Arima Kousei MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Arima Kousei? Arima Kousei is an ISTJ personality type in MBTI, 6w5 - sp/sx - 694 in Enneagram, RLOAI in Big 5, SLI in Socionics.
ISTJ > INFJ or INFP Kousei is one of my favourite characters in anything ever, but when people say they see “Ni in him” they don’t have much idea on what Introverted Intuition actually is, and discount how “intuitive” Si dominants actually are. To understand what Introverted Sensing is, you need to examine the whole picture, with the function in tandem with Extroverted Intuition (Si-Ne). My way of explaining the Ne-Si/ Si-Ne dichotomy is like a giant constellation of stars and planets, with each object having an infinite series of interpretations that number just as much as there are human cultures to analyze them. Both Si and Ne inhabit this framework and perceive things the same way, but at opposing ends. In that constellation, Ne seeks to boundlessly explore all possibilities without landing on one. Si seeks a single interpretation that is grounded on their concrete past observations and data acquired through experience. What is important to recognize, is that both Ne and Si exist in this “world” and perceive the same reality. They choose opposing ends. —————————— For ISTJs specifically, they choose a specific interpretation, and then relate their identity upon it (Si-Fi). This makes ISTJs very consistent people; *not* because they are not intuitive or abstract, but because while they can perceive everything in an intuitive manner, they choose to ground themselves. ISTJs can be very abstract in how they relate themselves to their experiences, what they do, etc. The inner world of ISTJs (and Si dominants in general) is extremely colourful, intuitive, and detailed. So how does this fit with Kousei? Well, the whole theme behind “Your Lie in April” is the power in embracing different interpretations of the past, and allowing yourself to move on with a different positive worldview in the face of trauma. Kousei (with the help of his friends), suffered heavily from the past abuse from his mother, and therefore, related himself to that abuse. Thus, he held a very low opinion of himself, and was unable to separate his view of himself being a weakling, from his identity now years afterwards. There was no room for growth, because he did not think he was strong enough to do so based on his past experiences of being submissive to his mother’s demands. This in turn affected his identity as a piano player, which to him, was a constant reminder of his past abuse. It was only through Kaori demonstrating to Kousei that both him and his mother were only human beings, and that the past should not impact the possibilities in Kousei’s future, that he was able to move on with a new worldview in place (inferior Ne). Kousei stated that Kaori added “colour” to his life, which is how powerful Ne can be even in an inferior position. But even then, Kousei knows exactly how he is feeling in any given moment, and is able to go into exquisite detail into its effects on his body (just watch how he represents his anxiety on the piano as equivalent to the sound being suppressed underwater). All of his actions and perceptions are exquisitely detail oriented. In contrast, Ni works by eliminating detail and working with objects, experiences by just how they are (Ni-Se). If Kosei was Ni dominant, we would just treat playing the piano as strictly that, playing piano. He could perhaps relate playing piano to have some sort of meaning that he could wrap into his identity or theoretical framework of how the world operates (Ni-Fi and Ni-Ti). But for Kousei, it is as if each note plays a passage of his life, his experiences, his feelings towards those experiences (Si-Fi), etc. Kousei is clearly an ISTJ, and I find that fact pretty difficult to argue with. “Your Lie in April” in general is extremely Si-heavy, which is probably why I find it that interesting. It’s a function that I have very little experience with, so I find it extremely colourful and gravitating, in all its forms. To be honest, I’m sort of envious because it seems to make the world that much more colourful than it would be otherwise. As for ISTJ > INFP, it is clear that for Kousei, it is his experiences and observations that guide him first, and then he relates himself onto those experiences (Si-Fi). With INFPs, that is flipped, where they are intrinsically aware of their identity and how it conflicts with external pressure (Fi-Te), and that “frame” is then supported with detailed observations and data to form Fi-Si. There are similarities, but Kousei is more aligned with the former, than the latter.
Biography
Kousei Arima (有馬 公生 Arima Kōsei) is the main protagonist of the Your Lie in April series. He is the son of Takahiko Arima and Saki Arima and a student attending Sumiya Junior High School who was the youngest winner of the Maihou Piano Competition.
