Shigure Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Title: The Most Cursed of Us All*
Author: FuziPenguin
Spoilers: this is rather general, but to be safe: the entire anime series, and up through volume 5 of the manga
Email: fuzipenguin@hotmail.com
This is a very general overview of Shigure's character as I know Fruits Basket is a somewhat small fandom. I don't want to give out huge spoilers in case someone hasn't experienced this story. Anyway, it's rather short, something I apologize for... but there are pictures and nice links! :^) Please forgive any typos or awkward phrasing that I might have missed in editing - it's been a rough week.
"Call it 'animal instinct'" ~ Shigure, manga vol. 1
Briefly, Fruits Basket (also called Furuba and written by Natsuki Takaya) is about a young girl named Tohru Honda, who is recently orphaned. She encounters the Sohma family by a bizarre string of events and eventually comes to live with them.
Fruits Basket is one of my favorite animes. There is a rather large cast of interesting characters, comedy, angst, romance, and most importantly… pretty boys. Shigure Sohma is my favorite character, and is definitely one of the pretty boys. But there’s more to Shigure than good looks, and I’ll go into detail about that in a bit.
Shigure is the first Sohma Tohru encounters. It is quickly established that Tohru was born in the Chinese Zodiac year of the dog, something that connects Shigure and Tohru, although Tohru doesn’t understand the hidden meaning behind it at the time. And it also establishes that Shigure is a flirt, a character quirk that you’ll see a lot of as the story progresses.
So what’s the importance about the year of the dog? Well, the great Sohma family secret is that twelve members of the family are cursed. It’s called the Zodiac curse, in regards to the fact that if one of these twelve people are hugged by a member of the opposite sex or undergo extreme stress, they will spontaneously turn into an animal of the Zodiac. Shigure’s animal just happens to be the dog.
Shigure is one of the oldest (27yrs old) Sohmas with the curse. He owns his own house outside of the Main House compound (where the head of the family lives), although it is still within walking distance. He is a self proclaimed novelist, and his works include vaguely serious pieces, as well as more… erotic… stories. Yes, basically he writes porn. At the beginning of the anime, his housemate is his younger cousin Yuki Sohma, also a member of the Zodiac, the rat. Neither one of these two males have an ounce of cooking or cleaning ability to speak of, so when they encounter Tohru, it’s a logical conclusion that she come live with them as their housekeeper. After an episode or two, yet another cousin, Kyo, comes under Shigure’s dubious guardianship. Kyo is also part of the Zodiac - he turns into the cat but doesn’t really have a place among the rest of the animals. The three teens are 15 years of age and attend the same high school.
“High school girls, high school girls - 1, 2, 3 high school girls!” ~ Shigure singing, anime ep. 6
Shigure is usually very cheerful and easy-going. He is notoriously mischievous and playful as his harassed editor can certainly attest to (his favorite trick is to leave town or hide his newest book when its publication is only hours away and thus reduce his editor to a sobbing ball of hysterics). His flirty fondness for high school girls is well established, and he has received some verbal and physical abuse for it, especially when he aims that affection towards Tohru in the presence of the protective Kyo and Yuki.
Shigure is very much the manipulator. He’s a very good judge of character and uses that knowledge skillfully to his advantage. I don’t think that there is any character that he hasn’t been able to manipulate in some way, shape, or form. I believe that Shigure cares a great deal for his family and Tohru; however, one gets the feeling that everything he does is planned to work out to his benefit. This is emphasized more in the manga (which I’ll touch on later).
Speaking of his family…
It isn’t mentioned in the anime, but in the manga Yuki says that Shigure is an only child. But he really didn’t need siblings when he had Ayame and Hatori. They are members of the Zodiac (the snake and dragon, respectively) and all three of them are roughly the same age and grew up together. They’re very close to each other, and even called themselves the Three Musketeers (or Mabudachi Trio) while in high school.
Ayame is actually Yuki’s older brother although the two are estranged because of Ayame’s very flamboyant behavior (for example, he owns a “dress shop” that sells outfits like French maid and stewardess costumes). Shigure and Ayame have a lot of fun together, and like to shock people. They’re most favorite pastime is to indicate that there is a deep, meaningful, sexual relationship between the two of them, much to the embarrassment of everyone else (as to whether this is true or not, well, that’s what fanfiction is for).
While Ayame is the wild one, Hatori is the extreme opposite. He is the family doctor, and the most serious member of the family. He’s always rolling his eyes in the corner whenever Shigure and/or Ayame do something ridiculous. He’s also the only one Ayame will listen to and is capable of making Shigure behave.
Shigure is the perfect blend of his two friends - he is both capable of being outrageously mischievous and completely serious (although not for long). Hatori and Shigure are smoking buddies and confidents, especially when it concerns family matters.
Shigure has a lot of interaction with his cousins Yuki and Kyo, as they live with him, of course. I think he’s technically their guardian although that isn’t really well explained. Shigure is actually not half bad at being responsible when he wants to be. He performs first response type actions when Yuki and Tohru get sick and was involved in enrolling Kyo in high school. The younger boys are generally exasperated with Shigure because of one thing or another, and Shigure takes a lot of enjoyment in teasing them any way he can. But they manage not to kill each other, although a large part of that is probably Tohru’s influence.
Ah, our heroine of the story. Tohru is a very generous and caring young girl, a bit naïve about the world, but that just adds to her charm. Shigure is very fond of Tohru, and not just because she’s a cute high school girl. Although he does flirt with her quite a bit and even goes so far as to purchase her a rather suggestive maid’s outfit as a White Day present (I don’t think he does ever give it to her). Shigure appreciates her presence in the house as a housekeeper and cook, and as a peacemaker between Kyo and Yuki. It’s not ever explained, but I’ve always believed that there is some family myth in which a person outside the family is able to break the curse. This doesn’t happen in the anime; however, Tohru does manage to shine a little light in all the Zodiac members’ dark lives. I think Shigure realizes this and hopes that she’ll be able to do something more for the family in the future.
Finally, although not seen often, Akito Sohma is perhaps the most important person in the story. He is the head of the family, younger than Shigure, and feared by all. Except, perhaps, by Shigure. Akito is a scary guy, and has physically hurt (let’s not even go into the emotional hurt he’s bestowed upon each member of the family) some of the Zodiac. But Shigure seems pretty much at ease in Akito’s presence and hasn’t hesitated to physically restrain him on two occasions - after Akito injured Hatori’s eye, and after he grabbed Tohru’s hair in the final episode. The anime does not really make it clear the relationship between these two. It is suggested that Shigure reports back to Akito about Yuki and Kyo. But even so, I feel like that Akito’s insecurities and neurosis is something else Shigure manipulates to his advantage. He has to have some ability to get Akito to do what he wants - prime examples are that both Yuki and and Kyo are allowed to live with Shigure, when it is obvious how possessive Akito is about his "pets".
“He's a man who can’t be caught.” ~ Yuki about Shigure, manga vol. 3
I’ve only read the manga up through volume 5, so I can’t give you a lot of information. Not much is different from the anime except that you realize that the manipulative side of Shigure is more pronounced. He admits to Hatori that he and Akito are using Tohru as a pawn. Shigure has a “dream” (details not known) and he’ll do anything, even see people get hurt to make that dream come true. *The title of this essay is actually derived from the statement, "I may be the most cursed of us all" spoken by Shigure. It indicates that Shigure is well aware of what he is doing and probably feels guilty for using other people to achieve his goal. But he still does what he can to get what he wants despite that. Also, in a conversation with his editor, he tells her that “The most important thing to me, has always been me.” She doesn’t make much of the statement but the reader knows that this statement is probably very true.
The other members of the Zodiac realize that Shigure is all smiles on the outside, but underneath he’s always up to something. Yuki tells Tohru “He’s like a ripple on the water. If you try to bring it close to you, it pulls away. Though it may brush your feet, if you try to catch it, it will pull farther away.”
In addition, it’s more obvious in the manga that he’s manipulating Akito - he tells Akito that he is the “most important thing”, but you can see him thinking on at least one occasion that he considers Akito to be pathetic. I’m eagerly looking forward to more manga volumes to come out so that I can learn more about Shigure’s character
“I wanna be just like Shigure when I grow up” - mistressrenet
Maybe not with all the manipulation, but otherwise, yes.
I love Shigure because of his sense of humor, his ability to lighten a dark situation, his confidence, his strength (not obvious at first glance, but when it’s needed the most, he’s there), that dark, manipulative side to his personality, and of course, the prettiness. Because, yeah, Yuki is the Prince, Kyo is the rebellious cat, Haru is the tattooed split personality, Hatori is the angsty, forlorn doctor… But Shigure is the yukata-off-the-shoulder, wise-cracking, loyal, perverted dog. And he's wormed his way into my little heart as a true favorite charcter.
"Just make sure not to get arrested, ok?" ~ Haru to Shigure, manga vol. 3
Some Livejournal communities devoted to Fruits Basket:
fruits_basket (one of many general communities)
100_fruit (drabble community)
furuba_fiction (uh, yeah, what it says)
furuba_rabu (devoted to het pairings)
fb_stillness (graphics)
zodiac_boiz (supposedly general, but has a lot of fics/drabbles posted)
Unfortunately, there isn’t any community completely devoted to Shigure :^(
Some stories I recommend:
Bad Apple - Shigure's sense of humor really shines through in this drabble
Domestic Bliss - Shigure/Tohru, NC-17, PWP
Nameless Fic - Shigure/Ayame, Shigure/Hatori, NC-17, high school days
Hypothetical House - "Everything you all know about me comes from me, so if I want to do something without the family knowing I just keep quiet about it and babble about nonsense to throw you all off"
Archives/Recommendation sites:
Fallen Fruits (yaoi)
Furuba Lemon Fics
Forbidden Fruit - mostly Hatori/Tohru
Onigiri Workshop - Home of darkflame_dragn's fics - also check out her LJ for current projects
Fleeting Fancies Furuba Fic Rec site
Feedback is always welcomed!
Author: FuziPenguin
Spoilers: this is rather general, but to be safe: the entire anime series, and up through volume 5 of the manga
Email: fuzipenguin@hotmail.com
This is a very general overview of Shigure's character as I know Fruits Basket is a somewhat small fandom. I don't want to give out huge spoilers in case someone hasn't experienced this story. Anyway, it's rather short, something I apologize for... but there are pictures and nice links! :^) Please forgive any typos or awkward phrasing that I might have missed in editing - it's been a rough week.
"Call it 'animal instinct'" ~ Shigure, manga vol. 1
Briefly, Fruits Basket (also called Furuba and written by Natsuki Takaya) is about a young girl named Tohru Honda, who is recently orphaned. She encounters the Sohma family by a bizarre string of events and eventually comes to live with them.
Fruits Basket is one of my favorite animes. There is a rather large cast of interesting characters, comedy, angst, romance, and most importantly… pretty boys. Shigure Sohma is my favorite character, and is definitely one of the pretty boys. But there’s more to Shigure than good looks, and I’ll go into detail about that in a bit.
Shigure is the first Sohma Tohru encounters. It is quickly established that Tohru was born in the Chinese Zodiac year of the dog, something that connects Shigure and Tohru, although Tohru doesn’t understand the hidden meaning behind it at the time. And it also establishes that Shigure is a flirt, a character quirk that you’ll see a lot of as the story progresses.
So what’s the importance about the year of the dog? Well, the great Sohma family secret is that twelve members of the family are cursed. It’s called the Zodiac curse, in regards to the fact that if one of these twelve people are hugged by a member of the opposite sex or undergo extreme stress, they will spontaneously turn into an animal of the Zodiac. Shigure’s animal just happens to be the dog.
Shigure is one of the oldest (27yrs old) Sohmas with the curse. He owns his own house outside of the Main House compound (where the head of the family lives), although it is still within walking distance. He is a self proclaimed novelist, and his works include vaguely serious pieces, as well as more… erotic… stories. Yes, basically he writes porn. At the beginning of the anime, his housemate is his younger cousin Yuki Sohma, also a member of the Zodiac, the rat. Neither one of these two males have an ounce of cooking or cleaning ability to speak of, so when they encounter Tohru, it’s a logical conclusion that she come live with them as their housekeeper. After an episode or two, yet another cousin, Kyo, comes under Shigure’s dubious guardianship. Kyo is also part of the Zodiac - he turns into the cat but doesn’t really have a place among the rest of the animals. The three teens are 15 years of age and attend the same high school.
“High school girls, high school girls - 1, 2, 3 high school girls!” ~ Shigure singing, anime ep. 6
Shigure is usually very cheerful and easy-going. He is notoriously mischievous and playful as his harassed editor can certainly attest to (his favorite trick is to leave town or hide his newest book when its publication is only hours away and thus reduce his editor to a sobbing ball of hysterics). His flirty fondness for high school girls is well established, and he has received some verbal and physical abuse for it, especially when he aims that affection towards Tohru in the presence of the protective Kyo and Yuki.
Shigure is very much the manipulator. He’s a very good judge of character and uses that knowledge skillfully to his advantage. I don’t think that there is any character that he hasn’t been able to manipulate in some way, shape, or form. I believe that Shigure cares a great deal for his family and Tohru; however, one gets the feeling that everything he does is planned to work out to his benefit. This is emphasized more in the manga (which I’ll touch on later).
Speaking of his family…
It isn’t mentioned in the anime, but in the manga Yuki says that Shigure is an only child. But he really didn’t need siblings when he had Ayame and Hatori. They are members of the Zodiac (the snake and dragon, respectively) and all three of them are roughly the same age and grew up together. They’re very close to each other, and even called themselves the Three Musketeers (or Mabudachi Trio) while in high school.
Ayame is actually Yuki’s older brother although the two are estranged because of Ayame’s very flamboyant behavior (for example, he owns a “dress shop” that sells outfits like French maid and stewardess costumes). Shigure and Ayame have a lot of fun together, and like to shock people. They’re most favorite pastime is to indicate that there is a deep, meaningful, sexual relationship between the two of them, much to the embarrassment of everyone else (as to whether this is true or not, well, that’s what fanfiction is for).
While Ayame is the wild one, Hatori is the extreme opposite. He is the family doctor, and the most serious member of the family. He’s always rolling his eyes in the corner whenever Shigure and/or Ayame do something ridiculous. He’s also the only one Ayame will listen to and is capable of making Shigure behave.
Shigure is the perfect blend of his two friends - he is both capable of being outrageously mischievous and completely serious (although not for long). Hatori and Shigure are smoking buddies and confidents, especially when it concerns family matters.
Shigure has a lot of interaction with his cousins Yuki and Kyo, as they live with him, of course. I think he’s technically their guardian although that isn’t really well explained. Shigure is actually not half bad at being responsible when he wants to be. He performs first response type actions when Yuki and Tohru get sick and was involved in enrolling Kyo in high school. The younger boys are generally exasperated with Shigure because of one thing or another, and Shigure takes a lot of enjoyment in teasing them any way he can. But they manage not to kill each other, although a large part of that is probably Tohru’s influence.
Ah, our heroine of the story. Tohru is a very generous and caring young girl, a bit naïve about the world, but that just adds to her charm. Shigure is very fond of Tohru, and not just because she’s a cute high school girl. Although he does flirt with her quite a bit and even goes so far as to purchase her a rather suggestive maid’s outfit as a White Day present (I don’t think he does ever give it to her). Shigure appreciates her presence in the house as a housekeeper and cook, and as a peacemaker between Kyo and Yuki. It’s not ever explained, but I’ve always believed that there is some family myth in which a person outside the family is able to break the curse. This doesn’t happen in the anime; however, Tohru does manage to shine a little light in all the Zodiac members’ dark lives. I think Shigure realizes this and hopes that she’ll be able to do something more for the family in the future.
Finally, although not seen often, Akito Sohma is perhaps the most important person in the story. He is the head of the family, younger than Shigure, and feared by all. Except, perhaps, by Shigure. Akito is a scary guy, and has physically hurt (let’s not even go into the emotional hurt he’s bestowed upon each member of the family) some of the Zodiac. But Shigure seems pretty much at ease in Akito’s presence and hasn’t hesitated to physically restrain him on two occasions - after Akito injured Hatori’s eye, and after he grabbed Tohru’s hair in the final episode. The anime does not really make it clear the relationship between these two. It is suggested that Shigure reports back to Akito about Yuki and Kyo. But even so, I feel like that Akito’s insecurities and neurosis is something else Shigure manipulates to his advantage. He has to have some ability to get Akito to do what he wants - prime examples are that both Yuki and and Kyo are allowed to live with Shigure, when it is obvious how possessive Akito is about his "pets".
“He's a man who can’t be caught.” ~ Yuki about Shigure, manga vol. 3
I’ve only read the manga up through volume 5, so I can’t give you a lot of information. Not much is different from the anime except that you realize that the manipulative side of Shigure is more pronounced. He admits to Hatori that he and Akito are using Tohru as a pawn. Shigure has a “dream” (details not known) and he’ll do anything, even see people get hurt to make that dream come true. *The title of this essay is actually derived from the statement, "I may be the most cursed of us all" spoken by Shigure. It indicates that Shigure is well aware of what he is doing and probably feels guilty for using other people to achieve his goal. But he still does what he can to get what he wants despite that. Also, in a conversation with his editor, he tells her that “The most important thing to me, has always been me.” She doesn’t make much of the statement but the reader knows that this statement is probably very true.
The other members of the Zodiac realize that Shigure is all smiles on the outside, but underneath he’s always up to something. Yuki tells Tohru “He’s like a ripple on the water. If you try to bring it close to you, it pulls away. Though it may brush your feet, if you try to catch it, it will pull farther away.”
In addition, it’s more obvious in the manga that he’s manipulating Akito - he tells Akito that he is the “most important thing”, but you can see him thinking on at least one occasion that he considers Akito to be pathetic. I’m eagerly looking forward to more manga volumes to come out so that I can learn more about Shigure’s character
“I wanna be just like Shigure when I grow up” - mistressrenet
Maybe not with all the manipulation, but otherwise, yes.
I love Shigure because of his sense of humor, his ability to lighten a dark situation, his confidence, his strength (not obvious at first glance, but when it’s needed the most, he’s there), that dark, manipulative side to his personality, and of course, the prettiness. Because, yeah, Yuki is the Prince, Kyo is the rebellious cat, Haru is the tattooed split personality, Hatori is the angsty, forlorn doctor… But Shigure is the yukata-off-the-shoulder, wise-cracking, loyal, perverted dog. And he's wormed his way into my little heart as a true favorite charcter.
"Just make sure not to get arrested, ok?" ~ Haru to Shigure, manga vol. 3
Some Livejournal communities devoted to Fruits Basket:
fruits_basket (one of many general communities)
100_fruit (drabble community)
furuba_fiction (uh, yeah, what it says)
furuba_rabu (devoted to het pairings)
fb_stillness (graphics)
zodiac_boiz (supposedly general, but has a lot of fics/drabbles posted)
Unfortunately, there isn’t any community completely devoted to Shigure :^(
Some stories I recommend:
Bad Apple - Shigure's sense of humor really shines through in this drabble
Domestic Bliss - Shigure/Tohru, NC-17, PWP
Nameless Fic - Shigure/Ayame, Shigure/Hatori, NC-17, high school days
Hypothetical House - "Everything you all know about me comes from me, so if I want to do something without the family knowing I just keep quiet about it and babble about nonsense to throw you all off"
Archives/Recommendation sites:
Fallen Fruits (yaoi)
Furuba Lemon Fics
Forbidden Fruit - mostly Hatori/Tohru
Onigiri Workshop - Home of darkflame_dragn's fics - also check out her LJ for current projects
Fleeting Fancies Furuba Fic Rec site
Feedback is always welcomed!