Kiznaiver ending analysis - Nico
Previous analysis:
Nico’s sequence was actually the hardest to guess about because we don’t yet know what her personal arc may be about. But I love her too much to not give it a shot!
I’m taking the flowers not only as a foreshadowing of each of their character arcs but also as the feelings they hold close to their hearts.
Wait, another thing! I’m interpreting all this based on my personal take of each character and of what I think maybe in store for them.
★ Nico
I saw a post the other day (which I can’t find) suggesting that some of Honoka’s and Nico’s portions are tied together and show Nico trying to reach out to Honoka. I love that idea! I’m pretty certain Chidori’s and Noriko’s are connected, so Honoka’s and Nico’s may very well be connected, too.
So since that angle’s already been explored, I’ll just analyze Nico’s from a more general POV.
The first thing is that Nico actually looks sad at first. It’s a blink-and-miss-it thing because it lasts less than a second before Nico is shown surprised. I feel her surprise is supposed to symbolize the arrival of the Kiznaivers to her life. Nico was lonely before, but now there’s someone around. And Nico’s curious and attentive towards them, holding her flowers in her lap.
I think the fact that Nico’s got the most flowers may symbolize the array of feelings she has. Not only the feelings she is the most open about (like her care for the other Kiznaivers), but also those she doesn’t let show (like her jealously towards the attention Chidori was getting from Tenga in Episode 5.)
Then we have a resolute Nico calling out to someone and waiting for a response, still clutching her flowers close. I feel this can very well simply symbolize Nico’s constant calls for attention and her attempts to bond with others. However, given that her flowers mean “the arrival of love” and “love letter”, out of all things, it probably wouldn’t hurt to consider Nico calling to someone specific, too lol
Next thing we know, Nico is crouching again and looking sad, her flowers nowhere in sight. And the lyrics go “[If this cosmos is proof that I’m no longer alone], then I’ll be able to embrace this pain” right as Nico folds into herself.
So, what do we have so far?
- An arrival that makes Nico light up.
- A Nico that reaches out and waits for a response…
- …And apparently receives none, or perhaps doesn’t receive the response she would’ve liked, considering that she is next shown looking very sad and lonely.
What matters though, is that after embracing the pain…
Nico smiles and gets up with zero hesitation. Once again holding her flowers close to her.
Interpretation:
While straight-forward, I find Nico’s the vaguest of the bunch because we simply don’t know enough of what’s going through her head (yet). As such, I can interpret her sequence in two different ways.
One relating to bonds as a whole, and another pertaining to her possible romantic interest in someone from the group (aka Tenga).
a) General Friendship Take
If I go for the general interpretation, I think her attempts to reach Honoka in these past episodes are a fantastic example of what Nico’s sequence may symbolize.
I mean, it literally has everything the ending hinted at.
Lonely Nico -> A Nico who reaches out but gets rejected -> A Nico who gets sad because of it -> And a Nico that ultimately harbors no ill feelings and simply gets up to give it another shot.
It fits extremely well! In particular, I died at a quote from Tenga in this episode, because this:
Plus Nico’s excited, starry-eyed response to it:
Perfectly summarize the meaning behind Nico’s sequence, IMO! When Nico gets up at the end, with a smile and holding her flowers close, that’s literally a Nico ready to try “over and over”, IMO. A Nico not willing to feel defeated just by one disappointment,
A Nico that’s not about to let one rejection make her think that she can’t get friends.
…Or someone who loves her back.
a) Romantic Take
I admit I didn’t really want to think about this take at first, because that sad Nico in the ending seriously feels like an incoming rejection to me and I just don’t want to see Nico suffer. And this is Okada and she goes really deep into her romantic triangles / polygons and there’s just, suffering all around for all the parties involved.
But with every passing episode, I find it harder and harder to think Nico doesn’t have a crush on Tenga. The hints were solid in Episode 5, what with Nico being jealous of Chidori because of Tenga praising her and being worried about her. But I thought, hey, maybe this is just about attention in general!
Alas, the meanings of her flowers all have to do with romantic love. And in this episode she did blush at Tenga patting her head. So now I’m thinking it’s probably coming, after all.
And if it does happen: Just how fitting would it be that it’s Tenga himself who tells Nico to not give up “just because you were rejected once or twice?”
So yeah, if I see Nico’s sequence from a romantic angle, then I think it foreshadows an upcoming mini arc with Tenga… and Chidori (again, it’d only be too fitting that Tenga and Chidori often are very in sync when it comes to Nico. They are usually the ones to comfort her.)
So, let’s assume Tenga is the person Nico is trying to reach out to in the ending.
Lonely Nico -> A Nico who lights up and becomes curious about someone -> A Nico who reaches out and waits for a response -> A Nico who looks lonely and sad and is no longer holding her flowers -> And a Nico that ultimately harbors no ill feelings and simply gets up to give it another shot.
- The transition from lonely!Nico to attentive!Nico would mark Tenga’s arrival, aka “the arrival of love”.
- Nico “reaching out” could very well be Nico “confessing her feelings”, which would fit with the “love letter” meaning of her flowers.
- And Nico looking sad could mean… her feelings being unrequited (at least temporarily). Which would fall in line with all the hints of Tenga/Chidori there have been so far.
If that is the case, I feel the sequence foreshadows Nico being hurt but understanding nonetheless. And this very episode provided a very plausible reason for that understanding: [Tenga’s] feelings belong to [Tenga]. So ultimately, Nico would be strong enough to keep going anyway, and not lose her hope in love despite this disappointment. Hell, I could even see Nico offering to help Tenga much like Tenga did with Chidori. Not only because Nico’s an angel, but also because it would really show her character progress. She would be willingly giving up on attracting the attention of the guy she likes and helping him be noticed by someone else instead. Plus, doing so would also fit the “love letter” meaning of her flowers, though in an unexpected way.
However, Nico holding her flowers at the end could also mean that perhaps her love was only initially unrequited, or that she is willing to try and win him over (“[…] going in for the attack over and over until you win!”). In that case, I could see the sequence foreshadowing an ending where Tenga is open to the possibility of seeing Nico that way, or one that leaves both Tenga/Chidori and Tenga/Nico up in the air.
That said, I did find that this episode laid a lot of groundwork for how Nico may react if her feelings remain unrequited and why she wouldn’t lose her hope about love despite it. Which… really does seem to fit a bit too well with the ending, IMO ;___;
All in all, it’ll be very interesting to see what Okada has in store for Nico! I just hope she won’t suffer too much if there is a rejection in store for her ;-;
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