| Machi Kuragi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Kanji | 倉伎 真知 |
| Rōmaji | Kuragi Machi |
| Also known as | Chi-chan (by Komaki) |
| Description | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 16-17 |
| Height | Around 165.1 cm (5'5) |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Professional Status | |
| Occupation | Student |
| Affiliation | Kaibara Municipal High School Sohma Family |
| Relatives | |
| Parents | Unnamed Father Unnamed Mother Unnamed Step-mother |
| Siblings | Kakeru Manabe (Older half-brother) Unnamed Younger Brother |
| Spouse | Yuki Sohma (Husband) |
| Children | Mutsuki Sohma (Son) |
| Extended Family | Unnamed Father-in-law Unnamed Mother-in-law Ayame Sohma (Brother-in-law) Komaki Nakao (Sister-in-law) Michi Manabe (Niece) Kou Manabe (Nephew) |
| Debut | |
| Manga | Chapter 49 |
| Voice Actors | |
| Japanese | Yuki Kaida (Drama CD) |
Machi Sohma (草摩 真知, Sōma Machi), née Kuragi (倉伎) is one of the recurring character of the Fruits Basket series. She is Kakeru Manabe's younger half-sister by their mutual father's wife.
She serves as the treasurer of the student council during Yuki Sohma's presidency. Machi is very quiet and has occasional destructive behavior, such as wrecking the student council room and breaking a box of chalk. She hates perfection due to her abusive childhood and being forced to act perfect, since Machi and Kakeru's mothers competed to have their own child named heir during their childhoods, a struggle that lastly ended when Machi's mother bore a son. Machi lives apart from her family because she was falsely accused of trying to kill her younger brother.
Unlike most girls at school, she does not see Yuki as a prince, but as just another boy, even seeing him as being lonely. Her different attitude and troubled behavior catch Yuki's eye, and he makes multiple attempts at befriending her. When Yuki acknowledges her and helps her break out of her shell, Machi develops feelings for him and later ends up dating him.
In Fruits Basket Another, she is married to Yuki and the mother of Mutsuki Sohma, her son acting as one of the main characters.
Appearance
Machi has brown hair that goes right down to the middle of her back and has brown eyes. Machi usually has a blank expression on her face which is also due to her being so quiet, especially in the student council room among the other members. Her height is 5'5 - 5'6 (almost close to Yuki).
Personality
She is very quiet and has a destructive tendency. She often destroys things that are considered perfect or tidy. This destructive tendency came from her frustration at having to be completely perfect for her mother's sake, then being mocked and put down by the very person she worked so hard for.
Her hatred of tidiness is reflected by her apartment. It's so messy that you can actually find a bra lying around.
In her adult years, Machi seems to have grown out of her hatred of neatness. Its mentioned her home is clean and not filled with junk.
History
When she and Kakeru were young, their mothers argued over whose child would become the heir to the family fortune (Kakeru was the elder and born illegitimately to their father's former partner, while Machi was born to their father's legal wife). Machi's mother forced Machi to be perfect in everything. She was often abusive to Machi, deeming her "boring". When Machi argued that she was simply trying to live up to her mother's expectations, her mother continued to treat her coldly. Sometime later Machi's younger brother was born, and everything was settled as he would inherit the money. Machi's parents figured that she was jealous of him, even though she was not.
Sometime after her brother was born, Machi saw him laying on the ground and, thinking that he might be cold, was covering him with a blanket when her mother entered the room and convicted Machi of attempting to kill him. Her parents quickly threw her out of the house, and she consented to live by herself in an apartment.
Kakeru explains to Yuki that that is the reason Machi tends to destroy things that look nice or ruin something that is perfect. Ever since then, Machi has hated all forms of perfection, even walking around in circles dozens of times in clean, unblemished snow because it appeared too perfect.
Story Overview
Fruits Basket
During Summer Vacation
When Yuki first sees her, she had trashed the student council room. Machi apologizes before calling for her brother Manabe who was also in the room.
After Summer Vacation
She briefly appears whilst Yuki is talking to Hatsuharu about Rin Sohma.[1] Later on, whilst the student council is having a talk discussing what 'colors' everyone would be she stayed silent. It was in this chapter that Yuki started to call her Machi instead of Kuragi-san. When Yuki and his class go on a trip he asks both Machi and Nao what they'd want as a souvenir they both reply with 'nothing'. Despite this, he brought Machi back a red leaf. It is later revealed that she kept the leaf and turned it into a bookmark
Yuki, after hearing Machi's and Kakeru shared past, promised to walk in the snow with her the next time it snowed, a promise Machi didn't think he'd keep. Over time, Yuki and Machi grew much closer.
One day, Yuki called her, asking her to meet him at a certain spot. He was planning on telling her about the curse, but then his curse broke unexpectedly, so he instead told Machi that he loved her. Machi asked him if she could call him by his first name, to which Yuki consented.
In the last parts of the series, Yuki gave Machi the key to the apartment he will be staying in while he attends a university.
The Three Musketeers Arc
Sometime before Yuki's graduation, Machi and Yuki are seen on a date together and holding hands.
Fruits Basket Another
Machi is seen in a silhouette in a memory along with Yuki, Kyo and Tohru.[2] In the second story she is shown along with her son Mutsuki and her husband Yuki renewing their promise to make footprints in the snow.[3]
Relationships
Kimi Toudou
Kimi is likely the closest thing that Machi has to a "best friend". Unlike with Kakeru, Machi shows no signs of annoyance towards Kimi's enthusiastic personality and Kimi seems to enjoy Machi's company.
Kimi is also the only person Machi seems to listen to without objection, even going so far as to follow Kimi's advice on how to get Yuki to call her by name (although Yuki stopped her before she could go through with it). It should also be noted that Kimi never brought up the rumors about Machi, suggesting that she either didn't believe them, or she simply didn't care. Machi seems to have some degree of respect for Kimi, possibly due to her honest and open personality.
Kakeru Manabe
Since they are half-siblings, the two don't look at all alike. The two don't argue in school, but when he visits her house with Yuki, she is very hostile towards him. Kakeru sometimes uses her as an object of teasing, but usually she deals with it by threatening to strangle him. Despite his teasing nature, Kakeru cares for Machi, doing what he can to help her fit in (albeit in his own eccentric way).
Machi, despite her obvious irritation with his antics, proves to be far more open with Kakeru than anyone else, with the only possible exception being Yuki. She doesn't bother to hide her annoyance with him or hesitate to hit him when he makes her mad. Kakeru, in turn, allows her to do so and never gets mad at her, even when she physically abuses him.
Yuki Sohma
Machi is one of the few who boldly proclaimed her distaste in Yuki, or at least disagrees with the Prince Yuki Fan Club. When Yuki was not chosen as Prince for the school play, Sorta Cinderella, Machi said that Yuki did not meet the requirements to be Prince. Later in the series she becomes attracted to Yuki as he tries to understand her. The two grow close as they learn more about one another. They can relate to each other as they both have endured hardships due to family issues. She even eventually meets Ayame, Yuki's older brother. Yuki understands Machi, as he understands her dislike for perfection, as shown when he breaks a new piece of chalk in one chapter. In another, he promises to make footprints in the snow with her. Yuki eventually confesses to her, when the curse broke although he had been planning to tell her about the curse. They end up dating and she is given the key to Yuki's apartment.
Komaki Nakao
Machi and Komaki seem to have a fairly good relationship. When visiting her and Kakeru, Machi made a point to bring something she knew Komaki would like. Komaki also seems to be fond of Machi, affectionately calling her "Chi-chan". They also seem to relate to one another in that they are both regular victims of Kakeru's teasing.
Trivia
- She is in the same class as Hatsuharu Sohma and Momiji Sohma.
- Her favorite color appears to be red. Since Yuki's "color" in the student council is red, Kakeru teases Machi by saying that she likes red (as in, she likes Yuki).
- Likewise, Machi's "color" is yellow as stated by Ayame.
- She likes the fictional anime Mogeta, and treasures the two Mogeta figurines Yuki gifted her.
- Her son, Mutsuki, also inherited a love for Mogeta. He had a Mogeta plushie and a Mogeta alarm clock as a child, and now has a Mogeta keychain as a teenager.[3]
- She has a habit of lifting things up in the air, especially if she loves them.