Sawa Mitoma

## Voices

**Sawa Mitoma** (三苫 彩葉, *Mitoma Sawa*) is one of the main characters of the years later series.

Sawa is a first-year student at Kaibara Municipal High School. She is an extremely apologetic, awkward, and skittish girl who struggles with a multitude of issues, from an abusive mother and lonely household, to serious self-esteem and anxiety problems. She also prefers minimal human contact, as people that were once her friends started to push her away. With no emotional support or help from her mother, she began her first year convinced that she would be a burden to everyone.

When she meets Hajime and Mutsuki Sohma, who invite her to join the student council, Sawa starts to grapple with her demons, make friends, and break out of her shell with the help of her new-found support in the Sohma family. Eventually, after secrets are revealed and confrontations are resolved, Sawa develops a budding romance with Shiki Sohma.

## Appearance

Sawa is a fair-skinned teenage girl of an average build and a rather short stature with maroon-colored eyes. She has straight, shoulder-length brown hair which she wears in different styles throughout the manga: she either leaves it untied, in two loose pigtails laid on her shoulders, or in a low ponytail. However, she eventually begins leaving her hair loose more often, which is implied due to Sawa moving away from being bound to her mother's control. Her bangs mainly cover her forehead, and she has a small cowlick sticking up from the top of her head.

Sawa's school uniform is a classic naval-styled Japanese school uniform. The uniform has a blue mini-skirt with pleats and ruffles at the hem, and a white and blue top with a jacket. She wears blue socks that go up to mid-shin, and brown slip-on shoes. This is the outfit she is most commonly seen in, although she is known for wearing blouses and shorts.

## Personality

Sawa is a very fragile girl who has severe self-esteem issues; constantly overthinking her every move and wishing to be avoided as much as possible. She is very anxious and sensitive to the opinions of the people around her and tries not to stand out, having internalized the idea that she is worthless and a problem to the people around her. She absolutely hates asking for help or favors, is often very apologetic about what she says, and has a tendency to stutter whenever she speaks. This stems from her past, as her friends suddenly cast her aside when they apparently grew tired of her, and wanted her to figure out what was wrong with herself, and does not wants to deal with her mother, who badmouths them. As a result, she often jumps to conclusions and expects the worst possible outcome in every situation. This has also lead her to blame herself for the things she is not even responsible for, such as her mother’s abuse. It is for these reasons, that Sawa mainly spends her days wallowing in self-hatred.

However, as she starts becomes friends with the Sohma family and two girls in her class and feels the embrace of family and friendship for the first time, it helps her to be less self-deprecating and build her self-esteem. Sawa starts to apologize less and thank more— allowing herself to smile and enjoy life which she felt unworthy of doing before. Sawa’s interactions improve also, having clear lines of dialogue between stutters and opening up more about her life to the Sohmas. She also learns to live life the way she wants to and refuses to forgive her mother. Although she wishes to become a girl who can always smile, Sawa decides to take it easy by embracing her past and her present self while going forward.

Despite her painfully awkward personality and tendency to flail around a lot, Sawa is an incredibly kind, polite, and caring girl who can’t watch by when someone is struggling. Shiki Sohma once mentioned that Sawa is very similar to what is implied to be Tohru Honda. She is also humble, selfless, and rarely asks for more than she has, but thanks to the influence of those around her, Sawa learns to make self-serving requests once in a while. As time goes on, Sawa becomes a much social, honest, and open person, and although she has a tendency to hide her worries about a smile, she has no problem asking for help when she needs it. After realizing that she had received so much support from the Sohmas, particularly Shiki, Sawa yearns to cherish those who cherish her, as well as change herself into a person who can give back as much as she receives.