Kagura Sohma

is one of the recurring characters of the Fruits Basket series. She is a second-year student at a private girls' junior college.

Kagura is the Boar of the Chinese Zodiac. She is depicted as a girlish, sweet young woman, which opposes her destructive force of nature and near-obsessive love towards Kyo Sohma. She is convinced she will marry him, mainly because she threatened him into proposing to her as children, and partly because she thinks that they belong together because they can hug each other without transforming into their zodiac form. She has loved him since childhood, but her true feelings are rooted in a secret sadness.

Kagura lives with both of her parents, who loves her dearly and are perfectly fine with her double-edged personality; and her distant relative Isuzu Sohma. She is also good friends with Ritsu Sohma.

Appearance
Kagura is a petite young woman of average build and height, with fair skin which is prone to blushing, who has a pair of big, round dark brown eyes. She has straight, upper-back-length brown hair which she either leaves down, or tied into braids at each side of her head, secured with a ribbon at the back.

Kagura is mentioned to be a very feminine girl and often dresses in blouses, dresses, and skirts. During her introduction, she is seen wearing a short-sleeved dark yellow dress with a long-sleeved light yellow shirt underneath, and a pair of beige and light-brown colored boots.

Her school uniform, which she only has been seen in a couple of times, consists of a white tailored shirt with black sleeves, a yellow ribbon, and a black shirt underneath. It also consists of tights which cover her entire legs and a pair of black loafers.

She carries around her orange-colored cat backpack almost all the time, which is her trademark.

Personality
Kagura is usually a sweet, polite, considerate, and friendly girly girl, but she is also very strong-willed, impulsive, and can become extremely violent, forceful, self-centered, and emotionally aggressive in a matter of seconds. This is most evident regarding her feelings for Kyo; when the target of her affections is present as her extremely passionate feelings are shown, they are also accompanied by actual physical violence as seen when she beats Kyo up. However, her behavior is mainly caused by emotional immaturity instead of malice; she just loses control of herself as her emotions well up and has little restraint at the very moment it happens. She charges at full force, like the Boar she embodies.

She has no sense of personal space and is very clingy with Kyo, but she has also been shown to hug other members like Yuki Sohma. She is affectionate and honest about her feelings for Kyo, but can become very aggressive when things don't go her way and when Kyo doesn't return her affections. Despite this, she is shown to genuinely be friendly and is noted to have a big-sister type of personality. She is also a very energetic person who wears her emotions on her sleeve. She becomes good friends with Tohru Honda despite viewing her as a romantic rival at first, and willingly gives up on Kyo when it's made clear that Tohru is the one he truly loves.

After being rejected by Kyo, Kagura realizes how self-centered she had been, and towards the end of the series, her personality mellows down to a gentler and more emotionally mature girl who has less violent outbursts and no problem to apologize if she thinks she has crossed a line. Even though she is dishonest with her feelings, she genuinely wishes happiness for Kyo and Tohru.

History
When Kagura was young, she hated having been born as one of the Zodiacs. She also believed that it was her fault that her parents fought all the time, and when she saw her mother crying afterward, Kagura couldn't stand how much she hated herself. During that time, a seven-year-old Kagura met a five-year-old Kyo, who was drawing an egg with a tree branch. After realizing that Kyo was the Cat and that she had it much better than him and would never have to suffer as much as he would, Kagura found solace in him and became friends with him out of pity. And Kyo, unbeknownst to Kagura's true feelings, happily accepted her friendship.

The two would often play together, and it is mentioned that Kagura was a student at Kazuma Sohma's dojo like Kyo, leaving her with massive strength. She also threatened Kyo into proposing to her using a knife once. At some point, Kagura insisted that she wanted to wear Kyo's Juzu bead bracelet, and she eventually took it by force when Kyo rejected the idea. Unbeknownst of what would happen, Kagura witnessed Kyo's true form; horrifying her and prompting her to run away. After this, Kyo began avoiding Kagura, and his mother stopped letting him out.

Following this incident, instead of acknowledging how much pain it caused Kyo, Kagura focused on and tried to hide her own guilt by convincing herself that she loved him. Kagura also thought that by accepting "Kyo the monster", she could become a beautiful person, and if Kyo liked her back, the Kagura that only played with Kyo out of pity and the mean Kagura who ran away from Kyo's true form ― it would be as they never exist. From that day on, Kagura has tried to force Kyo to love her back for this very reason.

First Year Arc
Kagura is first seen peering over the door outside of Shigure's house and quietly asks Tohru if Kyo is around. When Tohru reveals that Kyo is at home, Kagura rushes in and tells Kyo that she had missed him for the past four months. However, immediately after, Kagura punches him in the face and starts beating him up. After coming to her senses, Kagura is shocked to see her beloved Kyo beaten up, oblivious to the truth. Thereafter, Kagura introduces herself and explains that she is Kyo's fianceé, though Kyo points out that it was under duress when Kagura brandished a knife when they were children. She also reveals that she is a member of the Zodiac and that since she doesn't transform while hugging Kyo, they are meant to be together. Because of this, Kagura believes Tohru to be a rival for Kyo's affections and challenges her, but Kyo shuts her mouth when she mentions his "true form".

To prove her love, Kagura insists on cooking dinner. The magnificent feast she cooks, however, is ruined when Kagura gets too violent at Kyo's refusal to join. Kyo's irritation leaves her hurt and runs off to buy more food, but is accompanied by Tohru on the way back to the house. Kagura realizes that Tohru loved the Cat in the zodiac story, hence why she likes Kyo. The two girls start cooking hamburgers together and develop a friendship.

The next day, Kagura became upset that Kyo was being mean to her, but accidentally get embraced by a paperboy in the rush and she was turned into a boar, though Yuki stopped him from seeing her. Tohru then tells Kagura that she wanted to be someone like her who can see great things about the person she likes. Kagura is touched after being praised by Tohru. Afterward, she waves Kyo goodbye and hopes to see them all again.

A few months later, a day before Valentine's Day, Kagura waits for Kyo outside of his school, but upon seeing her, he attempts to flee. Kagura catches up to him and they all eventually arrive at Shigure's house. Kagura invites Kyo on a date, and when he refuses, she invites Tohru and Yuki as well and makes it a double date. On Valentine's Day, Tohru and Yuki accompany Kyo and Kagura for their double date, where they go to watch the Mogeta movie. After the movie, Kagura and Tohru are both seen to be equally touched. Kagura invites herself to their home because she wants to taste Tohru's cooking as they now had become friends. When Kyo tells her to go home, she affectionately but aggressively pushes him away while telling him that he is such a shy boy.

Second Year Arc
During summer the next year, Kagura visits again by inviting herself to Shigure's house and waiting for Kyo. He tries to hide from her by putting a door between, but Kagura loses her temper and threateningly tells him to let her in. Wanting to prevent Kagura from making a mess and to kick both Kagura and Kyo out of the house, Shigure forces Kyo to go shopping with Kagura. While on their "date", Kagura asks Kyo about hiding his "true form" from Tohru, but he shuts her mouth for mentioning it.

Later, after Kazuma Sohma arrives at the house, Kagura is happily seen greeting him, bonding with Tohru, and explaining Kazuma's relation to Kyo to her. Since Kazuma would stay the night, Kagura planned to find a futon for him but overheard Kazuma confiding in Shigure about his plan to expose Kyo's true cat form in the belief that Tohru will save him. That night when Kazuma removes the rosary from Kyo's wrist and exposes his true form in front of Tohru, Kagura watches from behind the scenes and covers her eyes with the curtains. The next day, Kagura leaves when everyone except Yuki is asleep, because seeing Kyo's true form again had re-surfaced the past that had haunted her so much.

During summer vacation, Kagura tells Isuzu Sohma that they should go out together sometime, and recalls that Tohru and the other Zodiacs had gone to the Sohma cottage. Kagura suggests for the two of them to go to the beach and meet everyone; especially Tohru, since Rin still hadn't met her. However, when Kagura briefly mentions Kyo, Rin tells Kagura to quit her unrequited love since it looks painful before setting off, which upsets Kagura greatly. Kagura's mother soon arrives at the scene and questions Kagura if she had argued with Rin again. Her mother then tells Kagura not to go to the Sohma cottage since Akito Sohma had gone there as well, and she didn't want Kagura to get hurt. Kagura's mother adds that it was Shigure Sohma who had invited Akito, frustrating Kagura to the point of destroying her front door.

After Kyo and the others returned from their summer vacation, Kyo tells her that he wants to talk about something. Kagura insists that she will only listen to what he has to say if he goes on a date with her. On the day of their "date", they go to the place where Kagura first discovered Kyo's true form. Kagura gradually confesses about how pitying Kyo and finding solace in him, the Cat, made her life less miserable. She also reveals that she found herself disgusting for being repulsed by Kyo's true form, and that she wanted to forget all about the incident, which is why she began chasing after Kyo - to ease her own guilt and forget her old, weak and mean self. Kagura then realizes how selfish she had been for always thinking of herself and not Kyo's feelings. Kyo tells her that she has nothing to apologize for, since whatever the reason she played with him the first day they met, it made him very happy. At the same time, he makes it perfectly clear that he will never fall in love with her. Kagura breaks down in tears while repeatedly telling Kyo that she loves him. She also realizes that even though her crush on Kyo was initially based on pity, she eventually genuinely fell in love with him. Kyo comforts Kagura by hugging her and thanks her for everything.

Kagura attends the Sohma banquet on New Year's Eve, where she is seen happily spending her time with the other Zodiacs minus Kyo. When Akito attacks Yuki during the banquet, Kagura immediately protects Kisa.

When Rin graduated from high school while being hospitalized, Kagura went in her place to collect her graduation certificate. However, Kagura had grown increasingly suspicious about Rin's situation, since no one knew which hospital Rin was hospitalized in, and even contacting her didn't work. Although Shigure scolded her for being too nosy, Kagura still displayed her worry about her foster sister. Kagura's intuition ended up being right, as she had been locked in the Cat's Room by Akito.

Third Year Arc
Kagura arrives at the Sohma dojo and asks Kazuma to act like she isn't there. Kagura reveals that she doesn't want Tohru to see her since she doesn't know how to face her regarding their situations with Kyo. Kazuma then expresses that he hopes that Tohru genuinely loves Kyo, not out of pity, since Kazuma's grandmother had only married Kazuma's grandfather, the previous Cat, out of pity. Kagura then leaves, greatly upset about how much her situation with Kyo paralleled that of Kazuma's grandparents. She later overhears when Tohru confesses to Rin that she loves Kyo and won't let the curse or anything come between them. Kagura then arrives at the scene and slaps Tohru across the face and yells at her that she needs to confess her feelings properly to Kyo himself. This enrages Rin, as she grabs Kagura and screams in her face that she has no right to hit Tohru. Kagura realizes that she crossed the line and gives Rin a hug and apologizes to her. Kagura soon realizes that she slapped Tohru unconscious.

Later on, Kagura explains to Kunimitsu Tomoda that everything is fine between Tohru and her even if they don't apologize to each other, since they understood each other "through their fists". Kagura then explains that she will "entrust" her feelings towards Kyo to Tohru, since she is confident that Tohru's feelings for Kyo are truly genuine.

When Kagura's curse breaks, she is seen strolling around the streets, and begins crying over having it broken.

Once all the Zodiacs' curse breaks, Kagura is invited to the final banquet of all by Akito. Kyo greets Kagura with a smile while she greets him back while pouting. However, she hugs him and explains how frustrated she is about the new situation. At the same time, Momiji Sohma appears and takes a picture of the two of them hugging, which satisfies both Kagura and Momiji, leaving Kyo to wonder if they are accomplices.

Later, when Akito Sohma reveals herself to be a woman, Kagura is very surprised. Akito tries to apologize for everything she has done, but without success. However, she explains that she would now move forward, continue living as a Sohma and the head of the family, and that she would be giving all the Zodiacs their freedom to do whatever they want.

Epilogue
Towards the end, Kagura and Ritsu are seen spending time with another as they have started new chapters of their lives; Kagura will be working and is packing up from the main house, and Ritsu has cut his hair short and begun dressing in male clothing. Since the curse is broken, the two talk about how Shigure has quit being a novelist and that he is officially moving in with Akito at the Sohma compound. When the topic about marriage comes up, Kagura asks Ritsu when he is going to marry Shigure's editor, Mitsuru. Ritsu, shocked and bashful about the question, attempt to wear his kimono again, much to Kagura's dismay. Jokes aside, they talk about Kyo and Tohru and think back to the memories they share. Kagura tells Ritsu that she will be seeing them off, but apparently only for Kyo's sake and not Tohru's. Ritsu laughs, since he knows that Kagura wants both of them to be happy.

It is implied that Kagura eventually married, as she has a son that attends the annual Sohma banquets and is friends with the rest of the Sohma children, including Sora Sohma.

Differences from the source material

 * Kagura's appearance differs between the manga and the anime adaptions:
 * The manga depicts Kagura with dark brown eyes. The 2001 anime depicts her with grey eyes and the 2019 anime depicts her with brown-greyish eyes.
 * In the manga and 2019 anime, her dress is yellow, but in the 2001 anime, it is green.
 * Kagura's introduction in the 2001 anime, compared to the manga and 2019 anime, is much more comedic, as she if seen troubling Kyo and making a mess of the house. She stalks him, washes his clothes, and tries to handle the pot but fails.
 * In the manga and 2019 anime, Kyo revealed that Kagura had threatened him to agree to marry her with a knife. In the 2001 anime, she threatened him with a boulder.
 * In the 2019 anime, all scenes involving cooking and shopping focused around Kagura's jealousy of Tohru is anime-only.
 * Kagura and Tohru's bonding time was not included in the manga, but both anime adaptions deviate from this:
 * In 2001 anime, Kagura is seen sulking whilst repairing the door she broke the same morning due to her temper. Tohru offers her onigiri, and Kagura is touched by her kindness.
 * In the 2019 anime, Tohru secretly follows Kagura to the convenience store and pays for the items when Kagura realizes she didn't bring her wallet. The two develop a friendship thereafter.
 * In the manga when Kagura changes back into human, the left side of her naked body is shown (with her breasts covered) while in the anime her entire body is behind Kyo and is not seen due to censorship.
 * Kagura's role in the true form arc in the 2001 anime is different from the manga and the 2019 anime.
 * After witnessing Kyo's transformation off-screen, Kagura anxiously sits alone in one of the rooms in Shigure's house, only to be checked up on by Yuki. In the manga and 2019 anime, she watches gloomily while covering her eyes with the curtains.
 * After Yuki's encounter with Kyo's true form, Kagura is also seen treating Yuki's wounds.

The Boar of the Zodiac
Kagura is cursed by the spirit of the Boar of the Zodiac. Whenever she is hugged by the opposite sex, or if her body goes through a great deal of stress, Kagura transforms into her Chinese Zodiac form. Like all the Cursed Sohmas, their respective animals are drawn to them; and in Kagura's case, boars. The Boar is the twelfth of all zodiac animals.

She has brown-colored hair due to sharing similar traits with her animal, the Boar. In Chinese culture, Boars have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life, which applies to Kagura in some aspects.

Due to being possessed by the volatile Boar, Kagura easily resorts to violence and often doesn't realize how badly she has beat Kyo up until later. She also once unintentionally knocked Tohru out on the floor with a single slap, and apparently destroys parts of her house in fits of anger on a regular basis.

When Kagura's curse broke, she was subconsciously aware of it, describing it as a bittersweet experience. Kagura's curse was the overall eighth to break.

Trivia

 * According to the official Fruits Basket Character Book:
 * The name Kagura is derived from the eleventh month, Kagurazuki or "month of the Shinto song and dance", which is the month of the Boar of the traditional Japanese calendar.
 * She wears cuter clothes than most 20-year-olds because she is baby-faced, and because she thinks she will look too old for Kyo if she dresses as a grown-up.
 * She made her cat backpack by hand, and has several more in reserve. Even her bedroom is overflowing with plush orange cats - "enough orange to in one place to hurt the eyes".
 * When it comes to love, Kagura is proactive.
 * Since she has been trained at Kazuma's dojo, her capacity to wreak havoc is apparently unparalleled.
 * Shigure says that Kagura's behavior towards Kyo is like "bullying the one you love".
 * According to Natsuki Takaya, Kagura wanted to go into a profession with children (an originally seemingly impossible task due to her curse), so it can now be assumed she is studying childcare.
 * Rie Kugimiya, Kagura's voice actress for the 2019 anime adaptation is famously called "Tsundere Queen" due to voicing several characters of the tsundere archetype, one that Kagura herself fits inadequately.
 * Kagura is seemingly the only female member of the Zodiac that has not been personally hurt by Akito.

Kagura Sohma Kagura Soma Kagura Soma Kagura Soma Kagura Sohma pt-br:Kagura Sohma