Armstrong Sandeep

Akira and Akito were very close, since Akira deeply loved his daughter and saw her as the biggest proof of the love between him and Ren. Whle he wasn't able to mediate between Akito and Ren, he always was there as much as he could for Akito, cheering her up and telling her that she was a child destined to be loved.

When Akira fatally collapsed due to his illness, Akito was by his side. Akira died reaffirming his belief that Akito was a chosen person whose destiny was to be loved. Akito was visibly devastated by his death. Akito treasured the box the Sohma Maid claimed to contain Akira's soul deeply and even though she eventually figured out it actually had nothing, Akito couldn't get rid of it as it was the only thing she could connect her father with. She was both bitter and saddened upon revealing the box actually had nothing to the point of tears.

Ever since birth, Ren completely loathed Akito. She saw her child as the first person in Akira's heart, after a long time where she was Akira's everything, and thus she was consumed with jealousy. She threatened to abort the unborn Akito over learning that she was carrying a girl, unless Akito was raised as a man; later she'd refuse to even hold her and often yelled that Akito was just tricking and deceiving everyone into loving her. As Akira died and Akito started to become more and more unstable, Ren often taunted her with how no one truly loved her, no one really respected her, and everyone would abandon her - this is one of the sources of Akito's wild mood swings and abuse of the Zodiacs, since she wants to keep them by her side no matter what.

Due to this, Akito came to hate her mother considerably as well: Her hatred towards her made her so angry that Shigure would sleep with her that she immediately banished him from the main house despite her love and desire for him. Whenever they interacted, Akito constantly seethed in rage as Ren continued to degrade and mock her and both times they interacted in the present, it swiftly escalated into physical violence, which Ren welcomed and stimulated. When Ren laughed at Akito's proclamation that none of the Zodiac members would leave her, Akito angrily started choking her. Towards the end of the series, Akito nearly attacked her in a fit of rage, but stopped when she felt Hiro's curse lifted.

While Akito seemed to have let go of her hatred towards her mother after becoming friends with Tohru and changing back into her old kind person and wishing to be better, to where she was noted to have tried to reconcile with her, her mother's rejection effectively ensured they remained on antagonistic terms. Though Akito was noted to have the power to banish her from the family, she decided not to, probably out of newfound pity and empathy towards her mental condition. This would come to haunt her as Ren remaining in the Sohma Family did nothing to change her hatred towards Akito and she almost killed Shiki, forcing Akito to protect her son.

Akito remembers her young self watching a teenage Shigure from afar. She admits that Shigure was the Zodiac member she was always the most afraid of leaving her because of how distant he felt from her. Unlike the others, Shigure was never afraid of her and so, despite their differences in status, she always saw him as an equal. His detached attitude made her want to get his attention, most likely leading her to develop romantic feelings for him. On the other hand, as children, "Shigure was gentle and kind , like father was" and she went to him often for comfort (Yuki remembers seeing Shigure cradling and comforting a crying Akito many times when he was a child).

Alas, any romance they were developing quickly ended when Kureno and Akito slept together, which lead to Shigure sleeping with Ren out of revenge. This act deeply infuriated and devastated Akito, not only because it was a small defeat in the game she had with her mother but her crush sleeping with the mother who had constantly abused her was a very personal offense, leading to her banishing Shigure from the main house as punishment. However, despite this, Akito still could not erase her feelings for Shigure, being betrayed and hurt when he left without a word of protest and unwilling to not only admit defeat or let go of her pride but also unable to completely let him go, Akito continued to cling to him, allowing him to visit her and seeing every meeting as a sign that the bond was still there, drawing him to her.

Shigure's attitude, however, underwent a complete change. Unlike when they were children, he was never kind to her, never fawned over her during these encounters the way her faithful zodiac was supposed to, and was always cold around her, which irritated her immensely as she saw it as his way of usurping the bond or "curse" between them. It was also clear that while she likely didn't knew Shigure was actively trying to break the curse and change her so they could be together, she was fully aware of his rebellious whims and desires, which only served to distance them further, turning their relationship into one of tense exchanges and power moves.

Even so, however, as Kureno stated it, despite being in a sexual relationship with him, Akito only truly loved Shigure and wants him above all else to be by her side. Akito also showed a massive possessive and jealous side due to their past, which while twisted does show she still has feelings for him, as she yells at Shigure to "Be kinder! Kinder!... You used to be much kinder! You used to look only at me!".

Likewise, Akito outright asked about the woman who was with Shigure and bitterly asked if he had slept with all the woman he knew, even soon lashing out as she reminded him that he slept with Ren. She appears to show some guilt when Shigure coldly reveals that he only did it because she slept with Kureno herself and despite immediately lashing back that she believes she did nothing wrong as she was the "God" of the Zodiacs and could do as she please, she quickly became desperate when Shigure was about to coldly leave out of exasperation and bitterness and proceeded to kiss and sleep with him.

However, he is back to his cold, unsympathetic self by their next meeting. Angry and hurt, Akito declares that she "doesn't need someone who is cruel in hard times", reverting their relationship back to its previous tense state.

When Tohru falls off a cliff, Shigure is the first one Akito sees. She clings to him with relief and Yuki seems to notice their strangely familiar dynamic. He comforts and sits next to Akito--not above or below, but beside her, as her equal. After Akito makes her decision to let the bond go, she tells Shigure to hurry and go--that she doesn't need his sarcasm or spite--but when he gives her a "farewell present", she bursts in to hysterics until Shigure explains he does not plan to say goodbye to her but to her old self.

When Shigure approaches her and tries to touch her, Akito, who had lived her life until that point rejecting her womanhood, flinches back, bewildered, from his advances.

She comes to accept her femininity along with her desire for Shigure as a man and asks him to stand beside her as she takes on her role as the head of the Sohma family. He is a great emotional support for her as she tries to change the Sohma family from the inside out and for the better.

They eventually get married and have a son named Shiki Sohma. Shiki noted despite Akito being often away dealing with problems outside the main house she and Shigure maintain a loving and supportive marriage, often affectionately taking care of their son together.

Akito and Shiki seem to be quite close, according to Shiki himself. She once protected him from his grandmother Ren's attempts to kill him, and has done her best to raise him well despite the tensions in the Sohma clan and how they don't seem to accept either mother or son.

Tohru is the only outsider, other than Kana, who had been a victim of Akito's abuse. She's also the only one who was brave enough to protect at least two members of the Zodiac from Akito. When she stopped Akito from hitting Momiji, Akito scratched her left cheek, which was tended to later and covered with a bandage.

Later, towards the end of the series, Akito (who had just tried to kill her mother Ren and had also stabbed Kureno) sliced Tohru's arm open with a knife out of anger and fear that she "broke her world" and made her the enemy.

Tohru did not run away even after this, however, and realised that both young women had something in common: they were both terrified of being left behind by the people they love. Akito opened herself up to Tohru after she explained that the two of them are the same for their attempt to maintain their "everlasting" wish and offer the chance to start over and become friends, before she fell off the cliff. And instead of gloating about this, Akito ran off to search for help for Tohru, leading to her sobbing by Shigure's side as Yuki and Kyo tend to her until the ambulance arrives and Tohru is hospitalized.

Tohru's brave actions has changed Akito, finally realizing the error in her ways, with the help of her memory of her father, Akira and releasing the Sohmas from their curse. Furthermore, Akito accepted Tohru's hand of friendship as she visited her in the hospital and after Akito let go of the bonds and the curse breaks, Tohru comforts Akito as the two embraced each other.

In Fruits Basket Another, Tohru and Akito stayed very close. There's a panel that has the two of them chatting pleasantly and spending time with their kids (Tohru and Kyo's youngest daughter plus Akito and Shigure's son Shiki Sohma).

When Akito visited a wounded Tohru in the hospital, remorseful for the part that she had on her accident, she was greeted by Arisa and Saki. It's implied that Saki realised almost right there that Akito was female (probably due to her powers) and treated her kindly. The two seem to get along pretty well later, with Saki even nicknaming her "A-chan" (much to Akito's embarrassment). Their friendship continues in Fruits Basket Another, and it extends to their sons Shiki and Rio Mosca.

The eldest of the Sohma main house's maid has been a stable presence in Akito's life ever since she was little. She's strongly implied to have done the main share of her raising, and in fact she's the only woman Akito has always gotten along with. Akito herself has shown that she genuinely does appreciate the eldest maid's efforts and she offers her a hand to help her in adjusting to the new changes the Sohma Family would experience and was saddened when she was rejected by the caretaker.

Kana is a member of the Sohma clan, but not a Cursed one. After the incident where Akito blinded Hatori for asking her to bless his and Kana's engagement, Akito blamed Kana and the severity of Hatori's injury. She did so in such a violent and repeated manner that Kana became depressed to the point where Hatori had to erase her memory to put her out of her misery.

Kazuma, also a Sohma but not a Zodiac, was hardly around Akito to even experience any form of abuse. Akito herself didn't seem to have any negative feelings towards him and never did anything to Kazuma. Though due to his relationship with Kyo and the cat before him, Kazuma disapproved of Akito's treatment of Kyo and was willing to defy Akito for it. Akito most likely didn't know about this, as there was no mention of her directly confronting and challenging Kazuma's efforts even when she abused Kyo, and by the end of the series, Akito ended up willingly giving Kyo his freedom. It did appear that Kazuma didn't really hate Akito and supported the forgiveness his fellow Sohma showed for her when she broke the curse willingly, while Akito herself either never found out what Kazuma intended to do or simply saw Kazuma's desires as being righteous and just and decided to leave him in peace in her redemption.

Yuki, out of all the Sohmas, suffered the most from Akito's abuse, mostly throughout his childhood. She used to lock him in a dark room all day long (manga) and beat him with a whip (only in the 2001 anime) and would not stop no matter how much Yuki pleaded. This was punishment for angering or disobeying Akito, leaving severe mental scarring. By locking him inside a dark and isolated room, Akito tortured Yuki mentally, which is the reason why he is very silent and sad. Akito is sometimes (as in chapter 20) reminding Yuki of that room, which is causing him to continue to fear and obey her. She had even claimed him to be her toy, marking him as a possession to her. Akito also threw a flower vase at Yuki's head in chapter 95.

Akito had made a deal with Kyo that if he could beat Yuki she would not confine him to the Cat's Room like she confined Kazuma's grandfather. She is especially cruel to Kyo and appears to enjoy leaving him out of many things, including when she came to the Summer House to visit the Zodiac members. She enjoyed mocking him for his inability to beat Yuki, but in a violent and spiteful matter. Despite her verbal and physical abuse towards him in chapter 63, she stated that she really loves him and would go see him if he was confined to the Cat's Room.

By the end of the series, however, Akito and Kyo appeared to have reconciled to a greater extent than most Sohmas: Akito decided to destroy the Cat's Room and grant Kyo along with the others freedom from their curses. Kyo in return was grateful towards Akito and even admitted he regretted being rough to her when he thought Akito was a man while she was actually a woman.

Like Shigure and Kureno, Akito most likely valued Hatori a lot more than the other Sohmas since he was the family doctor and could take care of her when she was injured at times. However, she did get upset at him for having a secret relationship behind her back and, in retaliation, attacked both him and his then fiancé. She injured Hatori when he asked for her permission to marry Kana Sohma by attacking him (manga) and/or throwing a vase at his head (2001 anime). This resulted in Hatori nearly becoming blind in his left eye.

Even though she and Kureno shared a brief sexual relationship, Kureno had experienced some of Akito's abuse. For example, whenever he left the main house without asking for her permission, she would slap and yell at him for doing so. Later, she stabbed him in the back with a knife when he was trying to calm her down from one of her destructive mood swings (caused by her attempted murder of her mother and Hiro's release of the curse), which hospitalized him. She felt deeply guilty over Kureno's state and was relieved when he forgave her.

When Akito learned of Rin's relationship with Hatsuharu, she slapped and pushed Rin out a window, hospitalizing her. Fearing what Akito would do to him, Rin broke up with Hatsuharu and claimed she didn't need him.

Akito also forcibly cuts Rin's hair before confining her to the Cat's Room, in punishment for having tried to steal her treasured box. Due to all of this, Rin is the only of the Sohmas fully unable to forgive Akito when she releases the Zodiac, despite knowing that Akito is sincerely trying to atone. Akito herself can only accept Rin's decision, regretfully acknowledging what she did to Rin cannot be fixed by words.

Akito and Haru once used to have a close relationship, to where even with how much Akito had changed, she still fondly remembers their time together. Even though Haru had distanced himself, Haru still appears to actually be one of the few Sohmas she is genuinely fond of: Unlike the other Sohmas apart from Shigure, Akito was never known to abuse Haru and even after learning of his secret relationship with Haru, Akito did not punish him like she did with Rin and actually seemed to maintain albeit twisted a high regard of Haru to where she believed that someone as broken as Isuzu didn't deserve Haru.

Over the years, not only did Haru lost his bond with Akito but he also became horrified by the monster she became and was opposing of her treatment of Yuki. This escalated when he found out of her mistreatment of Rin and nearly punched her and even stated he would not hesitate to kill her if needed. It was, however, indicated unlike Rin, Haru had forgiven her and sympathized with her once her tragic past was revealed.

Both in the manga and the first anime, Momiji feared Akito because he knew about what he/she had done in the past. In the manga, when Akito was going to meet Tohru in chapter 64, Momiji attempted to stop Akito from entering her room. However, Akito became angry and punched Momiji. Akito would have continued to hurt Momiji if Tohru hadn't appeared to stop Akito.

When Akito senses that Momiji has been released from the Curse, she goes to him and attempts to convince him to stay. Momiji calmly and sadly refuses, but doesn't seem to hate her.

Hiro also accidentally witnessed Akito push Isuzu out of a window, which later causes Hiro some distress since he wasn't supposed to know about Hatsuharu and Rin.

When Hiro was released from the curse at his house, Akito sensed it despite not being there. It took place when she was about to stab her mother to death, and it stopped her from killing Ren.

In the 2001 anime, Akito injured Kisa by hitting her and knocking her against a wall after learning from Hiro that he loved Kisa. In the manga & 2019 anime, Kisa had bruises and a bandage on her face, indicating Akito did more than just hit her. As a result, Hiro had to cut himself off from Kisa for the time being, afraid it would happen again.

Kagura Sohma was not a victim of Akito's direct abuse though could have been tormented by the indirect. She could have been affected by Akito's torture on Kyo, but it's barely mentioned. In the second anime, however, Kagura's mother tries to ban her from going to the Sohma Cottage as soon as she learns that Akito will be there, implying that she fears what Akito could do to Kagura despite her physical strength.

1. Clean the growing container Clean the container every few months and provide fresh water once a week to prevent algae from forming
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5. Have proper drainage

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YouTube might seem like a harmless form of entertainment, but compulsively watching videos can negatively impact your education, career, relationships and mental wellbeing.

Domingo Cullen explains how binge-watching YouTube videos became his “drug of choice”:

Does this sound familiar?

In this article, we take a closer look at what makes the video-sharing platform so addictive and suggest effective strategies to help you or a loved one have a healthier relationship with YouTube.

Tech use out of control? Get immediate help for you or your loved one’s YouTube problem. Book a free Gameplan call now to learn if our program is the right fit for you.

YouTube is a free video-sharing and social media platform. Since its launch in 2005, and subsequent sale to Google in 2006, it has become the world’s second most-used social media network after Facebook.

Here are some statistics about the platform and who uses it:

Although there are no specific YouTube addiction statistics available, it is estimated that 330 million people worldwide will potentially suffer from problematic internet use in 2022 and up to 10% of people in the US could have social media addiction.

In order to understand how YouTube is designed to be addictive, we only need to look at its algorithm. The sophisticated technology recommends videos based on your viewing history to entice you to keep watching. This can make it difficult to know when to stop as the content never runs out. According to YouTube’s product chief, 70% of what is watched on YouTube is based on algorithm recommendations.

Although, YouTube addiction is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the compulsive use of YouTube is often described as a behavioral addiction. Unlike addiction to drugs or alcohol, behavioral addictions do not involve a substance. However, the desire to experience a ‘high’ from the behavior – in this case binge-watching videos – can be just as strong.

As YouTube addiction is not an officially recognized condition, there is no agreed criteria for problematic use. However, here are some common warning signs that you – or someone you care about – may be addicted to YouTube:

Even if your binge-watching isn’t a full-blown YouTube addiction, it might still be causing problems in your life. If you want to stop wasting time on the internet, here are some steps you can take:

As explained above, to keep you wanting more, the YouTube algorithm combs through your search and watch history to recommend videos it thinks you would like. The best way to stop it is to delete this information. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to clear your YouTube history.

Check out our recommended screen time guidelines to help you decide on a reasonable amount of time to spend watching videos each day. Then, set a daily limit so you stop using YouTube when you reach that threshold.

On YouTube settings, there is a ‘take a break’ reminder to help you manage your usage. It will pause the video until you dismiss it or resume playing the video. For users aged 13–17, the take a break reminder is switched ‘on’ but for users aged 18+ or over, the default setting is ‘off’. Find out how to set a take a break reminder.

The auto-play feature on YouTube bombards users with a constant stream of videos. You can turn off auto-play by using the toggle option on the watch page. This may make it easier for you to step away when a video finishes. Here are instructions for turning off auto-play on different devices.

If you keep finding yourself pulled back to watching videos, try a digital detox for 24 hours or longer. The goal is not to step away from YouTube forever but to use it in a more balanced way. Read our digital detox guide.

If a digital detox is not possible, try deleting the YouTube app on your smartphone. Restricting access to your desktop or laptop will help you be more intentional in your use and reduce the amount of time you spend mindlessly watching videos.

If none of the above approaches are working, and YouTube is still disrupting your life and causing distress, you may need complete abstinence. Learn how to delete your YouTube account.

Find other ways to fill your time so you aren’t tempted to spend hours binge-watching videos. Our hobby tool has over 70 ideas to inspire you.

If you or a loved one are addicted to YouTube, or have any other social media addiction, expert help is available. Our coaching program is designed to help individuals and families regain balance with technology.