Hatori Sohma

Lore & Background

Two years before the series begins, Hatori was engaged to Kana Sohma, the assistant in his doctor's office. When he asked Akito for permission to marry her, Akito attacked him and left him almost blind in his left eye. Akito blamed Kana, and she felt so guilty that Hatori suppressed her memory of their relationship to ease her suffering.

Reader's Guide

Hatori is depicted as a tall, somber man who is rarely amused by the antics of his best friends, Shigure and Ayame, and he is often the only one who can restrain Ayame's worst behavior. He takes his duties to the family and as a doctor seriously and warns Tohru about the dangers of getting too involved with the Sohmas. After Kana marries someone else, Shigure manipulates him into meeting her best friend, Mayuko Shiraki, and in the last chapter Hatori invites Mayuko on an Okinawa vacation.

Did You Know?

• Hatori says that half of his work as a doctor is tending to Akito.
• When his curse activates, Hatori turns into a seahorse about 8 cm long; according to Shigure, this is a sign that the zodiac curse has weakened.
• In an author's note, Natsuki Takaya described him as "the best marriage material of the cast".