is a fictional character in the manga xxxHolic, which was created by the artist group Clamp. Yuko is a witch who owns a shop where people come to have their wishes granted, and most of her jobs involve dealing with supernatural beings. At the beginning of xxxHolic, she meets Kimihiro Watanuki, who becomes her assistant in exchange for removing spirits that follow him. Yuko also appears in the crossover manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, where she assists the main characters in their journey across the multiverse, and is known as the . She has also appeared in animated versions of the two series, as well as in other media.
When creating Yuko, Clamp wanted to have a character who is aware of the multiple fictional universes they had created in their career. Her personality was inspired by the authors' beautician. Yuko is voiced by Sayaka Ohara in Japanese and Colleen Clinkenbeard in English in the animated adaptions of xxxHolic and Tsubasa. Anne Watanabe portrays her in the xxxHolic mini-series, and Kou Shibasaki played her in the live-action xxxHolic film.
Critics praised Yuko for her personality and role in the series, as well as her connections with Watanuki, while the mystery surrounding her saw mixed response. She has also been popular with xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle readers.
Creation and design
Yuko was the first character created for xxxHolic; Clamp wanted to create a character who was aware of the multiple fictional universes they have created during her career, and would act as a bridge between xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle as the latter's cast travels across worlds and remain in contact with Yuko. Clamp thought that Yuko was so "special" that she could have been the series' main character. After deciding it would be more entertaining to have a character who would be interested in Yuko's past, Clamp created Kimihiro Watanuki, both of whom they compared to Doraemon and Nobita Nobi, respectively, from the manga series Doraemon, with Yuko as the lead and Watanuki the audience surrogate.
Yuko's character was not finalized until Clamp met the model they used as the basis for her. As a result, the group gave Yuko their beautician's strong personality. They had problems designing the character, as it took them a long time to design her facial expressions. Clamp artist Mokona said drawing Yuko was challenging due to the character's proportions, something she planned to change with their next work, Kobato.
Casting
Clamp looked for a voice actor who was not heavily associated with another character they created. Sayaka Ohara voiced Yuko for four years, starting with the first Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle adaptation and ending with the xxxHolic original video animation (OVA). Ohara liked Yuko and thought that Watanuki could grow as an individual from her lessons about fate. For Ohara, Yuko was an elusive role she sometimes felt she had not fully grasped, but Yuko's bouts of mischief gave her a more comical characterization rather than her serious persona. Ohara became emotional for her final role in the xxxHolic Rō due to Yuko's death and her final interaction with Watanuki.
Watanuki's actor Jun Fukuyama was grateful for how Yuko developed in the anime alongside Watanuki. Producer Toru Kawaguchi, who worked in the series' original video animations, said Yuko significantly influenced his work. He was more interested in how the character often appeared in Tsubasa as well as xxxHolic. In the English dubbed series, she is voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard.
For the mini-series, Anne Watanabe was cast as Yuko, and Kou Shibasaki was cast as her in the 2022 live-action film.