List of Fruits Basket characters
The characters of Fruits Basket were created by Natsuki Takaya in the manga written and illustrated by her. The manga was serialized in 136 chapters in the monthly manga magazine Hana to Yume between January 1999 and November 2006, and collected in 23 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha. The series was adapted as a drama CD distributed as a promotional item with an issue of Hana to Yume and as a 26-episode anime television series produced by Studio DEEN initially broadcast on TV Tokyo between July 5 and December 27, 2001. The manga is licensed in English by Chuang Yi in Singapore, Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand, and Tokyopop in North America. The anime is licensed in English by FUNimation Entertainment, which distributes it in North America itself, in the United Kingdom through Revelation Films, and in Australia and New Zealand through Madman Entertainment.
The series tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl who, after meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Soma, learns that thirteen members of the Soma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and cursed to turn into their animal forms when they embrace someone of the opposite sex or their bodies come under a great deal of stress. 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.
The spellings used here are those given in the official Region 1 DVD and English manga releases. Names are given in Western order, with the family name last.
Creation and conception
According to Natsuki Takaya in interviews, Tohru Honda was the first character she created for the series, with Yuki and Kyo Soma soon after. When asked how she came up with Tohru's personality and background, she said: Takaya gave Tohru a name normally used only for men because she likes to give masculine names to female characters "to balance them out." In addition, Takaya chose to have other characters address her as "Tohru-kun", using an honorific typically used for boys, because she thought it was "a more dignified form of address."The next characters Takaya developed were Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Soma, and of these Kyo was "the first character whose personality and looks really hit me...without any hesitation." According to the Fruits Basket Character Book, she had Yuki dress in Chinese-style clothes because she likes them. She added that she believes they suit his androgynous nature, and that she deliberately gave Yuki and Kyo different tastes to distinguish them.
Takaya described these four characters, Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, as the main cast. The first character she developed after them was Kisa Soma, whom she described as "in competition to be the first or second most beautiful character."
Takaya named most of the cursed Somas after the month in the former Japanese lunisolar calendar that corresponds to their zodiac animal. The exceptions are Kureno and Momiji, whose names were swapped by mistake; Kyo, who as the cat is not part of the official zodiac; and Yuki. According to the author, no other names have special meanings.
Tohru's family and friends
Tohru Honda
Tohru Honda is an orphaned high school student who, at the start of the story, begins living with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo Soma in exchange for housekeeping. 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. She is depicted as polite, optimistic, extremely kind, and selfless; several other characters, including Kyo, Rin, and Saki, tell her she needs to look out for herself and not shoulder everyone else's burdens. In the original Japanese, Tohru habitually speaks formally, but not always correctly, a habit she picked up from her father, Katsuya, after he died when she was three, as a way of replacing him in her mother's eyes. Tohru's mother, Kyoko, raised her alone until she died in a car accident shortly after Tohru entered high school, a few months before the start of the story. Tohru repeatedly calls Kyoko the most important person in her life and treasures her photograph; when she falls in love with Kyo she feels guilty of being "unfaithful" to her mother's memory.In the first half of the series, as Tohru learns about the zodiac curse and its effects on those she loves, she becomes distressed, and when she learns that the dangerous Akito is the "god" of the zodiac, she resolves to break the curse. Only later does she admit that she wants to free Kyo most of all. Despite setbacks, both external and personal, Tohru stubbornly persists in her goal and eventually frees Kyo and her friends. In the last chapter, she is moving with Kyo to another city so he can continue his martial arts training, and in the final pages it is shown that they had a son and a granddaughter.
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 Uotani
Arisa Uotani is a former gang member and one of Tohru's closest friends. Arisa is depicted as tough, brash, and sometimes violent; she wears long skirts, sometimes carries a lead pipe, and often speaks like a man. Arisa is tall for a girl, and once claims she wishes to reach in height. She is especially competitive with Kyo and bickers with him frequently. Her childhood was troubled: her father is an alcoholic and her mother left him for another man when Arisa was young; Arisa joined an all-girl gang called The Ladies in fifth grade, and idolized Kyoko Honda's reputation from her gang days. When Arisa met Kyoko's daughter Tohru in middle school, and then Kyoko herself, she was shocked by the change from gang-leader into doting mother, but became friends after Kyoko helped her escape from her gang. With Saki Hanajima, she swore on Kyoko's grave to look after Tohru, and in their "parental" protection of Tohru, noted by Kyo and Yuki, Arisa is depicted as the brash and direct father-figure. Tohru calls her Uo and her manga symbol is a fish, the meaning of the first kanji of her family name. Arisa works a couple of different part-time jobs during the series; at one of them, in a convenience store, she meets Kureno Soma and is immediately attracted to him, though she worries about their nine-year age difference. They meet a second time a few days later, when he nearly kisses her after buying her lunch, but after that he refuses to see her again because of his promise to stay with Akito, and she tries to get over him. When Kureno leaves Akito, Arisa helps him move out, telling him that she has been waiting for him all this time, and in the final chapter she is preparing to move in with him.Saki Hanajima
Saki Hanajima is a psychic girl who has the ability to sense people's "waves" and send out electric waves, and one of Tohru's closest friends. She is depicted as very perceptive; and conducts herself in a deadpan manner. Saki is often seen eating or doing Tohru's or Arisa's hair when not in class. According to an author's note, in contrast with her Gothic Lolita appearance, she likes shōjo manga and novels and bought a copy of Shigure Soma's Heartthrob. Tohru calls her Hana, and her manga symbol is a small flower, the meaning of the first kanji of her family name. Saki had trouble controlling her abilities when she was young, and blamed herself for the near-fatal collapse of a boy who was bullying her. Like Arisa, Saki is extremely protective of Tohru, who was the first person in school that truly accepted her, which helped her gain control of her powers. She wears black fingernail polish and black dresses, often with a cloak or veil, habits Saki started before she met Tohru as a way of signaling her guilt. With Arisa, she promised on Tohru's mother's grave to look after Tohru and in their near-"parental" protection, she acts as the "motherly" figure. She uses her reputation for sending out "poison waves" to shield Tohru from the malice of Yuki's fan club. She has a close relationship with her family, which accepts and nurtures her gifts, especially her younger brother, Megumi, who also has psychic abilities. When Saki sees Kazuma Soma when he comes in for Kyo's parent-teacher conference, she calls him "handsome," and later at the class performance of Sorta Cinderella, she seeks Kazuma out to talk with him. Kyo is disturbed enough at the idea of Saki in a relationship with his foster-father, that she and Arisa tease him with the possibility. However, in the final chapter, Saki is working as a cook at Kazuma's dojo.In the sequel series Fruits Basket another, she has a son named Rio Mosca.