Kyoji Narita MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Kyoji Narita? Kyoji Narita is an ENTP personality type in MBTI, 8w9 - sp/sx - 873 in Enneagram, in Big 5, SLI in Socionics.
This comment assumes that readers are familiar with both Karaoke Iko! and its sequel, FamiRes Iko. Spoilers from here on out for both series. Those who're labelling Narita Kyouji an ESTP have clearly not understood his character at all. I'm pretty sure the ESTP typing comes from a gross misreading that the majority of readers/viewers seem to carry: (1) Kyouji "only ever does what he wants," (2) He's "stupid and impulsive," (3) He's oblivious to Satomi's feelings towards him. I don't have enough space here to address each of these separately, so all I'll say is: rewatch the anime/re-read the two manga series with a more open mind, and you'll see that none of this is true at all. I won't address the Ti-Fe here, since that's common to both ENTP and ESTP, and clearly the majority agree on Ti-aux and Fe-tert. As for the Se: think about it. Would a Se-dom yakuza ever behave the way Kyouji does? Where do we see the constant pursuit of personal pleasure, the desire for power/dominance, the strong sense of self which refuses to compromise according to the situation - all of which characterise Se-doms - in Kyouji's behaviour at any point? Instead, we see a guy who thinks in such an extremely lateral fashion (Ne-Ti) that he decides the best way to get better at singing is to recruit a middle schooler with a good voice and bribe him with free food until he gives him tips on the subject. It's hinted at in KI and elaborated on in FemiRes that he easily adjusts his personality depending on the people he's with. Especially re: Satomi himself - in KI he acted like an over-indulgent uncle because Satomi was still a child, but in FamiRes he treats the now 18-year-old Satomi like an adult, and there's not even a hint of that paternalistic attitude in these later interactions. While he acts quite meek with the Boss of his yakuza group, with his fellow gang members he exudes a kind of easy machismo; he's casually intimidating to his subordinates and enemies, but behaves like an ordinary law-abiding citizen around any non-yakuza he interacts with. Feel free to debate me, but I've never seen an ESTP adjust their behaviour so adeptly. Dom-Se with aux-Ti, supplemented by inf-Ni generally ensures a strong attachment to their "own" personality in ESTP's, and they tend to dislike those who change facade depending on the situation, let alone doing it themselves. Then the inferior Si. This one is mostly relevant to the events of FamiRes Iko, where Satomi (ISTJ), now fast entering into adulthood, has started distancing himself from Kyouji because he considers a relationship with a yakuza an obstacle to "living as a normal adult," in a textbook example of a Si-Te user beginning to understand the complexities of living in a society as strict and archaic as Japan. It takes until the final chapter of Vol. 1 for Satomi to actually voice that thought, but it's clear by the way Kyouji acts towards him prior to this that, through a combination of Ne and Fe, he's already come up with his own theory as to why Satomi's behaviour towards him changed so drastically in just one year. And then Satomi drops the bombshell: they should cut off all contact. Which is when a very strong inf-Si moment comes into play from Kyouji's side. Now, I, being an Ni-Se user, could tell instantly that Satomi wanted Kyouji to say something which might make him stay. But Kyouji, instead calling on the conclusions he'd drawn earlier with his Ne-Fe, clearly interprets the moment through inf-Si: his previous girlfriends, as well his own blood-related family, ended up breaking all contact with him when they could no longer abide by his choice of career. So instead of trying to satisfy his own evident desire to maintain their connection (like a dom-Se user would surely do, especially when it's hinted that the other party doesn't truly want to break things off either), he says, "Sure. No problem." This is somewhat similar to the moment in episode 2 of the anime where Satomi, furious at being asked to teach a group of yakuza to sing, threatens to break off all contact with Kyouji. Again, it's clear he hopes to be stopped, but Kyouji just buys him a box of expensive strawberries as a "sorry and thank you" and wishes him well. This kind of (perhaps misguidedly democratic) "people should do as they please, I have no right to hold them back for my own needs" attitude is common among fictional ENTP's - and in this case, likely augmented by Kyouji's Enneagram, 8w9. I could go on, but I think it's best if people actually read all 2 1/2 vol.s of this series that are out so far before they jump the gun and label a guy ESTP just cos he's a gangster and book-dumb. Cognitive functions have nothing to do with IQ in the first place, and it goes without saying that all ENTP's are by no means intellectuals.
