The Complex Redemption of Akito Soma - Fruit Basket analysis
(Disclaimer: I haven’t read the Fruits Basket sequel yet—this post is based on the original manga + anime)
Let’s talk about Akito and mental health.
Akito is introduced in a deeply dysfunctional environment. Her father treats her like a divine being because of her inherited role, while her mother resents and envies her. She's raised as a boy (which, narratively, is… questionable in terms of the transgender stereotypes it leans on). From early on, she’s isolated, idolized, and emotionally manipulated. It's the kind of abuse that often creates more abuse.
As a result, Akito becomes emotionally immature and abusive. I wouldn’t go overboard with labels, but she does show strong narcissistic traits. Her self-worth is so fragile that she needs to control others, to keep herself at the center of their world—especially the Zodiac members. She can’t handle empathy, and the idea that someone else (Tohru) could become the emotional center of that world drives her wild. In season 2, she literally sabotages the vacation just because she can’t stand the idea of them being happy without her.
One of the most telling moments is when Shigure tells her that he slept with her mother to hurt her, because she had done the same with Kureno. And Akito responds: “You don’t get to do that. I can, because I’m God.” It’s a brutal, honest expression of how twisted the Soma family dynamic is, and how entangled her identity is with control and punishment.
And yet, despite all this, I found myself grateful that Akito is given a breakthrough. As a psychologist, and as someone who has been on the receiving end of this kind of personality, I believe in healing. I don't think abuse can be forgiven easily (nor should it be !) but I do believe that people can grow and change.
Akito decides to walk away from the system that made her who she is. She leaves the Soma house. She accepts that the curse will end with this generation, and stops chasing the fantasy her family fed her. In her own way, she too breaks the cycle of intergenerational trauma. Just like each of the Zodiac members do in their own way.
So I get it when people in the fandom say “I can’t forgive Akito.” That’s fair. And in-universe, people like Rin absolutely have the right not to forgive. You don’t owe forgiveness to someone who hurt you. Some characters forgive but never forget. All of that is valid. Everyone deals with abuse differently. As a victim myself, I can forgive but never forget and the relationship is broken forever.
But sometimes, the impulse of the fandom to loudly declare “I’ll never forgive Akito” also feels like a refusal to engage with the messiness of her arc. It can, unintentionally, come off as dismissive of how ugly mental health struggles can look from the outside. Her behavior is disturbing because trauma often is. But to flatten her character into a villain-only lens is to miss the point of Fruits Basket’s storytelling. I’m glad that Fruits Basket gives space to the idea that some abusers(not all, but some) can reach a moment of clarity. That they can walk away, unlearn, start again. That Akito might, one day, become someone else entirely. Free of the Soma curse. Free of her own pain.
That said… I really wish Shigure wasn’t part of her “new life.” I would’ve loved if their relationship remained something incomplete. First love, sure, the only one who dared to shatter her god-complex. But with all the mutual toxicity and abuse between them, I don’t think a healthy relationship is possible. And they both carry too much of the Soma legacy with them. It's great fanfiction material for angsty exploration but not a realistic ending.
If Akito had lost not only her role and her family system, but also the possibility of a relationship with Shigure, her arc would’ve felt even more grounded and emotionally powerful. It would have mirrored real life more closely: growth often comes with loss. And maybe, paradoxically, viewers might have found her more relatable, more deserving of empathy, if she hadn’t been “rewarded” with a romance at the end.
I wish Akito could’ve found love and friendship outside the Soma household. A different kind of love, chosen freely, not shaped by trauma.
