Misery Loves Company, Furuba

Col-erase Doodle of 19-year-old invalid Akito Sohma, a very...complicated and, though rarely seen, pivotal Fruits Basket/Furuba character (fyi/SPOILER to newbie fans: Akito is male in the anime and, we eventually discover, female raised to pretend to be male in the manga--he's a dude here because I've only seen the anime so I'm used to him being male, though I have no actual preference).

Because most of my devWatchers aren't familiar with this anime, I'll quickly summarize: Akito is very sick, both bodily and emotionally/mentally. From his birth, his family--particularly his mother, a cruel and capricious woman--pledged to an ancient pact concerning a curse born by his family, the Sohmas: essentially, the family members sometimes present as members of the Chinese Zodiac, transforming to their accordant animal when under extreme duress or embracing/kissing a member of the opposite sex who is NOT within their family. Akito does not have the whimsical side of this curse to enjoy, however--he does not take the form of any of the animals, but rather his pale, five foot four inches, 94 pound self has assumed the mantle of their god/goddess, the Jade Empress, a cruel and overbearing deity (in this plotline) who micromanages their lives. The power might be enjoyable if Akito weren't also destined to die before the age of 30--probably closer to the age of 20--because of the constant strain on his body and soul as the leader and therefore the individual most heavily cursed--sort of the most intense center of the curse's vortex, in a manner of speaking.

As it is, Akito is completely alone in his degree of suffering, every day knowing of his dwindling life expectancy, and unable to partake of the loving and supportive relationships that other members of the Zodiac have found from compassionate and understanding outsiders. This has unfortunately made him possessive, controlling, sado-masochistic, clingy, frightened, and at times very very cruel. He does everything he can to dissolve the loving relationships that he covets when he sees them among other members of his family. Eventually, this leads to a confrontation with a long time outsider, a sweet girl named Tohru Honda, which, miraculously, results in her ability to crack his shell and get him to see that he has hope, that people actually care about and will deeply miss him, and that while he is alive he should reach out and seize any opportunity to live.

Akito is not my favorite Furuba character (that honor goes to Kyo, whom I will draw soon XD) but he/she is probably the most fascinating. Also enduring a (much less fatal but still extremely detrimental) chronic illness and often feeling isolated by it and that few people can understand, I deeply pity Akito and am glad to see that in the manga, his/her character is beginning to heal and rebuild whatever is left of his/her life.

WHen you take a gander at this, try to tell me what you think the confused mix of emotions on his face are about. Also the blood he makes on his own chest with his (freakishly long in the anime) fingernails is meant more figuratively than literally.

Thoughts? I know, it's just a facile anime sketch, but still working on two originals and a kyo, all coming soon.