Sohma Ritsu

Sohma Ritsu  (草摩 利津) is the Monkey of the Zodiac. Extremely apologetic, he takes after his mother, the hostess of the Sohma family's onsen, whose position he is in training to take over. Most Sohmas call him "Ri-chan" and, to Shigure's amusement, Tohru calls him "Ri-chan-san" (see Japanese honorifics). He debuts in Chapter 45. He cross-dresses to ease his nerves.

Background
Ritsu is the year of the Monkey. Being cursed by the monkey spirit, Ritsu is blessed with a extremely agile body, able to climb to high grounds easily. He is also blessed with a highly reflex body, able to react fast enough to stop himself from falling off Shigure's house's roof.

During his childhood, his parents apologized for everything, even if it wasn't their fault, just like Ritsu. Feeling useless to his parents, he decided to dress like a girl to feel more comfortable at home and around his parents, but that just made them apologize even more. The parents suffer from anxiety, and because of family genetics, Ritsu has inherited it from his parents.

Appearance
Because of his anxiety, Ritsu dresses as a female, as cross-dressing helps him calm his nerves. He has blondish-brown hair, and is almost always seen in a kimono. Tohru innocently mistakes him for a woman the first time they meet because of his feminine looks. He cuts his hair short in the final volume and slowly starts to dress like a male.

Personality
He is depicted as a beautiful but unstable young man with very low self-esteem and a tendency to overreact to everything. He apologizes frantically for everything, even for things that are not his fault. As Momiji said, he may act hysterically if he panics, but has a kind heart.

Fruits Basket (Anime)
On her way to the household residence, Tohru bumps into Ritsu Sohma, the Monkey of the Chinese zodiac. Ritsu is known for being a cross-dresser, very apologetic, and deeply depressed. As the two appear at the household residence, Ritsu gives some presents to Shigure. Ritsu decides to leave before he causes any trouble for Tohru and the others. However, Tohru wanted to serve him some tea before his departure. Unfortunately, after Tohru accidentally breaks one of the tea glasses, this sends Ritsu into a panic attack, thinking it was his fault. Tohru tries to stop him from stepping in the broken glass, but she turns him into a Monkey, getting cut in the process. Ritsu goes to the roof of the house to commit suicide, but after Tohru convinces him not to, he nearly falls off the roof, twisting his ankle in the furtherance. Ritsu asks to stay at the household residence for three days, with Hatori looking over him. While walking back from school, Tohru runs into Ritsu again, who plans to bring a bag of jelly buns for Shigure. Tohru and Ritsu sit on a park bench to talk about his cross-dressing, his apologizing, and his depression. Tohru comforts him by saying that everyone has a reason to live, a reason that everyone must search for.

Mitsuru
When the two meet, they realize they have a common personality. In a bonus story in the first fan book, he and Mitchan are a couple

Knownable Relatives

 * His mother (mother)
 * His father (father)
 * Honda Tohru (best friend)
 * Mitsuru (girlfriend)

Trivia

 * In an author's note, Takaya said that she regretted how little of a role Ritsu played in the main story. Appearing a total of five times, once in his introduction, a brief appearance at new year's, when his curse is broken, talking to Kagura about Shigure quitting his job as an author (which he heard from Mitsuru) and finally at the final Zodiac Banquet.
 * Natsuki Takaya derived his name from the eighth month, odakaritsuki or "rice harvest month", which is the month of the monkey, of the traditional Japanese calendar.
 * Ritsu is among the two Zodiac Members that Akito could not stand, the other being Ayame. It could probably explain why they do not live in the Main House.
 * In the last chapter Ritsu cut his hair.

Voice Actresses & Actors
Japanese : Miina Tominaga

English : Mike McFarland