personality of .

[nico_puri]

Nico Yazawa is a passionate lover of "School Idols," and she exemplifies many of their characteristics. In Nico's Japan, a School Idol is a girl who participates in idol activities at her school. The Idol Clubs were write their own music, plan their own choreography, and arrange their own lighting, performance venues, and advertising: In other words, they are girls who are trying to accomplish great things all on their own.

That's definitely true for Nico. She is a hardworking girl who understands that being a School Idol takes a lot of work, and she has no personal room for compromise. The anime mentions that Nico's old School Idol club fell apart because Nico had extreme standards. Sure, she wanted to have fun with her club... but Nico doesn't let "fun" become an excuse to slack off. She works hard in u's, addressing little details like Idol Personas, Audience Enjoyment, and even nitpicking at their choreography and outfits.
Sometimes this can make Nico come off as rude and aggressive, but she's almost always coming from a good place. Nico wants nothing less than the best for her friends and fans.

It's important to also address that Nico is a regular, teenage girl. She is not 100% nice, 100% mean, 100% selfless, or 100% selfish. She balances these qualities in a tug of war. Nico wants the best for people, but she will yell and make them cry trying to get there. She regrets that, but accepts that sometimes she has to be a tough bitch to get things done.
Likewise, Nico can baby and care for people if she really must: She has a ton of younger siblings that she basically raises herself, and she takes pride in being their reliable big sister. But when it comes to working together, Nico won't do the work for you. Once again: Her old club quit on her because Nico held them to her high standards. Nico didn't originally want to merge with Honoka's idol group, u's, because she didn't think the current members were as serious as her. She doesn't like being held back by people.

That said... Nico works hard because she adores idols. She is seen to have a massive collection of everything School Idols, including very rare and limited print items. She has studied them excessively and knows how the business works. And she really wants to be successful. Nico wants her success partially for her own pride (she lies to her siblings about being a big shot, for example, and is touched to tears by the site of her fan merch,) but she understands the mechanics. Nico wants her fans to have fun and she cares about them deeply. Being an idol isn't being put on display and adored for Nico: It's about sharing love for idols with those in her audience. We know this is important to her especially since it was a factor in disliking u's at first: She saw them as being out for themselves and the goals they could accomplish through successful idol activities. NOT as working to make their audience smile.

Smiling and spreading smiles is a part of Nico's character. Like literally. It's part of the stage character she plays. Her catchphrase "Nico Nico Niii" literally means "Smile." While it's true that this side of Nico is fake, the stage persona comes from an honest place. Just... an honest place, turned up to 150, with the unattractive fat chopped off (or at least, she tries.) Stage persona Nico tries way too hard to be the image of adorable purity, but pitching her voice to pretending she's modest.

She's not modest. And she's not pure. Nico isn't often smiling when she's not in idol mode. She's strict, she's rude, she's kind of cruel, and she's short tempered. When she wants something, she pushes for it. If not openly and loudly, then through devious tactics. She schemes and isn't afraid to take advantage of her assets. When u's was picking a leader, Nico planned a "leader test" in a style where she was sure to win (then lost, because her ego is bigger than her talent sometimes.) Likewise, there's a scene where Nozomi is chasing Nico and she squeezes into a small space to escape... Those, forcing Nozomi to stop because she can't fit.

Nico isn't above loopholes to get what she wants. Though she will never resort to downright cheating, she will certainly tip the board in her favor. Nico's pride keeps her wanting to win by some margin of skill, after all. She wants to win, she wants the last word, and she cares about the public image she gives off. Her private self, however, can be as awful as she wants. Call her out on it, and Nico gets a bit flustered by how fake she can be.