Ritsu Sohma

### Likes

Crossdressing, tea, gardening, picking berries, dolls, the color green, David, books, bananas, his family, the outdoors, David's inventions

### Dislikes

Making mistakes, sexism, perverts, disrespect, rudeness, discrimination, sexism, narcissism

## Professional Status

### Occupation

Student
 Heir to the Sohma Hot Spring

### Affiliation

Unnamed College
Sohma Family

## Relationships

### Parents

Okami Sohma (Mother)
Unnamed Father

## Voice Actors

### English

Mike McFarland
Katelyn Barr (Young)

**Ritsu Sohma** (草摩 利津, *Sōma Ritsu*), also known by his nickname '''Ri-chan''', is the only child of Okami Sohma, the hostess of the Sohma Family's *onsen*, whose position he is in training to take over. He is also a third-year student at a private college.

He is the Monkey of the Chinese Zodiac and one of the oldest members of the Cursed Sohmas. He is extremely apologetic, has very low self-esteem, and a tendency to overreact. He dresses in women's clothing because he feels less pressure from society and is initially mistaken for a woman by Tohru Honda because of his long hair and beauty.

## Description

### Appearance

Ritsu is a fair-skinned, beautiful young man of an average build and height. He is described to be a feminine beauty and often dresses as a woman, as cross-dressing helps him calm his nerves. He is often seen wearing colorful, traditional long-sleeved *kimonos* or *furisodes*.

He has straight, peach-colored hair, which falls down to below his shoulders. He has straight bangs that cover his forehead, two locks of hair framing his face, and a piece of his hair tied back into a small ponytail, held back by a big ribbon.

### Personality

Ritsu is very timid and plagued with countless insecurities. He has an inferiority complex and severe self-esteem issues and is constantly ready to take the blame for everything. He has a tendency to overreact to everything and apologizes frantically all the time, even for things that are not his fault, since he believes that he is useless and has no redeeming qualities. Ritsu is also severly anxious and is constantly on the verge of having a mental breakdown. Whenever he makes a little mistake or receives the slightest complaint or sarcasm, it sends into a fit of apology, complete with crying and shouting; this has even lead to some suicidal behavior.

He is also has poor social skills and is quite air-headed. When he visits Shigure's house, he decides to bring books about fruit as gifts since he originally wanted to bring actual fruit but did not know what kinds of fruit Shigure and the others liked. He is also prone to saying the wrong thing, like telling Yuki that he has begun to look more and more like his older brother that he despises. He tries to improve himself by complimenting Yuki and Kyo instead of apologizing to them, but he ends up accidentally insulting them instead.

However, despite such things, Ritsu is kind-hearted and gentle, and is always thinking about others, but he is insecure to believe he could help anyone. Although he initially felt like he had no purpose in life, he was inspired by Tohru to let things take their time, including finding his own love and the courage to proudly live as a man. Evident by his interactions with Mitsuru, Ritsu is, despite his insecurities and sensitivity, very empathazing and compassionate.

## Etymology

* The name **Ritsu** means "benefit, advantage" (利) (**ri**) and "haven, port, harbor, ferry" (津) (**tsu**).

## Trivia

* Ritsu's name was derived from the eighth month, *odaka**ritsu**ki* or "rice harvest month", which is the month of the monkey, of the traditional Japanese calendar.
* Ritsu sometimes wears chic one-piece outfits with white skirts, but his preference is for kimonos, the furisode type. He also dresses like a woman at college, which gives him certain notoriety.
* When Ritsu does wear men's clothing, it's usually some sort of suit; they might be just a bit more refined that the suits Hatori wears.
* When Ritsu gets hysterical, Shigure states pushing his side is an effective method to calm him down.
* Most Sohmas call him "Ri-chan" and, to Shigure's amusement, Tohru calls him "Ri-chan-san" (see Japanese honorifics).