Ritsu Soma, burdened by the Sohma family’s Monkey zodiac curse, grapples with paralyzing insecurity, relentless self-blame, and volatile overreactions. Premature birth, triggered by the curse’s destabilizing effects, condemned him to a childhood overshadowed by his parents’ ceaseless apologies for his perceived failures, deepening his anxiety and sense of inadequacy. Desperate to conform to societal norms, he embraced cross-dressing in flowing kimonos and long hair—a fragile refuge that led Tohru Honda to initially mistake him for a woman.

His self-loathing erupts in frantic apologies for trivial or imagined faults, convinced his mere presence inconveniences others. This spiraling despair once drove him to a rooftop suicide attempt after staining Shigure’s manuscript, thwarted only by Tohru’s timely intervention. Her insistence that purpose emerges through bonds becomes a lifeline, nudging him toward tentative self-forgiveness.

Sensitive editor Mitsuru, whose own anxieties mirror his, fosters a romance rooted in mutual fragility. Her embrace of his cross-dressing nurtures his fragile confidence, culminating in post-curse transformations: cropped hair and masculine clothing signaling newfound resolve. His mother, Okami, oscillates between melodramatic outbursts and quiet pride in his inherent compassion, reflecting their fraught yet tender bond.

The curse shatters as Ritsu drops a vase—an accident met with Okami’s reflexive panic but symbolizing his emancipation from inherited guilt. At the Sohma banquet, Akito’s revealed identity startles him, drawing a wry parallel to his former cross-dressing. Her public apology, acknowledging the zodiac’s freedom, cements his release from decades of self-punishment.

Years later, Ritsu sustains bonds with zodiac peers like Kagura, reminiscing on shared trauma while charting futures unshackled from the past. His evolution—wavering yet unwavering—epitomizes the series’ core of healing through empathy and the quiet courage of self-reclamation.