Nico Yazawa

Nico Yazawa is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. Despite her childlike stature, she is actually a third year in Otonokizaka High School. Her image color is pink. She is a member of BiBi, a sub-unit under μ's.

Background
In Season 1 Episode 5, it is discovered that during her first year in high school she started an idol group. However, one by one the members gave up because Nico's goal to become an idol was too much for them and they couldn't keep up.

In Season 2 Episode 4, it is revealed she has two younger sisters named Cocoro and Cocoa, and a younger brother Cotaro. Nico's father has been out of the picture, and so her mother is constantly out of the house in order to work and financially provide needs for her four children. Due to being in a single-parent household, money is tight and their living space is compact. Because Nico's mother is nearly never home, Nico has long since assumed the role of their household's head (or possibly sole) caretaker. Nico is the eldest by the largest age gap, with her three siblings being all much younger than her and closest to age with each other. Because of this, Nico is accustomed to and skilled in cooking and housekeeping. Most importantly, however, she seems to care very much for her younger siblings, and will do anything to make them smile. She will go as far as to lie in order to make them happy. This is discovered when Nico's siblings express their belief that the other members are Nico's backup dancers, which was a lie that Nico told them and substantiated with altered μ's posters in which she was the center (switched with Honoka). Unaware of the truth, Cocoro, Cocoa, and Cotaro act happy, proud, and inspired by the idea of their oldest sister's unparalleled success.

All of this information comes as a surprise to the other members, as it runs contrary to her often self-centered behavior at school and during idol work. However, the revelation of Nico's home life provides insight as to why Nico's specific personality traits and values developed and how they inform her behavior within μ's. Her brazen desire for the spotlight and to be doted on is a product of not being afforded such attention due to her home situation. Nico's obsession with making others smile with her catchphrase ("Nico Nico Nii!" or にっこにっこにー) is related to when Nico would try her hardest to cheer up her family members during hardships.

Personality
Normally, Nico has quite an abrasive personality, but when she takes on her alternate personality, she becomes a happy, upbeat character who is always smiling, often saying her catchphrase, "Nico Nico Nii!" (にっこにっこにー), accompanied with a pose. She usually thinks a bit highly of herself but, despite that, she is also caring.

It is later revealed in Season 2 Episode 4 that her obsession with performative, over-the-top happiness and cuteness is because of the difficulty of her home situation. Her family circumstances and the role she plays in it have led her to fixate on both making sure as many people as possible are smiling and also seeking and receiving attention and praise. This manifests in her idol obsession and subsequent persona.

A common joke in the series is that she's often ignored by the other members of μ's when she claims that she is the better idol. An example of her trying to make the others believe she is the better idol is in Season 1 Episode 10 when Nico claims that she has a personal chef like Maki and has never cooked before. Kotori falls for the lie unknowingly. However, she accidentally forgot about her lie when it was dinner time, and ended up cooking for everyone to reveal the truth.

Sometimes, her determination to become the best idol causes her to be a bit cold, calculating, and sometimes even evil in her intentions. An example of this is in Season 1 Episode 6 where she is seen suggesting that the girls hold a karaoke and dancing competition, hoping to outshine the others, so that everyone will accept that she is the better idol and to be able to claim centre position.

Nico often gets annoyed with the former student council president, Eli Ayase, for taking away the spotlight from her with her beauty and maturity.

She also argues a lot with Maki, since their personalities often clash together. However, they have a good friendship and they actually care about each other.

Clubs and Hobbies
Nico was the Idol Research Club's president (before she passed on the role to Hanayo) and is interested in fashion. Therefore, she designs the group's outfits with Kotori. Her special skill is hair arrangement.

In Season 1 Episode 10, Nico is shown to be a very skilled cook despite saying she has never cooked before.

Audio

 * Does not work on iPad, or any medium that does not support the .ogg audio format.

Chronology
Season I= Season II = Manga =

General

 * Nico fulfills the smile attribute of the µ's third years.
 * Nico's surname Yazawa means "arrow" (矢) (ya) and "marsh" (澤) (sawa/zawa).
 * Unlike the rest of μ's, she wears a pink cardigan on top of her school uniform's shirt, and under her winter uniform's blazer.
 * Before the anime aired, Nico wore her hair in low ponytails, similar to Nozomi, and had longer hair.
 * In Japanese, the onomatopoeia for smile is Niko Niko (ニコニコ).
 * In, Nico's first name is equivalent to being read as the number "25".
 * The number "25" is often seen on items, such as Nico's wristband and Cotaro's shirt, as well as meat (Niku) at a price of 2525 yen as a reference to Nico's first name while the number "25252" refers to her catchphrase.
 * Nico was the only member of μ's who was never shown as a child until the 2018 April's Fools Event in the Love Live! School idol festival mobile game.
 * Nico appears to be the rapper of BiBi.
 * Like Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo, Nico is known to have a ship tease with Maki in all of the published/animated media, though whether she is romantically interested in Maki was never canonically confirmed. However, there are some loose implications and close calls, among which:
 * The Mogyutto "love" de Sekkin Chuu! PV feature Maki giving Nico her valentines chocolate.
 * A scene from Love Live! Once Again has both Maki and Nico wearing casual outfits at night (with the latter's phone call to the others) implies that both of them are dating.
 * In the first cut for Secret Shortcuts, Nico admittedly declared that she loves Maki, wanting her to walk home together sometimes.
 * In The School Idol Movie, Nico is shown to have her face sticking on the music room's door window with her being jealous of Tsubasa Kira teasing Maki.
 * In the "On The Night Of The Fireworks" chapter from the School Idol Diary manga, both Nico and Maki are holding hands together at the end of the chapter, right before the author's afterwords dismissed their relationship as "sisterly".
 * In the 18th chapter of Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS' main story, Nico teases Maki's smooth skin while applying sunblock onto her.

Media-Specific (Manga, Anime, School Idol-Diary)

 * Nico is the only member of μ's Maki addresses with honorifics, specifically "Nico-chan".
 * Nico predicted that her chest could grow 3 cm more. Therefore, she wrote 74 instead of 71 for her chest size.
 * The posters in Nico's room are published official art.
 * In the manga, Nico has a more easy-going personality (similar to Nozomi) in contrast to her vain, jaded and prideful attitude in the anime. She is also shown as wanting to attend UTX and join A-RISE, but could not due to her family's financial background.

Gallery

 * Please refer to this character's Image Gallery.