Fruits Basket stands as one of the pillars of the shojo anime world, telling the tale of the kind Honda Tohru and her quest to rid the reclusive Sohma family of the curse that weighs heavily upon them. This is a tale of second chances, belief in oneself, destiny, and far more, but Tohru's heartfelt quest isn't an easy one, especially with the family head, Sohma Akito, antagonizing her.
Throughout the story, Tohru is a selfless and compassionate girl who only wants what's best for others, and that's what drew Sohma Kyo, the troubled tsundere, to her. At first, it seems impossible that the family head would take issue with such a helpful heroine, but Sohma Akito has her own twisted reasons to treat Tohru this way. She is ultimately a victim herself.
Akito's Troubled Relationship With Her Mother, Ren
Throughout Fruits Basket, the verbally abusive Akito showed nonstop hostility to Tohru, but this was not a personal fight between the two of them. Akito hated Tohru because of Tohru's newfound role in the Sohma family, and it re-opened deep scars in Akito's mind. No matter what Tohru said or did, her presence would have incurred Akito's wrath, which can be traced back to Akito's own mother, Sohma Ren.
Akito was born as the "god" of the zodiac, the beloved deity that held the twelve animals together. Her father Akira doted on her as a loving parent, while her mother Ren, a deeply self-centered and vain person, couldn't stand the thought of Akira and the other Sohmas paying more attention to Akito than to her. Petty as it may seem, Ren was deeply jealous of Akira's open affection for their daughter, prompting her to take Akito down a peg or two. Ren had Akito dress and act like a boy so Ren would remain the most attractive and popular woman in the family, and worse yet, Ren subjected Akito to a great deal of verbal and emotional abuse, all of it stemming from Ren's own insecurities and petty envy. This made a strong impression on Akito, who witnessed firsthand the cruel wrath of a jealous and insecure woman who wanted everyone's love for herself. Not even Akira's genuine love for his daughter could balance this out, and when Akira died, Akito was left only with her twisted mother.
This led Akito to desperately seek love and validation from the other Sohmas, such as Shigure and Hatori, thus playing her mother's own game. As she grew up, Akito continued this behavior and became highly possessive of the Sohmas who were supposed to swear loyalty and give her their undivided love. In a cruel twist, Akito became the very thing she hated growing up but failed to realize this tragic irony. To her, loyalty and commitment meant everything, and these were the only rules of life she could understand. So, Akito became a possessive tyrant and used those abusive methods to keep all the cursed Sohmas close to her while not allowing them to show affection for anyone else.
When Akito's Love Is Threatened With Competition
Akito's jealous form of love always reacted poorly to the sight of other female Sohmas showing affection for males, such as when she violently rejected Isuzu's relationship with Hatsuharu or when the young Kisa got close to Hiro, though oddly, Akito didn't seem to mind the megadere Kagura's affection for Kyo. Akito had a bad habit of picturing these girls and young women as her own mother, always expecting the worst from them. Akito already knew firsthand how painful it can be for a woman to deny someone affection in favor of someone else, so Akito expected these other Sohma women to abandon her in favor of their other love interests instead, without any evidence that such thing would actually happen. She even injured Hatori's eye when he got too close to Kana, who wasn't even a Sohma herself.
Worst of all, in Akito's eyes, was Honda Tohru. Tohru's abundant compassion, warmth, and generosity made her highly appealing to the emotionally wounded Sohmas, especially the boys, such as Yuki and his rival Kyo. Akito saw her worst nightmare coming true, losing the favored Yuki to some girl who, like Ren, thought she could steal people away for herself. That wasn't Tohru's true intention, but Akito saw it that way and behaved accordingly. Tohru was a bull in a china shop in Akito's eyes, an attractive outsider who would plunder Akito's treasured personal connections and leave her all alone once again. Akito's sole source of validation appeared threatened, and thus, she confronted Tohru about it and claimed to hate her, while actually fearing her. It took quite some time for Akito to finally see the truth not just about Tohru, but also about herself.
