Ritsu Sohma

Fair-skinned and built on average lines, Ritsu is frequently taken for a striking young woman. Slipping into feminine dress soothes his nerves, so bright, long-sleeved kimonos and furisode are his usual choice. Strawberry-blond hair reaches past his shoulders in straight lengths, split by even bangs, with two pieces framing his face and a small ponytail gathered under a broad ribbon. Late in the story he trades the robes for men's clothing and crops the hair to about the nape, keeping the long fringe.

Anxiety governs much of Ritsu's life. Convinced he has nothing worthwhile to offer, he rushes to shoulder blame for anything and everything, dissolving into frantic apologies, tears, and shouting over the smallest slip or criticism; at his lowest this has even tipped toward self-harm. His social instincts are shaky and he tends to blurt the wrong thing, once telling Yuki he looks more like the brother Yuki despises, and fumbling attempts at compliments into accidental insults. Underneath the panic, though, he is gentle and forever mindful of others, simply too unsure of himself to believe he could actually help anyone. Tohru's encouragement gradually teaches him to be patient with life and to seek out both love and the nerve to live proudly as a man.

Born two months early because he carries the Monkey's spirit, Ritsu struggles through childhood to keep pace with his peers in school and sports, and grows up hearing adults inside the Sohma estate call him worthless. His loving but anxious parents apologize on his behalf for everything, which only deepens his guilt; he takes to wearing girls' clothes at home to feel at ease, and inherits the family's nervous streak. He is introduced when he bumps into Tohru near Shigure's place, and when she hugs him by accident he turns into a monkey, revealing that the person she assumed was a woman is actually a young man. After a chain of mishaps ruins the manuscript of Shigure's editor Mitsuru, a despairing Ritsu climbs onto the roof meaning to end his life, but Tohru talks him down, urging him to simply find a reason to keep going. Her words reshape him. He and Mitsuru, alike in their fragility, grow into friends and eventually a couple. When his curse lifts, the sixth to break, he weeps at the bittersweet loss. By the epilogue he has cut his hair, dresses as a man, and stands beside Mitsuru with newfound confidence.