Akito and Shigure Sohma Relationship: An Analysis
I’ve been a fan of Fruits Basket for many years. It was not my childhood manga or the manga I followed religiously throughout middle and high school. I read it through, was touched and pleased, then forgot about it. Then I read it again. And again. I always seem to come back to it at my darkest points, like a small ray of light with words of wisdom and inspiration that made me both laugh and cry.
One thing that always piqued my interest more than anything, though, was the dramatic, tension-fraught mess of a love story between Shigure and Akito Sohma. I think Akito’s gender reveal was one of the biggest shocks I’ve ever had in manga– though later it seems more apparent than at first glance.
I’ve read a lot posts and forums trying to delve into their relationship– and the questions are normally the same; Did Shigure sleep with Akito when she was a minor? Was their relationship intimate before Kureno? Etc. The one that stands out to me, however, is why exactly does Shigure love Akito? Akito seems to love Shigure because he was kind to her as a child, charming and indulgent– and later he manipulates her feelings with mind games. But why does a man, seven to eight years a girl’s senior, fall madly in love with a spoiled, destructive girl like Akito?
The manga only openly reveals his feelings after witnessing the dream of Akito; he states that after the dream, he wanted to possess the god of the Zodiac fully. It shows little else of their relationship other than snippets of Akito being a lonely and self-conscious child that Shigure cares for and comforts.
I think it’s imperative, at this point, to look towards others relationships with Akito. Many posts raise the question of why the dream made Shigure love Akito when it did not have the same effect on the others (Hatori, Kureno and Ayame). While first, it is important to point out that all of the characters are differecnt people. Characters like Hatori are drawn to more independent women (namely, Kana and Mayuko) while Ayame is an inherently selfish and self-centered child (he ignores Yuki’s pleas for help as children). That being said, I think it is obvious in the manga that Hatori does love Akito– just not romantically. I always got the vibe that Hatori sees Akito as his little sister. Someone precious and irreplaceable while not above being obnoxious and unlikeable. Hatori refuses to blame Akito for his eye injury and when Akito is upset by Ren’s mockery, he remembers her as a small child and holds her tightly against him in comfort. Meanwhile, Ayame is simply the kind of character who could not be bothered with Akito. As a child and teenager, Ayame does not see the issues and problems of the people around him, he is remarkably self-centered (a trait he eventually begins to grow out of) and does not understand well the needs of others. This also makes Akito dislike him and so a relationship does not form.
One relationship I tend to think people often misread but one that is key to understanding Shigure and Akito, is the relationship between Kureno and Akito. It is often inferred or believed that Kureno was not in love with Akito– I think that is a faulty interpretation of the text. I think that Kureno was, like Shigure, in love with Akito as a child. He found her endearing and wanted to spoil her, though unlike Shigure he is not nearly as possessive or manipulative. He says he couldn’t stand to leave her, that he couldn’t stand to see her weep, so he stays with her after the curse. Not only does he stay, but he absolutely dedicates his life to her in a way no other Zodiac member does. One does not do that without love; though not necessarily a healthy love. Kureno also sleeps with Akito. They have an ongoing, sexual relationship. Mind you, Akito is anyway between five and six years younger than Kureno and seven to eight years younger than Shigure. I sincerely doubt her first sexual experience, as a young girl who has been raised away from feminine ideals, was initiated by her. I also have trouble believing Kureno was her first sexual relationship– Shigure’s view of her cheating indicates that he felt he had the position of her lover before her and Kureno’s relationship began. With Shigure also being known for his promiscuity, it is likely he initiated a sexual relationship with Akito. That being said, Akito uses sex as a way to keep Kureno complacent as her companion. She does not seem to love Kureno the same way she does Shigure but she uses the same weapon to keep both men close; which is sex. That means that if she did in fact sleep with Shigure prior to Kureno, she saw something in Kureno that made her believe sex would work equally effectively on him, and she is right. You don’t see Kureno turning her down. He is sexually attracted to her or they would not be seen making love as frequently as they are. I think that by the time he has his meeting with Uotani, however, that he has fallen out of love with her. He sees the pain it has caused Shigure and he also sees Akito’s discontent with the relationship and he begins to fall for Uo-chan. He tells Tohru that Uo-chan is “the first woman he fell in love with since his curse broke”. Note that he does not say she is the first person he has EVER fallen in love with. Seeing as the Sohma’s are kept away from society for the most part, and knowing what we know of his and Akito’s relationship, it is inferred that the first woman he ever loved was indeed Akito. He, like Shigure, loves her with and without the curse. But Akito’s relationship with him is toxic for Kureno. Shigure can stand up to Akito in a way Kureno’s personality won’t allow, and so he suffers within their relationship.
The reason I’ve branched so deeply into everyone else’s relationship with Akito is to highlight Shigure’s off-page reasons for falling in love with her. Like Hatori and Kureno, Shigure sees the full picture of Akito’s trauma. He knows of the mental abuse Ren has heaped on her daughter since before she was even born. He knows she is hurting and desires affection as she is constantly seen demanding it from the older Zodiacs, “Hug me, Hatori!” and “Do you love me, Shigure?” That, paired with the dream of Akito as god, appeals to Shigure. He wants to spoil her with affection and love but his possessive nature also makes him not want to share her. Hatori might see her as a sister, but a sister can be shared, she can have other siblings. Shigure wants a deeper bond with her and to him, you cannot share a lover. So his affections become romantic and sexualized. He does not, he expresses, want to be her father and he does not want to share her equally with the other Zodiacs. And just when he thinks he has her in the way he desires, she begins her relationship with Kureno, who is unaware of Shigure’s feelings.
I think this act of betrayal arrests Shigure’s love for Akito; his anger and desire for revenge trumps his tenderer feelings for her and that is most of what we see in the manga. He has not stopped loving her so much as he pushes the love he has held and fostered for her for years, away and begins to try and manipulate her whereas before he showed his love through kindness.
What we see towards the end of the manga is not necessarily a change in the two but a reversal. Akito is more how she was as a very small child, not as angry and more truthfully affectionate and Shigure is gentler and more relaxed in the relationship, much like their original dynamic.
So why Shigure loves Akito is much the same as many relationships. He sees her heart, the whole of it– he sees her hurt, her love, her nastiness and her hate and he loves her through it. Their relationship is not a healthy one– though hopefully it can grow to be– but it is not out of nowhere either. Akito is not all bad and most of her childhood is spent being a kind child until her father’s death, her mother’s abuse, and the household’s constant enabling of her destructive and unhealthy coping mechanisms turn her into a mentally unstable bully. It’s not until she hits rock bottom– with the threat of actual repercussions of her behavior and actions– that Akito grows as a person and is able to separate unhealthy behaviors that she and Shigure can form the kind of bond they both desire.
Haha sorry for my long-windedness.
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