Reiji Arima(有馬 怜司 Arima Reiji) is the estranged (a person who is no longer close or affectionate to someone) father of Soichiro Arima.
History or Plot[]
Reiji was the illegitimate but favored son of the Arima patriarch whose mother tried to drown herself and take Reiji with her, in which Reiji kicked her in the face in order to save himself, but it created a horrific memory that haunts him for the rest of his life. Although he is a talented musician, he grows to lead a life of a delinquent and he is seduced by a beautiful gold-digger (a person who dates others purely to extract money from them, in particular a woman who strives to marry a wealthy man) named Ryoko, who became pregnant with his child and Reiji names the boy Soichiro Arima after Shouji Arima (Reiji's brother), but Reiji has nothing else to do with the child. Years later, Reiji learns that Ryoko was abusing his son and she had abandoned him. Unable to care for Soichiro, Reiji gives the child to Shouji and Reiji moves to New York City where he becomes a famous jazz pianist there. When Soichiro is in high school, Reiji returns to Japan and "kidnaps" Soichiro to force him to spend ten days with him where Reiji later helps protect him from Ryoko. He threatens to kill her to keep her from hurting Soichiro again, but he eventually allows her to live when Soichiro stops him from shooting.
Trivia[]
- The name Reiji means "clever" (怜) (rei) and "to control" (司) (ji).
- Reiji's surname Arima means "exist" (有) (ari) and "horse" (馬) (ma).