Take a good look, everyone. This woman is willing to murder her own grandson. A child, mind you. All because he looks like his daughter.
| “ | Are you still trying to convince people that nonsense is true? You little fool. How many times do I have to explain this to you? That so-called bond may make you feel something, but it is not real love. The "forever unchanging" story you like to tell yourself is exactly that: A fantasy. A delusion. So of course I pity the ones who have to put up with it. | „ |
| ~ This woman really proving how delusional she truly is. |
Hello everyone. And welcome to my NPE proposal for 2025. So following my PE Removal of this vile woman, I decided that while she was not capable of PE because of her one redeeming quality, that will not stop me from proposing her here. Because let's be real, regardless of having a redeeming quality, that ain't gonna change the fact she's one of the worst parents in history and she deserves to be called out for her callous actions towards her family, especially her own daughter, and in the end, she's one of the most vile characters in the entire series.
And although the series is known for having low heinous standards, this woman definitely passes with flying colors, especially given that she is responsible for shaping the main antagonist of this series into the abusive and manipulative matriarch of the clan. If not for her one redeeming quality, she could've had a shot at being a complete monster. But sadly, this woman proves that she does have something that ultimately prevents her from having that status.
So without further adou, allow me to introduce one of the worst parents in manga/anime history: Ren Sohma.
What's the work?[]
Fruits Basket is one of the most iconic and well-known shoujo manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya, which would lead to two anime adaptations, with the 2002 adaptation doing a bit of different take on the story, while the 2019 remake follows the same storyline as the manga. At first, your typical comedy series with light-hearted moments, it turned into a serious drama series involving serious topics, such as family drama and abuse.
It follows the story of Tohru Honda, a kind-hearted and sweet young girl who lives in a tent following the death of her mother. She later stumbles upon a estate owned by the Sohma Clan, a clan that is afflicted by a curse known as the "Zodiac Curse", which turns thirteen members of the curse into Eastern Zodiac animals if hugged by the opposite sex that is not a Zodiac member. She was discovered and taken in by the family upon the request of Shigure Sohma, the Dog and owner of the estate, who also lives with two others: Kyo the Cat and Yuki the Cat. The clan are shown to be under an abusive drama life, mainly thanks to the head of the clan, Akito Sohma, the Zodiac God, who wants to ensure that the curse remains so the Zodiac members will belong to her forever. However, her plans get interfere by Tohru, who wishes to help the cursed members so they can be finally free. However, despite Akito's horrific actions, there is one family member who proves herself to be more vile than her: That one being her abusive mother, Ren Sohma.
Who is Ren Sohma? What has she done?[]
Ren Sohma is the overarching antagonist of the entire series. She is the widow of the late Akira Sohma and the mother of Akito Sohma, the Zodiac God and one of the most horrible parents to have ever existed.
Backstory[]
From what we know about this one, Ren was originally a maid working in the Sohma Estate. At the point when she and Akira have met face to face, and that Ren claims to "comprehending" his feelings of loneliness, to the point of shedding tears before him, that's when the latter had come to the conclusion that she was "different" from all the other maids. (Though, in the reality of it all, Ren had purposely tried to get his attention right from the start). Due to the nature of Ren "understanding" the Sohma Head's apparent loneliness (as mentioned above), knowing that he doesn't have much time to live, it's become apparent that she was chosen to be specifically tasked with having to take care of the sickly and isolated Akira Sohma for his daily needs, including with helping him getting dressed at some point.
Over the course of Akira and Ren continuing to spend time with each other, enough to where they eventually began a special relationship. Their relationship gradually blooms into genuine love. When the oldest maid hears about this, and that she warns Akira to stay away from Ren, who was nothing more than a maid of the household, Akira replied that Ren was the only person who had recognized his suffering. Despite the oldest Sohma maid's warning, ideally after a year or so, they got married. Soon after being married, Ren was heard to be pregnant with Akito, who will hold the title of "God" for the Chinese Zodiac, upon being born into the world, which was more clearer when it managed to attract Shigure, Hattori, Ayame, and Kureno (all four of whom were young children), who had tears in their eyes as they ran up to Ren, who was replused by this sight. She was more repulsed when she found out that her child will be born as a female, and due to her irrational paranoia that Akira will show more love to their daughter than her, she demanded that they raise Akito as a male, or else she will terminate the pregnancy. With no other choice, shortly after Akito's birth, she was raised as a male.
Throughout her entire life, Ren hated Akito simply because she was the "God" of the Zodiacs, which meant she would be treated lavishly. Eventually, following Akira's death, Ren became more mentally and emotionally abusive towards Akito, insulting her and even stated she would never be loved, which led to Akito becoming self-controlling and abusive towards the Zodiacs. Eventually, the two would make a bet to see who would remain by Akito's side, and whoever loses will leave the Sohma estate.
Meanwhile, she goes around to make people's lives miserable. Case in point, Ren decides to talk with Isuzu "Rin" Sohma about how she have a "happy home". Despite being gravely aware that Rin's parents are miserable and hates her so much. So she pretty much caused Rin's emotional trauma issues. Oh, and she also began seducing Shigure into a sexual relationship after revealing the relationship between Akito and Kureno, simply to torment the former (And in Shigure's case, wanted revenge towards Akito for her relationship with Kureno, but that was after he learned this from Ren herself).
Fruits Basket[]
While she doesn't appear much in the series, she does make a short appearance when Tohru was sneaking around the estate investigating about the Zodiac curse. Before Ren could find out who it was, Kureno came in and took Tohru away, ensuring that Ren didn't spot her, while having a short civil conversation with Ren. Of course, Ren continues to antagonize Akito further, with their usual confrontation turning violent as Akito tries to strangle Ren before ultimately breaking down. Then, Ren asks Rin for a "favor": that favor to steal a black box containing Akira's soul. In exchange, she will tell Rin information to how to break the curse. Rin desperately agrees, but unfortunately, she gets caught by Akito, her hair is cut and sent to the Cat Room for several days. And to make matters worse, Ren knew absolutely nothing on how to break the curse.
Oh but it gets worse for this "poor" woman when she tries to seduce Shigure, only for him to reject her, even stating that the reason he even slept with her was because she had Akito's physical attributes, much to her anger. Shigure even stated that if Ren allowed Akito to live as a woman, it would've been completely different and even tells her how her deep-rooted obsession with her late husband is simply going to haunt her to the grave. This drives Ren to slander Shigure for his "ungratefulness" and in a state of despair, calls out her husband's name.
In a unhinged mental state, Ren goes to her daughter's room with a knife, demanding Akito to hand over the box. When she gains the box, Ren eagerly opens it... only for her to discover it's empty. Akito, having losing her composure, tries to kill her, but halts when she senses Hiro's curse broken. Ren smiles gleefully as she sees her daughter didn't attempt to kill her the way she wanted, and is taken back to her room under surveillance.
Fruits Basket Another[]
Even as the years has passed, Ren has grown far more worse than she was before. She has still continued to be hostile towards the rest of the Sohma clan members, especially towards Akito, still continuing to refuse to reconcile with her. Nobody bothers to even visit her in her bedroom, which is understandable.
Then, during a New Year's Celebration holiday, Ren finds herself at a breaking point to the point that she stabbed her grandson with a knife while wearing a sneer on her face. When Ren attempts to make her attack on Shiki, Akito takes notice of the situation and steps in to take the blow in his place, horribly gaining a scar as a result. And since the incident, she has been placed under heavy surveillance to ensure she doesn't hurt anyone ever again.
As a result of her actions, Shiki has became a bit distant towards others, which worsens due to the issues he's facing due to his mother's past. Eventually, Shiki will become more sociable with others, thanks to meeting a certain girl he has fallen in love with.
What Makes Her Close to Pure Evil?[]
Does She Lack Redeeming Qualities?[]
Other than one quality, Ren possesses no redeeming quality whatsoever. And unlike some of the antagonists in the series, she doesn't possess any sort of excuse whatsoever. She is noted to be mentally unstable, but that doesn't affect her moral agency as she is fully aware of what she is doing but doesn't have any remorse of what she's doing to others.
Any "kindness" she shows is merely so she could make Akito miserable as possible, or just be an bitch for petty reasons. For example, she talks very kindly to Rin, but that kindness she shows to her is merely faux. She also doesn't love Shigure, only viewing him as a plaything to satisfy, and when she was rejected by Shigure to sleep with her, she calls him "ungrateful", which showcases that she's merely lustful and doesn't possess any genuine feelings for him. And while it was mentioned that she had some sort of friendship with Hattori, Kureno, and Ayame, but I heavily find that doubtful as none of them don't really have any positive thing to say about her and they're merely civil with her, but that's it. Nothing really suggests they have a good bond.
So overall no. Nothing very redeeming about this bitch.
Freudian Excuse?[]
Nope. Unlike her daughter, Ren doesn't really have any excuse for her terrible actions. While it was revealed that she was looked down by the Sohma for her background as a maid and her only value was her husband Akira, the narrative makes it absolutely clear that it doesn't justify any of her horrible actions, and it merely only showcases her narcissistic and envious personality.
Is She Taken Seriously?[]
Fruits Basket is noted to have lots of comedic moments. But that doesn't stop it from having heavy and serious topics regarding family drama and abuse. And Ren Sohma? Definitely not a Laughably Evil villain, as her character is noted to be a huge game changer (even more so than Akito) in the series and she is never played for laughs, not even once. So yeah, she is taken immensely seriously.
Heinous Standards[]
So here's the interesting thing. Fruits Basket is noted to have very low heinous standards, which makes sense since it's not your typical manga/anime fantasy series with a lot of heinous content. That being said, the standards in this series are absolutely vile, as it is realistic. Simply put, as I mentioned above, the series tends to deal with heavy topics such as abuse. And the abuse we are shown in this series is absolutely disturbing but also very realistic.
So far, the only antagonist to pass the heinous chart is Akito herself. She is responsible for abusing the Zodiac family members, Yuki (whom she tormented for years), Kyo (who shamed him as a monster and made a bet with him that if he couldn't defeat Yuki, he would be lock in the Cat Room til he dies), Hatori (whom she blinded in his left eye because of his relationship with Kana, forcing Hatori to wipe out a traumatic Kana's memory of him), Kisa (whom she abused because Hiro had feelings for her), and Rin (whom she abused because of her relationship with Hatsuharu and when trying to steal the box that "contain" Akira's soul, Akito catches her and locks her away in the Cat Room and cuts off her hair, even threatening to blind Hatsuharu if she tried to keep on breaking the curse, leaving Rin to starve to near death), all so they could never break the Zodiac Curse and be part of her new "eternal banquet" where nothing changes for the Zodiac members. She also abuses Tohru because of her defending the Zodiac members and even tried to murder her when the curse was breaking.
But the main reason she can't even count for PE or NPE is because she's way too tragic and heavily insecure. Ultimately, she is just a woman who just wants to be loved, mainly because she just can't handle being alone and noted to have an inferiority superiority complex, mainly because of her childhood was absolutely hellish for her, thanks to her sorry excuse of a mother and the Sohma Clan's toxic environment where they made her think that the only reason why she was loved was because she is the "God" to the Zodiacs. Her father tried his best to help her, but he unintentionally made things worse for Akito, with her mental state growing even more unstable due to losing her father. While it doesn't completely excuse her actions (something Akito does note), it ultimately makes her too tragic and eventually, she does redeem herself thanks to Tohru, who still continue to show kindness towards her despite her actions.
The other antagonists in this series are also just as bad in this series, despite their limited appearances, as they are the main instigators behind the Zodiac members' tragedy. For example we have:
- Kyo's deadbeat father, who physically, mentally, and emotionally abused his son simply because of being the Cat Zodiac. He did the same to his mother, who tries to protect her son but ultimately committed suicide as she couldn't handle the abuse. He then blamed it all on Kyo, which led to the latter growing a guilty conscience on him, which grew worse when witness Tohru's mother Kyoko's death, blaming himself for "causing" her death. Even now, Kyo's father thinks he's not to blame for his horrible actions, and still blames his son, calling him dehumanizing names.
- Rin's parents who are by far one of the most hated characters in the series (besides Ren, Kyo's father, etc.). They horribly abused her physically and mentally so badly to the point she got emotional issues and trauma because of it. And this is because they couldn't love her. The fact not only do they get away with their actions and they don't even have any of their face drawn is further more proof of how absolutely vile they truly are.
- And lastly, Ayame and Yuki's mother, who is emotionally abusive to both of her sons and tries to use Yuki as a way to get further high up in her social status, practically playing a role Yuki's tragedy. She even declared that she shouldn't have given birth to both of them simply because she couldn't control them any longer.
But Ren? Yeah, I can say with full confidence that Ren is the absolute worst of them and easily passes without a doubt. She is responsible for her abuse towards Akito both physically and mentally, turning poor Akito into the same abuser she is. She even wanted to abort her own daughter, simply because she never wanted her husband to love another woman. Ever since her birth, Ren has been nothing but abusive towards her, both mentally and emotionally, calling her worthless and stating she would never be loved. This turn Akito into a control freak and incredibly abusive towards Zodiac members. She even made a bet with Akito to prove that her bonds are sacred with her, and if one of them loses, they will be forced to leave the Sohma Estate, leading to Akito becoming even more controlling and abusive towards the Zodiac members in order to win the bet and prove Ren wrong. She also ruined the relationship between Akito and Shigure, by revealing the former's relationship with Kureno and sleeping with the latter, leading to Akito banishing Shigure from the estate and Shigure having a one-sided conflict with Kureno. All of this abuse simply because she wanted to make Akito's life miserable as possible. Talk about toxic hatred towards your own flesh and blood.
There's also her domestic abuse towards Akira by bullying him and emotionally blackmailing him to raise Akito as a boy by threatening to terminate the pregnancy. And not to mention she was the reason behind Rin's emotional issues as she was the one who urge to ask her parents about their love, which lead to them revealing how much they HATED her and they goes far to abuse her. She then manipulates Rin to try to steal the box from Akito, manipulating into believing she could give information on how to break the curse when in reality that was a lie. This led to Rin being imprisoned and would've starved to death if not for Haru. And this was all because she possessed irrational hatred towards her. For absolutely NO REASON at all. It is also revealed that she tried to seduce Hatori for unknown purposes (though it's mostly likely for a vile motive) but was thankfully prevented by Akito.
And lastly, in the finale of the series, she threatened and even tries to outright murder Akito, simply so she could get the box that contain Akira's soul (when in reality, it was empty). And many years later, she verbally abused and then tries to murder her young grandson Shiki, further showing how far she has fallen. Thankfully, Akito saved Shiki in time, but she unfortunately gained a brutal scar on her as a result. This act also severely traumatized Shiki, who was already facing a lot of issues due to his mother's past, becoming distant and withdrawn as a result.
So horrible abuse towards her relatives (especially Akito, Rin, and Shiki), manipulation, and even attempted murders? Yeah, feels like Ren passes the heinous standards big time with no issue.
What prevents her from being pure evil?[]
OK, so this was the main reason why she got booted off from being completely pure evil. You see, despite all of the vile atrocities she has done, there is one redeeming quality that still shows she isn't completely evil. And that's her love for Akira.
While admittedly, her love for Akira quickly turned into an toxic obsession and she wasn't above on committing domestic abuse towards him, there was still a part of her that is shown to have genuinely loved Akira as she was shown to be distraught about his death, even going so far to scream tearfully on his corpse, even crying. It is even mentioned that she still mourns and misses her late husband. Hell, she even seeks to get the box that "contains" Akira's soul simply so she could be with him.
Now does this excuse her horrible actions? Definitely not. Does anyone have doubts about her love for Akira? Well I wouldn't be surprised considering her seducing Shigure and even Hatori. But as some users mentioned, there is still a part of Ren that still genuinely loved Akira to some degree, even if it was heavily toxic. Because of that one redeeming trait, she can't be a complete monster no matter how vile she is (although redeeming quality or not, she is and always will be a monster).
Final Verdict[]
A small but confidant yes to one of the worst parents in history.