Character

Isuzu Sohma

草摩 依鈴 Rin

Isuzu "Rin" Sohma (草摩 依鈴, Sōma Isuzu) is an only child and a member of the Sohma clan in the manga, transforming into the horse of the Chinese Zodiac. She never appears in the first anime, but does show up in the Last Story visual comic and is expected to be in the second series. Her nickname is 'Rin', because 'suzu' translates to 'small bell' in Japanese, and 'rin' resembles the sound a small bell makes. 'Isuzu' is also a rare name. When written as two Kanji characters, it means 'Dependable Bell', which many consider to represent Isuzu's personality and appearance quite well. In volume 14, it was revealed that all of the Jyuunishi's names but Yuki's were derived from poetic names for the months of the year. Hers comes from "Isuzukure tsuki" / "Month of cool closings", the name for June. Rin had long black hair that went past her hips during the Before Summer Vacation Arc until halfway through the After Summer Vacation Arc. Her hair was cut short by Akito as a punishment on trying to steal her box. She also has dark brown (sometimes depicted as black) eyes, and according to Tohru, during their first meeting, she has a good figure too. Ren tends to wear revealing gothic clothes. The accessories she wears are made by Haru. Her height is approximately 5'4"-5'5", almost the same as Uotani but shorter by 1-3 inches (noticed when she was walking together with Tohru in chapter 107). Rin is complicated; she is aggressive, and unkind, wielding words as a weapon to keep people away from her likely due to her history of abuse, but she is also deeply loyal and passionately emotional. She can be tremendously self-sacrificing, but on the other hand is often uncomfortable with displays of emotion, cranky and self-conscious and suffering from painfully low self-esteem. At the point in canon when she makes her appearance, she's clearly disillusioned and questions Tohru's optimism - not aggressively, but almost resignedly. She is also penetratingly perceptive and uses this to keep others from seeing her mentally and physically scarred, and avoids her whenever possible. Rin goes to an all girls' private school, and resides at Kagura's house. Rin suffers from stomach ulcers, and her eating habits are sparse, probably due to stress and trauma.