Tomoyo Daidouji - Of Cameras And Costumes
Posted by: DKellis in card captor sakura, ramblings
Like many blog posts wherein I talk about something close to my heart, I started and restarted this entry many, many times, trying as hard as possible to get it just right. There comes a time, however, when I have to stop, step back, look at it, and realize that either I spend the rest of my life working on this, and never actually finish it… or I should just post it anyway, dissatisfied about it though I may be, feeling that I could have improved it in a hundred different ways but never actually knowing how. A poor, pale shadow of the platonic ideal of the tribute I envisioned in my mind.
I’ve been told that I should maybe make it something like an essay, with well-defined points and screencaps to back up my assertions. I tried that approach, but quickly felt stifled and restricted, mostly because with a topic such as this, I’d much rather be able to convey my passion, my love for the subject, rather than a dry, clinical statement, thoroughly researched and as free of errors as any actual academic paper.
But maybe that’s why an essay might have been a better idea: it’s difficult to put emotions and feelings into words, and to convey these feelings, to make a reader experience the same feelings as the author. It’s easier, perhaps, to win over readers by use of logic rather than rhetoric, or at least safer. Emotions are a very personal thing.
I’ve decided, in any case, to just go with the flow, to write what I want, and let my own meagre writing skills be the outlet for the rather extreme fanboyism regarding my favourite character in my favourite anime, Tomoyo Daidouji from Card Captor Sakura.
The following will assume knowledge of the series, both in anime and manga. If you’d rather not be spoiled or utterly confused, it’s probably not a good idea to read any further. (Well, more utterly confused than you already are.)
Where do I begin? It’s a bit like asking someone, who’s used a language for all their life, to “say something” in that language. Invariably I hesitate, and I try to say something meaningful, and my mind just goes blank.
I can’t really remember if there was an exact time when I realized that I had become a fan of Tomoyo Daidouji. I don’t think there’s a point which I can indicate and say that this, here, is when I went from non-fan to fan, from mildly interested to fanatically worshipful. I only truly became aware of it myself, I think, when someone asked me for my favourite character in CCS, and I immediately replied “Tomoyo Daidouji”, without any doubts or reservations.
But why? What does Tomoyo have as a character that holds such fascination for me? Ah, that’s harder to quantify, and may well delve deeply and frequently into the realm of “because it is so”. A matter of personal, individual taste.
Tomoyo Daidouji is the daughter of Sonomi Daidouji, the president of Daidouji Toys and Nadeshiko Kinomoto’s cousin. Tomoyo has never mentioned her father in the entire series, and Sakura muses that it’s probably something very complicated, but we, as viewers, are never actually told what her current family structure is. Sonomi is certainly busy enough, and perhaps Tomoyo’s father is even busier, but many in the fandom assume that Sonomi is divorced or some such. Sonomi herself is often busy with her company (as evidenced in episode 11, when she couldn’t even find uninterrupted time with her beloved Nadeshiko’s daughter), despite her best efforts to spend time with her daughter, and it’s not a far stretch to imagine that Tomoyo grew up surrounded by servants who could cater to her every need except for true companionship.
When she met Sakura Kinomoto, the friendship had begun as that of classmates sitting next to each other. Did Tomoyo know, back then, that Sakura was her second cousin? She must have found out some time ago before the series started, since she didn’t seem to be surprised when Sonomi finally met Fujitaka and put two and two together, and she was well aware that Sonomi had wanted, consciously or otherwise, to have Tomoyo look like Nadeshiko by growing her hair out (and that’s a whole other bag of psychology right there). Tomoyo had grown close to Sakura, and mentioned several not-so-subtle hints about how she liked Sakura, but not quite in the same way that Sakura liked her. For the first several episodes, it did really look as though Tomoyo and Sakura were going to be the main “couple”, so to speak.
But even from the beginning, Tomoyo appears to know that Sakura would never like her in That Way. Yes, they’d be Best Friends Forever, but first with Yukito, then with Syaoran, Tomoyo tries to act as matchmaker, and is happy enough if Sakura is happy.
Tomoyo lets Sakura go, even though it would have been so easy to influence Sakura and bring her back. I cannot describe with mere words how selfless this act is, especially for a ten-year old. Tomoyo isn’t just acting mature for her age, she’s acting far more maturely than many people of whatever age. She never showed any signs of jealousy or disappointment, but she happily accepted that her best friend, her One True Companion, had given her heart to someone else.
I can only hope that, if I were ever in a similar situation, I would be so noble.
But Tomoyo’s character doesn’t just revolve around the Romantic Angst That Never Was. While not as expressly active and energetic as Sakura, Tomoyo doesn’t let much bring her down, and is always there to comfort Sakura when the Card Captor needs a listening ear. She maintains a steady and calm demeanour, and her moments of panic are usually due to a comedic situation such as not being able to film her beloved Sakura-chan capturing cards. Whatever happens, she’s always there for Sakura (and later Syaoran) to talk to about all of life’s little problems.
Her pastime of dressing up and filming Sakura provides for an interesting facet of her character. I’ve made my fair share of jokes about how it gets creepy and stalkery at times, but every costume Tomoyo produces represents significant time and effort on her part, and she does all this as a hobby, above and beyond any schoolwork and extras that result in her above-average intelligence. She provides all this to Sakura for the price of seeing her wear them, and recording it for posterity. In fact, this may not even be a price per se, in that if Sakura had refused for one reason or another, I’m sure Tomoyo would not have pressed the issue.
A more intelligent man than I put forth the paradoxical philosophy that nothing is perfect without a flaw. It is entirely possible to view Tomoyo’s fixation on Sakura-centric cosplay as a flaw, but I’d much rather see it as a sign of trust: Tomoyo never demands that Sakura put on a costume. She just smiles, presents the costume, and lets events flow as they may.
Many fanfics tend to pair her up with Eriol Hiiragizawa. I’m not entirely certain why, nor can I truly understand it, but one explanation is that they both seem to be schemers. Quite apart from Eriol already having a canon pairing (with Kaho Mizuki), and that Tomoyo and Eriol exchange maybe three lines in the entire series, I would still say that it doesn’t fit Tomoyo’s personality to be described as such. In my view, Tomoyo doesn’t scheme, in that she doesn’t have any malicious intent whatsoever, but she does have a gift for manipulation that stems from her astute observations of people and their feelings (such as the class play in episode 42). Now, keeping in mind this ability to make others do as she wishes, I have not seen her use that skill for her own selfish desires often, if at all, and certainly not onscreen.
Whether in the anime, where Tomoyo throws herself at a sword-wielding Syaoran controlled against his will (in episode 50), or in the manga, where she dives in to save Sakura from drowning despite her own lack of swimming skills (Watery card chapter), Tomoyo is clearly perfectly willing to put aside her own safety if Sakura is in danger and needs her help. I’ve always suspected that she’s a lot more athletic than she lets on, since she appeared to have no problems keeping up with Sakura when the two of them were being chased by the Jump card in episode 5.
Cute, cheerful, polite, talented, unpretentious, and always selfless, always giving, I’d say that Tomoyo Daidouji is probably the best friend anyone could ever ask for, and certainly a character I’d not hesitate to call my absolute favourite. I’d add the caveat that this is, obviously, entirely due to my tastes, but I see nothing wrong with that, and Tomoyo is certainly more than worthy for such fanboyism.
Loading ...
Entries (RSS)
“she appeared to have no problems keeping up with Sakura when the two of them were being chased by the Jump card in episode 5.”
What about her private car? lol. I’m not that big of a fan of Tomoyo though I like all the outfit she makes. Got 3 vols of CCS left to watch now.
I’ll fangirl with you, if you don’t mind. ^^ Aside from it being a matter of her fitting my own tastes (which I think may run similar to yours, from what I’ve read), I absolutely adore Tomoyo for many of the reasons you stated. She is my favorite as well.
I can actually tell you when she became such, too: when I first saw the series, I liked Tomoyo, but it was after I toook on her role in the Tomoeda_Drama rp, and delved much deeper into her character, that I developed such a strong affection for her. And not only do I love her as a character in her own right, I love her as *my* character too, in that fierce way that I think only an RPer can become attached to his or her characters.
I admire her noble selflessness in letting Sakura go, but I think that’s another point where a flaw may come in. I don’t think it’s just about selflessness; I think fear and insecurity plays a part in it too. Even if she thinks there may be a chance, she doesn’t *know* if Sakura would return her feelings, or if she would be sympathetic/apologetic, or even reject Tomoyo and be angry that she “lied” to her (she knows Sakura well enough to know how unlikely this is, but the presence of even a slim possibility would make it an unacceptable risk). No matter what, if the feelings weren’t returned, there would be a high probability that things would be very awkward between them, and they’d drift apart because of it (if nothing else, because Sakura would be reluctant to share as much of her life with Tomoyo so as to spare Tomoyo’s feelings as much as possible). Tomoyo’s fear is that anything less than reciprocity from Sakura would destroy their friendship, and she’s afraid to take that chance; she’s not willing to risk losing what she does have of Sakura to try to get what she truly wants.
I have more thoughts (plus some about Tomoyo/Eriol, which I don’t agree with), but this comment has gotten really long, so maybe I’ll write up a LiveJournal post about it one of these days and continue from there. Anyway, I’m glad you posted this, because Tomoyo can never get too much love. ^^
I am convinced. c.c Where do I sign up?
Eep! I lost my line breaks! Guess I should have double-spaced between paragraphs. I’ll repost the comment so it’s easier to read, and you can delete the first one.
Not a big fan of CCS, but I liked your post, and also the way your write.
Tomoyo’s fetish for Sakura bothered me. Insecurity was the first thought that came to mind.
I am a fan of CCS, and a big fan of Tomoyo. I think a big part of what makes her work as a character, at least in the anime, is that sly sense of humor when she’s teasing Sakura. It’s never hurtful teasing, but she still enjoys making Sakura blush.
Of course, all of this makes Tomoyo’s non-presence in TSR that much more annoying. No wonder I don’t read/watch that series…
I can totally relate to the feeling of not having done a beloved character justice when writing a tribute; you don’t need to worry about it though–the pure Tomoyo wub does shine through, as does the days? (I’m assuming that’s how much a time period you meant) of loving writing effort, strike that, brilliance. ^^ Kudos!
~huamulan03 aka Niki who now understands why THAT anime blog was raving about your writing ^^
Wow! What a fun blog. ^_^
Ahhh, I’m a Tomoyo fangirl at heart. __
Well said!
I couldn’t have put it in better words :D
Tomoyo is the noblest character ever made, and the best friend anyone could possibly have.
Tomoyo is my favorite character in CCS, so it’s nice to see a post with that same viewpoint. Of course you explained why you liked her far better than I can (I’ve read all the manga, but only watched a little bit of the anime). I did wish that she would take initiative though and tell Sakura her true feelings. :3
Thanks to you I discovered the happy joys of CCS, and although she isn’t my favorite I always liked Tomoyo. She always felt like such a tragic figure to me, nobly facing down an unrequited love with a smile and a kind word. What really won me over as to the depth of her character (and I mean that in all ways) was the episode in which Meilin(sp?) realized that Syaoran loved Sakura. Tomoyo saw the stormclouds coming long before Meilin realized it, and offered her a place to stay that evening. And once Meilin realized what had happened, she cried through the night with Tomoyo there to quietly comfort her. That scene made me cry and made me realize just how awesome Tomoyo really is.
…
In a slightly different topic, have you read any Tsubasa Chronicles? Tomoyo (camera and all) makes an appearance in volumes 11 and 12. Thought you might like to know. :)
[...] my absolute favourite character in anime of all time. The most recent (prior to this one) is on my anime blog, which I would consider to be close, but still not exactly at the core of the [...]
hello there,
I will 100% agree with you. Tomoyo is my absolute favorite character of all CCS. IF I had to pick a second favorite it will definately be the Hope card.
with that saying , how did I become a fan?
well …. at first … I wasnt. I was deeply into Pok’emon around the very late 90’s. I didnt get into CC OR Even CCS until 2001!
but yes I was hooked. to an extent when I even started collecting tomoyo toys more , and more , and more. to a point where I sort of have a tomoyo army! I own lots of figures , and 3 custom toys. one was a small tomoyo plush in her red sweater from episode 53 , one was a long waited custom figure of tomoyo in her kimono from episode 62 , and one was tomoyo in her manga white dress from the poster manga art. look it up on deviant art under sorgie , she was kind enough to make her for me.
being a HUGE fan , I began to develop s strange a deep affection towards her. to a point where I created a fan fiction when it was a story on tomoyo and a demigod.
but since then , I sort of created a TOMOYO CLONE sort to speak. her name I call her is Blumoyo. a perfect exact replica with blue hair.
I also have a tomoyo inspired male character named WAVE. Wave is a mixture of the hope card with the orbs on his head and mostly tomoyo. He is the final hope of mankind against the greatest threat: THE ANNIHILATOR GODS!
Blumoyo & Wave are the main heroes in my story. what I call ETERNAL CARDS. just a small nod to card captor.
the eternal cards are a 21 set of cards that has enough power to grant the captor different powers of the gods. they were rivals and at war with the 5 annihilator cards which almost brought the world to complete destruction. that was until a band of sorcerers locked them all away in secret locations to try not to awaken them ever again. but … they were awoken.
we enter Blumoyo Zao in the same area as the Tomoeda reigon. Blumoyo Zao has a connection with Tomoyo , but I will never reveal that yet. too secret. anyway , we enter her just coming home from school , as when she open a book that had only 1 card in it. inside, it was a card made out of blue metal. as she read the inscriptions , the chosen one awoken and took the form as Wave. a violet blue haired deity that had 3 orbs on his head. he was not sure where he was or how he got here. but since then , Wave and Blumoyo had a strong bond.
he also enter where she opens another books containing 21 cards all inside a blue metal book.
what they both found out that there was a black metal book located in tomoeda , and that they had to find it before the 5 annihilator cards awaken. Blumoyo was to become the eternal card captor, and wave was the deity to defeat the annihilator god cards.
thats my intro so thus far.
I got my ideas from various movies and anime. and recently got super excited due to 2 songs from Immediate Music: The Rising Empire , & With Great Power. basically they are trailer music. but I got them now. hehe.
again I might go a different direction IF that idea doesnt work. there is always the re-introduction of my character HAKU. which is suppose to be a direct inspiration of the Hope Card & Raiden from Mortal Kombat mixed into a new character. it depends on how well I draw them and IF the paper I will be getting wont be bent at the top.
I normally buy Card Stock Paper from Joann Fabrics , and I sometimes get really bad packs with dents at the top. I draw my characters and create stories myself! /\/\
I have always wanted a closely inspired Tomoyo CCS story that was solid enough to get some sort of REAL media work done. so wish me luck.
I started my drawing projects way back in 1999. so in 2009 , I will try to be 100% done and will celebrate my 10th anniversary since starting all my ideas and stories.
I even had a creative writters class back in senior year of class of 2004. and ALMOST got a chance to win some sort of price to go down to Florida and get a trophy for a poem I did based on the annihilator gods.
most people support me.
I even have chances to get custom plush toys made based on my characters!
thats IF I can get them finished in time for 2009, which I picked for my deadline.
hope this little idea spawns into a major success. so wish me luck!
this is why Tomoyo stands still as the #1 most favorite anime character of all time!
Hello , Me again,
I have reconfigure my stories into what I belive is to be a 5 trilogy series event sort of thingy magig.
again it all depends on how well I draw my new characters.
the first story , which was my very first idea ever , revolves around a sparking crystal on a sand stone base. I call it THE POWER CRYSTAL.
that Idea was mixed together by some of my middle school year media favorites. including BATMAN BEYOND & some other types of media that I dont remember.
the second story is a mixture of SHANA & DOOM. where basically this character I created name BLAZE tries to hunt down the legendary demon ENTEI while fighting off demons of hell.
the third story is a mixture of AMERICAN MCGEES ALICE & ROZEN MAIDEN. I am not sure how exactly this idea would work , but its been a strong idea thus far. basically its a water themed type of Wonderland I call WATERLILLY. the main characters will face many challenges while trying to defeat an unknown threat that will bring terribly out of balance unless they stand up and fight.
the fourth idea had tons of mixtures. from titles like HALO to TMNT to LORD OF THE RINGS to DRAGONBALL Z. this was suppose to be a single series revolving the same character. the main character would always have a new suit of costume on with the same types of colors: GREEN. the color green is the essence of this character. this character would have a girlfriend who is sort of similar to that of SUISEISEKI from ROZEN MAIDEN. this is suppose to be a HUGE Epic series.
the fifth series is a clue to those who dont know that the characters in the 4 stories before is in deed the SAME character just with different names in different locations. this is because in some planets he travels , he never wants people to know his true identity , so he changes his name based on a code that he follows. anyway , his adventure this time turns into a dark and terrible tale in deed. he somehow manages to get a hold of what I call a symbiotic Bird. birds that can attatch themselves to its host and grant them powers. this one was a dark one that gives him powers of a dark lord. his behavior changes , and his anger drives him mad. under a new but terrible name, he starts to cause more harm than good. during the end of the tale, he somehow regains his sanity , and tries to take the symbiotic bird off. he does but is dying in the process. near death , he praid to the gods to somehow grant him to be saved. the gods does see him as a good hearted soul , his actions were not by his doing but under mind control from the sybiotic bird. so they spared him by taking his soul out and placing it into a single card. which his transformation will be his most powerful and yet pure hearted being. which leads us to the conclusion:
the sixth and final chapter in this series is when we enter Blumoyo. as she comes home from school, she comes upon 2 books , 1 with 1 card in it , and one with 21 cards in it. she awakens the being in the one card and what comes out is a being with wings , long gray hair , and 3 orbs on his head. the reason to his apperance to be similar to the Hope card is because the same sorcerer that created the Hope card was a practice of the Hope Gods , an extremely rare but very power race of beings that tought Clow reed the powers of the Hope. so this would assume that the Hope Card wasnt meant to be played with human hands because it was so powerful. but this chosen one was chosen to be their savior. so this brings the hope card theory with this character. but what they stumble upon was the 21 eternal cards , created by a very powerful sorcerer with specific instructions to create them under the guidence of the Hope Gods. fearing that the eternal cards would overcome , a dark sorcerer created 5 sets of cards that would awaken the 5 annihilator gods. the world was at total war and the entire world almost succome to absolute destruction. until the sorcerer locked them away in a black book. hopeing to never let them be awaken again , he hid it within a temple in a secure location. until this present day , when they are unaware that a class mate has in deed have found the black book with the annihilator god cards inside. this was a new war of the cards. a war that would finally bring the last chance to destroy the annihilator god cards once and for all. the Ultimate Card Captor War has begun…..
good huh?
IF I would choose a song to fit best with the 6th and final story , it would be Immediate Music’s Rising Empire. check out you tube , they have plenty of videos using that song.
and YES I am leading with the HAKU idea and NOT WAVE. I just dont see how Wave as a character would work in an epic series inspired by CCS. I would say the 6th story is more inspired by CCS rather than stories 1 - 5.
the 6th story is sort of like what would a Tomoyo inspired character be like with a card captor title to bare on. and what would happen IF a Hope Card inspired character would be her closest friend.
this is a test to see what will happen to all the fans to see an epic sized CCS come to life before there eyes.
Tsubasa is not really an epic. sort of like that Fox show sliders.
no we need to see a REAL CCS Epic revolving a Tomoyo based character.
and this is my answer.
again stories 1 - 5 wont all work , so I might have to scale donw the stories due to how much paper I can buy.
Card Stock Paper from joan fabrics costs about $3.99 each Plus Tax. sometime sit is cheaper.
in the so called CARD CAPTOR WAR , a Sakura inspired character will wield the sakura cards and a Syaoran inspired character will try to lend a helping hand IF he can. again the annihilator god cards are extremely powerful. I would say they were closly inspired by the God cards from Yu-Gi-Oh, but to a larger extent.
all the Hope is lead by the Hope Gods to their savior and the card captors of the eternal cards , & the sakura cards to stand together and bring down the annihilator god cards.
some of this epic sized ideas come from a Immediate Music song called WITH GREAT POWER & also the song RISING EMPIRE.
look it up on you tube and also a torrent website I always go to has it available to download. I know have it on my computer and on a blank disc.
I hope you will someday see my epic sized CCS inspired story. which I plan to finish the drawings 2009 and start a book or Manga or something I dunno. but I will be copyrighting this story down when I am finished.
its Haku & Blumoyo in an epic sized Card Captor War.
well, hope this little tease brings some positive work ahead. so wish me luck.
Have a Happy holidays.
I’m a pretty good Cardcaptor Sakura fan and also a really big Tomoyo fan. I loved the pictures you put up there so since I’m a big Tomoyo fan I put them on my myspace account so check it out.
[...] an editorial-like piece. I believe it was the one about why the site’s owner, Damien Kellis, liked the character of Tomoyo so much. A good [...]
I loved your essay immensely. It really captured Tomoyo’s essence. I applaud you.
Tomoyo’s my favorite manga character of all time, too. Everything about her is absolutely fascinating. Since she prefers to be behind the scenes rather than in the spotlight, most readers tend not to take much notice of her. This is saddening, considering that Tomoyo is really one of the best characters CLAMP has created.
What initially drew me to her was her air of intelligence and refinement. This sets her apart from the other characters in the series. I found it odd at first that Tomoyo uses formal speech when conversing with her peers. Haha. She, as you have stated, also has an intellect superior to that of most ten-year-olds, which adds to her air of maturity.
Then came the Sakura issue. Truth be told, I wasn’t at all surprised when CLAMP decided to have Tomoyo be in love with Sakura. After all, weird character relationships are almost always present in CLAMP manga. What DID surprise me, however, was the fact that she only wished for Sakura’s happiness instead of her own. This is undeniably selfless. No one really expects this sort of self-sacrifice from anyone, much less a ten-year-old girl who harbors romantic feelings toward her best friend. I really, truly admire her for that.
Tomoyo in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Princess Tomoyo) does not differ greatly from her alter-ego in Cardcaptor Sakura. She too is sage-like and wise, exuding an air of maturity beyond her years. Of course, this trait of hers does not hinder her from being fun-loving and amusing. Like CCS Tomoyo, she is also very compassionate and kind, even at an early age, as seen when she calmed Kurogane after he went berserk when his parents were brutally killed. Her incarnation in Piffle shows her fangirl side; she, like CCS Tomoyo, loves to take videos of Princess Sakura as the latter was racing for her feather.
Tomoyo truly is a wonderful manga character, possibly even one of the best of all time.
P.S. I posted your essay on my blog. I hope that’s okay. Don’t worry, I did not claim it as my own. I just wanted my readers to read it. I also posted a link to the page. Haha.