Yūko Ichihara
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Yūko Ichihara (壱原侑子 Ichihara Yūko) is a fictional character created by the manga team CLAMP.
Yūko, an enigmatic and powerful sorceress, is one of the principal characters in xxxHOLiC and a very important person in the storyline of . She is known by many names throughout the multiverse, most notable as "The Dimension Witch" -- a title that reflects her unique reach in time and space.
Actions and Role
Yūko is the owner of a mysterious shop in Tokyo. She is a dealer in wishes -- she will grant the sincere wish of anyone who is willing to make an appropriate sacrifice in return. Although this never involves money, the price is usually so high that it is frequently unbearable. In the case of Kimihiro Watanuki, who sought to be rid of the monsters that plagues him, the price was a long period of frequently demeaning servitude. As a result, she now has Watanuki as a sort of "personal assistant" to clean, cook, and perform other tasks she considers beneath her. Also in the shop live two child-like beings created with Yuko's magic known as Maru and Moro (their full names, translated roughly, meaning streaking and flashing, a play on the "xxx" in the title) who seem to serve no function other than to keep her company and annoy visitors.Yūko is apparently one of the few people with the power to send people to multiple worlds, such that she has been aptly named the Space-Time Witch and the Witch of Dimensions. The travelers Syaoran, Fay D. Flourite and Kurogane (the protagonists of ) are sent to her from their respective homeworlds in order to gain this ability. However, to gain the ability to traverse dimensions and the related abilities embodied in a being known as Mokona Modoki, they are required to pay a price that equates the power required to grant the wish. After giving what is most precious to him (for Syaoran, it is his relationship with Princess Sakura; for Fai, it is the tattoo on his back of which keeps his magicks in check; for Kurogane, his sword Ginryū given to him by Princess Tomoyo; and for Sakura, her memories of Syaoran).
All of Yūko's customers must pay such prices in order to grant their wishes, which can be no more or no less that the one demanded. She is not one to tell the customer the most direct way to solve their problems because in the end, it can only be solved with that person's own realization and resolution to change themselves. Often if the person lacks the sincere determination to change themselves, an ironic disaster befalls them that even Watanuki, who wishes to stop them from hurting themselves, cannot change.
Personality
Yūko has a wildly eccentric personality in many respects. She has a decidedly nasty streak, as evidenced by the humiliating tasks she frequently assigns to Watanuki. Yet she is also capable of showing affection for him as well. She is lazy and whimsical, carrying out her tasks in an off-handed manner much of the time and expressing little concern over what happens to her clients once her job is done.She is also fun-loving, witty and humorous. She has a great fondness for alcohol, which frequently means she has to send Watanuki to the pharmacy for hangover cures. She is frequently seen with a pipe of the type used in the 19th Century for smoking opium, but (at least in the manga) it is never specified what she is actually smoking in it. (The first episode of tne new xxxHoLIC TV series shows her filling the pipe with tobacco, though in her typical eccentric fashion she uses a cigarette cut rather than a cut for pipes.)
Connections
Although Yūko's actual age is unknown and probably unknowable, she has evidently had contact with most of the important mystically-oriented characters in the various CLAMP series. She has in her possession a replica of Sakura Kinomoto's first Clow staff and has been known to complain mightily about her annoyance with Clow Reed's personality, though it seems that they were preparing for the arrivals of the characters of and Watanuki. She has also mentioned being acquainted with Sumeragi Subaru and his sister and has been aware of the Sakura Kinomoto of Cardcaptor Sakura for some time.Additionally, several characters in are familiar with Yūko. Sorata and Arashi Arisugawa (of the Hanshin Republic) mention that they are indebted to her, Seishirou (from Ōuto) has been given the ability to travel because of her, and Ashura (of Shurano) is seen speaking to her through a reflecting pool. The mysterious antagonist, Fei Wong Reed, and his assistant (named Xing Huo in the anime) both are aware of Yūko's powers and abilities and how she intends to derail them.
As well, many items in Yūko's shop appear to be from other worlds in Clamp's works, or at least act as references. The High Moon Urn used in volume 5 is the same vase recovered by Kazahaya Kudō and Rikuō Himura in volume 2 of Legal Drug. In volume 3, Moro and Maru are seen reading "A City with No People" by Chitose Hibiya from Chobits while Watanuki sports headphones that bear more than a passing resemblance to Chii's ears in the same volume. In volume 6, Yūko sends Watanuki to deliver a cage of mechanical birds which can also be found in Clover.
Since part of CLAMP's stated intention in xxxHOLiC was to unite their body of work into a single universe/multiverse, it seems quite likely that Yūko has a more than passing awareness of the events of Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Babylon, and X/1999, and that while she may not have visited Cephiro herself, she is almost certainly aware of its existence.
Fanwork and Speculation
When xxxHOLiC first came out, there was a burst of fanfiction written on the premise of a past romantic relationship between Yūko and Clow. They were clearly contemporaries, and quite possibly magical rivals. Some suspect that Yūko remembers Clow with bitterness because of a failed relationship (Clow Reed was known to be quite the womanizer), or because she has not forgiven him for effectively committing suicide with his powers.There is also speculation that it is the burden of her immense power that compels Yūko to self-medicate herself with alcohol and whatever other drugs she may be using.
Furthermore, it is possible Yūko Ichihara is not her true name, but a name she adopted to protect herself (she actually says it's an alias in the first episode of the anime). Very few know her true name and she apparently has many aliases according to Tsubasa's Sorata Arisugawa of Hanshin, who refers to her as also as the Dimension Witch, Witch Lady, and the Far East Witch in addition to just "Yūko". As Yūko states in volume 1 of xxxHOLIC, once a person knows a man's true name, the person may discover everything about the man; once he knows the man's birthday, he can take control of his destiny. This theme has appeared in previous works, specifically Tokyo Babylon.
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