Here are my illustrations for Year of The Cat@kyoruzine~ Couldn’t avoid drawing kitties everywhere for a Cat-centric zine!
I wanted to show the decorations I did too, so I imitated the pretty layout done by mod Cmykae, with many changes to keep the exclusivity for zine’s owners. Leftover sales are currently open, remember to check it out~
I was hoping to get this done before the new episode…but at least I’m posting it the same day! Tohru, Uo, and Hana’s friendship is everything, and I’m personally happy that they moved up Uo’s backstory! It always felt out of place in the manga.
With the fast approaching release of the Fruits Basket OVA, it’s time to do a time-honored tradition of ranking things in a series. In this one, I’ll be ranking the Parents of Fruits Basket, because why not?
The criteria of how it will be ranked are as followed.
A: The nature of the relationship between parent and child
B: The effect that relationship has on the child from the start to the end of the manga series.
C: How present the parent is in their child’s life.
D: How willing the parents are in growing a relationship with their child.
So, without further ado…
Part 2 is the parents who in the middle. Their relationship with their children is damaged but many of them at least try to do their best.
Momiji Sohma’s Parents
The Sohma Curse is initially fun for Tohru. People who can transform into animals when hugged? What a cute concept. But when she learns of the hardships they face because of this, it suddenly becomes less fun. Momiji’s life may seem like a charmed one. He’s happy-go-lucky, excitable, and full of energy. His father owns a huge company that he can come and go at whenever he pleases. Plus, he’s a virtuoso at the violin. But behind his smile is a history of pain.
Momiji’s father married a German woman, someone who was not just outside of the Sohma clan but outside of the country. It’s never stated if his father knew of the curse prior to Momiji’s birth but when his mother held him and he transformed, Momiji’s life trajectory took a terrible swing. His mother was horrified at having given birth to a monster. As his mother’s mental condition deteriorates until she demands to have her mind wiped by Hatori, regretting ever giving birth to Momiji. His father tells him that he will love Momiji twice as much for the sake of his mother.
This doesn’t happen.
His father and mother have another child, his sister Momo. His father decided to live his life with his wife and daughter and have his son on the outside. For Momiji, this had to be difficult, watching his father play happy family while he was literally forgotten, especially at a young age. It’s almost certain that he did provide financially for his son but did little else. He did tell his son that he cannot interact with his mother and Momo because his mother might have another mental breakdown. And while Momiji looks on, his family create a life and home without him, going on trips and giving their daughter everything.
As much pain as Momiji has suffered, he doesn’t blame his father. He, instead, fosters relationships with the other Sohmas. Hatori, it’s implied, steps in for Momiji in an older relative capacity. He also bonds with Kyo and Hatsuharu. Before he even meets Tohru, Momiji is creating bonds with others. He fills his life with meaningful experiences without relying on his father.
And then he meets Tohru. It’s hard to say when it happens but he falls for her, almost certainly in a puppy love sort of way. She’s one of the few girls who interact with him. She offers him kindness and Momiji returns it in grandiose gestures like inviting her to the Sohma onsen and the Sohma beach estate. He understands that what she feels for him isn’t the same as what he feels for her. And he recognizes that she’s in love with Kyo. So he gladly steps aside.
Momiji is the first character whose curse breaks onscreen. It’s hard to say what triggers it. Perhaps after Akito hurt Tohru, he had felt nothing towards the god with whom he’s connected. Or maybe it was the result of his own efforts prior to Tohru and she helped accelerate it. But in the end, the result is the same. He has already filled his life in such a way that he has no need for such a bond. So it snaps. And Momiji is free.
Freedom comes at a price for Momiji. He can’t have the girl he loves. He can’t just go back to his family. He doesn’t have the link he had with the other Zodiac. But Momiji isn’t deterred. He’s already learned that bonds can be made without having to rely on the happenstance of family or a supernatural bond like the Sohma Curse. He’s free with all the wonders and horrors it entails.
It is mentioned in the Fruits Basket sequel that he does reconcile with his family. But I imagine there many issues to work through because of it. There’s almost certainly a distance that Momiji would have with his mother and father. Also there is the idea of how to integrate his sister and how Momiji’s relationship to her needs to be explained. At least they are trying.
Kyo Sohma’s Mother
Like many mothers of cursed children, it can be assumed that Kyo’s mother had a sense of dread at having given birth to one of the Zodiacs. Unlike these mothers, her child was far worse off than these others. She had given birth to the Cat.
It’s never stated whether one or both of them were born into the Sohma family and whether or not they knew of the curse but soon they would learn of the deep revulsion others would have for this new cat. The Cat is the reviled figure, punished for its crimes against god. And therefore, on top of being cursed with transforming into a cat when hugged by girls, he would also transform into this disgusting monstrous form that is more alien than beast.
Kyo’s mother probably tried to make the best of it at first. She could shield him from the insults she received from other Sohmas that she had given birth to the hated cat, not just from them but from her husband. An abused woman like her, I believe, did her best not to let it impact how she viewed her son. It’s hard to not think in extremes over whether or not she really loved Kyo but I tend to believe that she did. I think she wanted him not to feel that he was a burden but needed the reassurance of his Juzu Beads.
Kyo starts to notices how every time she interacts with him, the first thing she does is check for the beads. Her overprotectiveness bordered on smothering, to the point that Kyo, looking back on it, recognizes it as pity. (In my opinion, I believe she was doing the best with the bad situation Kyo was dealt.) Eventually, it becomes too much for her and, after an argument with her husband, she commits suicide. Many people blame Kyo for causing his mother’s suicide. He, in turn, lashed out, saying that it isn’t his fault, while internally believing that it is. He feels immense guilt that his curse caused her to break down and kill herself.
It’s unfortunate that she killed herself because once the curse is broken, Kyo recognizes that, while his birth may have exacerbated her mental state, she was a victim of the Cat’s Curse as well. She had to endure so much and she never got to see him free. They could never reconcile and build a new relationship.
Hatsuharu Sohma’s Parents
We never even meet the parents of our resident ox boy. However, from the little we glean from Haru’s thoughts on them is that they basically kept him at a distance. As a child, Haru was mocked for being the dumb ox from the legends. His parents didn’t do anything about it until Haru himself started lashing out at those who mocked him, creating his “Black” persona. And their response wasn’t to try and stop the mocking but to put him in Kazuma’s classes.The only other time we hear about Haru’s parents is when he rampages in school after Isuzu dumped him. He says that the only thing that his mother cares about is her appearance.
Okami Sohma and her husband
There are two types of Sohma parents. There are the dismissive abusive parents, like Isuzu’s, and the overprotective parents, like Kyo’s mother. Okami falls into the latter. It’s hard to tell whether Okami was always a nervous person or her disposition came as a result of her giving birth to Ritsu but, either way, she would affect his personality.
Ritsu says that his parents always apologized on his behalf. As such, he would develop into a nervous wreck. Ritsu internalized his faults and felt like he wasn’t good enough. So, to withdraw from the pressure, he starts to dress in women’s clothes. This escapism caused his parents to apologize even more, which, in turn, made Ritsu internalize his feelings of failure even further. This became a constant loop. Ritsu would do something “wrong”, his parents would apologize, he would apologize, then he would sink deeper into his box. Rinse, repeat. This led to his feeling he would have to apologize for his existence. In the present day, Ritsu feels like everything is his fault. He fails to see Shigure’s teasing and thinks they are attacks on his character. He fails to recognize how Yuki feels about Ayame or that he and Kyo don’t have a great relationship.
This culminates with Ritsu accidentally ruining Shigure’s manuscript in front of Mitsuru. Though it was an accident, he feels like destroyed Mitsuru’s life. This leads him to the unreasonable reaction that he must die to atone for his sins because he believes that there is no reason for why he was born. But it is Tohru who tells that he doesn’t need to have a reason to live. Tohru tells him that he can find the audacity to live and find his reason for his existence.
Ritsu is the least explored of the Zodiac (I believe the author just didn’t know what to do with him, just that since she was doing a story about the Zodiac and the Zodiacs need a monkey, Ritsu just filled that role and that’s it) so we don’t see him as much as the others. He doesn’t feature in any other chapter. He appears during the second-year banquet but plays no big part. After the curse breaks, he cuts his hair and starts wearing men’s clothes, although when he’s in a panic, he goes for women’s kimonos. And he is now in a romantic relationship with Mitsuki, Shigure’s long-suffering editor.
Arisa Uotani’s Parents
When Arisa was young, her mother had an affair and left their family for her affair partner. Her father was an alcoholic who was more comfortable drunk than sober. Arisa, like Kyoko before her, would seek validation elsewhere and found it in her gang. She became violent and enjoyed every minute of it. Eventually, she would learn about Kyoko, the Red Butterfly, and realized that was the person she wanted to be. Her father, realizing that he was losing his daughter, tried to make up for his
When she heard that the Red Butterfly’s daughter was in her school, Arisa was very excited. That excitement drained when she realized that Tohru was nothing like who she imagined Kyoko’s daughter would be. However, Arisa started to see the person Tohru was and wanted to be her friend. Because of this, she decided that she was going to change. Becoming Tohru’s friend changed her relationship with her father, from one where she dismisses his existence to one where she helps out more, getting a job and cooking dinner for her father. And while he doesn’t quit drinking all together, she does limit his beer intake.
Kakeru Manabe’s Mother
As mentioned in Machi’s section, Kakeru’s father had an affair with his mother and produced him. Because his father was very rich, there was a contention of who should be his heir, his daughter from his wife or his son from his mistress. (It’s very likely had his wife had a son, as he later does, Kakeru would have never been in contention for his money.) Kakeru’s mother had forced him to be the perfect heir, making him compete with Machi. She probably justified it to herself that she was securing her son’s future but was really doing for herself so she could say that the affair was all worth it. This left him sullen and withdrawn as his girlfriend Komaki later notes. The need to vie for his father’s money and/or love left cracks on him until he reached his breaking point.
It was after this that Kakeru’s mother realized the damage that she had caused him. She withdrew him from consideration from being Kuragi’s heir. This lifted a weight from Kakeru, who was able to smile again. He would allow others, like Komaki, to get closer to her, which would result in them getting together. Kakeru would even make some inroads with helping his half-sister Machi open up (although it would be Yuki who would give her the help she needed to blossom). And his friendship with Yuki helped to drive out his own demons. Kakeru says that he has a better relationship with his mother now, although she frequently gets into arguments with her, and has written his father off as a lost cause.
Shigure Sohma
It’s weird to put Shigure in a list about parents but, considering that he does act as a guardian for the three main characters, it would remiss not to discuss him as a parental figure (if only so that the other non-biological parental figure can be consider). Don’t be fooled though. Taking these three into his house is actually couched in his ultimate goal, to free Akito from the burden of both the curse and her upbringing.
After being expelled for sleeping with Ren (whom he slept with as revenge for Akito sleeping with Kureno), he sets himself in opposition to her by taking away her prize possession, Yuki. His plan, later told to Akito by Ren (who almost certainly didn’t know what Shigure’s end goal was), was to give Yuki freedom from the Sohma Estate. While it had a positive effect on Yuki, this was more of an ancillary result for Shigure, simply because it doesn’t break the curse. And the two would have lived their scummy bachelor lives had it not been for one unexpected wrench in his plans.
Shigure’s plans change wildly when he finds Tohru living on his property. It’s hard to say if Shigure was already doing the math in his head about how he would use her going forward or if he made it up as he went along but it wasn’t out of pure altruism that he invited Tohru to live with them. It’s unclear if he knew the specifics of the curse (as he suspects but isn’t sure if Kureno’s curse has been lifted) but he believes that the curse is already weakening. I’m sure that he makes an assumption that one of the ways to weaken the curse further is to form a strong bond with someone outside of Aktio. Tohru represented that avenue for Yuki. She was a girl from his school in the same class. She was kind and compassionate. And, with her living with them, Yuki might flourish.
And then comes another wrench. Kyo had barged into his house to challenge Yuki after four months of training. Things went awry when Tohru, trying to prevent the fight, hugs Kyo, transforming him into his animal form. Then she hugs Yuki and Shigure, revealing their secret, that they transform into animal they are hugged by the opposite sex. After her freak out, Tohru comes around on the secret. Shigure, again it’s hard to say whether he had already planned on using her at that moment or came to that conclusion later on, does tell Akito that he plans on having Kyo and (in the manga) a housemaid in his house. Akito, not really understanding what Shigure was planning, agrees, believing in the animosity between the Cat and the Rat and in her own belief that her connection with the Zodiac is strong.
Having Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki stay with him is more of a slapdash plan but at this point, Shigure has the two Sohmas on opposite spectrums of the curse, the one most beloved by god and the one most despised by god. If he could turn these two away from Akito, this could prove that the curse wasn’t as powerful as believed. He’s already come to the idea that, with all Zodiac born, that the final banquet will commence and they will be freed in their lifetime. So Tohru and Kyo come to live with Shigure and Yuki and, after a few missteps, find their rhythm living with each other.
If Shigure was concerned that his plans were going to succeed, he would later have it confirmed when Yuki and Kyo brought back Tohru from her relatives’ house and later when they skipped the New Year’s banquet, defying Akito. He realizes that Tohru was, without any of the teens realizing it, breaking them out of their shells. This is ultimately proved correct when Kyo’s true form is revealed. He was concerned that Kazuma would destroy Kyo by showing his form to Tohru. Instead of Tohru running away, she chases after him and was able to bring him back.
Shigure, despite using the kids for his own machinations, comes to care about them, even as he manipulates them and Akito. Among his more helpful action is providing Yuki and Kyo with the address to Tohru’s relatives’ house to convince her to come back, filling in for Tohru’s grandfather at her parent-teacher conference, calling Ayame to run interference for Yuki when Yuki’s mother attended his parent-teacher conference, and even tells Tohru that she needs to confess her feelings to Kyo before he gets confined to the Cat Room. He admits to Hatori that he’s fine possibly destroying them to bring about his selfish goal and that he’s a terrible person for using them like this. He feels especially bad for Tohru because she’s innocent in all of this and she suffers unnecessarily due to his meddling.
There were many pitfalls in Shigure’s plan. This could have ended terribly for all involved. However, despite that, everyone in his house got a happy ending. The Sohmas are free from the curse. Yuki is free to move on from his burden. Kyo no longer must deal with the True Form of the Cat. Tohru is free to love Kyo without the possibility of Kyo disappearing. And Shigure can keep Akito all to himself. So by the end of the series, the baby birds in his nest are ready to fly away and begin their lives.
As an actual father to his son, Shiki says that he only has good memories of his parents. Shigure is also the parent that Shiki is around more due to Akito being busy being head of the family.
