Fruits Basket: it's like a competition for who's got it worse.

[timepiececlock]

On my way back from picking up some medical forms from the hospital, I ranked the members of the Sohma family (Fruits Basket) in my head by who is the most tragic. They're all cursed, but it has turned out worse for some than for others. See under cuts for reasoning (VERY ANIME SPOILERY, and one manga spoiler in the comments).

1. Akito - Although he's a detestible personality and I don't really like him, Akito is the most tragic character because of the curse, and how final it is for him. At least everyone else isn't dying.

2. Kyo - I had to put Kyo second because of two factors-- 1) that he has the second strongest curse after Akito, his second cat form. and 2) because his mother's death (did she commit suicide?), his mother's emotional abuse, his father not being around, and all compounded by his constant emotional abuse from his entire family as a child.

3. Momiji - This was a hard choice, but in the end I had to put Momiji above Yuki in terms of tragedy, because the betrayal inherent in Momiji's tragedy is so shockingly heartless and of such magnitude. His mother's view of him as an animal and then her complete erasure of him from her mind and life is a horrible thing to do to a small child.

4. Yuki - Yuki almost topped Momiji from the third spot, because of the emotional and physical abuse he suffered from Akito as a child. I'm still not sure if it's right to place him 4th... he's so tragic too so I feel like he should be higher, but really Kyo and Akito have it worse in terms of burdens to bear because of the curse, and Momiji and Kyo have it worse in terms of parental abandonment. Plus I just get the feeling that Yuki's going to be okay. He'll grow up and live and find a way to be happy.

5. Hatori - Romantically speaking, Hatori's story is the saddest. Not only did he have to use his powers against the woman he loved, but Akito injured his eye and forever crippled him from going any further in the medical field. He's certainly the most romantic character in the series, and he represents what happens when the Sohmas try to find happiness despite their curse, being the exception that proves the rule, by finding love only to inevitably lose it. Nevertheless when you take in child abuse, he gets comparatively knocked down to fifth ranking.

6. Kisa, Hiro - They're lower, because they mostly just have to deal with the standard tragedy and isolation that comes with the curse, not any particularly awful aspect of it. Still they get placed higher than the others because we know that Akito hit them at least once (I got the feeling that it wasn't regular, though, like it was when Akito and Yuki were young)

7. Haru, Shigure, Ayame, Kagura, Ritsu - They all get grouped together because, frankly, they don't seem all that tragic to me. They have their own problems and worries, but they just have to live with the standard curse effect of no hugging. Compared to Akito or Kyo, somehow that doesn't seem quite so unendurable. Also we don't know about their relationships with their parents so we can't factor that in.


That's based on the anime, and volume 4 of the manga.

Comments

[bronwenstx.livejournal.com]

Akito definitely tops everyone's tragic fates but really I think I don't compare. Hee, continue reading manga shaka-san and you'll find out how bad Akito has it.

But not so sure about Kyo standing...'cause you know I think that Momiji would stand second.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

The manga is slowly but surely making its merry way into my little hands. One purchased volume at a time.

But not so sure about Kyo standing...'cause you know I think that Momiji would stand second.

This was a very hard decision, cause I see where you're coming from with that, but I stood back and said, "Okay, objectively, Momiji's fate is very sad." But in terms of his whole life, he'll get over it. He still has his father, he still has his extended family, and he's relatively well-adjusted emotionally. He's certainly more at peace with his life and himself than Kyo or Yuki are. True he's lost his mother, but he has others to love him including his other parent, he's not being abused, and he won't have to live with an uncontrollable monster form for the rest of his life, be locked up in a cell (I got that one spoiler, yes, from ff.net), or live in fear. And his mother is still alive and he can still have some contact with her-- unlike Kyo and unlike Tohru.

Then again, it's pretty damn sad. So I put him above Yuki and below Kyo.

[bronwenstx.livejournal.com]

-_- Lol, you definitely need to get caught up with the manga. Because Kyo's not the only one who made a deal with the devil.

But I understand, at this point, I really don't rank their tragedies in the same categories. It really is hard to do that because I believe that each tragedy is as bad as the other.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

The real question here is if I can finish my fic that's based on the anime before I get to parts of the manga that mess with my previously written canon.

[octopedingenue]

Okay, now I'm terribly curious. But I also have no access to scanlations whatsoever. Le sigh. Hurry it up, Tokyopop translator peeples...!

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

The only FB scanslations I've seen were of horrible quality, and were incomplete in what chapters they covered. I'm trying to resist spoiling myself too much, but if I have to avoid too much more juicy information like that big Akito spoiler, I'm going to give up and read translations. Being on the lag end of fandom *sucks*.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Er... if you're curious, I'm asking you both to talk about those parts elsewhere before I get really really spoiled. I plan on buying all of it as it comes out, as slow as that may be (not like it's hurting me to not read FB fanfic because of spoilers... in fact given the quality on ff.net I'm probably SAVING braincells).

But anyway, Kawcrow, what do you think of the ranking?

[octopedingenue]

Oooops. I didn't reply to the ranking because I totally agree with you on all of them? :)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

:) I knew there was a reason I liked you!

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

From what limited manga spoilers I've read, Haru's life is more sucky than he's letting on, especially the romantic aspects of it. But going just on the anime, I agree with your ratings. Question, though - if you had to include Tohru in this list, where would you put her?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I just changed the post so that people can see it's anime only spoilers I'm going on. ::sigh::

Tohru? That's tricky. Probably between Yuki and Hatori. While the loss of her mother is tragic, she had a good childhood and was nearly an adult when she lost her, and she has other family and friends.

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

Meep, was that too much information? Sorry.

And yeah, I agree with that placement of Tohru. All things considered, even having to deal with the various skeletons falling out of the Sohma closet, she still has more good days than bad. Not that you'd really be able to tell if Tohru was having a bad day, though...

Heh. I need to go to bed, I'm not making sense.

[bronwenstx.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I'm sorry for making everyone terribly curious about the manga but I can't help it.

*fidgets* I need more lj friends...

nya...

But if we are talking anime wise, then YES, I agree with you rashaka-san in your rankings. Kyo definitely stands second place.