Toya Kinomoto

Infobox animanga character
color = Blue
name = Toya Kinomoto
series = "Cardcaptor Sakura"
""


caption = Toya Kinomoto in "Cardcaptor Sakura"
first =
last =
creator = Clamp
voiced by = Tomokazu Seki (Jpn "CCS")
Tony Sampson (Eng "CCS")
Kirk Thornton (Eng "CCS" Movie 2)
Shinichirō Miki (Jpn "Tsubasa")
Eric Vale (Eng "Tsubasa")
nickname =
alias = Tori Avalon (Eng "Cardcaptors")
age =
gender = Male
nationality = Japanese
species =
born = February 29
death =
occupation = Various ("CCS")
Waiter ("Tsubasa")
King of Kingdom of Clow ("Tsubasa")
title =
relatives = Sakura Kinomoto (Younger Sister)
Fujitaka Kinomoto (Father )
Nadeshiko Kinomoto (Mother, deceased)
Tomoyo Daidōji (2nd Cousin in "CCS")
Sonomi Daidōji (1st Cousin once removed in "CCS")
Clow Reed ("Father" in "Tsubasa")
(nephew in "Tsubasa")
divider =
aux1 = Tomoeda, JPN ("CCS")
Kingdom of Clow ("Tsubasa")
Hanshin Republic ("Tsubasa")
aux1 name = Residence
aux2 =
aux2 name = Power
aux3 = Ability to see spirits
"Sensing"
aux3 name = nihongo|Toya Kinomoto|木之本 桃矢|Kinomoto Tōya is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series "Cardcaptor Sakura". He is known as Tori Avalon in the English adaptation "Cardcaptors".

He appears in another Clamp series ' and is known there as Tōya, although his name has also been romanized as "Touya". He is voiced by Tomokazu Seki in Cardcaptor Sakura and by Shinichirō Miki in Tsubasa Chronicle. In Cardcaptors, he is voiced by Tony Sampson, and by Kirk Thornton in the 2nd Movie. He is voiced by Eric Vale in Tsubasa Chronicle"'.

Character

Toya is the brother of Sakura Kinomoto. His birthday is on February 29th, which makes him a leap year baby, a person that can only "properly" celebrate their birthday once every four years. His blood type is O. He holds the belief that as Sakura's older brother, he is the only person entitled to make fun of her, a belief that his best friend Yukito Tsukishiro refers to as a "sister complex." However, he is also protective and caring of her, which leads him to dislike Syaoran Li when he finds Syaoran cornering Sakura in the schoolyard. Though Syaoran and Sakura eventually stop fighting, Toya continues to dislike Syaoran when he becomes friends with Sakura, knowing that Syaoran will eventually take Sakura away from him. He is a perceptive young man and has had a vague idea as to what Sakura has been up to as a Cardcaptor, despite Sakura's attempts to keep it a secret.

He is often working, and a running gag in the series involves Sakura and Yukito running into him while he's at work, which can happen virtually anywhere, we later discover that the reason for his many jobs is so he can pay for college on his own. It is also implied that the reason for him bumping into Sakura all the time was not just mere coincidence but may sometimes have been deliberate on his part (he was following her in case she needed protection from any danger; one very notable instance of this occurs in 'Sakura's Dizzy Fever Day', when Sakura stubbornly attended school to help her classmates out with a project despite her suffering from a bad fever. Toya immediately senses that his sister is in trouble and actually leaves his school, arriving at Sakura's school just in time to catch Sakura as her fever causes her to pass out; he then proceeds to take her home himself). In the first few episodes of the anime, a running gag was Sakura purposely stepping on his foot when he mocks her. Later on in the series when this gag is attempted again, Toya often moves his foot out of the way, causing Sakura to feel the effects of the impact instead. The manga uses this same gag in a slightly different way, for, after he gives his power away to save Yue's (and therefore, Yukito's) life, Sakura is surprised to see that Toya does not foresee her attempt to kick him, and so does not get himself out of the line of fire.

Toya was born with some magical ability, allowing him to see ghosts (including the one of his late mother). His magical ability is also what helps him sense when Sakura is in danger or when she is doing other "magical" things (which enables him to follow her as described above). This ability, however is what led to Sakura's fear of Ghosts whenever he would tell her about the apparitions he saw. Toya's magical ability also enables him to sense the difference between living and non-living beings; hence Kero dislikes spending time around him as he fears Toya suspects he is more than a mere plush toy.

Late in the series, Toya gives up his magical abilities in order to keep Yukito alive. Yukito's alter-ego of sorts, Yue, was being weakened from a lack of supporting magic after Sakura became Master of the Clow. Sakura's magic was not strong enough to maintain Yue's existence at the time, and if Yue ended up disappearing, so would Yukito. Toya tried to make this known to Yukito, however each time he was interrupted by Nakuru Akizuki (Ruby Moon). Toya was more than willing to give up his magic to save Yukito, but he knew that doing so came at another cost: losing the ability to sense when Sakura was in danger. Therefore, Toya made a deal with Yue and had him promise that he would protect Sakura with all of his power. However, when Yue responds that "There's no need to promise" and says the he would do anything to protect Sakura, Toya adds on to this deal, and makes Yue promise to protect himself as well, since if he were to be injured or killed the same would happen to Yukito.

Relationships

Toya briefly dated Kaho Mizuki for a year starting in 8th grade (she was his student teacher), but they broke up when she decided to move to England to pursue her career. She told him also that he should not grieve over that, for she would be back, and by those days both of them would have other love interests. After returning, she treats him affectionately, but more as a younger brother than a boyfriend.

Toya's main relationship is with his best friend Yukito. Throughout the series Toya and Yukito are extremely close and eventually Yukito openly admits his love for Toya to Sakura after Toya sacrifices his powers to save Yukito's life. In addition, Yukito, now aware of Yue's existence, expresses insecurity about his only being Yue's false form, and having taken Toya's power, but Toya says that he would not be able to stand losing Yukito and that their common memories are real.

Toya and Yukito are one of Clamp's "soulmate" pairs (a common theme in their stories). They are each other's special person and are always together when they appear in other works by Clamp.

Tōya in Tsubasa

In "", Tōya is not only the older brother of Sakura but also the King of the Kingdom of Clow. The former king, Tōya and Sakura's father is Clow Reed. Like his "Cardcaptor Sakura" counterpart, he dislikes Syaoran and refers to him as a brat (though the antagonism is one sided now). His reasons are similar; from the predictions of the High Priest of Clow (who is Yukito, his best friend and confidante), he knows that Sakura and Syaoran are meant to be together and their destinies are linked. Additionally, Tōya had initially felt that Syaoran possessed a rather unsettling presence within him and confronted his father about it, though Tōya later admits that the feeling went away as Syaoran opened up to Sakura.

Another incarnation of Tōya appears with Yukito in the Hanshin Republic, where he and Yukito are waiters at a local restaurant. In the anime, "Tsubasa Chronicle", he appears again in the Ōto Country where he and Yukito are patrons in the café run by Syaoran and the others as well as in two filler episodes.

It is later revealed that Tōya's true parents are Nadeshiko and Fujitaka, not Clow.

Notes

* In the anime, like Syaoran in the "Sleeping Beauty" play, Toya plays the lead female character in his high school's "Cinderella" play.
* Toya's "kaijū" (monster) nickname for Sakura in "Cardcaptor Sakura" is reused in "Tsubasa".
* Toya's running gag about his part-time jobs is retained in "Tsubasa" as he appears as a waiter in a restaurant where Syaoran and company eat in the Hanshin Republic.
* The first kanji of Toya's given name (桃) means peach, and peach blossoms are one of his mother's two favorite flowers, the other being cherry blossoms, or "sakura" (桜).