     |
|||
 |
The first time we see Shaolan is in Sakura's dream. She is having the same dream that she had in the first episode before she released the Clow Cards. Except instead of herself being on the edge of a building looking at Tokyo tower, it was a boy in a strange Chinese costume. Kero-chan told Sakura that since she has a lot of magical power, the dream could be an omen; she might meet the boy with the Chinese costume sometime soon. That day in class, sensei introduced a new student. Tomoyo mentioned that it's really unusual to get a new transfer student at that time of year. The new transfer student stepped into the classroom, as all of the other students looked at him and whispered among themselves. Sakura looked at the boy, looking kind of bored, until she noticed that he was glaring right at her. She sweatdropped and blinked as the boy didn't break off the stare.
Finally, once the bell for break rang, Sakura walked down the stairs of the school to go outside. She stopped and leaned against the railing, holding her head. "I feel so tired..." she said. Suddenly, a hand came down on her shoulder from behind her. Sakura paused. It was Shaolan, "Do you have a moment?" he said, and Sakura froze as her hair all stood on end. So Sakura and Shaolan met outside together in the courtyard, next to the outer fence of the school. Shaolan had a strange board with him, and he started chanting "Gold, Saturn, Water, Fire... etc." The board started to spin and characters appeared around it. Suddenly, a dome of light appeared in the middle of the board, and the light shot out at Sakura. Shaolan broke off the light and jumped back. "I knew it!" he said, "You have a Clow Card with you!" Sakura was shocked. Shaolan held out the board, "This Lashin Board is made to look for Clow Cards." He held out his hand, "Give them to me," he demanded Sakura. She refused, telling Shaolan that she promised Kero-chan she would collect all of the cards. Shaolan was shocked at Sakura mentioning Kero, and said, "If Kereberus is here, how come he lets a young kid like her keep the cards?" (Conveniently forgetting that he's the same age as her.) Sakura mentioned that Kero-chan's power had dwindled. After telling Shaolan that she was searching for about two months now, he said, "You have been looking for two months and you still haven't found the Fire and Earth cards?" Further lowering Sakura's self-esteem about things.
This first appearance is very important because many new sub-plots pop up, and we see a lot of Shaolan's characteristics. First of all, he is quiet and very serious. Determined to catch the Clow Cards himself, he isn't going to let anyone in his way; especially Sakura. Of course, he underestimates Sakura at the beginning, and later on, after he sees her in action, he gives her more respect. And that's respect that Sakura deserves, because she is very quick to act and make up strategies to catch the Clow Cards. After a while Shaolan starts to work together with Sakura instead of against her, and they become good friends. Even though they both like Yukito, they still manage to put aside their rivalry in love and in catching the Clow Cards, and they become close. They once had a talk about how they both like Yukito, but somehow it seemed like Shaolan didn't have nearly as big of a crush on him as he did before. Though Sakura and Shaolan became good friends, Kero-chan was not so quick in accepting him and respecting him. If you think Sakura and Shaolan started off on the wrong foot, you should see Shaolan and Kero-chan. After Shaolan called Kero-chan "idiot" and a stuffed animal, he was quite insulted. He bites Shaolan's finger many times whenever Shaolan says something rude, and he called Shaolan "bozo" which means "kid" or "brat." Another person that Shaolan really didn't get started on the right relationship with is Touya. Touya is always suspicious of Shaolan, especially because of that first encounter with him when he was trying to steal the Clow Cards from Sakura. Whenever Touya sees Shaolan, they both glare at each other silently. Touya hates to see Shaolan around Sakura because the only person who can give Sakura a hard time is himself, naturally And of course, since Touya is extremely over-protective of Sakura, he doesn't want to see her hurt by anyone. And Shaolan didn't really prove himself very trustworthy in his first meeting with Touya.
Shaolan uses his Lashin board to find Clow Cards. It's a very helpful tool that comes in handy many times throughout the series to find the Clow Cards and what not. He also has a sword and other magical attacks and powers that he chants and fires. Shaolan is most often the one who finds the Clow Cards and sometimes makes them weaker by attacking them, while Sakura is the one who seals them into their card shape with the Sealing Wand. They make a very good team, because they both are smart and strategic, so whenever they get together to catch the Clow Cards, they can always think of a good strategy and help each other. Neither Sakura nor Shaolan is always saving the other one, but they are both always taking care of each other and their friends. Shaolan doesn't trust people very easily, but he is extremely gullible, which is kind of a strange combination. The only people he doesn't trust easily are people who he can feel a strange aura or presence from. When Mizuki-sensei appeared, Shaolan didn't trust her because she had a strange aura about her. He also didn't trust Eriol, and he is always warning Sakura about these people and telling her to be careful around them. However, Sakura is too nice and naive and doesn't feel like they threaten her, so she makes friends with them, which both kind of frustrates and worries Shaolan, though he doesn't show it. If people are normal, however, Shaolan trusts them very easily and is also very naive about them. He never stops to ask questions, and he is often tricked by Yamazaki's fibs and outrageous stories. But if he ever feels a strange presence around a certain person, he is always watching out for them. Once Shaolan trusts somebody and becomes friends with them, he is extremely loyal. He is one of those people who would never turn against their friends and would always protect them from danger. He is not very emotional, so he doesn't show his care all that much, but he is a very loyal, caring, and noble friend. He's almost like Touya in a way because he is always watching over his loved ones but isn't emotional about it and doesn't show it. Overall, he is a nice, caring, extremely cute, and loveable character. |
|
|
|
|
||
After
sensei wrote Shaolan's name on the board, he introduced him. "His
name is Li Shaolan, from Hong Kong. Everybody be nice to him. As for
the seat, let me see, there's an empty seat behind Kinomoto."
So, much to Sakura's dismay, Shaolan was given the seat right behind
Sakura at the very back of the classroom. As Shaolan walked over to the
seat, he gave Sakura a deadly stare. There was a very uncomfortable
silence as Sakura wasn't sure what to do, until Tomoyo smiled and showed
Shaolan to his seat. Shaolan threw his backpack and hat onto his desk,
sat down, and then stared at the back of Sakura's head, narrowing his
eyes. Sakura still looked forward, "I feel a bad atmosphere
here." she thought to herself. Later that day, he still stared
at Sakura as they were having class, and Sakura felt his eyes on the
back of her head, making her extremely uncomfortable. "This is the
first time I've seen him, but why? Why? Why?" She sweatdropped as
she felt his eyes fixed on her.
Shaolan
demanded that Sakura give him the Clow Cards again. Sakura refused once
more and held onto her skirt pocket, as if protecting them. This gave it
away for Shaolan and he tried to take the cards from Sakura by force.
Just then, Tomoyo came around the corner of the school, looking for
Sakura, and she saw her struggling against Shaolan. Right then, Touya
came and jumped over the school fence. "Stop! What are you doing to
my sister?!" He demanded. Shaolan took a fighting stance. Touya also took a fighting stance as
Tomoyo ran over to Sakura. She asked if she was alright, and Sakura
said, "I'm fine, but more importantly..." she turned to Touya
and Shaolan. "I haven't seen this style before. It must be Chinese
Kung Fu." Touya said. Right as Touya and Shaolan were about to
fight, Yukito ran over to them and jumped over the fence. "Hey!
They have it! Meat buns! I have five exactly." He then searched
through his bag and pulled out a meat bun for everyone to eat, while
they all sweatdropped. He had one extra meat bun, so he offered it to
Shaolan. Shaolan then started blushing like crazy, turned around, and
ran away, tripping on a rock during his flee.
As
you can see from the picture to the right, Shaolan is very shy.
He's very non-emotional, and doesn't know how to really express his
feelings, so whenever he is around someone he likes, he immediately gets
as red as a tomato. Whenever he sees Yukito, he promptly blushes
insanely and flees the area at the speed of light. Later in the series,
he starts blushing around Sakura as they become closer. Once, when he
saved her from the Return card, she glomped him and thanked him.
Smoke just about blew out of Shaolan's ears and his face turned completely red. It
seemed by then that his affections were kind of swaying away from Yukito
to Sakura. However, Shaolan has a fiancée. His family already
set up his marriage for him, and his fiancée is Meiling Li- his
cousin. Meiling is very different from Sakura in that she has no trouble
telling the person she loves how much she loves and adores them. She
is often found with Shaolan, adoring him and nearly worshipping the
ground he walks on. This kind of girl isn't really good for Shaolan because he's so shy, and he isn't really comfortable with the
constant affection that Meiling shows him.