The Multi Layered Characterisation of Shigure Sohma
The Mabudachi Trio and unfortunate middle child Kureno grew up with Akito and the curse as a center of their emotional lives in a cult environment. The very same cult environment which reveres their position as zodiac but also dehumanises them.
There is Ayame, a largely self centered child whose loud personality is something he actively cultivated and used against his mother and perhaps, Sohma environment. Take for example, the Lulubara gag. He makes up a ridiculous story on spot so that it exhausts anyone who attempts to control him. He gets to keep his hair long - he uses similar methods to get his mother off his back. It is why Akito never bothered with him, which works for him. It's only when he is finally outside, meets Mine, does he have the tools to really reflect on how he was and how he hurt Yuki. He is pretty much the only adult who keeps himself accountable and actually apologises.
Then there is Hatori, Akito's closest aide at her beck and call. The one who has to erase people's memories and uphold the Sohma family system. Hatori has really internalised his position in the family and as a cursed being, which is why, when Kana came in - it felt like "his very existence is being forgiven". Hatori allows himself to ask for something he felt was out of his reach with Kana. And what he instead experiences is the first truly violent act that Akito commits. With the curse restricting him from portioning any of the blame on to Akito, Kana and his relationship collapses. Hatori gives up and stays where he is, trying to manage day to day life deeply entrenched in this abusive cult. Hatori does not want to upset the ongoing system, even though he knows it's fucked up. He neither wants Akito to be particularly hurt (him confronting Shigure on being kind to her is an example) nor does he want the kids to be hurt. Shigure even asks him if he is attached to the bond - and in effect, to the environment and the way of life he is grown up in and is used to. The bigger implication of that question Shigure asks is - are you attached to your own trauma informed personality that you may not know who you are without it?
More on them here: https://ashesandhackles.tumblr.com/post/631383822720761856/shigure-and-hatori-thoughts-s2e24-and-little-of
Shigure and Hatori Thoughts - S2E24 and little of S2E25
Shigure and Hatori are written so believably as two friends who have grown up togeth
And then Kureno - who doesn't quite know what to do with himself after the curse breaks. My meta on Kureno here: https://ashesandhackles.tumblr.com/post/631353816907923456/kureno-sohma-and-the-arc-that-wasnt
Kureno Sohma and the Arc That Wasn't
Lot of people have talked about aspects of Kureno's arc they don't like or are outright uncomfortable
Finally, we have the one who this huge meta is about: the classic avoidant type Shigure, whose aloofness and apathy as a child also protected him in the Sohma family, like how Ayame's loud personality protected him. Shigure is always seen with a book, in effect, escaping into world of stories from the cult environment that treats them not as humans. There is a scene in the manga where a child Shigure tells Kureno and the others about how Ren is jealous of Akito and how that is "pitiful", just like "the entire Sohma family ". This suggests an early awareness in him about how fucked up the Sohmas are. And his way to cope with that is to never allow people to get close to him. He plays up his charm, goofs off, or is just aloof and reading a book. The only person who can read him and even has the ability to rein him, is Hatori.
Now, back to his early awareness of the Sohma's fucked upness. If you see in Yuki backstory chapters, where Yuki looks at Ayame and Shigure - Takaya makes this interesting choice of having Shigure be the one who is looking directly at Yuki, with Ayame barely turning. And he looks apathetic - but he is also watching. (There are many scenes that Takaya just chooses to show us that Shigure is observing something). His aloofness is something that a child Akito seems to be bothered by ("from the beginning he seems unconcerned being alone"), although he is there to comfort her when she needs, much like Hatori and Kureno. Shigure embraces the emotional bond of the curse and doesn't seem to mind it, until Akito starts self destructing from it and in process, also hurts his best friend and later on, him.
Akito's first truly violent act was against Hatori, someone Shigure does care about. That probably signaled to him how far gone she is and I think he does have some anger surrounding that. (In ep. 08, he thinks to himself : "It's a pleasure to watch you reaping what you sow" - this is not just because she hurts him, it's also because the very trait of hers that hurts him- this god complex where she thinks she can do whatever she wants - has hurt others and it will most definitely work against her. )
After the Hatori incident, Shigure finds out about Kureno and he commits what is both an act of malicious rage but also a calculation - him sleeping with Ren. An act of pure cruelty, whose only design is to hurt. Akito rightfully throws him out. He leaves. Right when he leaves, Haru - the only one in the Sohma family with actual conscience and willingness to do something about it - asks him to take Yuki. He does.
Shigure and Yuki have a very "you mind your own business and I will mind mine" air about them before Tohru. They talk, but mostly when they are out to eat. They let each other be. However, living with Yuki actually deeply impresses upon Shigure how scarred Yuki is. The next time Yuki's isolation is brought up with him and Hatori, he speaks respectfully about it and with empathy (ep. 12, S1). He even tells Kazuma that maybe taking Kyo's beads off is pushing him too far (ep.24, S1) - this is a far cry from the apathetic teen who was just observing when child Akito took Kyo's beads off.
The only time Shigure is ever seen needling Yuki or Kyo about their trauma is when they are lashing out. It's not coming from malicious place - just an insensitive one where he thinks they need to get over themselves. It is "here is some self knowledge you don't want to admit and I don't have the patience for this bullshit". And given who he spends most amount of time with, it is not hard to see where his impatience comes from. He is shown to be similarly unsympathetic whenever Akito is lashing out, where he either shuts down and gets cold in response to her or gives her a painful jab about hidden insecurities.
Shigure's house is a veritable safe space away from Akito, where they all form emotional bonds without her. The beach arc only happens when Shigure noticed that Yuki went to the estate on his own to check on Haru - which told him Yuki is in a better place. And if Shigure chooses to test their bonds with Akito now, it will most likely have an outcome that he is hoping for. That is, the kids moving further away from Akito. As he tells Hatori during the beach arc: " Yuki will not always be the same child that was locked up. So, who really is the delusional one here?"
And then there is Tohru, an absolute innocent Shigure uses to break the curse, whose very warmth heals everyone around her. He feels guilt for using her, but he is also very kind to her in a way he isn't with anyone else. He indulges her with gifts like a that massive bed she has, regularly circumvents her guilt complex and anxiety, goes to parents teacher conference for her (he says it's to see Mayu, which true but if that was the only thing, he would never feel the need to step in on that call where Tohru was getting overwhelmed with worry), hangs out with her, gossips with her about Yuki and Kyo. It is not by coincidence that the first person Tohru meets is Shigure and the one she opens up to about not being able to say goodbye to her mom.
"The zodiacs are monsters and that is an extremely ugly thing. Just living in the world, it is painful for us. Do you not understand?"
When he tells her extremely harsh truth about the status of the Cat and she pushes him, he holds the hand she pushed him with and tells her "one day, all of this will end". And when he sees Kyo coming, he makes up an excuse so that Tohru doesn't have to come up with a story about why she is crying because he senses that Tohru is absolutely not ready to tell Kyo why she is crying. I wanted to highlight how he treats Tohru before the content of what he told her : which is the extremely dehumanising nature of the curse. He has grown up in this, and he knows how deeply fucked up it is and this is not the speech of a guy who is unbothered by how Sohma family runs.
On the contrary. I think this is why Shigure is as ruthless and largely unrepentant about his schemes because he knows it will benefit not just him, but everyone else to get out of the mess they are in. The only remorse he ever really shows is when Kagura asks him about Tohru and Kureno being in hospital, Akito telling him how Tohru spoke to her as an equal and thereby saved her - basically, Tohru being hurt by larger scheme of things.
Through getting a house, and being with the kids and most especially Tohru who Shigure loves, Shigure expands the circle of people he cares about. He is also noticeably less malicious with Akito in the later half of manga - especially after the phone call with Kureno when he understands that it's Akito's fear of abandonment that makes her keep Kureno close to her. While he is still quite angry with her (as we will see in ch101 with his expression when she says she is free to do as she pleases with the zodiac, in effect putting them beneath her and dehumanising them. It's a more straightforward version of "you are my toy!"), he tones down the bitterness and malice.
This became a huge post but it was basically to demonstrate that his motivations are very layered and even when his motivations are revealed later on, it does not make moments of kindness or wisdom with Yuki, Tohru or Kyo invalid. He lives with them, after all. They are as much a part of who he is as well as his shady, cruel aspects. The best way to read him is in the first episode: he is the asshole who laughs at Tohru, but he is also the one who comforts her when she tries to dig up the tent and says they can come back tomorrow. He is both.
Arisa and Kureno marry first, a little past Arisa’s 20th birthday. This surprises everyone. (Remember? Arisa called it at the same time she told Saki that they needed to interfere on Tohru’s first date if Tohru ever got a boyfriend.)
They did not have a wedding ceremony; they just went to the registrar at city hall to change the status on the family register (koseki.) Rather than take the Sohma name, Kureno takes the Uotani surname, symbolic of truly leaving the Sohma clan and finding his own path.
Of course, Arisa told Saki and Tohru soon after changing their family register. At Saki and Tohru’s insistence, they ended up having a little wedding celebration party among themselves with Kureno and Kyo.
This was a little awkward for the two former Zodiac members as Kureno really didn’t get to know anyone else and is still a bit socially weird. But Kyo had grown up a bit, learned how to interact with people, and oddly enough was the one who put Kureno at ease around the girls, rather than the other way around.
During their tiny wedding celebration, Arisa gets a little tipsy and starts badgering Kyo about when he and Tohru are gonna finally get married.
Kyo + Tohru
This was the wedding that everyone was waiting for. Though they have been living together for awhile, neither were in a huge rush to get married. Kyo still had a lot to prove to himself, wanting to grow and test himself, and Tohru respected that.
Though around 21 or so, Kyo and Tohru are both ready to be married legally. While neither Kyo nor Tohru relish being the center of attention, the idea of a small traditional Shinto ceremony appeals to them both. And of course, their families are both on board with the idea. They marry in April, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
Having heard about Kyo’s father from Kazuma, Saki recognizes him lurking around the shrine’s grounds prior the ceremony, looking angry and like he is about to disrupt the proceedings.
Saki uses her electric waves to knock him senseless and he leaves the grounds without Kyo or Tohru ever knowing he was there. (Kazuma saw the whole thing and thanked Saki.)
The wedding ceremony itself is attended only by family – ie. Kazuma, Saki, Arisa (with Kureno), and Yuki. Yuki acts as the stand-in for the “matchmaker” part of the ceremony, as Kyo had asked him to.
The wedding reception is the big party and as most things that involve the collected former Zodiacs, it is far livelier than one would expect from such a traditional family. All the former Zodiacs are there, along with their significant others.
Akito wanted badly to attend but was hesitant as she knew her presence still caused many of the former Zodiacs pain. Tohru made it clear that she wanted her there. Arisa, Saki, and Mine all helped to make Akito feel welcome and enjoy herself at the wedding reception, while still allowing her to keep distance between herself and the Zodiac members who were still troubled by her presence.
The money they get from the reception is enough to buy a traditional house in the country near Kyo’s dojo. A good part of the money was from Akito; as head of the family she was expected by custom to give a hefty sum but also used that influence to give more than that as this was an occasion where her gift could not be refused by either Kyo or Tohru.
Yuki + Machi
Yuki proposes to Machi the winter before he graduates from college, after one of their snow trampling sessions. Yuki and Machi’s wedding ends up being super complicated for no other reason that they both have ridiculously rich parents who demand that their children’s wedding be the social event of the season.
When Yuki’s mother learns that Kyo, the former Cat, was going to have a traditional ceremony just a few months before Yuki’s wedding, she was scandalized. She even went to Akito to put a stop to it so that Yuki’s wedding would be the only wedding in the Sohma clan.
Akito, of course, refused. When Yuki heard about this, he was livid and threatened to call the entire wedding off and elope with Machi instead, knowing what a social scandal this would be for both families. Realizing that Yuki was more than willing to follow through with the threat, his mother backed off.
In similar fashion, Yuki and Machi were able to keep their parents from completely overriding the ceremony and reception that they wanted, which was relatively small (relatively being the operative term.)
They have a contemporary, Western-style ceremony with a large wedding reception. All the Zodiacs are invited. Yuki asked Kyo to be his best man while Kakeru acted as as a groomsmen along with Haru.
Machi – who had become good friends with Tohru by now – had Tohru as a matron of honor, with two female friends from college as her bridesmaids.
Ayame and Mine went abso-fucking-lutely bonkers with all the different dress changes. (Yuki also had to set his foot down with some of Ayame’s more interesting choices for him.)
Shigure's conversation with Kureno is important to remember to give the conversation with Akito an added layer.
Back in Season 2, Episode 10 - when Akito asks "Don't tell me...it's her", Shigure is silent, unwilling to concede any vulnerable information. Knowing what he does about Kureno and understanding why Akito keeps him close, he is willing to not only admit why he slept with Ren but refute Akito's allegation of him wanting Ren more with : "I care about you more than anyone else. That is the unwavering truth".
However, neither of these admissions make Akito want to be honest in return or explain why she hurt him - in Shigure's eyes, this is an opening he is giving to explain her true reasons for keeping Kureno close. She chooses, in effect, to go on a defensive - clinging to her God persona and her right to do whatever she wants, thereby putting him beneath her and refusing to take his feelings into consideration ("you are all mine. I am special!"). This is the source of Shigure's anger with her - recall him laughing bitterly at Rin's suggestion that he is "Akito's favorite" when she dehumanises him. It's this God persona that he wants "to crush".
He removes himself from the conversation because Akito cut off any line of communication as long she clings to the God persona, and Akito fearing that she is losing him, makes him stay by weaponising her sexuality (modelled after her own mother). A fact he calls out with his initial response to her kiss - standing still. He proceeds to give in, which tells you how most confrontations of anyone vs Akito goes: it usually goes her way. Unless they are of course passive aggressive motherfuckers like him, who will not follow an order to the T to save his own life. Such as that scene where he leaves the estate: he leaves in the opposite direction she is pointing and gets under her skin with a passive aggressive wave.
After this, the only time he is willing to show tenderness with her is when she is asleep - where he covers her with his own clothes and plays with her fingers, thinking about the fact that he has been "waiting". It seems to me that there is certain sense of regret in him - how those initial beautiful feelings of the bond he felt has gotten so dark and twisted.
I find it interesting that a lot of anime only attribute the curse breaking to Momiji only. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying Momiji didn’t play a large role in his curse breaking but the image we get before the break is not Momiji, it’s Akito thinking of a bond that wasn’t part of the zodiac.
When the curse break for everyone later on, Akito is the one who does it so it’s not hard to think that Momiji’s curse breaking was a mix of Momiji moving on and Akito, for one second,just a tiny bit doubting Akira’s words and letting go just a little bit.
Weird theory time with zero evidence from the manga or anime: Shigure and the flower happened around the same time Kureno’s curse broke…What if subconsciously, at the time, Akito recognized that bond as different from the zodiac curse and that’s why Kureno’s bond broke ?
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