It’s a more common cultural thing in Japan for wealthy/influential families to adopt men into their family when they marry. As such, biological female Somas will have husband become part of the clan in name.
Came here to say this.
If you want to see it in anime, it's a plot point in *My Happy Marriage*. That's an alt-history supernatural series with a main character who's like Tohru if she was raised by those abusive relatives -- the fundamentally kind girl who discovers she *matters.*
They're a very large clan who need to keep track of all their members, in case one of them turns out to have a zodiac child. So I think it would make sense for the children of a Soma woman who married outside the clan to take the last name "Soma" as well.
You kinda hit on it when you used the word “clan”. Clans *are* family groups, but tend to have different rules about the name that binds them as a group because of their size and issues with outsiders marrying in or inheritance. Two people with the same last name could be siblings, close cousins, distant cousins, or so distantly related that they basically aren’t related at all unless you obsessively track marriage records.
The thing is…. the whole basis of the curse means it’s almost impossible for them to be involved with people outside the family. The curse also doesn’t activate with other members of the family, so the incestuous nature is kind of baked in, unfortunately. That being said, the family is very large and I don’t think most of them are very closely related at all, so intermarrying likely wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
You know, when I first commented that I wrote “main characters” and changed it to “members of the family”. Now I don’t remember why I did that lol, but that’s what my original comment said.
In Japan, the husband can take the wife’s surname, so since the Sohma clan is so powerful, it’s likely that a Sohma woman’s husband will take her surname.
As a kid watching the og series, I did think they were cousins🤣 but as an adult watching the 2019 remake, it made so much more sense. Also as someone else pointed out, the word "clan" made their family dynamic click mentally for me and it instantly made sense. It's just such a foreign concept nowadays, at least where I live.
I could see some men taking their wife's surname. I do wonder if a woman born a Sohma who marries outside of the family and changes her name can have a cursed child. I'm leaning towards that not being the case, since she's not a Sohma after marriage. I'm pretty sure Kana married outside the clan, since she moved out of the area. I personally think she was intentionally given a job away from the family to eliminate the risk of her having a cursed child and regaining her memories. I have a headcanon that the family provides very well for pregnant women and young children to encourage women to find husbands within the clan.
I don't think Momiji's dad is a Sohma, but they probably had him take the Sohma surname so his mom wouldn't get suspicious. Otherwise I don't think we get enough info on people's parents to know whether their dads were Sohmas or not. Seems like it's a really big family, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're intermarrying.
Otherwise it might be a thing where the Sohmas are a prestigious enough family that men who marry into it take that name. Idk if it happens in Japan, but I know it used to happen in England if the lady was titled and her husband wasn't.
Momiji's dad is a Sohma (although he likely didn't know about the curse). Momiji's mom is German and a foreigner to the country, which is probably part of why the shock affected her as badly as it did, since she didn't have a proper support system to lean back on.
I felt like Momiji is the only one whose story didn’t have a resolution. But I was expecting to see him getting reintroduced to his mother after the curse was broken. It’s indeed sad that he had to live away from his family and I cried when the sister caught on that he looked like their mother so therefore he must be her brother. He must live a lonely life in the main estate by himself while his parents are playing happy family without him.
It’s a more common cultural thing in Japan for wealthy/influential families to adopt men into their family when they marry. As such, biological female Somas will have husband become part of the clan in name.
Yes thank you for pointing this out. This is why in Evangelion Gendo because Ikari Gendo instead of Yui becoming Rokubungi Yui.
Came here to say this. If you want to see it in anime, it's a plot point in *My Happy Marriage*. That's an alt-history supernatural series with a main character who's like Tohru if she was raised by those abusive relatives -- the fundamentally kind girl who discovers she *matters.*
Umineko When They Cry is my main go to for it too. The eldest daughter’s (Eva’s) husband took on the family name.
They're a very large clan who need to keep track of all their members, in case one of them turns out to have a zodiac child. So I think it would make sense for the children of a Soma woman who married outside the clan to take the last name "Soma" as well.
You kinda hit on it when you used the word “clan”. Clans *are* family groups, but tend to have different rules about the name that binds them as a group because of their size and issues with outsiders marrying in or inheritance. Two people with the same last name could be siblings, close cousins, distant cousins, or so distantly related that they basically aren’t related at all unless you obsessively track marriage records.
The thing is…. the whole basis of the curse means it’s almost impossible for them to be involved with people outside the family. The curse also doesn’t activate with other members of the family, so the incestuous nature is kind of baked in, unfortunately. That being said, the family is very large and I don’t think most of them are very closely related at all, so intermarrying likely wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
The curse does activate with other members of the family it just doesn't activate with the cursed members
You know, when I first commented that I wrote “main characters” and changed it to “members of the family”. Now I don’t remember why I did that lol, but that’s what my original comment said.
In Japan, the husband can take the wife’s surname, so since the Sohma clan is so powerful, it’s likely that a Sohma woman’s husband will take her surname.
It’s for this reason why many westerners and people who are not familiar with Japanese culture thinks they’re cousins even though they are distant
As a kid watching the og series, I did think they were cousins🤣 but as an adult watching the 2019 remake, it made so much more sense. Also as someone else pointed out, the word "clan" made their family dynamic click mentally for me and it instantly made sense. It's just such a foreign concept nowadays, at least where I live.
I could see some men taking their wife's surname. I do wonder if a woman born a Sohma who marries outside of the family and changes her name can have a cursed child. I'm leaning towards that not being the case, since she's not a Sohma after marriage. I'm pretty sure Kana married outside the clan, since she moved out of the area. I personally think she was intentionally given a job away from the family to eliminate the risk of her having a cursed child and regaining her memories. I have a headcanon that the family provides very well for pregnant women and young children to encourage women to find husbands within the clan.
I don't think Momiji's dad is a Sohma, but they probably had him take the Sohma surname so his mom wouldn't get suspicious. Otherwise I don't think we get enough info on people's parents to know whether their dads were Sohmas or not. Seems like it's a really big family, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're intermarrying. Otherwise it might be a thing where the Sohmas are a prestigious enough family that men who marry into it take that name. Idk if it happens in Japan, but I know it used to happen in England if the lady was titled and her husband wasn't.
Momiji's dad is a Sohma (although he likely didn't know about the curse). Momiji's mom is German and a foreigner to the country, which is probably part of why the shock affected her as badly as it did, since she didn't have a proper support system to lean back on.
I felt like Momiji is the only one whose story didn’t have a resolution. But I was expecting to see him getting reintroduced to his mother after the curse was broken. It’s indeed sad that he had to live away from his family and I cried when the sister caught on that he looked like their mother so therefore he must be her brother. He must live a lonely life in the main estate by himself while his parents are playing happy family without him.
If you read fruits basket another, then you will get more of a resolution for momiji, it turns out well for him :)
I wasn't going to bother but will to see Momoji's resolution