Manga and anime publications focused on Subaru's caring personality and his growing relationship with Seishiro such as during the narrative of Tokyo Babylon.

[2] Subaru and Seishiro's respective designs pay homage to Yasunori Katō, the protagonist of the fantasy novel Teito Monogatari, widely credited with starting the "onmyōji boom" in Japan.

[4] The Clamp News 2 newsletter lists Subaru's birth as taking place in Kyoto at 12:20pm on February 19, 1974, with Hokuto being born at 6am.

[6] Following the end of the production of Tokyo Babylon, film director George Iida asked Clamp to help with a sequel movie.

[8] Subaru and Seishiro reappear in Clamp's manga X because their relationship parallels that of the lead Kamui Shiro and the main antagonist, Fuma Monou.

[9] A common theme involves the series' fate; Subaru expresses no interest in the future of the Earth, but he and his counterpart are still drawn to Tokyo on the Promised Day.

[13] After an investigation, on 4 December 2020, the staff expressed their apologies and gratitude to the costumes' rights holders, and revealed that they plan to form a more effective compliance team to prevent future situations like this.

[23] In Clamp no Kiseki, the writers describe Subaru as a kindhearted guy whose past with Seishiro revealed in flashback foreshadow an important event in his life.

However, the gentleness Subaru demonstrates in the series can also be described as another form of strength as he still stands up for the weak, to the point of rarely showing anger when defending them.

Due to the dark nature Seishiro hides from Subaru, the two can be regarded as the yin and yang as the former contrasts his the latter's kind self even when interacting about his job.

[27] When Subaru realizes his feelings towards him, his state can be compared to that the one of a hatched bird egg as a result of the maturity he shows in the process.

[29] When meeting the young Kamui Shiro, the previous distant Subaru shows a more comforting side as he helps him to face reality during the events of X.

[31] When Seishiro dies in battle, Subaru tells Kamui that there is not a single path that might make everybody's dreams come true, something that heavily affects him.

[32] In Tokyo Babylon Subaru appears as a cheerful yet bashful teenager from Tokyo, utterly devoted to helping others in his capacity as Japan's most powerful onmyōji: exorcising demons, helping lost souls ascend to the afterlife, entering the minds of comatose people to bring them back to the world, and fighting those who abused spiritual powers.

[37] In the live action film Tokyo Babylon 1999 (1993), Subaru, portrayed by Tonesaku Toshihide, continues his work as a young adult.

Before his death, Kaneyama had undertaken a new project: teaching a group of seven teenage girls how to use dark magic to take revenge on those they deem "guilty," beginning with an abusive teacher.

[39] When Seishiro destroys one of Tokyo's barriers, the Nakano Sun Plaza, as one of the Dragons of Earth starts an earthquake, Subaru briefly fights his nemesis.

When joining the Dragons of Heaven to prepare for the battle in Tokyo, he brings Kamui Shiro out of the catatonic state into which he had fallen after seeing his childhood sweetheart, Kotori Monou, killed by her brother Fūma.

In the original video animation (OVA) Subaru investigates the tragedies occurring at a construction site, while in the second he searches for a murderer.

[50][15] In volume one of xxxHolic, the witch Yūko Ichihara mentions knowing an onmyōji with a twin sister whom she has known since the boy was very young.

[51] In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Subaru reappears as one of a pair of twin vampires alongside Kamui for whom Seishiro is searching.

It turns out that he was left in a comatose state at the bottom of a large water reservoir, leading to Kamui's fierce protection of the site.

[55] Subaru's character has received a positive critical response for appearances in manga and anime publications since his introduction in Tokyo Babylon.

[56] While reviewing the Tokyo Babylon OVAs, Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment found Subaru's portrayal interesting and recommended it to X fans to explore the character more.

[59] Writers from Manga Bookshelf noted how Subaru deeply believes in the philosophy that nobody can fully understand another person's pain and thus he is unwilling to become attached to other characters.

[60] Zona Negativa stated that despite the series is serialized in a shōjo magazine for young women, Subaru's hero journey felt more like that of a manga serialized in a shōnen magazine for young men, due to the many types of enemies he faces while finding his foes' deep nature and thus he might attract male readers.

[62] Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network noted that Subaru's darker characterization in the series' ending was so similar to Seishiro's that he acted like the man lived.

Silverman commented that this change was paralleled in their next work, xxxHolic, where its lead character Kimihiro Watanuki began to act like his former boss Yuko Ichihara.

[66] Anime News Network praised the lighthearted context Clamp gave the narrative for downplaying the scenes between Subaru and Seishiro.

His debut was praised by Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge for his changed personality resulted from Hokuto's death,[69] while Manga News also enjoyed how he acted as a mentor to the lead Kamui Shiro, making him a more fitting main character in the process.