of the cast. Fukuyama aimed to work originally in Tsubasa based on Watanuki's role and felt in retrospective that he also enjoyed xxxHolic during its debut. His role in xxxHolic Rō also impressed the actor based on how much Watanuki changed because of his work as the shop's owner to the point the audience would want another sequel focused on Watanuki. During the ending of the anime by Production I.G, an episode focused on Watanuki's childhood that moved multiple members of the staff. Fukuyama was impressed by it and expressed curiosity about what happened if something else took place that was not shown to the audience. Fukuyama enjoyed his work and felt nostalgic for it years after the final original video animation was released. For the character's role in Blood-C: The Last Dark, Fukuyama needed to portray Watanuki as a mature despite not aging from his appearance in xxxHolic. Todd Haberkorn voices him in the English dub of the anime series. Haberkorn said that Watanuki would be the most ridiculed character in his career based on how he often ran away from yokais something that other characters he voiced are in charge of doing. In the live-action drama, Shōta Sometani plays the character of Watanuki. He regarded his character as dignified based on his knowledge of the series and thus felt pressure in portraying him. Nevertheless, he expressed gratitude other members of the staff assisted him, including the director and Anne Watanabe who portrayed Yūko. Clamp also looked forward to the appearances of Watanuki and Yūko in the live-action version. Characterization and themes Manga Bookshelf found Watanuki as a realistic teenager due to how he has a tendency of becoming irritated in contrast to another of Clamp's characters, Subaru Sumeragi from Tokyo Babylon, who is portrayed as a character who lacks his self values and is generally calm when interacting with his friends. In early chapters, Watanuki is portrayed as lonely child who attracted a spirit and befriended him. Watanuki's problem of constantly being followed by demons was compared by Dani Cavallaro to the sensation of a normal person feeling scared by the belief he is being observed, a parallel to Yuko's client made in the book Magic as Metaphor in Anime: A critical study. The inclusion of spirits being attracted to him is also a major theme in the series as it contrasts his lives with humans. However, Watanuki