#my most beloved addiction at the moment tbh. i am very much obsessed with the sign

[delusionalblfan]

presently friday is my favourite day of the week. they give me three of my top four series at the moment and i'm having a blast

[marimopeace]

After watching episode 10 of the reboot what's your interpretation of Shigure's character? What do you think his goals and intentions could be?

hi and thanks for the ask anon! 

because of the way i am (an extreme overthinker) i’ll be unnecessarily extra with this response since i don’t know anything about your relationship with the series. i really don’t want to spoil anything in the case that you’re new to it entirely / watched the 2006 version but didn’t read the manga, but i still want to give my honest thoughts. i’ll put all things spoiler-y under a line break! i’ll also put tl;drs under each response in case my ranting is nothing like what you wanted to hear lol

// a visual break for your eyes //

so the good things is that whether someone’s fresh to the series or not, episode 10 of the reboot is definitely a plot twist even for viewers of the original furuba. i used to watch that show all the time as a kid and i remember the valentine’s day episode being something completely different–it was treated more as a side story featuring other members of the sohma family and was a way to expand more on tohru’s giving personality + throw in a lot of laughs, while in the 2019 version, it was a continuation of the ongoing plot that revealed more about kyo’s self-perception (especially in comparison to yuki), shigure’s darker motivations on integrating tohru into the sohma clan’s life, and still included some of the funny antics of the family (although much less gag-heavy than the 2006 version which was so nice).

i had actually never read the manga until right before the reboot aired since my younger self was always fine with just going off the old anime (read: i was lazy) so had a younger me seen shigure’s scene in this episode i would have genuinely been shocked because it would have been the first indication of him ever having malicious intentions whatsoever.

in the earlier episodes of the 2019 reboot it is shown that the usually fun and mischievous shigure can be serious and be the authoritative adult in the room (compared to his old anime version which was nothing but a jokester with a soft heart), but in episode 10 shigure was shown to be manipulative and cruel. the second mainly because of that scene where he prodded kyo in what could have been seen as a tough-love-trying-to-be-a-mentor-and-show-you-something-about-yourself-you-didn’t-know, but came off as a somewhat sadistic move to make kyo squirm and be uncomfortable for no reason.

shigure’s scene with hatori (LOVED THIS MOMENT) hints a bit at what his long term goal is. hatori helps the viewer get that both akito and shigure are scheming to take advantage of tohru’s relationships with the family (presumably kyo and yuki specifically since she’s closest to both of them and kyo was referenced a few seconds earlier by shigure in this same scene). shigure fills in more gaps by referencing something that happened when he, hatori, and aya (*SPOILER IF YOU’RE NEW* aka ayame who was revealed in the og anime) were all younger.

we the audience can tell by the wistful nature of shigure’s monologue (which i absolutely adored and made multiple posts out aha) that something about that vision stirred up feelings of affection inside him–feelings that his older self realized were a form of love. this love turned into an obsession (lol), and shigure seems dead set on satisfying this addictive yearning by obtaining said love.

the scene with akito at the end, and shigure’s internal thoughts that followed indicate that this eternal love lies with akito. going solely off the earlier dialogue, one might assume that either he’s going to do everything in his power to physically have akito in his grasp (aka have them be in his possession so he never has to fear anyone taking them away from him), or he will try to manipulate akito into reciprocating his feelings–or maybe even both!

tl;dr (spoiler-free) shigure, based off some mysterious premonition he had when he was younger, is utterly obsessed with the sohma clan head and will do everything he can to make them “his” (perhaps not exactly monopolizing them but definitely at least having akito acknowledge and return his feelings). he’s observed how tohru’s good nature has been affecting the two young sohmas under his roof and plans to use their relationship to his advantage in the politics of this mysterious af family, hopefully outwitting the family head as well. hatori is not a fan of this plan at all and shigure agrees that it’s terrible but he’s like well “i’m a trash person anyways!” so he doesn’t mind. the only indication that he does feel like his plans are morally wrong are when tohru offers him chocolate as well and he realizes that her charitable nature is endless and that she truly is just a good kid.

// cue my unnecessary response under the fold WITH SPOILERS based on the manga so bewarned)

*** i have no idea of whether or not you’ll be able to read under the fold anon so i’ll put the end of this (v long) answer here: hope you got something out of my interpretation and enjoy the rest of furuba! always feel free to reach out about whatever ***

so for whatever reason, be it a warped personality or pure infatuation, young shigure actually responded positively to the dream he and the other sohmas had when they became tied to akito through their zodiac spirits’ default loyalty. he actually aims to preserve that feeling of absolute belonging with akito, claiming them as his most beloved.

i found this tragically beautiful tbh bc shigure was the sole sohma to transform something that caused the rest of the family pain into something that brought him fulfillment. loving something is a very powerful thing and he made it so that he would always be by akito’s side in terms of his loyalties. (which is incredibly kind considering her own tragic circumstances–she has done terrible things but was raised under abuse herself and was isolated from the rest of reality.) i found it sad because he was in unrequited love for years but was stubborn to his ultimate end goal resulting in a back-and-forth relationship of manipulation/ monopolization/sex revenge with akito when someone else would have just given up on the possibility of the relationship working out. i almost used the term “sane person” but while shigure may have an insidious nature, his love for akito isn’t insane, yes it’s toxic but he actually did fall in love with her, it wasn’t unfound and coming from nowhere.

he’s seen how tohru has managed to get kyo and yuki to look at the bigger picture in terms of their relationships with people in general as well as how they see themselves as pets of the sohma name. he himself enjoys her balm-like effect on people (being part of a hellish household probably makes a sweet girl who does everything to care for others whether that be through chores, food, or cheering up seem like an absolute saint), but he–and akito–know that having a card around to mess with the workings of the sohma clan is all too important to have. especially since shigure’s main intent is to overthrow everything the family is about, not to be a part of the “good morals brigade”, but to get a hold of the person he wants to have so dearly.

he knows that akito is aware of his attraction, that doesn’t mean she understands the sincere love behind it. she sees it as an effect of their zodiac relationship/part of her delusion that the sohmas are all pawns to fend off her loneliness and prove she hasn’t been abandoned. if akito weren’t the emperor and was just akito the person, then shigure might have a chance of slipping in and making his dream a reality.

tl;dr (based on spoilers) shigure has had a bad case of puppy love for years and wants to milk tohru’s budding relationship with the sohmas to help his plans of destroying what the family is all about (blood feuds and lots and lots of drama), perhaps even ending the curse (i say perhaps bc i can’t think off the top of my head whether or not in the manga shigure did try to plan to break the curse on the whole family–i’m leaning no but my head is fuzzy on this rn). all this so that he can not only hold akito in his arms, but her love in his hands, so she’s truly “his” to have.

happy furuba watching anon!