List of Fruits Basket characters
As the series progresses, Tohru meets the rest of the zodiac and the family's mysterious head, Akito Soma, and eventually resolves to break the curse that burdens them.
[8] When asked how she came up with Tohru's personality and background, she said: I thought that for a girl to accept other people's feelings so wholeheartedly, she'd have to have a slightly unusual way of looking at things so that she wouldn't be crushed by having so much empathy.
She loves to cook, describes herself as an excellent housekeeper, and has an after-school job as an office janitor to pay her tuition fees to avoid being a burden on her grandfather.
[20] She is depicted as polite, optimistic, extremely kind, and selfless;[21][22] several other characters, including Kyo,[23] Rin,[24] and Saki,[25] tell her she needs to look out for herself and not shoulder everyone else's burdens.
Tohru repeatedly calls Kyoko the most important person in her life and treasures her photograph;[27] when she falls in love with Kyo she feels guilty of being "unfaithful" to her mother's memory.
[33] In the sequel series Fruits Basket another, Tohru and Kyo are married with three children, their oldest son Hajime acting as the male protagonist.
Arisa is depicted as tough, brash, and sometimes violent;[36] she wears long skirts, sometimes carries a lead pipe, and often speaks like a man (see Gender differences in spoken Japanese).
According to an author's note, in contrast with her Gothic Lolita appearance,[44] she likes shōjo manga and novels and bought a copy of Shigure Soma's Heartthrob.
Katsuya habitually speaks formally (see Honorific speech in Japanese) as a way of distancing himself from the world,[53] a habit that, according to his father, Tohru later adopts.
[42][61] Akito is depicted as short-tempered and abusive, and has physically and emotionally scarred many Somas, including Hatori, Rin, Hiro, Kisa, Yuki, and Kyo.
[42] Ren decided to raise Akito as a male because she was ashamed of giving birth to a girl who was "god" to the zodiac, and who was receiving more attention from her husband, Akira.
She later begins dressing and living as a woman,[69] and in the final chapter Shigure, whom she is in love with, moves in with her and also her removal Soma's family due to her abusive attitude towards them.
[85] Kyo is depicted as an orange-haired young man who is short-tempered and charismatic, if initially awkward around people;[86] Arisa once calls him "anger management boy,"[39] and Yuki Soma expresses envy of his ability to make friends easily.
[92] Aside from his foster father, however, Kyo pushes away the people who want to help him, because he is ashamed of the cat's true form—a grotesque, foul-smelling, monster—which he turns into when his bone juzu bead bracelet is removed.
"[58] Only when Arisa, Saki, and Yuki impress upon him how deeply his rejection hurt Tohru does he get up the courage to accept her, and when he does finally confess to her, his curse lifts—along with the rest of the zodiac.
When Kisa starts seventh grade, her classmates harass and ostracize her because of her naturally tawny hair and golden eyes, an effect of her curse, and the cause of her shyness.
[129] As the series progresses, Kisa is shown struggling with her shyness, and feels it is a major accomplishment to greet Kyo directly, instead of relying on Hiro to speak for her.
[143] Being cursed by the Monkey, Ritsu is blessed with fast reflexes and an extremely agile body; he is able to react quickly and climb to high grounds easily.
[144] Ritsu dresses in women's clothing because he says he then feels less pressure from society, and is initially mistaken for a woman by Tohru Honda because of his long hair and beauty.
[153][154] To free Hatsuharu, Rin starts searching for a way to break the curse, and asks Kazuma,[62] Shigure,[155] and Ren Soma[156] for help, though she resists the assistance of Tohru Honda, who she thinks is too nice for her own good.
Overridden with guilt, Kana was unable to lead a normal life following the incident, which eventually led to Akito suggesting that Hatori should erase her memories.
[180] Manabe is Machi Kuragi's older half-brother by their mutual father's mistress, and protective of her because she is still affected by their mothers' fight, now ended, to have their own child named heir.
Machi lives apart from her family because her mother believes she resents, and is a danger to, her younger brother for supplanting her, an accusation she did not contest even though it is false.
[186] Shiraki is depicted as generally good-humored but sometimes aggressive—when Kyo attempts to leave class on Valentine's Day, she stops him at the door with a folder in his face and threatens to dye his hair black instead of orange,[187] and once breaks up a fight between Hatsuharu and Kyo by dumping a bucket of water over them;[188] she once demanded as a joke that, after some students familiarly addressed her "Mayu-chan-sensei," that they call her "Great Teacher Mayuko.
[132] She is depicted as cheerful, passionate about costuming, and determined to do anything for Ayame; she takes care of details he neglects in his enthusiasm, such as getting permission to visit Yuki's class.
[195] Naohito is depicted as a no-nonsense and short-tempered young man who is frequently angered by Kakeru Manabe and Kimi Toudou's antics, and the author noted that she never drew him smiling.
Manabe and Kimi sometimes call him Chibi-suke (chibi meaning small, and -suke being a common masculine name-ending),[37] which irritates him because he is sensitive about his short stature.
He is a first year middle school student and a member of the Go club (dedicated to the ancient board game), along with his cousin Chizuru Soma and his friend Rio Mosuka.
Being Akito's son, he faces harassment from people who bears grudge against his mother, and his grandmother, Ren, once even attempted to kill him when he was a child.
He is a second year middle school student and a member of the Go club (dedicated to the ancient board game), along with his cousin Shiki Soma and his friend Rio Mosuka.
