Shigure Sohma

### Likes

Writing, teasing Mitsuru, kimonos, jokes, romance, Takashiro, the color emerald, freedom, helping others, rice, having Akito to himself (Formerly), reading newspapers, parties

### Dislikes

Akito (Currently), confinement, selfishness (Currently), limitations, breaking promises, betrayal

## Professional Status

### Occupation

Head of the Sohma Family
Writer
Personal Assistant

### Affiliation

Sohma Family
Giou Clan

## Relationships

### Partner(s)

Takashiro Giou (Husband)
Akito Sohma (Ex-girlfriend)
Mayuko Shiraki (Ex-girlfriend)

### Children

Shiki Sohma (Son)
Emiko Sohma (Daughter)

## Voice Actors

### Japanese

Yuichi Nakamura
Mari Hino (Young)

### English

John Burgmeier
Apphia Yu (Young)

**Shigure Sohma** (草摩 紫呉, *Sōma Shigure*) is the Dog of the Chinese Zodiac and one of the oldest members of the Cursed Sohmas. He is best friends with Ayame Sohma and Hatori Sohma, and the three make up the "Mabudachi Trio". He is also the owner of the house where he, Tohru Honda, Yuki Sohma, and Kyo Sohma live. He is a writer who publishes literary novels under his own name and trashy romances under pen names.

While Shigure is depicted as lazy and dirty-minded, he can also be extremely sly and manipulative. Having been madly in love with Akito Sohma ever since she was in the womb, Shigure has stated that he is willing to sacrifice anything or dirty his hands to get what he wants. His main motivation is to break the Sohma Curse so he can free Akito; the God, from the curse and the need to live as a man, so he can have her all to himself.

However, after finally letting Akito go and realizing her true self, he marries Takashiro Giou.

## Description

### Appearance

Shigure is a very handsome adult man with a rather large build and tall stature. He has nape-length, straight, medium-grey hair with an “M-shaped”, middle-parted bang, and longer locks hanging around his face, framing his eyebrows. He also has a pair of light-grey eyes, in which he occasionally wears oval-shaped glasses on top of.

Shigure is fond of wearing traditional Japanese clothing and does so habitually, as he claims that it gives him the vibes to write. He is often seen in his long-sleeved dark green *kimono* with a light-green *obi*. When he has to leave home for business, Shigure wears dark-colored, tight suits, and slicks back his hair.

### Personality

At the start of the series, Shigure is portrayed as a laid-back, aloof, and fun-loving man who is insightful and gives wise advice. When he discovers Tohru camping in the wilderness behind their home, Shigure quickly becomes protective of and doting towards her; taking her in with only basic housework as an exchange, attending her parent-teacher conferences, and showering her with gifts to the point where Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani liken him to a grandfather spoiling his granddaughter.

He can also be mildy perverted, often joking about high school girls, but apart from some harmless "flirting", he never acts on it nor does he seem to genuinely serious about it. Even when Isuzu Sohma offers herself to him, he rejects it, because the only one he truly and only loves is Akito. Shigure also likes pushing other people's buttons, not out of maliciousness, but because he finds entertainment in it. Despite this, there are a few instances that Shigure does something which he gains nothing for himself, such as orchestrating a situation in which Hatori and Mayuko Shiraki could meet each other again and pushes Mayuko into actively pursuing Hatori so both parties are happy.

However, it is later revealed that Shigure is an extremely selfish, sly, and self-serving man who only cares about himself and what he wants, who can also be very cunning, manipulative, and deceptive. He is willing to use and hurt others to achieve his goals with no remorse or regret. At first, Shigure was completely unrepentant and callous when he hears about other zodiac members' abuse at Akito's hands, as long as he gets his desired results, though at certain times he does show compassion and allows the younger zodiacs reprieve from Akito, but such acts are mainly done to ensure his own goals. However, just like every other Zodiac, Shigure mentions that he is miserable because he feels like a “monster” in an otherwise normal world, and states that he is the most cursed for genuinely loving Akito as a woman, not as a God.

His dark side mostly stems from his desire to see the curse broken and have Akito all to himself. Evident from his relationship with Akito, he can be very petty and immature; he torments her with mind games and even had sex with her mother, Ren, as 'payback' for her having sex with Kureno. He also describes himself as a person who can't stand being hurt, so when he gets his hands on something, he never wants to give it back nor does he want anyone else to touch it. Shigure is also hyper-aware and knows more than he lets on and usually hides his true feelings behind a light-hearted facade. He willingly stirs up trouble in order to make things moving and make them the people around him act a certain way and thus be an accumulation in breaking the curse. Everything he does is planned as well, such as asking Akito to allow Tohru to live in his home, being decidedly ”cruel” towards Akito, and telling Tohru to leave the house for an errand at exactly the same time Kureno would be out on the street waiting for her.

However, despite his dark nature, it is shown that Shigure was simply lost in bitterness and broken heart over what happened between him and Akito and his time with Tohru was able to allow him to open his heart once more, as what once started as simply seeing Tohru as a pawn gradually but inevitably turned into genuine compassion and care for her that started Shigure's own change. He admits to Hatori that he feels such guilt for using her for his own ends and causing her suffering that he loathed himself, and in addition to finally able to feel guilt over his dark actions, he is even able to actually contemplate his previous sinister and self-serving actions enough to also feel guilt over it, showing that despite his initial lack of care, he is just suppressing his emotions and deep down he does feel remorse over what he had to do, but simply dismissed it as he believed that breaking the curse would not only benefit him but also the other Zodiacs and thus chose to let them suffer knowing it would end once the curse ends and Akito changes: Not only does he not make any excuses for the way he is, but he is able to actually admit his worst traits and that what he was doing was wrong, and even bitterly calls himself ”the dirtiest one of all”. He also starts to reflect on his own uncaring demeanor and his obsessive but genuine love for Akito and ultimately acknowledges that it was selfish and unhealthy and even actually feels uncharacteristic regret just upon seeing Tohru, to where he stated that someone like him should have fallen for Tohru instead. Indeed, towards the end, with his goals finally achieved, the curse broken and Akito free to be herself, he finally admits that the entire ordeal has taught him to overcome his immature and selfish side and be more generous to the point where he abandons his goal to have her all to himself and is willing to selflessly allow her to choose who she wants to be with. When Akito does choose to go back to him, Shigure quits treating her so coldly and instead begins offering her emotional support whenever she needs it, and encourages her towards positive growth.

Tohru's compassion has influenced Shigure to where he is able to start caring for others more and his relationships with the people around him improves, as displayed by his willingness to ensure Rin doesn't endanger herself anymore by telling the curse will eventually break on it's own and ultimately deciding to stop fooling and manipulating Tohru by coldly pretending that he and the rest of the Zodiacs finds solace in Kyo's existence as the Cat even if they would admit it themselves, revealing his true dark nature to Tohru, but at the same time also finally exposing her to the truth that would allow her, albeit painfully, to make the decision whether to tell Kyo she loved him or not in case the curse didn't break before Kyo had to be confined, with no strings attached.

After his divorce with Akito, Shigure's obsessive personality fades, as he develops pure hatred for Akito for her actions and consequences. And becomes more kinder, supportive and helpful towards those who need it.

As a father, Shigure does not seem like he has changed much, based on his son Shiki's comments about him being conniving, too light-hearted, always jumping at the chance to tease people (especially Shiki) a ”joke of a grown man”, and that any compliment gets straight to his head. Despite that, Shiki describes him as someone who is reliable and someone who he can trust. Indeed, Shigure is very involved in Shiki's life and is always willing to go the extra mile for him when he shows interests in doing things he didn't prior, and encourages Shiki to come to terms with his mistakes and become a better person.

## Etymology

* The name **Shigure** means "purple, violet" (紫) (**shi**) and "living" (暮) (**kure/gure**).

## Trivia

* Shigure's name, like most members of the Zodiac, is a pun regarding his Zodiac animal; the dog. His name translates into *shower of late autumn*, whereas the dog's lunar month is October.
* Shigure's name is derived from the tenth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, **Shigure**zuki, or "Autumn showers month" which is the month of the Dog, of the traditional Japanese calendar.
* Shigure habitually wears a kimono unless he has to leave home for business, which according to Takaya is his way of getting into “the spirit of things” as a writer.
* Before he became a writer and still lived at the main house, he used to wear rougher clothes like t-shirts and jeans since it suited his idea of that life.
* It also mentioned that “getting into the spirits of things” is another of his games, as if he’s proving that he’s not committed to anything.
* Shigure often offers advice in metaphors, which is mentioned to not be very surprising considering he’s a novelist.
* Because he is hard to read, Hatori says he’s a “jellyfish”, and Mayuko calls him a “ripple”, meaning “he’s a man who can’t be caught”.
* The Sohmas, particularly the members of the Zodiac, believes Shigure to be the closest to Akito.
* Shigure’s relationship with his parents isn’t very good, but he doesn’t seem to have been rejected by his mother.
* He inherited his looks from his mother.
* When Takaya was asked if Akito knew about Shigure and Mayu dating each other, she reveals that if Shigure wanted it to remain a secret, then it would be a secret. If he wanted it to be known, then he would make it known. But since “Shigure is not a superman or something”, the secret might still be let slip accidentally.
* Shigure, and the rest of the Mabudachi Trio all have a high alcohol tolerance. They enjoy it a decent amount.
* Shigure is fond of creating nicknames for other people; such as "Aaya" for Ayame Sohma, "Haa-san" for Hatori Sohma, "Haa-kun" for Hatsuharu Sohma, "Momicchi" for Momiji Sohma, "Satcchan" for Kisa Sohma, "Hii-kun" for Hiro Sohma, and Mit-chan for Mitsuru.
* Shigure repeatedly uses his favorite phrase "Qué será, será. Whatever will be, will be. What won't happen, won't".
* His most successful pen name is Noa Kiritani, which he used for his erotic novel series, Sigh of a Summer Affair. Hatori, Hatsuharu, and Saki Hanajima have read this series. Other works by Shigure under his real name include In the moonlight, Palpilations and Hermit's Mountain.