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This week, on July 22nd to be exact, fandom celebrated Nico Yazawa's birthday. Seeing that as of today I cannot find a single article in Geminispace on this archetype of idoldom, I think it'd time to change that.
Nico's battle cry, Nico Nico ni! (にっこにっこにー), is one of the anime meme that's gone viral many years ago. Many have heard of it even if they've never watched Love Live or heard of the School Idol band μ's set in Otonokizaka Academy. On YouTube you can find any number of takes on the meme, from extracts of the anime itself over a rap battle between Nico and Natsuku (of Doki Doki Literature Club fame) to a crazy guy ruining his car.
However, who's the character behind this meme? Well, Nico is introduced right in episode 1 while standing in front of UTX High School. She wears a mask, dark sunglasses and a forbidding demeanour, rudely lecturing Honoka that she's about to witness an A-Rise performance. She voices the fateful words "School Idol" that sets the rest of the show into motion.
The story thus starts out by highlighting a few of Nico's key characteristics — her absolute passion for school idols and her (by Japanese standards) often extremely direct and forbidding behaviour. Nico is also physically small and hence often taken to be much younger than she really is, making it difficult to believe that she's really an upperclassman — a thing that she obviously struggles with.
Later we also learn that she's boastful, sometimes immature. In a society that generally shuns openly elevating yourself over other, she openly fights for the centre position in the formation — and does not shy from twisting the truth to her family when she doesn't get it. In a truly moving moment in season 2, episode 4 the rest of μ's goes out of their way to find a face-saving way out of the whole that Nico's lies have dug for her.
In that episode with some of the anime's most cringe-worthy scenes, we also learn more about Nico's family and social background. She is the oldest of four siblings, and in her mother's absence for work their caretaker (their father is never mentioned). She does the shopping and cooking for her younger brother and sisters. The Yazawas live in a flow-class flat in a less than fancy neighbourhood, highlighting her financially disadvantaged background. On the other hand we also learn in the very last episode of the second series about her close relationship to her mother and her wish to prove herself in her mother's eyes. We also learn how closely knit her family is, and how much the approval of her mother and her siblings means to her. We also understand that her standoffish and boastful manners are often a way to compensate for her disadvantaged background.
All of this pales, however, compared to her passion for her art. To the degree possible Nico collects media on stellar school idols and their exemplary performances. Unselfishly she uses this to furnish the school idol research club, whose president she is. We learn that she had tried to build an idol group in her first year at school, but that her high standards have driven everyone away, leaving her the sole member of the club. It is also at this time that she built her idol persona, the ever smiling, cute Nico whose battlecry of "smile" (にこにこ means "with a friendly grin, smilingly" according to JMDict) is always accompanied by her signature two-finger gesture next at ear level.
It is astonishing that a show that isn't famed for its psychological depth would dare to produce "fully-rounded character" (Day, cf. below) with big scars behind her smiles.
And like for her fellow idols Love Live is for Nico a way to open up to her new friends — and to acknowledge her background, her weaknesses, and to embrace her role as an equal among equals in μ's. Nico grows perhaps more than any other of the characters in the show — making her finally a true star. So, happy birthday Nico!
Love Live Anime, First Season (English) Guest Review by Day
Nico showing off her idol persona to the rest of μ's in episode 5 (on YouTube)
Natsuki vs Nico Yazawa — Rap Battle on YouTube
Nico's official character page on the Love Live Wiki (Japanese)
Nico's official character page on the Love Live Wiki (English)
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