Eriol Hiiragizawa

Subject: Eriol Hiiragizawa Fri 19 Oct 2007, 6:09 pm

Eriol Hiiragizawa (柊沢エリオル, Hiiragizawa Erioru?) is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. He is known as Eli Moon in the English adaptation Cardcaptors. Voiced by Bill Switzer (series), Johnny Yong Bosch (2nd movie) and Sasaki Nozomu (in Japanese). Eriol is the principal antagonist in the second arc (or Sakura Card arc) of the series.

Character & Role

Eriol is the reincarnation of Clow Reed, carrying Clow's magical powers and memories. While he initially appears antagonistic (given his role), he is actually very supportive of Sakura. He is, in many ways, more elegant and refined than others of his age, not only due to possessing some of Clow's memories but also because he is actually much older than he appears. He stops himself from aging so that he could get near Sakura as a student in the second arc of the series and has been waiting for that right moment. It is unknown, however, if he can use magic to return his body to its correct age after meeting Sakura.

Eriol transfers to Tomoeda Elementary from England soon after Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Avalon in Cardcaptors) defeats Yue in the "Last Judgment" and becomes Master (Mistress) of the Clow Cards. He rapidly befriends Sakura, a feat which persuades Syaoran Li (Li Showron) to postpone his return to Hong Kong (Syaoran was uncomfortable with the aura Eriol exuded, which reminded him of Kaho Mizuki (Layla McKenzie), and Eriol's behavior also made him jealous). He also befriends Takashi Yamazaki and becomes his partner-in-crime when it comes to tell lies; He and Yamazaki respond to each other's cues perfectly and can together enforce the false validity of their story by both appearing to have detailed knowledge of the subject, thwarting Chiharu's (Chelsea's) usual dispelling of the whole lie.

At the same time, a series of magical disasters force Sakura to gradually convert the Clow Cards into "Sakura Cards," which draw from her own magical energy rather than the dwindling amount of magic left in them by Clow.

What Sakura does not know (until the series' end) is that Eriol himself creates these situations. During each battle or event, he is seen from afar just observing the action, often accompanied by his guardians, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon. All three of them live in a house that was formerly occupied by Clow Reed himself.

Eventually Eriol confronts Sakura and reveals himself to be the reincarnation of Clow Reed, creator of the Cards. He challenges Sakura to defeat him by converting the final Cards, The Light and The Dark, which would prevent Tomoeda from being permanently plunged into darkness. With his guardians occupying the attention of Sakura's own guardians, Yue and Cerberus (Keroberos), Eriol uses his magic to hamper Sakura. But eventually she manages to convert Light and Dark with the help of Cerberus and Yue, who together fused with Sakura's wand to make it more powerful, and Syaoran, who provided both magical and moral support.

Eriol escapes the scene after his defeat, and on the next day he informs Tomeda Elementary that he would be returning to England. However before his leave, he invites Sakura, Syaoran, and Tomoyo Daidouji (Madison Taylor) to his home, where he calmly treats them to tea and explains that his motivations and challenges were to aid Sakura in reaching her potential. He then introduces Kaho as his overseas aide. After the tea party, he has a non-violent confrontation with Yue, who is still upset that a new master was named for him when Clow Reed still exists. Eriol clarifies that he is not Clow Reed and just has his memories. Clow Reed will never return, but Eriol offers to talk about the memories he has if Yue ever wishes.

Afterwards, Eriol, Kaho, Spinel Sun, and Ruby Moon return to England together. Eriol and company appear again in the second movie, calling Sakura from England and warning her about the new Clow Card, The Nothing. However his phone call is cut short before he could finish his explanation and warning.

Eriol and Kaho are romantically involved in the series. During the series, after Eriol appears, hints are dropped to a special woman in his life. Towards the end of the series, that person is revealed to be Kaho.

Powers
Eriol can enchant objects using just his touch. He doesn't need any cards unlike Sakura or Li, and at the end of the series he mentions that he draws his power from Darkness. This is interesting since his previous form drew it's energy from the Sun.