Character Profile: Kagura Sohma

Kagura is yet another member of the Sohma family who happens to be cursed by one of the vengeful spirits of the Chinese zodiac. She is two years older than Kyo and Tohru, and is the sign of the boar, so when she is hugged by a boy, she turns into a boar. Kagura Sohma is an interesting character. She has extreme mood swings, almost too extreme, like bipolar. Not only that, but like a real boar she has a one track mind. She is a cancer in the western zodiac.

When we first meet Kagura in both the anime and manga, she's shyly watching Shigure's house from behind the gate. She meets Tohru at the door and asks if Kyo is around. When she's brought inside, Shigure and Yuki are surprised to see her, while Kyo is utterly terrified. Now, why would Kyo, someone who trained in the mountains for months and someone who never backs down from a fight, be so unnerved as to shake in his boots at the sight of Kagura, a simple girl his own age?

At first, Kagura Sohma shows her sweet and innocent side. She is moved to tears by seeing Kyo, and is so consumed by emotion that she can barely manage to mutter his name. Seeing him for the first time in four months, she runs to him so happily asking him questions and nearly in tears. But then her eyes gleam over evilly, and as she shrieks, "I wanted to see you!!" she punches Kyo so hard he flies across the room and crashes through the door. Yuki and Shigure, being used to Kagura's temper tantrums, casually duck as Kyo flies over them and Kagura follows, leaping across the room. Tohru is completely shocked by the sudden surge of violence from what seemed like such a sweet girl. She screams "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!", and then proceeds to beat him into a bloody pulp, breaking down doors in the house. After that, she changes her mood yet again and cries to Kyo "who did this to you my love?"

When Kyo is not around, Kagura is as easy to get along with as White Haru, but when Kyo is in her presence, all hell breaks loose for her in a desperate attempt to profess her affections for him. Usually she'll whip him around, bashing him against the floor and walls; anything to get the attention she desires. And then she will go back to her normal personality, worriedly fawning over the injured Kyo and saying, "Who did this to you?!"

Kagura loves Kyo deeply and declares her love for him more than once. She thinks that they are meant to be with each other as they don't transform when they embrace (but members of the zodiac can hug each other without being affected). She's normally nice, appreciative, shy, and timid, but when she's around Kyo, she gets very demanding. She cares a lot, but just gets so excited when around Kyo that she starts hurting people (especially Kyo). Kyo is not so affectionate to her, but she tries her best to make him happy... and messes up all of it to be Kyo's future wife.

When the two were just kids, Kagura convinced Kyo to marry her when they were older... or else she would hurt him severely. She has no problem telling people that they are engaged and stating that Kyo promised to marry her, but Kyo reminds her that it was only after she threatened him. What Kyo doesn't remember is that he is the one who started her feelings toward him, as he asked for her hand to take her somewhere. She also calls herself his "girlfriend" and of course she's very jealous of Tohru. But after Tohru acted very kind towards her, she wanted to be her friend, thus they are the best of friends throughout the series... though she is still convinced Kyo is cheating on her.

So badly does she want to prove her love to Kyo that she always carries a cat-shaped bag so that when staying at Shigure's house she can help cook and wash dishes and clothes, but of course she ends up with a mess everywhere. She also went with him on a walk in the mountains, and indeed brought more trouble as they were constantly surrounded by boars (juunishi cursed tend to attract the same animals that they transform).

Kagura is not a character to be messed with. Do not get on her bad side or you may find yourself with your arms twisted backward and legs twisted in the front of your face. Don't let her innocence fool you. But Kagura is, all in all, a good person as she helps Yuki make a very difficult decision towards the end of the series. While Kagura Sohma doesn't have such a gigantic role in the anime, she is indeed a key character, and a very entertaining and humorous one at that.