 Tohru Honda, 16-17 (本田 透 Honda Tōru)
- An orphaned high school student, Tohru ends up sharing 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.
 Arisa Uotani, 16-17 (魚谷 ありさ Uotani Arisa),
"Uo-chan" - Uo-chan is a former gang member (a "yankee"; a Japanese
version of the American "Gangster 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. Uo-chan 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 guy (in Japanese,
different word choices can categorize a speaker as male or female). Uo
likes to play cards, protect Tohru from Yuki's fangirls, annoy Kyo, 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.
 Saki Hanajima, 16-17 (花島 咲 Hanajima Saki), "Hana-chan" - Hana-chan 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 Uo-chan, Hana-chan 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, even looks up to Hanajima because of her powers, and, because
he was born without any sort of power himself, has researched putting
"curses" on people simply by knowing their name). 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.
 Akito Sohma, 19-20 (草摩 慊人 Sōma Akito)
- Akito is the head of the Sohma clan. Akito is very frail, and has
poor health. He 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 him. While Akito isn't cursed by any of the vengeful
spirits (mononoke) of the Zodiac, Akito has been revealed (Volume 11) as playing the role of the Jade Emperor,
a character borrowed from the stories about the origins of the Chinese
Zodiac. A possible part of Akito's curse was that Akito would only live
to be 30 years old. Obsessive and somewhat mad- at a certain point in
the Zodiac's life, Akito wishes to force them to live within the Sohma
compound with him for the rest of their lives in a never-ending
"banquet". He even describes himself as the "Master of their (the
Zodiac) Souls". He also has a definite hatred of Kyo Sohma, the Cat,
whom he believes should be isolated for the rest of his life. In the
manga, it is revealed that Akito is actually a woman and not a man,
raised like a male on orders of her mother, Ren. She has also slept
with Kureno, her protector and the rooster of the zodiac, who had left
after his curse was lifted. Akito also caused to be Rin put in a
hospital by pushing her out of a window during a discussion; Akito
later put her in confinement in the "cat's room" for months and cut off
all her hair. Akito acts this way mostly against the girls in the
family because she's jealous that the men are paying more attention to
them than to her.
 Yuki Sohma, 16-17 (草摩 由希 Sōma Yuki) - Yuki is the Rat of the zodiac. Known as "The Prince" at school, Yuki is very pretty
and refined, and has many admirers at school, but has a hard time being
social; he wishes that he could be with people as friends, rather than
admired and worshiped 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 and is claustrophobic. With Tohru's help, however, Yuki
is gradually able to loosen up. Generally quiet and polite, Yuki is an
amazing martial artist 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 and had gotten lost; 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 a
deep respect and love 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".
 Kyo Sohma, 16-17 (草摩 夾 Sōma Kyō) - Kyo is the Cat,
an animal not in the zodiac, but which legend says would have been were
it not tricked by the rat into missing the induction feast. Kyo
despises Yuki and has dedicated his life to someday 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 on the
'inside', within the Sohma honke (the large "first-born" house; rare,
but some older and more prestigious Japanese families have them still
in this day and age) for the rest of his life. Despite many months of
strict training, Kyo has never managed to even land a decent blow on
Yuki (in any event Yuki actually fights back, Kyo ends up a beaten and
sulking pulp; on one occasion, Yuki sent Kyo flying vertically five
feet with a single punch). Kyo runs away even from the people that want
to help him, because he is ashamed that he turns into a hideous monster
when his rosary bead (made from human bones of a virtuous and powerful
warrior-priest of old) bracelet is removed. He puts on a tough-guy mask
to impress the world, but really he's just someone that wants to be
accepted. In certain parts of Asia, the cat actually replaces the
rabbit on the zodiac. (It was revealed in chapter 119 of the manga that
Kyo was there the day of Kyoko's death in the car accident. He didn't
want to save her because he didn't want to reveal his curse to anybody.)
 Shigure Sohma, 27-28 (草摩 紫呉 Sōma Shigure) - Shigure is the dog
of the zodiac and the owner of the house where he, Tohru, Yuki and Kyo
live. 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
drink tea, eat takoyaki (a Japanese snack made of octopus),
drive his editor (whom he affectionately calls "Miichan") to tears by
feigning the non-completion of his work, sleep in late, and smoke cigarettes. In the anime, he is a harmless (albeit lecherous (Oyaji
q.v.)) jokester who occasionally gives advice or purposely stirs up
controversy for the good of everyone in the end. In the manga there is
a much darker side to him as a schemer who will do anything or hurt
anyone to get what he wants and be free of the curse. It is revealed
later in the manga 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.
 Kagura Sohma, 18-19 (草摩 楽羅 Sōma Kagura) - Kagura is the boar
of the zodiac. She has been in love with Kyo since they were young.
Because of her "pity" of him as a child, when he was all alone because
he carried 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.
 Kisa Sohma, 12-13 (草摩杞紗 Sōma Kisa) - Kisa is the Tiger
of the zodiac. She is very shy 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". Tohru helps her to
come out of her shell, and she develops quite an attachment to Tohru,
calling her "big sister" ("oneechan"). Dislikes dry foods and loves an
anime series called "Mogeta". Usually seen around Hiro or Momiji. Her
mother is extremely protective of her and worries about her often.
 Hiro Sohma, 12-13 (草摩燈路 Sōma Hiro) - Hiro, the Sheep
of the zodiac, is a snotty, smart-mouthed brat (albeit brilliant to
speak with such wit at his age). He is in love with Kisa, and resents
Tohru because she 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, his pregnant
mother, whom seems to be just as careless and klutzy as Tohru, might
just add to Hiro's annoyance of Tohru with her resemblance to his
mother in her forgetfulness and childlike happy personality. (In
Chapter 118, he is also seen being freed from the curse.)
 Hatori Sohma, 27-28 (草摩はとり Sōma Hatori) - The Dragon
of the Zodiac and the private doctor to the Sohma clan, Hatori is a
very serious and humorless type. 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 a giant fire-breathing lizard, 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". 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. Akito threw a pot at Hatori and left his left eye blind.
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 man upon deeper inspection. He is
currently dating Tohru's teacher Mayuko Shiraki.
 Ayame Sohma, 27-28 (草摩綾女 Sōma Ayame) - 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 can 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 (just slightly and secretly)
self-conscious, he is really a thoughtful person underneath his
"selective" skin. He has piercing yellow eyes and white hair in a
startling contrast to Yuki's violet and grey. Has a fear of being
totally alone. Much to Yuki's chagrin and surprise, was actually
student body president in high school.
 Hatsuharu Sohma, 15 (草摩溌春 Sōma Hatsuharu), "Haru" - The Ox of the Zodiac, Haru has something of a Jekyll and Hyde
personality related to the Ox's personality. He is usually calm,
placid, and otherwise an all-around nice guy (this personality is
described as "White Haru"), but can be goaded into "stampeding", where
he's edgy and mean and slightly oversexed ("Black Haru"). White Haru is
conscious during his "black" transformation, but is unable to do
anything about it. He just either apologizes or doesn't care (It also
seems that water can somehow snap him out of "Black Haru"-mode).
Additionally, Haru has a rather bad sense of direction. Has a bicycle
(lost somewhere in his travels). 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 who is the horse of the zodiac and was once having a relationship
with her..
 Momiji Sohma, 15 (草摩 紅葉 Sōma Momiji) - A painfully adorable and seemingly androgynous
teenager with a depressing family life (his mother unremorsely gets rid
of him at birth, demanding that Hatori erase her memories of him. He
lives with his father.) that he hides behind his smile and fun-loving
attitude. His endless enthusiasm and cuteness 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 people of the Sohma
family (his father is Japanese while Momiji's mother is German); Tohru
unwittingly cleans Momiji's father's building for her job. Has a
younger sister named Momo who can only speak German. Momiji is actually
very insightful and emotionally strong despite his upbringing and
appearance. He took to Tohru very quickly, even ignoring the fact that
he was a Zodiac and hugged her when they were formally introduced (of
course, he does that usually anyway when they meet). 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
decided to leave Akito after he is freed from the curse.)
 Ritsu Sohma, est. 21 (草摩利津 Sōma Ritsu) - The Monkey
of the zodiac, Ritsu has 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 female (often in his
trademark furisode, a formal long-sleeved kimono worn by unmarried
women) because he feels that cross-dressing calms him down, 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. 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 "Ritchan" (either affectionately,
or teasingly because of his womanly features) and to Shigure's
amusement, Tohru calls him "Ritchan-san" because in the third book
tankoubon Momiji referred to Ritsu as "Ritchan-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 Mitchan (whom Shigure tortures to no end).
 Isuzu Sohma, 17-18 (草摩依鈴 Sōma Isuzu), "Rin" - 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 Haru, 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'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 only appears
in the manga, not the anime (leaving many fans of the original work in
both Japan and America wondering where the other two zodiac animals had
gone by the end of the anime). 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.
 Kureno Sohma, 26 (草摩紅野 Sōma Kureno) - The Rooster
of the Jyuunishi. He does not like others to see his animal form. 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. He only appears in the manga. Was described by Arisa (to
Hanajima's curiosity) 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.
 Kazuma Sohma, est. 40 or older (草摩籍真 Sōma Kazuma)
- When he was a child, Kazuma treated his grandfather, who was then the
member of the Sohma family possessed by the cat of the Chinese Zodiac,
very badly 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 (the latter marrying the former only because she pitied
him). Kyo calls him Shishou ("master"). Kazuma has taught many of the
other Sohmas martial arts, including Kagura and Yuki.
 Ren Sohma, est. 35 or older (草摩煉 Sōma Ren)
- Akito's mother. Raised Akito as a man, rather than as a woman with
the claim that the head of the Sohma clan could not be a woman (though
in truth, it was Ren's fear that her husband Akira would completely
replace Ren with Akito in his heart). Ren believes Akito should treat
the Jyuunishi with love, rather than make them miserable. Akito does
not agree (because Akito was raised believing that the Jyuunishi would
love her as their "God"), and the two get in disputes over it. Ren also
admits that she would rather be in heaven with her husband Akira than
on Earth with Akito. She only appears in the manga. Has reputedly slept
with Shigure to aggravate Akito.
 Kakeru Manabe, 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 loveable and overly energetic person. He has a
girlfriend named Kokao Komaki. It turns out that her father is the same
person that 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 overprotecive of Machi, especially when it comes to Yuki. He
often loses control and starts yelling and throttling Yuki, often not
taking the time to think about what Yuki is really trying to say.
 Machi Kuragi - 15-16 - Kakeru's half-sister. Unlike most
girls (ie the Prince Yuki fan club) 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 and at the end of the chapter, she and Yuki were
seen holding hands, and he thanks her for "finding him".
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