Fruits Basket 2019: Shigure Sohma (ESTP)

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“Not many people know what’s going on inside his head. He’s a mystery to most everyone but Hatori. You know, it’s funny. Somebody said, ‘He’s like a ripple on the water. A wave that approaches then recedes. It tickles your feet, but when you reach down to touch it, it leaves. He’s the kind of man you can never quite catch.’ I always thought that analogy was too pretty. If you ask me, he’s the jellyfish waiting to sting you.” – Yuki

Se:

“One of these days, you’ll learn to have fun. I’m sure of it.”

“Que sera sera.”

“If thinking about something makes you anxious, then you’re better off not thinking about it. …Not making sense? Okay. Let’s try something else. Picture this: you’re surrounded by a mountain of laundry so immense you can’t see over the top of it. And what’s worse, you have no washing machine, so you’ll have to do it all by hand. Obviously, you’re overwhelmed. You look around you and the doubts start flooding in. Will you be able to clean it all? How long will it take? Can you do it well enough? And the more you think the more anxious you get. Time ticks by, but you feel paralyzed. So what do you do now, Tohru? If you ask me, your best bet is to start by washing the laundry that’s at your feet. It’s important to think about what’s ahead, but if you focus on that too much, you’ll trip over what’s right in front of you. Keep washing, one piece of laundry at a time, and before you know it, there you’ll be.”

“Go ahead. Catch me if you can.”

Shigure from Fruits Basket gives off that casual and laid back vibe that we associate with perceivers. Prior to Tohru moving in, he and Yuki are content to live in chaos. They won’t cook, the kitchen is a disaster zone, and they’re constantly going out to eat. When Shigure does cook, he puts pickled radishes in everything, much to Yuki’s dismay. During a later scene in the show, Shigure’s room is briefly shown, and it, like the earlier kitchen, is also a disaster zone. In addition, Shigure handles the chaotic tendencies of the other Sohma’s quite well, all things considered. While he puts in mild protests while they are destroying his house, he typically doesn’t do anything to prevent their clashes, and simply withdraws money from their bank accounts to cover the damages.

Shigure has a generally action oriented nature. He enjoys running around and playing games with his editor, much to her dismay. You can see his “catch me if you can” mentality surface clearly. He literally will disappear and, for instance, go on vacation or claim to have run out to a restaurant, or etc. Shigure is also very impulsive. Shigure talks about having gone to the pleasure district as a young freshman in high school. In addition, he is living outside of the main Sohma estate due to an incident where he sleeps with Akito’s mother simply to spite her. Of course, the way his sensory desires surface can also be attributed to Se, especially if you compare him to Ayame (an Ne dominant) who has a similar perverted nature.

Ti:

“Maybe you should give a crap once in a while.” – Haru

“Sensei, that’s a nasty habit of yours. You can’t see a wound without rubbing salt in it.” – Haru

“What’s wrong? Are you scared of what might happen if you actually got to know him?”

“You say that, but from me, ‘kindness’ is nothing more than a hastily manufactured afterthought. Your version’s the real deal to which mine can’t hope to compare. I should probably find that sad. For some reason, I never have.”

Shigure is very calm and collected. You can rarely tell what he’s thinking, and most certainly can’t tell what he’s feeling. Shigure doesn’t tend to take control of his physical environment, like a Te user would. He lets people do what they’re going to do, for the most part, and just deals with any resulting mess later. When he does step in to make something happen, Shigure just does it without checking with anyone first. For instance, he tricked Kyo into enrolling in Tohru’s high school and just dealt with Kyo’s anger later. He also has a tendency to deflect when he answers questions, rather than answering them directly or absolutely. For example, he never outright tells Kagura that she can’t live with them. Rather, he says “You know you can’t, so why ask?”

Shigure is highly sarcastic. Nearly everything he says has a subtle sarcastic undertone, which gets on Kyo’s and Yuki’s nerves constantly. He also has a tendency to be more callous, which Haru calls out quite a few times. In his dealings with Kyo and Yuki, you can see his harsh logic surfaces when he pokes at others. For instance, he takes a jab at Yuki over being ashamed about his silent period, and he also aims a crack at Kyo about being afraid to get to know Yuki. Shigure is ultimately not very concerned with the feelings of others, and is attempting to manipulate those around him for his own advantage.

Fe:

“If I have to lie or manipulate a few people along the way, then so be it. It’s a small price to pay even if someone gets hurt. I do feel bad about it sometimes though.”

“It’s actually pretty rude you know, calling her suffering amazing.”

Shigure possesses classic mischievous Fe. He enjoys manipulating people, and essentially makes a hobby out of messing with them. You see this over and over again with his editor, when he freaks her out by pretending to not have met his deadline or runs off right when it would distress her the most. He also thoroughly enjoyed manipulating Kyo into applying for Tohru’s school, tricking Ritsu into fending off his editor, and etc. In addition, upon first running into Tohru in her tent, Shigure reacted instantly by pointing and laughing hysterically. He made absolutely no attempts to hide it. (This would be an unlikely reaction for a high Fe, an inferior Fe, or a tertiary Fi.)

However, Shigure’s Fe does come out in a positive way. For starters, he is a generally helpful person, having taken in Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki. He’s very personable, and good with pleasantries. He’ll give words of affirmation, and occasional advice. He’s socially confident, and goes along easily with Ayame’s dramatic games. He flirts, and teases. In addition, while he tends to create his own degree of conflict, he responds somewhat dramatically when other people threaten to create conflict for him. For instance, when Yuki and Kyo talk about not going to the New Years celebration. However, he does end up feeling bad and manipulating them into going back to spend it with Tohru. You see other instances where Shigure does something kind and hides it, like when he takes Hatori and the others on vacation to take Hatori’s mind off of the wedding. He plays it off like he’s doing this to mess with his editor, which is a classic indication that he is ultimately a Thinker, hiding his kind act behind something less emotional or more callous.

Ni:

Shigure’s Ni comes out in a few ways. The most notable thing people will see from the show is the way that he and Akito are playing a sort of back and forth game with each other, using other people as pawns to further whatever ulterior motives they have. However, Shigure appears to be using people more out of convenience and less from a highly planned out strategy. He tends to just go with what is available to him and not plan things out too far in advance. This points to a relatively low use of Ni.

Another instance of his Ni is the way that he can cut to the heart of some of his cousin’s insecurities. He on occasion will make jabs at both Yuki and Kyo for their actions leaving them flustered. He also fools Kyo into taking the school entrance exam so he could go to the same school as Yuki and Tohru. These are examples of his Fe and Ni at play, working together seamlessly.

Shigure also compliments Tohru for a simple analogy she made about the kitchen mess in his house. He basically compliments her for a simplistic use of Ni. Having a trait low can lead to admiration or pride when seeing it being used by yourself or others which is what we see Shigure doing at that moment.

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