya. Even though the dog does not speak, he gives off the feeling that he knows and understands Saya's situation.

Dog

Watanuki as he appears in Blood-C

When he finally speaks to Saya in episode 6, it is not yet known that he is Watanuki, however he is still voiced by Fukuyama Jun in Japanese and Todd Haberkorn in English, who are Watanuki's voice actors in xxxHOLiC. Following on to episode 7 once again, Watanuki tells Saya everything that he can, admitting that he was sent to stay by her side as a result of a wish from one of his customers. Watanuki does not reveal who asked this of him but that he must appear as a dog to Saya until the wish is granted. The full specifications of the wish are not clear at this point either.

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He later makes a full appearance in the Blood-C movie, Blood-C The Last Dark. The dog appears to be a proxy that Watanuki uses to speak through, and had appeared on the island in order to give Saya advice. He retains his two differently-colored eye appearance, and serious, but mellow composure. Saya receives a new katana from him, having destroyed her previous one, and Watanuki tells her that she can make the payment after she returns, implying that he wants her to return safely.

Quotes[]

  • "Yūko always says, There are no coincidences in this world, there is only inevitability. When I first heard it, I thought there was no way that could be possible. What's the point if everything is inevitable? But now, little by little, I'm starting to believe that's the truth."
  • "When I receive sweets from you, I feel as if I'm ascending to heaven. Just getting to see you puts me into a good mood for the whole day. When you call me Watanuki-kun, and smile, and talk to me, I feel like they're all wonderful things. I consider meeting you, Himawari-chan, to be one of the happiest moments of my life."
  • "If at any time you have a wish that needs to be granted, Yūko-san, If it's something within my power, I'll try to grant it! With all my heart!"
  • "Why should a choice I had no say in get to decide anything about a person who is so important to me?"
  • "I experienced so much after I met you. I met all kinds of people, and even those that weren't people. We went through so many bad things, and so many good things... I've changed a lot, but that was all because I met you, Yuko-san.
  • "There is nothing living that doesn't die. Even if we wish against it, people die. And so I will too someday, without a doubt. But until then... until I can see Yuko-san again, I will always, always, be here, waiting in this shop."
  • "There are no coincidences in this world, there is only inevitability. Isn't that right, Yūko-san?"
  • "I´ll die like this, too... alone."
  • "I was just thinking that being able to see you every day like this isn´t something I should be just taking for granted, but rather it´s something that I really ought to deeply treasure, that´s why when I saw you I´m just so glad."
  • "The wishes can be granted if you wish them with all your strength."

Trivia[]

  • He had already met Yūko before their meeting in xxxHolic Episode 1, but he doesn't remember as his memories had been removed afterwards as a price for a wish he made.
  • Mokona likes to call him 'shigatsu tsuitachi' which is the usual way to read his last name, meaning April 1, and can also be taken to mean April Fool.
  • His signature is a bird, in contrast with Yūko's which is a butterfly. It's a similar shape to the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle logo and it's inspired by Syaoran, as seen in xxxHolic special chapter. Incidentally, in an early chapter when Yūko used a location spell that turned a handkerchief into a butterfly, she mused that "if it had to go farther, it would turn into a bird".
    • The "bird and butterfly" motifs were seen used previously in Cardcaptor Sakura, where Clow Reed created his guardians with bird wings, and his reincarnation, Eriol Hiragizawa, created his guardians instead with butterfly wings. 
  • In Horitsuba Gakuen, his traits are still the same as he does in xxxholic. He still hates Doumeki and likes Himawari, gets along with both of the Syaoran's and Sakura. His dishes are usually praised by their Home Economics teacher, Yuui. However, during the introduction of the new students, Watanuki had his heterochromia and his attitude was more similar to the one he displays after inheriting the shop.
  • All the girls that Watanuki and Doumeki meet together say that they look like good friends.
  • Sometime after Yuko's death, Watanuki changes the style of his glasses from oval-shaped glasses to a pair of circular like glasses that he finds in the treasure room which resemble Clow Reed's glasses.
  • Watanuki gets his pipe cleaned out and fixed at the Moon Rabbit Kiseru Shop.
  • It is hinted that Watanuki had the power to stay youth for even 100 years because of his power. All the magicians have a longer life span that normal humans because of their powers, which is also referenced in Tsubasa, and is also mentioned that Watanuki can still "see" without his glasses.
  • Watanuki bears a strong resemblance to Clow Reed rather than his own parents, though in his younger years his personality isn't similar at all to Clow's. He does however, share Clow's magic circle, and in the later chapters he receives a pair of glasses identical to Clow's, furthering their similarity in appearance. 
  • Some people are unable to see Watanuki. When Watanuki tries to protect Kohane from her mother in TV studio, the people can´t see Watanuki but the cameras record him. This is a result of his unnatural existence as Watanuki shouldn't have been born in the first place.
  • Watanuki's known to have great speed and agility. It can be seen in several scenes when pursued or attacked by a spirit dodging each of its attacks.
  • During his involvement with the twins, Watanuki gives Kaoruko a motto which is the same one used by the protagonist of Card Captor Sakura: Everything will be all right.
  • Watanuki is a secondary character in Drug&Drop, the revamp/sequel to Gohou Drug.

Theories[]

Some theories suggest that Watanuki is some sort of reincarnation of Clow Reed, as Yūko and Fei Wang Reed have commented on his resemblance to the latter in looks, temperament, and symbols (like an affinity with birds and the same magic circle). In addition, Watanuki's powerful desire to see Yūko again after her death may be seen as a parallel to Clow's accidental wish that she not die. This theory, however, would strongly contradict CCS as Eriol Hiragizawa and Fujitaka Kinomoto are each half of Clow's split reincarnated soul. Watanuki was also thought to be the offspring of Clow and Yūko; this theory was disproved when Watanuki was revealed to be Syaoran (Tsubasa)'s replacement and thus was born to the same parents as Syaoran (although he does have distant relation to Clow Reed).

References[]

  1. xxxHOLiC manga chapter 167
  2. xxxHolic Rou One-Shot
  3. XxxHOLiC: Rou OAD

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