Tohru Honda (本田 透, Honda Tōru) is the main protagonist of the Fruits Basket series. She is the only daughter to the late Kyoko Honda and Katsuya Honda.
Appearance
Tohru is a slim young girl of average height with long straight brown hair, that sometimes looks black, and has an eyebrow-length fringe that frames her large eyes (blue in the anime, brown in the manga). She is considered quite cute. She usually has blue coloured bows in her hair, sometimes they're yellow and purple. She either wears a large one in the back or two smaller ones that pull her hair back to the sides. On weekends she often has her hair in pigtails.
Her school uniform is a classic naval-styled Japanese school uniform. The uniform has a blue mini-skirt with pleats and ruffles at the hem, and a white and blue top with a jacket. She wears blue socks that go up to mid-shin, and brown slip-on shoes. This is the outfit she is most commonly seen in, although she is known for wearing other short dresses. One of the only times Tohru is seen wearing a long dress is when she played the not-so-evil stepsister in the school play, Sorta Cinderella in the manga.
Personality
Tohru is an extremely kind, gentle, sweet, cheerful and over-optimistic girl. She loves her friends and family dearly, and is constantly patient and understanding to everyone around her. However, her kindness often makes her put everyone else's needs before her own. This happened during her first New Year's Eve without her mother, where she let Shigure, Kyo and Yuki leave for the traditional Sohma House New Year's celebration even though she was upset about being alone. Even after Yuki and Kyo run home to spend New Year's with her, she still shows concern for them missing their family's celebrations. She can oftentimes be seen talking to a icture she carries around of her mother, which can be seen as endearing by most of the people around her. Her naive and spaced-out demeanor often get her ordered around by Ayame Sohma and Hiro Sohma, causing her friends to call her a "pushover". Although she is so kind-hearted, she can still stand up to people who are cruel to her friends. She did this when she stood up to Akito for hurting Yuki. She also dislikes taking advantage of people, as she always tries to pay people back for any help they give her. She always makes sure everything is nice and clean in Shigure's house as payment for letting her stay there.
Isuzu Sohma and Kureno Sohma both think that Tohru and Hatsuharu Sohma are too nice. Akito Sohma thought that Tohru was an idiot because she was too forgiving towards anyone for anything they've done to her.
Tohru is constantly cleaning up and enjoys housework, which shows that she doesn't mind doing things for others. For example, in volume 12, she made tea for Shishou while visiting him.
However, as the books go on, Tohru realises that Kyo will be locked away after his high school graduation. She grows more serious and emotional, often crying, and grows bitterer towards his circumstances. She is still optimistic and cheerful, but also has a darker side to her. Upon breaking the curse, she returns to her normal state.
Story Overview
Family
Tohru as a baby.
Tohru was born to Kyoko and Katsuya Honda in the Year of the Dog. Her father died very soon after she was born, so she was pretty much raised by her mother alone. Tohru and her mother were extremely close and spent much time together. Tohru loved when her mother told her stories, especially ones about the Chinese Zodiac. Tohru always became upset when she heard of how the Cat was ignored, even wishing that she could be born in the Year of the Cat instead of the Dog, even though the Year of the Cat did not exist.
Aside from her life at home with her mother, Tohru was often a victim of bullying at school. The children would play a game called Fruits Basket, and Tohru would always be assigned the rice ball, which is not a fruit. The children did this to exclude her from the game, though Tohru just stayed positive, hoping that someone would call out rice ball so she could play as well.
One day, Tohru overslept and did not see her mother leave work. She would always say "Bye, be safe!" to her mother before she left for work. On that day though, Tohru's mother was killed in a car accident. Tohru still blames herself for her mother's death, since she did not say "Bye, be safe!" to her that morning.
Before Summer Vacation
After her mother's death, Tohru moved in with her grandfather for a while. Her grandfather told her that he was getting his house remodeled and asked her if she had a place to stay. Not wanting him to worry about her, Tohru lied and said that she would stay with one of her friends. Tohru didn't have the heart to ask Uo or Hana if she could stay with one of them, so she got a tent and lived in that for a short while. She didn't know that she was living on the property of the Sohma family though.
One day when she was walking to school, she noticed Shigure Sohma's figurines of the Chinese zodiac. They talked about the zodiac for a brief moment until Yuki Sohma came out. Yuki and Tohru go to the same school, so they walked together. Tohru learned that Yuki has a hatred for the Cat in the Zodiac, which she does not understand. Later that night, Yuki and Shigure find her tent and question why she is there. Tohru explained her situation and she offered to pay rent to them, practically begging to keep her tent there.
Shigure's allies, the wolves tell him that a landslide occurred that same night, destroying Tohru's tent. She is invited back to the Sohma house for the night and the next day she is allowed to stay with them if she does household chores. Tohru agreed, extremely grateful for this offer. That same morning, an orange-haired boy named Kyo appeared and started to pick a fight against Yuki. Tohru tried to stop him and she accidentally landed on him, which caused him to turn into a cat. She also bumped into Yuki and Shigure, causing them to turn into a rat and a dog.
Tohru then learned that the Sohma family possessed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac and they transform if they hug someone of the opposite gender. Tohru is still given permission to stay with the Sohma family though. Soon after this, Tohru met another member of the Sohma family, Kagura, who is the boar. Tohru is enjoying her time with the Sohmas, but she got a phone call from her Grandfather, who told her the remodelling was complete and she could come back.
Tohru had grown so attached to the Sohma family, and she finds it extremely difficult to leave them. But Tohru knew that she was not a member of the Sohma family, and that she could never be. She returned to her Grandfather's house, where she is pretty miserable. Her Grandfather knew she didn't like it here and she'd rather be some place else. Much to her surprise, Yuki and Kyo come to take her back home, because they both missed her as well as overhearing her conversation with her Grandfather. Tohru is extremely happy and grateful that they still want her to be a part of the family.
Shortly after at the school's cultural festival, Tohru met two more members of the Sohma family, Momiji and Hatori. Momiji being the rabbit, Hatori being the seahorse, which is not a member of the zodiac, but is a water version of the dragon. Hatori asked Tohru to visit the main house, though Tohru is worried that Hatori is going to erase her memories. At her meeting with Hatori, Tohru learned about Hatori's past with a human girl named Kana, and how he had to erase her memories. He also warned Tohru about the Sohmas and that they are dangerous, but Tohru refused to have her memories erased. Tohru also reminded Hatori of his former lover. Tohru again met another member of the zodiac soon after, this one being the hot-headed Hatsuharu Sohma, who is the cow. Tohru continued to develop a strong bond with the Sohmas during holidays like Valentine's Day and White Day.
On the first day of school, Hatsuharu and Momiji begin their first year of high school. Tohru is also introduced to the head of the Sohma family that day, Akito. She feels slightly intimidated by Akito, and does not like Akito threatening Yuki. Tohru managed to get Yuki and herself away by saying class started. Tohru also met Ayame, who is Yuki's older brother and the Snake of the Zodiac. She also met Momiji's mother, who has no memories of her son, as she could not cope with the Zodiac. Tohru wept for Momiji when he tells her this and she embraced him, to show her love for him. Tohru and her friends, along with Kyo and Yuki visited her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. Tohru was extremely happy that everyone was coming along with her for this.
After taking a vacation with the Sohmas, Tohru met Kisa Sohma, a very shy girl who stopped speaking because she was being teased for her odd hair and eye color, markings of being possessed by the tiger. Tohru talked to Kisa's mother as well, and she explained how she did not wish to go to school because of the bullying. Tohru is able to relate because of her own experience. She eventually helps Kisa get the courage to go back to school. Shortly after, Tohru meets with Kagura again, who asks Tohru if she knows about Kyo's true form. Tohru does not know, but she learned when Kazuma Sohma came to see Kyo. Kazuma ripped off Kyo's bracelet, which awakened his true form. Tohru followed Kyo, desperate to help him as he is her friend, and she stayed until Kyo accepted her as his friend. Tohru returned to the house, carrying Kyo in his usual cat form.
After all the commotion over Kyo's true form, Tohru met Hiro, a friend of Kisa's who was jealous over Kisa's friendship with Tohru. Tohru learned from Hiro that he liked Kisa and that he wanted to protect her, and Tohru admired this about Hiro. Kisa and Hiro are then able to both admit their feelings for each other.
During Summer Vacation
The Sohmas and Tohru head for a private beach to enjoy their Summer Vacation.
Akito calls attended the beach trip as well and kept a close eye on Tohru. Akito noticed how Kyo was acting around Tohru and he spoke to Kyo, taunting him about how he is a monster. Akito also went to visit Tohru before leaving and he told her to stop interfering with the Zodiac. Tohru did not want to stop, and she believed that she could break the curse of the Zodiac. Time is running out to save Kyo though, since after the Cat completes high school, the Cat is to live a life in complete isolation.
After Summer Vacation
Tohru went to see Kazuma, and asked if he knew how to break the curse. Kazuma told her that he does not know how to break the curse. While Tohru was trying to break the curse, she learned that another member of the Zodiac, Rin was also trying to do the same. Tohru also met Kureno, who was the former rooster of the Zodiac, who had the curse broken somehow. But he does not know why it was broken for him. Tohru later overheard a conversation between Rin and Shigure, and learned that the curse would be broken soon because all of the animals are alive together. Tohru asked him how soon it will happen, and admitted that the one she wanted to save the most was Kyo.
Tohru also had begun to feel guilty about falling in love with Kyo, since she believed that she was replacing her love for her mother. When Tohru admitted her love for Kyo, he accused her of loving him even though he is "a little loopy" and he says "I'm disillusioned". Tohru also learned that Kyo could have saved her mother, since he was there at her death, but it would have caused him to transform. Kyo blamed himself for her death. When Kyo cannot accept Tohru's love for him, he ran away and Tohru followed him. She is stopped by Akito though, who is jealous that Tohru had won. Tohru tried to have a fresh start with Akito, offering it to her/him. However the cliff she was on collapsed and she fell.
Due to Akito's changing and accepting of Tohru, the curse was lifted and Akito decided to let go of the control over the members of the Zodiac. Tohru and Kyo met yet again and Kyo apologized for not accepting her love. Tohru asked Kyo if she could hug him, and Kyo is uneasy because he is unsure if he will transform. But when Tohru hugged him, he stayed the same. The cat's curse was lifted also due to Tohru's true love for him. All of the other members of the Sohma family are able to lead regular lives now that the curse is broken.
Tohru is last seen walking with Kyo in their old age and they also have kid(s) and a grand daughter.
Relationships
- Main article: Tohru Honda/Relationships
Trivia
- According to Natsuki Takaya, Tohru was the first character she created for the series, with Yuki and Kyo Sohma soon after. When asked how she came up with Tohru's personality and background, she said: "I thought that for a girl to accept other people's feelings so wholeheartedly, she'd have to have a slightly unusual way of looking at things so that she wouldn't be crushed by having so much empathy. But I still worried that I needed something else to flesh her out. And then the thought, 'Oh, yeah—I'll make her use super-polite language, and use it incorrectly!' came to me all at once. After that, her character was completed in no time".
- Takaya described Tohru, Yuki Sohma, Kyo Sohma and Shigure Sohma as the main cast.
- As revealed in the manga, Tohru's favorite color is pink.
- The tent that Tohru lives in is in the shape of a half cylinder in the manga; but in the anime, it is much smaller and in the shape of a triangular prism.
- While many sites list Tohru as an Aries, she is actually a Taurus. The mix up exists due to a fanfiction about Tohru's birthday (Entitled "Happy Birthday, Miss Tohru!"), the story was published on April 5th, 2006. On most search engines April 5th 2006 shows up when a search is done for Tohru's birthday. All character profiles on websites predating this story list her as a Taurus. Her real birthday is May 6th.
- Despite not being able to transform, Tohru is represented by a rice ball with a "plum on the back".
- In the Funimation dub, Tohru is voiced by Laura Bailey, known for her work in Full Metal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and Dragon Ball Z.
Gallery
Anime
Manga
.jpg "Yuki and Tohru (Yolume 10).jpg (141 KB)")
References
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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