Tomoyo Daidouji

Tomoyo Daidouji
Cardcaptor Sakura character
First appearance	Chapter 1 (manga)
Created by	Clamp
Voiced by	Japanese Kazuko Sugiyama English Sarah Hauser (Nelvana dub [Clow Card arc], 1st film) Claudia Thompson (Nelvana dub [Sakura Card arc]) Michelle Ruff (films) Natalie Hoover (Clear Card arc)
In-universe information
Alias	Tomoyo Daidōji
Weapon
Family	Sonomi Daidouji (maternal aunt) (mother)
Significant other	Sakura Kinomoto (maternal second cousin; unrequited love)
Relatives	Nadeshiko Kinomoto (maternal aunt) Toya Kinomoto (maternal cousin) Masaki Amamiya (maternal great- grandfather)

Tomoyo Daidouji (大道寺 知世, Daidōji Tomoyo) is the best friend and primary assistant of Sakura Kinomoto, and her second cousin on their mother's sides. The daughter of the president of Daidōji Toy Company, Sonomi Daidoji (Sakura's aunt), Tomoyo is a person of dignified bearing, lives a life of wealth and is watched over by a team of female maids and bodyguards. She has access to a variety of state of the art prototype technological gadgets from her mother's company, and supplies Sakura and Cerberus with different mobile devices throughout the series. Her most defining character traits is her attentiveness, integrity and selflessness towards Sakura's welfare.

Creation and conception

CLAMP stated that the reason that Sakura does not return her friend Tomoyo's feelings is not because Tomoyo is another girl, as Sakura does not consider sex or gender a barrier for her romantic attraction. She simply doesn't have romantic feelings for Tomoyo in particular. Demonstrating this, Sakura confesses that she has a crush on a female teacher in the series.

Characterization and themes

Tomoyo is initially comes off as stereotypical "Ojou-san"; a demure, wealthy, upwardly-mobile high-class female stock character, especially one of nobility or gentry ancestry. However, she is depicted as having exceptional emotionally maturity. Tomoyo is hard-working, highly motivated, compassionate, intelligent, meticulous; giving her a unique air of cultured politeness, deportment, refinement, and etiquette amongst the cast. Tomoyo regularly speaks using more formal verb conjugations and expressions than normally seen in elementary students. She uses 'watakushi', a personal pronoun which, when used outside of formal situations, makes a character seem either "prim and proper," "cultured," or "snobby." Tomoyo is artistically gifted, having displayed talents as an amateur fashion designer, beautician, cinematographer, seamstress, choreographer, and vocalist. Tomoyo is shown announcing, performing, or costume designing in various school events. In the anime, her musical ability causes her to be targeted by both the Voice and Song cards. When needed, Tomoyo can exhibit considerable perceptiveness, cunning and resourcefulness, which was most prominently displayed in The Sealed Card film.

Because Tomoyo lacks magical powers and athletic abilities, Sakura takes on a protective responsibility most times when capturing or transforming cards. If Tomoyo is ever in danger (or missing), Sakura will be the one concerned for her most, and her focus changes from that of the Card at hand to prioritize Tomoyo's safety. Fortunately, Sakura has always succeeded and hugs Tomoyo warmly whenever she reunites with her. Starting in Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, to remove herself from unnecessary danger while documenting Sakura's exploits, Tomoyo has begun using a small camera-equipped drone so as not to worry Sakura.

Tomoyo is notable for her crafty streak and obsession of documenting every single detail of Sakura's personal life on video as much as possible, much to Sakura's discomfort. When she learns of Sakura's new role as a Cardcaptor, she insists that Sakura must wear "special outfits", is responsible for choreographing Sakura's new action poses and begins providing Sakura with the various "magical girl" protective-costumes she wears during her captures, as well as accompanying her on magical (and non-magical) endeavors to record the events with her video camera. This "art project" seems to serve Tomoyo's personal benefit and enjoyment rather than improving Sakura's performance. Tomoyo faithfully keeps Sakura's new identity secret and often covers for her in times of need.

In both the manga and anime adaptations, Tomoyo admits that she loves Sakura, but Sakura replies innocently, "I love you, too," in the platonic sense. This is emphasized using manga conventions: Tomoyo declares her love against a background of flowers, while Sakura replies against a blank white background. In the manga, some scenes give the appearance that Tomoyo has a crush on Sakura's brother Toya; however, according to Volume 1 of Clamp No Kiseki: The Ultimate Collection, and an interview in the Cardcaptor Sakura Memorial Book, this was an error caused by one of the finishing artists not being aware that CLAMP intended for Tomoyo to have romantic feelings for Sakura. Later scenes show that Tomoyo recognises that Toya and Sakura, being brother and sister, have the same ears, and that Tomoyo secretly blushed over Toyo because his ears reminded her of Sakura. Instead, she encourages Sakura's love of Yukito, and later becomes Syaoran's confidante and wingman when he begins to fall in love with Sakura.

Appearances

In Cardcaptor Sakura

In the anime adaptation, the character is voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama. In the Animax dub, she is voiced by Sarah Hauser and later by Claudia Thompson. In the English dub of Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card, her voice is supplied by Michelle Ruff.

In the English adaptation Cardcaptors, Tomoyo is renamed Madison Taylor, she is voiced by Maggie Blue O'Hara, and her elegant speech was replaced with valley girl speech, similar to O'Hara's portrayal of Kitty Pryde in X-Men: Evolution.

In Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card

In the English dub of the Clear Card arc, Tomoyo is voiced by Natalie Hoover.

Appearances in other media

Although not the actual character, two of Tomoyo's alternate forms make an appearance in Cardcaptor Sakura's spiritual successor Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, three in the animated version.

Reception

J.D. Considine of The New York Times stated:

"A United States audience would have a hard enough time accepting the deference and politeness of Sakura's best friend, Tomoyo, as merely a sign of good breeding. But her intense devotion to Sakura -- sewing elaborate costumes for each Clow Card chase, documenting Sakura's successes on video, assuring Sakura that she "really likes" her -- verges on the creepy. No wonder the American version simply paints Madison (the Tomoyo character) as a video obsessive who sees Sakura's adventures as mere camera fodder."