| Hajime Sohma | |
|---|---|
| |
| Kanji | 草摩 はじめ |
| Rōmaji | Sōma Hajime |
| Also known as | Haa-kun (by Sora) President (by students) Papa (by friends and family) |
| Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 18 |
| Hair Color | Orange-brownish |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Professional Status | |
| Occupation | Student |
| Affiliation | Sohma Family Kaibara Municipal High School |
| Relatives | |
| Parents | Kyo Sohma (Father) Tohru Honda (Mother) |
| Siblings | Unnamed Younger Brother Unnamed Younger Sister |
| Spouse | Unnamed Wife |
| Children | Unnamed Daughter |
| Extended Family | Kazuma Sohma (Paternal Grandfather) Unnamed Parental Grandfather Unnamed Parental Grandmother Katsuya Honda (Maternal Grandfather) Kyoko Honda (Maternal Grandmother) Unnamed Great-Aunt Unnamed First cousin once removed Unnamed First cousin once removed Tohru's Grandfather (Maternal Great-grandfather) Kyoko's Parents (Maternal Great-Grandparents) |
| Debut | |
| Manga | Chapter 136 (Cameo) Another Chapter 1 |
| Voice Actors | |
| Japanese | Shunsuke Hasegawa (Drama CD; adult) |
| “ | Expecting someone to say thank you to their family, when that "family" is stepping all over them— that's just abuse. It's just a curse. | ” |
—Hajime Sohma | ||
Hajime Sohma (草摩 はじめ, Sōma Hajime) is one of the deuteragonists of the Fruits Basket Another series. He is the son of Tohru and Kyo Sohma and the oldest child of three siblings.
Hajime attends Kaibara Municipal High School as a third-year student, where he serves as the president of the student council, with his friend and relative Mutsuki Sohma as the vice-president. He lives with Mutsuki and his other relative Kinu Sohma in the house formerly owned by Shigure Sohma to attend school; a decision he made because he wanted to know what kind of environment his parents spent their time to get where they are now.
He is a sharp-tongued young man who frequently regrets expressing his occasional insensitive remarks, but is otherwise an incredibly kind-hearted, responsible, down-to-earth, and emotionally insightful individual who acts as an "older brother" figure towards his peers. His unconditional friendship and support are one of the factors that shaped Sawa Mitoma to become the person she is now.
Appearance
Hajime is a young man with a tall and lean build. He is noted to look exactly like his father, as he has the same facial features and the same hairstyle as his father in his youth. However, Hajime's hair-color is darker than Kyo's orange hair and leans more to the brown-colored side. His eye-color is also brown, which he inherited from Tohru. He has slightly spiked, nape-length hair with long bangs covering most of his forehead.
He wears his uniform with the top two buttons undone, revealing a plain white shirt underneath. He also wears the Juzu Bead bracelet his father used to wear due to being cursed by the Cat spirit, albeit not in the same order.
Personality
Hajime initially comes off like a slightly closed off and easily annoyed person with a hot temper, and is usually uninterested in what's going on around him. He has a sharp tongue, is very blunt and has a tendency to say the first thing on his mind, only realizing the (potential hurtful) things he said just a moment later. These qualities of him are often seen in his conversations with Mutsuki and when he is upset. However, otherwise, Hajime is very laid-back, easy-going, and easy to get along with. Due to his position as the student council president, he is very level-headed, responsible and ends up helping people even if he doesn't want to.
Hajime is also noted to be wise and have an older-brother type of personality due to growing up with two younger siblings. He is understanding of other people's feelings and tends to give parental lectures, such as telling Sawa Mitoma that it's okay to rely on people and that not being picky is good; telling Mutsuki that he needs to clean his student council desk and be more responsible; as well scolding Mina Sohma for running around just after recovering from a fever. Due to these tendencies, Hajime is called "Dad" by his relatives; much to his chagrin. He also has a soft side, and like Tohru, he is nurturing, self-sufficient and good at housework, including cooking and cleaning. Like Kyo, he can get easily embarrassed and run away from awkward situations if he feels like it's too much for him to handle.
History
Hajime as a child, noticing Kyo's nervous smile.
Hajime is the first child born to Tohru and Kyo Sohma. He grew up with his parents and his two younger siblings (brother and sister) in the countryside. It is also known that Hajime is very close to his grandfather, Kazuma Sohma. When Hajime was younger, he was often remarked on how he looked similar to his father as he grew older. Every time someone remarked about this, Hajime noticed that his father would have a nervous smile, not understanding the reason why.
Since his parents are close friends with Yuki Sohma and Machi Kuragi, Hajime ultimately came to know their son, Mutsuki, too. The two would often play together as their parents watched over them. It is stated that once Hajime entered elementary school, he would sleep over at Mutsuki's house. Aside from Mutsuki, Hajime grew up with and became friends with the children of his parent's friends, particularly the Sohma children.[1][2]
When Hajime entered middle school, he encountered a lady within the Sohma compound house. She remarked how she hoped that he didn't change into a "monster" (as his father did in the past), once again leaving Hajime in confusion. Just after finishing middle school, Hajime's parents told him about the Zodiac Curse as well about the cat curse that his father had. Although he was briefly shocked, all of the strange things he had noticed over the years (his father's nervous smile and the lady's remark) added up. With Mutsuki having experienced the same thing, Hajime expressed to him how he was happy that his parents had told him about their past. Hajime then resolved to enter Kaibara High, the same school his parents attended, to understand which environment they spent their time in to get where they are now.[1]
Story Overview
Fruits Basket Another
Hajime Sohma first meets Sawa Mitoma when she accidentally stepped on his face entering the Student Council room. He got irritated at her, but she ran away almost immediately, apologizing as she did.
The next time they met, he saves Sawa from the superintendent as Mutsuki Sohma distracts her. He tells her that her house happened to be on their way to school, and she starts profusely apologizing again, which he gets annoyed by. He hands her back her student ID, which she lost, and seems to get overwhelmed by her reaction. This leads to a misunderstanding, as Sawa thinks she's done something severely wrong, but Hajime was just his usual irritable self. Sawa starts to cry, which makes Hajime shocked, as he didn't mean to make her cry.
Hajime finally introduces himself properly to Sawa. She had gone to the Student Council room to question why she got elected as first-year Class A representative, and he happened to be there. She seemed perplexed when she found out that he was Student Council President, and Mutsuki was the Vice-President. He, once again, seems to shock her with his less than delicate words, but she exclaims her gratitude at being given the chance. He awkwardly apologizes to her for sleeping on the floor when they first met, to which Sawa blushes very hard at.[3]
Mutsuki teases Hajime about his and Sawa's "fated" meeting. Sawa starts to feel anxious, whilst Hajime is still very nonchalant. Mutsuki says that Hajime is out of sorts on rainy days, to which Sawa comments that "he must've been cooling down on the floor like a cat", being a reference to the original manga Fruits Basket. Both Hajime and Mutsuki seem a bit stunned, and Hajime says that he has never, since birth, turned into a cat when embraced. Mutsuki continues teasing them and pushes Sawa into Hajime. Sawa screams, and Hajime gets mad at Mutsuki, who was taking pictures, for making him look like a pervert.
Hajime asks to get pass Sawa as she is face down in a stack of papers. Due to the numbness in her arm, she ends up dropping all the paper she was holding. Hajime is getting used to her apologizing and says "don't" in the middle of her apology. He shows concern for her, asking if she hurt her arm, and she explains about the numbness. She goes on another rant about being troublesome when Hajime grabs her face to stop her from talking. He gives her a speech about not apologizing for needing help, and to rely on people when she needs it. She almost breaks down in tears and Hajime just realized what he did. Mio Hasegawa interrupts their moment and comments that Hajime should not treat Sawa like a kid. He gets frazzled, loudly apologies and runs away.[2]
Hajime shows up when Sawa was talking to Riku Sohma and Sora Sohma. Sawa had just been crying, and Hajime asked her what was going on since her face was flushed. Riku confusingly explains what was going on, and Sawa ends up saying thank you for everyone's concern. She thanks Hajime as "President" for scolding her. He gets very embarrassed, as he thinks the way Sawa talks reminds him of his mother.[4]
Fruits Basket
Hajime and his wife.
Hajime is married to an unnamed woman and has at least one daughter.
Hajime is seen in the kitchen, with his wife baking a cake and whilst he is helping her out. Their daughter arrives and questions her mother about her grandparent's whereabouts, referring to them as "Tohru-kun" and "Kyo-kun". Her mother scolds her for not calling them "grandma" and "grandpa", but she insists it's because Tohru lets her. Hajime then tells his daughter that Tohru and Kyo are taking a walk in the garden. Although she is disappointed, Hajime, his wife, and his daughter decide to not interrupt them and continue to fondly talk about their love.[5]
Trivia
Hajime with Kyoko's jacket.
- The name Hajime (はじめ) is the Japanese word meaning "beginning". In the Japanese traditional martial arts, it is a verbal command to "begin". This serves as a connection to both Kyo and Kazuma, as they are working as martial arts teachers in a dojo.
- Hajime makes a cameo as younger in the final chapter of Twinkle Stars (one of Natsuki Takaya's works) along with Tohru and Kyo.
- When he runs out of energy, Hajime can fall asleep anywhere, and is hard to rouse.[6] Apparently, he inherited this trait from his mother.
- Hajime is depicted with glasses in a chapter cover. If he truly wears glasses, though, is unknown.
- Hajime has been shown to wear his maternal grandmother's Red Butterfly uniform.
- According to Chizuru Sohma and Rio Mosca, Hajime is considered to be 'special' and is loved by many.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Bonus Manga
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Chapter 2
- ↑ Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Chapter 1
- ↑ Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Chapter 3
- ↑ Fruits Basket Manga: Vol 23, Chapter 136
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fruits Basket Another: Vol 3, Chapter 12