Fruits Basket

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

TT-TT I think there's something wrong with my bookstore or something. They sold all the volumes up to 14 and now there's no more or something. I've been waiting for a year and a half or so for the new one TT-TT

They did the same thing with YnM I only have up to 11TT-TT and Naruto TT-TT

yes, I am a manga junkie

pyro_o · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:55 pm Post subject:

*has read up to volumes 18 or 19*

=X
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♥ ☆ ♥ ☆ J ☆ I ☆ H ☆ Y ☆ E ☆ ♥ ☆ ♥

many thanks to Rhea, because she is the Goddess of Photoshop. 8D

admin · Site Admin Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 1008

[quote="Veleda"]Am I the only Touru/Kyou fan? I just don't see Yuki/Kyou. Then again, the mangaka has laid out the canon pairings pretty explicitely by now, and since I like them, I stick to them. (Haru/Rin! So tragic and beautiful. Ritsu/Mitsuru! So cute and neurotic.)

I didn't like the manga much at first, but as it got deeper and darker, I got more and more sucked in. The series is mostly the part of the manga that I wasn't crazy about. Except for (highlight for spoilers) when Kyou loses his bracelet and transforms, and Touru goes after him. So sweet! (End spoilers.)[/quote

I'm a big lover of all the Canon pairings if that counts.
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Admin and Editor for Yami Forums
~Coco Melancholy or ~Coco

Editor · Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 330

*looks up*

What happened there?? Did I unlearn how to use the forum or something.

Anyway, found the cutest skit.
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Admin and Editor for Yami Forums
~Coco Melancholy or ~Coco

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

(just cuz I seem to find out a lot of stuff by doing this :p)

FRUITS BASKET!!!

Plot
Fruits Basket follows the life of the student Tohru Honda, who was recently orphaned when her mother, Kyoko Honda, died in a car accident. After that, Tohru lived with her grandfather, but when remodeling is needed on the house, Tohru resorts to living in a tent and holds down a job to support herself. Despite suffering many hardships, Tohru remains optimistic.

One day, Tohru comes upon a house in the forest that she is temporarily living in which is the home of Shigure Sohma and fellow classmate Yuki Sohma, of the Sohma family. When the Sohmas discover that Tohru is living in a tent, they are quite surprised by her inner strength. The entire area is Sohma property, and Tohru pleads to live upon the property in her quaint tent (affectionately dubbed "her castle"). Feeling sorry for her, and desperate to end their days of filthy living conditions, the Sohmas offer her their spare room in exchange for cooking and housework. When her tent is buried that night in a landslide, burying her mother's picture and school clothes, she has no option but to accept. Soon after she moves in, Kyo Sohma comes to challenge Yuki.

Tohru soon discovers the Sohma family's secret, and the reason why Yuki is so private and secretive at school: thirteen members of the family are possessed by the 12 animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac ("Jyūnishi" in Japanese) and the spirit of the cat who was left out of the Zodiac according to legend. They transform into animals when hugged by the opposite gender, when they are under a great amount of stress, or if they are weak in any way (such as being sick). When she promises to keep their secret, the Sohmas allow Tohru to keep her memories rather than hypnotically erasing them, a fate that had previously befallen anyone not on the "Inside" of the Sohma family who had discovered the secret.

The story follows the lives of Tohru and the Sohma family, as they deal with each other and a society where neither quite fits in, as well as the feared Akito Sohma, head of the Sohma family. Soon, after living with the Sohma family she began to like, then love all of the Sohmas

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

Differences Between The Manga And Anime
In many places, the anime episodes are very similar to the corresponding manga chapters.[1] However, the anime does make some changes to the story. Some events are combined while other events, such as Tohru's first meeting with Momiji, and all references to "the hat," never happen in the anime at all. The anime series also added more instances of Sohma members being accidentally transformed by Tohru. For example, in episode six when Hanajima and Uotani visit the Sohma house, the anime has a lengthy series of accidental transformations, while in the manga, no transformations occurred during their visit. Much of the events surrounding the revealing of Kyo's final form are greatly changed in the anime, such as adding the extended chase sequence, Tohru meeting Akito in the woods, her meeting with Hanajima and Uotani at her mother's grave, and Yuki having also chased after Kyo. In the manga, none of those events happened, nor was it shown if Yuki was even aware of what happened.

While the anime keeps most of the characters exactly the same as in the manga series, it does make some changes. In the manga, Momiji is half-German and half-Japanese and regularly speaks German, particularly when he first meets Tohru, while in the anime his bi-racial status is never mentioned and no German is spoken. Shigure's darker tones are toned down in the anime, with many remarks he makes in the manga that hint at a hidden agenda are left out, along with most of his early scenes with Akito.[1] The anime also presents Akito as being male and declares that as part of the curse, he will die at a young age.

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

Characters

Non-Sohmas

Tohru Honda
(本田透, Honda Tōru?)
Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Laura Bailey (voice actress) (English)

(本田透 Honda Tōru), 16-17 - An orphaned high school student, Tohru ends up sharing a house with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo Sohma. She loves to cook, is an excellent housekeeper and has an after school job as a janitor to help pay her tuition fees (since she doesn't want to be a burden on her grandfather). She's always polite, and is extremely kind and selfless; in fact, the other characters sometimes have to tell her that she needs to look out for her own interests. Both of her parents are deceased. Her mother, Kyoko, was a celebrated "yankee"-gang leader, and her father was a young high school teacher. Her father died of pneumonia when Tohru was three years old and her mother in a car accident when Tohru first entered high school.

Kyoko Honda
(本田今日子, Honda Kyōko?)
Voiced by: Reiko Yasuhara (Japanese), Julie Mayfield (English)

The late mother of Tohru Honda. When she was young, Kyoko caused trouble and cut classes, and was disowned by her parents. She was also the leader of an all-female bōsōzoku gang/suicide squad called 'The Red Butterfly (Suicide Squad)', the name originating from the legend of how the tail lights on her bicycle trailed like a bright red butterfly when she rode at night. However, Kyoko later moved on and got a job. She fell in love with a student teacher named Katsuya Honda which contributed to her leaving her gang. They shortly married and had a daughter — Tohru. She died in a car crash shortly after Tohru started high school.

Katsuya Honda
The late father of Tohru Honda and husband of Kyoko Honda. He met Kyoko while student teaching at her middle school. He helped her set aside her gangster lifestyle and straighten her life out. The two fell in love and were married, despite the eight-year age gap between them. Three years after Tohru was born, Katsuya died of pneumonia while on a business trip.

Arisa Uotani
(魚谷ありさ, Uotani Arisa?)
Voiced by: Yuka Imai (Japanese), Parisa Fakhri (English)

Arisa is a former gang member (a "yankee"; a Japanese version of the American "thug" image) and has been one of Tohru's closest friends since Tohru's mother helped her escape from the gang (called "The Ladies") when she wanted to leave it. Arisa is tough, brash, and sometimes violent but cries easily when it comes to her friends. She wears long skirts, carries a lead pipe, and often speaks like a man (in Japanese, different word choices can categorize a speaker as male or female). Arisa likes to play cards, protect Tohru from Yuki's fangirls, and swim. Her "convoluted" personality stems from home problems early in her life, when her mother left Arisa and her father for another man; her father became an alcoholic after his rejection. This caused Arisa to become harsh and jaded in her views of the world until she met the kind Tohru and her mother, Kyoko. With her overprotective and rather "parental" protection of Tohru with Hana-chan, she comes off as the brash and direct "father" figure. In Chapter 127, she tells Kureno that she has been waiting for him all this time and needs him.

Saki Hanajima
(花島咲, Hanajima Saki?)
Voiced by: Reiko Yasuhara (Japanese), Daphne Gere (English)

Saki is a psychic girl with a goth-like appearance who has the ability to sense people's "auras" and send out electric waves (denpa in Japanese). Much like Arisa, Saki is extremely protective of Tohru, who was the first person in school who had truly accepted her. She is very observant, polite, and loves to eat (and is rarely seen not eating outside of school). Her nickname, Hana-chan, and her manga symbol, a violet with fangs, relate humorously in that hana means "flower" in Japanese. Hanajima has a close relationship to her family who accept and even nurture her gifts (her younger brother, Megumi, looks up to Hanajima, has his own special ability so that she wouldn't be the only "weird" one in the family). Her mother seems to resemble Tohru's protective and caring nature (maybe explaining her attachment to Tohru). In the near "parental" protection she and Arisa give Tohru, she acts as the protective "motherly" figure. When Kazuma comes in for Kyo's parent/teacher conference, Hana notes that he is "handsome". Kyo is not too keen on the idea of Saki as his "mother".

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

The Sohmas

Akito Sohma
(草摩慊人, Sōma Akito?)
Voiced by: Wakaba Murasaki (Japanese), Chad Cline (English)

Akito is the head of the Sohma clan and very frail. She often runs fevers and rarely walks out of the main house other than to greet some of the Zodiac members, such as Yuki and Shigure, that live in the outside world. Akito has a definite mean streak, and has physically and emotionally scarred many members of the Sohma family, but Akito's rule in the Sohma clan is absolute, and none dare oppose her. When Akito's mother learned she would be born female, she threatened to kill the baby if her father didn't agree to raise Akito as a boy.

While Akito isn't cursed by any of the vengeful spirits (mononoke) of the Zodiac, she has been revealed to be the one fulfilling the role of the Jade Emperor, a character borrowed from the stories about the origins of the Chinese Zodiac. At a certain point in the Zodiac's lives, Akito wishes to force them to live within the Sohma compound with her for the rest of their lives in a never-ending "banquet." She even describes herself as the "master of their (the Zodiac's) souls". She hates Tohru most of all, since everyone seems to love and protect her. In the end of the manga she eventually makes peace with the Sohmas and becomes friends with Tohru.

In the anime, Akito is male, and it is said that he would only live to be 30 years old as part of the curse.

Yuki Sohma
(草摩由希 Sōma Yuki), 16-17 - Yuki is the rat of the zodiac. Known as "Prince Charming" at school, Yuki is very attractive and refined, and has many admirers at school, but has a hard time being friendly. He wishes that he could be with people as friends, rather than admiring them from afar. Yuki has suffered a traumatic childhood at the hands of Akito, the head of the Sohma clan, who locked up and mentally tortured him. Because of this, Yuki has a somewhat low sense of worth. With Tohru's help, however, Yuki is gradually able to loosen up. Generally quiet and reserved, Yuki is an amazing student who enjoys gardening. Yuki's fangirls hate it when Yuki gets closer to Tohru, and use harassment to try to drive her away. They claim they are trying to "protect" Yuki from Tohru, but in truth, they are merely bombarding him with one-sided love and adoration and it's Tohru who's protecting Yuki. It was revealed that Yuki was the one who saved Tohru and brought her back to her mother when she was young. Tohru has never since forgotten that memory and keeps the hat, which actually belonged to Kyo, that Yuki gave to her, saying that he was her first love. For that, Yuki always has had deep and fond feelings for Tohru for actually "needing" him. He has a garden in a small patch of forest near the walkway leading to Shigure's house which he and Tohru call their "secret base". He later admits to Manabe that he was looking for a mother and found her in Tohru. Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)

Kyo Sohma
(草摩夾 Sōma Kyōu), 16-17 - Kyo is the cat, an animal not in the zodiac, but which legend says would have been if it had not been tricked by the rat into missing the induction feast. Kyo hates Yuki and has dedicated his life to defeating him. He made a bet with Akito: if he defeats Yuki before high school ends, he'll officially be accepted along with the other Jyuunishi by the Sohmas. If he does not, however, Kyo would be forced to live "inside", the Sohma estate for the rest of his life. Despite many months of strict training, Kyo has never managed to even land a decent blow on Yuki. Kyo runs away even from the people that want to help him, because he is ashamed of his true form (a deformed, grotesque, and larger version of his zodiac animal), which he turns into when his rosary bead bracelet is removed, when they are removed and it's raining it's at the worst. When Tohru sees his true form, however, she still accepts him and begs him stay with her, which forms a bond of sorts between the two. Kyo is blamed for the death of his mother, who committed suicide. He blames himself for the death of Tohru's mother, who he could have saved from the car at the risk of turning into a cat. He was shaken by this, along with Kyoko's last words, "I'll never forgive you..." which he took the wrong way. He puts on a brave mask to impress the world, but only wants to be accepted. It has been revealed that Kyo is in love with Tohru, and it looks like she might fancy him as well. Though he admits to himself that he loves her, he refuses to subject her to the pain he is convinced he will cause, so when she confesses her feelings to him, he calls her "delusional." In chapter 129 of the manga version, when Tohru was leaving the hospital, Kyo comes to pick her up and she runs away. Though Tohru is surprisingly fast for someone just out of the hospital, Kyo catches up to her and confesses his love for her. Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)

Shigure Sohma
(草摩紫呉 Sōma Shigure), 27, Dog of the zodiac and the owner of the house where he, Tohru, Yuki and Kyo live. Shigure is extremely lazy and perverted, and, when Ayame visits, (the snake of the Zodiac) they enjoy greeting each other like lovers. He is a writer who writes both academic books and trashy romance novels under many pen names. His most common and celebrated is "Karitani Noa" from his erotic "Summer-Colored Sky" novel. He loves to drive his editor, whom he affectionately calls "Mit-chan", to tears by feigning the non-completion of his work, sleeping in late, and smoking cigarettes. Shigure is also very caring and admits to being the "dirtiest of all" because he is willing to use or sacrifice anyone to get what he wants. In the manga it has been revealed that Shigure has deep feelings for Akito, but was upset that Akito chose Kureno instead of him, so as revenge, he slept with Ren, Akito's mother. At the beginning it is revealed that Shigure is using Tohru because he knows that the bond of the curse is weakening (all members of the Zodiac are alive, the rooster's curse has already been lifted, and the dragon's transformation is incomplete) and wants to use Tohru to further weaken the bond and stir things up. Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), John Burgmeier (English)

Kagura Sohma
(草摩楽羅 Sōma Kagura), 18-19 - Kagura is the boar of the zodiac. She has been in love with Kyo since they were young, although she doesn't know that Kyo is in love with her friend, Tohru Honda. Because of her "pity" of him as a child, when he was all alone because he carried the curse of the cat, she played with and took care of him. Eventually, it developed into a near-obsessive love for him. She is convinced she will marry him, mainly because she threatened him into proposing to her, at age 7 (with knives in the manga, or a boulder in the anime to a 5-year old Kyo), and partly because she thinks that they belong together because they can hug each other without transforming into their zodiac form. Despite this love, she often loses her head and beats him senseless when he does something to anger her or make her anxious. As one of the only three female members of the zodiac, she is able to hug any of the male members and neither she nor they transform. She lives with her mother, who is perfectly okay with Kagura's double-edged personality, and Rin. Kagura seemingly is the only female member of the zodiac that has not been personally hurt by Akito. Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Meredith McCoy (English)

Kisa Sohma
(草摩杞紗 Sōma Kisa), 12 - Kisa is the tiger of the zodiac. She is very shy, cute, and withdrawn, largely because her classmates harass and ostracize her due to her naturally orange hair, a side effect of her curse of the tiger. In Japanese society, non-black hair is considered "disrespectful" or "unnatural" and being made fun of for this reason is really quite normal. Tohru helps her to come out of her shell, and she develops quite an attachment to Tohru, calling her "big sister", or "onee-chan". She loves omelets and dislikes dry foods and loves an anime series called "Mogeta". Usually seen around Hiro or Momiji, she sometimes gets mad at Hiro and doesn't want to be around him because of the way he treats Tohru. Her mother is extremely protective of her and worries about her often. Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Kate Bristol (English)

Hiro Sohma
(草摩燈路 Sōma Hiro), 11-12 - Hiro, the sheep of the zodiac, is a very intelligent but verbally aggressive and smart-mouthed sophist. He is in love with Kisa, and resents Tohru because she unwittingly monopolizes Kisa's time and attention. He starts out hostile to Tohru, but eventually eases his initial attitude through a combination of grudging admiration for Tohru and Kisa telling him to let up. He is sarcastic and pessimistic. In the manga, Hiro's annoyance with Tohru might result from her resemblance to his pregnant mother in her forgetfulness and childlike happy personality. In Chapter 118, he is also seen being freed from the curse. Voiced by: Yuriko Fuchizaki (Japanese), Aaron Dismuke (English)

Hatori Sohma
(草摩はとり Sōma Hatori), 27-28 - "Haa-san" The dragon of the Zodiac and the private doctor to the Sohma clan, Hatori is serious, and often without a sense of humour. It is his job to erase the memories of those who discover the Sohma clan secret, though it is not entirely clear if this is simply a form of hypnosis, or more of a supernatural power. When his curse activates, he turns into a seahorse rather than an actual dragon, because the Chinese consider the seahorse to be baby dragons and the actual name in Japanese translates to it. He is very self-conscious about his transformation in the fact that he is the "great and powerful dragon" but appears as a "seahorse". He has had a bad experience in love with his "Spring", a woman named Kana who was the assistant in his doctor's office. The relationship ended when Hatori asked Akito to give him permission to marry Kana. In response, Akito threw a nearby vase at Hatori and left him almost blind in his left eye. Kana felt so guilty about the incident and blamed herself so completely that she was driven insane with depression. Hatori was forced to erase her memory to ease her suffering. Like Shigure and Ayame, he is very tall, and he is really a nice guy upon deeper inspection. It is unsure whether he is dating Tohru's teacher and Kana's best friend, Mayuko Shiraki. Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), Kent Williams (English)

Ayame Sohma
(草摩綾女 Sōma Ayame), 27-28 - "Ayaa-chan" The snake of the zodiac, and big brother to Yuki, Ayame is vivacious, garrulous, and has a knack for making Yuki and Kyo angry. He runs a business that makes women's clothing, which men apparently wear as well, and he often wears women's clothing himself. He named his shop after himself and runs it with Mine, who is later revealed to be Ayame's girlfriend and the seamstress of the store. Ayame designs the dresses, erotic as some or all of them may be. Vain and somewhat self-conscious, he is really a thoughtful person underneath his "selective" skin. He has gorgeous green eyes (gold in the anime) and silver hair in a startling contrast to Yuki's violet and grey. His fear, coincidentally, is a fear of being totally alone. Much to Yuki's chagrin and surprise, he was actually the student body president in high school. When Ayame was young, he did not care for Yuki at all until he realized that when he got older, he would be totally alone without Yuki, spurring his new obsession to gaining Yuki's love shown in the series. Yuki has slowly started to accept Ayame as a brother. Voiced by: Mitsuru Miyamoto (Japanese), Chris Sabat (English)

Hatsuharu Sohma
(草摩溌春 Sōma Hatsuharu), 15 - The ox of the Zodiac, Haru has something of a Yin and Yang personality related to the Ox's personality. He is usually calm, placid, and otherwise an all-around nice guy, but can be goaded into "stampeding", where he's edgy and mean and slightly oversexed. White Haru is conscience during his "black" transformation, but is unable to do anything about it. He just either apologizes or doesn't care. Additionally, Haru has a rather bad sense of direction; he had become lost for three days in another town after trying to find Kyo so he could challenge him. He likes to make fun of Kyo passively and wants to fight with him on a regular basis. He is also in love with Rin Sohma and once is having a relationship with her. Voiced by: Akio Suyama (Japanese), Justin Cook (English)

Momiji Sohma
(草摩紅葉 Sōma Momiji), 15 - A cute and seemingly happy teenager with a sad family life that he hides behind his cheery demeanor. His endless whining and crying often annoys Kyo. He is older than he looks, much to Tohru's surprise. Momiji is the rabbit of the Zodiac and is the son of one of the richer members of the Sohma family. His father is Japanese while Momiji's mother is German. 　(She speaks German in the original. She cannot speak German in the anime.) Tohru unwittingly cleans Momiji's father's building for her job. He has a younger sister, Momo. Momo is unaware of the fact that she has an older brother. Her mom's memory of Momiji was erased because otherwise she might slip into utter madness. Momiji is actually very insightful and emotionally strong despite his upbringing. He took to Tohru very quickly, even ignoring the fact that he was a Zodiac and hugged her when they were formally introduced. Much to Kyo's horror, Momiji likes to wear the girl's version of their high school uniform, albeit with short shorts and not a skirt. It is revealed at the end of chapter 115 in the manga that Momiji's curse has been lifted but as of yet, it is unknown how or why. But unlike Kureno, Momiji decides to leave Akito after he is freed from the curse. Momiji sometimes sees Tohru at work, he sometimes helps her clean her share too. He even did Tohru's share once when she was sick with a cold. Momiji also develops feelings for Tohru. Voiced by: Ayaka Saito (Japanese), Kimberly Grant (English)

Ritsu Sohma
(草摩利津 Sōma Ritsu), 21 - The monkey of the zodiac, "Rit-chan" has very, very low self-esteem and is often seen apologizing for everything. He takes after his mother, the hostess of a hot spring that the Sohmas own. He dresses like a woman because he feels less pressure from society, and is often mistaken as a woman because of his long hair and unusually convincing beauty for a man. Ritsu often blames things on himself that have nothing to do with him, and occasionally becomes suicidal. In addition to this, he has an even odder quirk of having some sort of "special" spot on his side that, when pressed, makes him keel over and faint. Shigure likes to play with his odd personality and mess with Ritsu's insecurities on a regular basis. Most Sohmas call him "Rit-chan" and to Shigure's amusement, Tohru calls him "Rit-chan-san" because in the third book tankoubon Momiji referred to Ritsu as "Rit-chan-san". Apparently, the nickname stuck. Interestingly enough, in the manga, when Ritsu shows up, we see that he may develop a romantic relationship with Shigure's editor Mii-chan. Voiced by: Miina Tominaga (Japanese), Mike McFarland (English)

Isuzu "Rin" Sohma
(草摩依鈴 Sōma Isuzu), 17-18- Isuzu is the horse of the Chinese Zodiac (Jyuunishi). She is often called Rin by a few members of the family because 'suzu' translates to "small bell" in Japanese, and 'Rin' is the sound a small bell makes. Apparently, she and Hatsuharu used to have a close sexual relationship together, until Akito found out about it and injured Rin severely by pushing her out of a window, causing her to be admitted to the hospital for some time. Hatsuharu visited her while she was in the hospital, but Rin broke up with Hatsuharu, not giving a reason why, though it is later known that she didn't want him to be hurt by Akito if they continued the relationship. Rin and Hatsuharu end up getting back together later on in the story. Rin's character is cold and angst-ridden. She thinks of Tohru Honda as an annoyance to the Sohmas, but eventually warms up to her little by little because of the kindness Tohru gives in return. She grows as protective to Tohru as the others and quickly becomes angry when someone upsets Tohru. She only appears in the manga. Famous for her tough and independent nature and darkly exquisite sexiness within the Sohma family. Also, she is known for a trait of her zodiac animal: sheer stubbornness and independence. Anyone who usually tries to go against those feelings usually get a taste of Rin's stilletto-heel boots. Since she missed school Tohru seems to be her first friend. Unfortunately she doesn't know how to respond to that.

Kureno Sohma
(草摩紅野 Sōma Kureno), 25-26 - The rooster of the Jyuunishi. He does not like others to see his animal form, which looks more like a swallow than a rooster. He has somehow lost the curse of the Jyuunishi. He was Akito's constant companion after Yuki. Akito likes to keep him away from the other members of the Zodiac, and Kureno is actually the only person Akito somehow trusts. When he went to a convenience store, for the first time at the age of 26, he met Arisa. She developed a crush on him, but he stays away from her because he feels it is better if he does not love her back. At one time though in vol.17 Arisa hints out that she wants to see Kureno as she screamed for him to see her again during the Cinderella play in vol.15. When Kureno saw the DVD of it and saw Arisa as she screamed this he touched the screen of his computer as a sign of affection to Arisa as he also wants to see her too but cannot due to the fact that he has pledged loyalty forever to Akito. He only appears in the manga. Was described by Arisa as a "male-version of Tohru" with his over-the-top politeness and scatterbrained idiosyncrasies. Kureno seems to be described as "broken-in" by some members of the Sohma family. In Chapter 127, he no longer thinks that Akito needs him, and instead reconsiders his feelings for Arisa.

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

Kazuma Sohma
(草摩籍真 Sōma Kazuma), 34 - When he was a child, Kazuma was mean to his grandfather, who was then the member of the Sohma family possessed by the cat of the Chinese Zodiac, during their first and only meeting simply because his grandfather was cursed by the cat. Hoping to make amends for how he had treated his grandfather, he decided to take care of the young Kyo Sohma after Kyo's mother had committed suicide. He is Kyo's martial arts teacher, but is also an adoptive father to him. Kazuma thinks well of Tohru and hopes that her love for Kyo is sincere and that her relationship with Kyo will not mirror that of his grandfather and grandmother. Kyo calls him Shishou which means "master". Kazuma has taught many of the other Sohmas martial arts, including Kagura, Yuki and Haru. He is also the one who showed Tohru Honda Kyo's true form. Voiced by: Norihiro Inoue (Japanese), Dameon Clarke (English)

Ren Sohma
(草摩栋 Sōma Ren). Akito's mother who only appears in the manga. She was originally a maid in the Sohma household who won Akira's heart by being the only one to notice his great loneliness and treat him with kindness instead of as just the head of the household. When she learned she was pregnant, however, she was afraid the baby would replace her in Akira's heart and demanded it be raised as a male. Before his death, Akira told Akito that he'd always wanted Ren to be the happiest about her birth because it was proof that his and Ren's relationship was special. His death further deepened the rift between Ren and Akito.

Ren and Akito are extremely antagonistic towards each other. When Akito slept with Kureno, Ren told Shigure and seduced him to infuriate Akito.

Ren continually claims that Akito's bond with the Juunishi is fake, rather than the true love Akito claims it to be in order to feed Akito's fear of being abandoned. Her cruel attitude towards Akito may explain Akito's fears of being unwanted and unloved and her tendency to lash out at the Juunishi at the slightest sign they may leave her.

Satsuki Sohma
Hiro Sohma's mother. She has a certain fondness for Kisa, and Kisa usually refers to her as "oba-san" (literally, "auntie"). Shigure first mentions her in volume ten as Hatori's new girlfriend in order to shock his ex-girlfriend Mayuko Shiraki (who still likes Hatori). Hatori later tells Mayuko that Shigure was likely joking because Satsuki is actually a relative.

Satsuki is one of the few parents of a child possessing the curse of the Sohma family who honestly accepts and loves their child. When Hiro was born and turned into a sheep when she embraced him, she instantly exclaimed: "I love sheep!" That simple sentence truly proves her ditz-like personality reminiscent of Tohru and Hanajima's mother. She is kind and loving, though her absentminded nature constantly worries Hiro, especially when she tells him that she is pregnant with his younger sister, Hinata. It is inferred that Satsuki has been known to fall down stairs and crash into walls, which makes Hiro even more worried for his mother, and his sister's safety.

Momo Sohma
Momiji Sohma's sister. Unlike her older brother, she is not cursed with a vengeful spirit of the Zodiac. After Momiji was erased from his mother's memory, Momiji's mother and father had a daughter, Momo. Not wanting to destroy his new happiness, Momiji's father forbids Momiji from interacting with Momo. Ironically, Momo is interested in knowing Momiji and attempts to find ways to discover more about him. She sees a great resemblance between Momiji and their mother (who denies it).

When Momo catches Tohru attempting to sneak into the "inner" Sohma complex, Momo shows Tohru a secret way in. She asks Tohru to ask Momiji if he would like to be her older brother. Momo had started to learn how to play the violin, which meant that in order to maintain the separation, their father asked Momiji to quit (otherwise they would have had the same teacher). It later turns out that she saw Momiji playing and was hoping that if she learned how, they would be able to play together. When Momiji hears from Tohru that Momo wants him to be her older brother, he begins crying tears of joy. Momo is referred to as "cute" by her elder brother, and almost always stays near her mother, 'like a baby chick'.

Jani_chan · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 2685 Location: Enma's bed

Others

Kakeru Manabe
(真鍋翔 Manabe Kakeru) 16-17 - He is Machi Kuragi's half-brother. He is also on the Student Council President Board as Vice President and is very much like a younger version of Ayame Sohma. Rather lazy and charismatic, Manabe is a lovable person. He has a girlfriend named Nokao Komaki. It turns out that her father is the person who hit Kyoko Honda in a car accident; Komaki's father died instantly while Tohru's mom died momentarily. Manabe thought that it was annoying that Tohru thought that she was the only one affected by the accident and confronted Tohru, saying that she was annoying while believing he was protecting Komaki. However, when Komaki discovered what he had done, she became angry and set him straight because of how he disrespected Tohru's feelings. Feeling somewhat lonely afterwards, he realized that his feelings and Komaki's were not the same and vowed to understand her better. He apologizes to Tohru for his hurtful behavior. Manabe has since become good friends with Yuki and has proven to be very overprotective of Machi, especially when it comes to Yuki. He often loses control and starts yelling and throttling Yuki, not taking the time to think about what Yuki is really trying to say.

Machi Kuragi
(倉伎真知 Kuragi Machi) 15-16 - Kakeru's half-sister. Unlike most girls at school, she doesn't see Yuki as anything more than just another boy. Her refreshingly different attitude catches the eye of Yuki, and he makes multiple attempts at befriending her. She also appears to have a crush on Yuki, but is not obsessive about him like other girls. She seems to have difficulty expressing herself directly, which usually results in Kakeru making decisions for her. In Chapter 125, it seems that Machi was able to tell Yuki of her feelings. Machi is also very fond of the pseudo-anime character "Mogeta". In volume 18 of the manga some girls are telling Yuki about Machi's past saying she tried to kill her brother. Yuki and Kakeru go to Machi's apartment and Yuki finds out the truth. Due to the intense pressure her mother placed on her to be perfect, Machi finds perfection extremely disturbing to the point of having to mar anything that could be considered perfect, such as walking through new-fallen snow and breaking pieces of chalk from a new box.

Kimi Toudou
(藤堂君 Tōdō Kimi, 16-17) - She is one of the two student council secretaries and is a very manipulative yet interesting character. She appears at first as a very obviously deceiving girl who over-confidently tries to trick Yuki into sharing his chocolate, which was given to him by the Prince Yuki Fan Club members as a summer gift, with her. Completely noticing Kimi's true intentions, Yuki suggests to Kimi to stop the way she is acting, and slowly, though hardly noticeable, begins to change. She is detested by the Prince Yuki Fanclub members for being such a deceiver, though not much has been seen of her and them since the chocolate incident. She is rather active in the student council. She appears to have a very strong sisterly relationship with the student council vice president, Kakeru Manabe.

Mit-chan
Shigure Sohma's editor: her actual given name is Mitsuru, though Shigure playfully calls her Mit-chan instead. A very depressed young woman, she is more than often seen nagging Shigure to finish his manuscripts or other projects for publishing, which Shigure either often leaves to the last minute or lies stating that he has not finished it. In reality, Shigure has already finished his projects and lies to torment and worry Mit-chan even more than she already is at the time. Because of this fact that Shigure always does have his work done, it is viewed by some that she is actually somewhat airheaded in not learning her lesson, though this most likely is not so, considering Shigure constantly does leave his house and takes sudden vacations, disappearing when the deadline is due. He has pushed her so far that she has (comically) attempted suicide several times, whiler her boss tries to calm her down by telling her Shigure is tricking her again. She is also involved in a possible romantic relationship with Ritsu Sohma. The two are often seen crying and blushing and discussing their lives and problems together. Mit-chan's surname was never revealed in the manga. Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese), Cynthia Cranz (English)

Mayuko Shiraki
(白木繭子 Shiraki Mayuko)
In the manga, Mayuko is Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, Hanajima, and Uotani's homeroom teacher. She is quite sincere and wants what is best for her students, but is also quick-thinking and somewhat aggressive (when Kyo attempted to leave the school on Valentine's Day, she stopped him at the door and threatened to dye his hair black instead of orange).

According to Natsuki Takaya, Mayuko is the type that's sad that she is a woman. Mayuko is generally good-humored, once demanding as a joke that her students refer to her as Great Teacher Mayuko after they called her "Mayu-chan-sensei".

Mayuko was best friends with Kana Sohma, Hatori's former girlfriend, and came to know Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame through Kana. While Mayuko had feelings for Hatori, she was content that Kana and Hatori were happy together and was at a loss when they broke up because Hatori had erased Kana's memory. While she dated Shigure briefly nothing ever came of it; she dumped him after a month, partly because she only dated him to alleviate her loneliness and because Shigure pitied her somewhat, and Mayuko is constantly infuriated with Shigure's interference in her life, even when his machinations manage to bring her closer to Hatori.

Mayuko's parents own a small bookstore, in which every so often Mayuko is called in to staff, and worry about her single marital status often. The manga has implicitly shown that in a few years, she and Hatori will end up together. In a sidebar in volume 11 of the manga, Natsuki Takaya states that Makuyo is "secretly insecure of how tall she is". She also states that Hatori is tall too, and that they "might look pretty good together as a tall couple".

Mine Kuramae
(倉前美音 Kuramae Mine) - At Ayame Sohma's clothing store, Mine works as a designer and seamstress in which she contributes greatly and passionately to her "boss"'s business. She is passionate, cheerful, and determined and will do anything for Ayame; she also frequently ensures that details that Ayame has neglected in his enthusiasm, such as getting permission to enter Yuki's school, are covered. She is completely obsessed with cute girls and dressing them up in special outfits she has designed for them. She adores fashion but adores the people she dresses up even more, and according to Natsuki Takaya, "she is an amazing person". According to a brief flashback in volume eight, Mine is "someone Ayame can confide in". The two are secretly in love, and later live together. Voiced by: Miki Takahashi (Japanese), Amber Cotton (English)

Kunimitsu Tomoda
(友田邦光 Tomoda Kunimitsu) - Kazuma's personal assistant at the dojo. He has known Kyo since he was a little boy and likes to occasionally tease him (for example, he told Tohru that Kyo was afraid of a stain in the kitchen wall when he was younger, much to Kyo's embarrassment) as well as Kazuma. He is also quite familiar with Isuzu, who has been a frequent guest of Kazuma's since her childhood. Kunimitsu does not know about the Sohma family's curse, despite having worked for Kazuma for years, because he is not a Sohma.

Naohito Sakuragi
(桜木直人 Sakuragi Naohito; Drama CD seiyu: Jun Fukuyama), 15-16 - Claiming to be Yuki's "rival", due to the fact that he has a secret crush on Motoko Minagawa who is the president of the Prince Yuki fan club, Naohito Sakuragi is the second of the two student council secretaries. An utterly no-nonsense and rather arrogant young man, Naohito takes his job as secretary, as well as his general involvement in the student council, which he absolutely refuses to call "The School Defense Force", very proudly and seriously. Always angry and rather cold, as well as determined to defeat Yuki at almost everything, he could be described as similar to Kyo, though considerably less violent. He works incredibly hard in the student council and often chooses to stay to work after school than do other fun things. He is sometimes referred to as 'Chibi-Suke'-'Chibi' meaning small or shrimpy, and 'suke' being a common masculine name-ending- by Kakeru Manabe and Kimi Toudou because he appears short and weak. The nickname literally means "Shrimpy Man".

Komaki Nakao
(中尾小牧 Nakao Komaki) - Kakeru Manabe's girlfriend. She has a generally kind and gentle air about her. She will be moving to a new high school soon, and as a result will be separated from Kakeru. Her father was the driver of the car that killed Kyoko Honda and she, along with Kakeru, was at Kyoko's funeral. Because her father also died in the accident that killed Kyoko, Kakeru believed that he was protecting Komaki when he told Tohru that she was selfish to believe she was the only one deeply affected by the incident. When Komaki discovered what he had done, she became angry at his insensitivity towards Tohru's feelings and a rift developed between them. Kakeru, there after, promised to better understand other people's feelings before acting rather than going by what he assumed. Because of her considerably friendly character, she is also quite gullible. Kakeru often jokingly refers to her as the "Meat Angel" because she really loves meat. She only appears in the manga.