Maki Nishikino

Maki Nishikino is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is a first year at Otonokizaka High School. Her image color is red. She is a member of BiBi, a sub-unit under µ's. She is also the vice-president of the Idol Research Club and the end of the movie, she was succeeded by Yukiho Kosaka and Alisa Ayase.

Background
Maki comes from a highly reputable and wealthy family marked by doctors and hospital ownership. She is an only child, and thus, the sole heiress to her family's properties and legacy. Because of this, Maki is spoiled and doted on yet not given any long-term freedom to be anything other than a doctor. Maki respects her parents and does not question their expectations despite the immense pressure to live up to their standards and make them proud.

Although Maki grew up singing and practicing piano, her parents' emphasis on Maki's medical concentration has made her accept that she ultimately must give up her passion for music, this becoming an increasing reality each year she grew older. She always had a notably beautiful voice, and she was able to compose her own piano pieces. Despite music always being her true passion, when Honoka invites her to join µ's, Maki refuses at first in accordance to her self-inflicted pressure to deny herself music in favor of her studies. Ultimately, she is able to admit and accept her true feelings of love for music and join µ's.

Because of Maki's wealth, it is discovered in Season 1 Episode 10 that her parents own a beach house. Therefore, μ's gladly insisted that Maki should go and ask her parents if they could use it, which they allow. In Season 2 Episode 2, it is revealed that her family also owns a vacation house in the mountains.

Personality
Maki has the qualities of a tsundere, and she has a hard time admitting her true feelings to her peers. She also has somewhat childish beliefs which are undoubtedly reflections on her somewhat sheltered upbringing. One such example is her uninterrupted belief in Santa Claus, which the rest of the group finds out about while together. Maki continues on to describe (somewhat proudly) how she cleans the chimney for Santa, and how he never misses her house. Nico attempts to disillusion her, but is held back by other members who did not want to ruin Maki's belief.

Maki was initially portrayed as a loner in the first few episodes, and spent her time alone in the music room. Her standoffishness can be attributed to her tsundere qualities in which although she may want to get close to others, she cannot admit that and refuses, as best she can, to show it. Throughout the series, Maki opens up more and more, but elements of her solitude life before µ's crop up from time to time with her awkwardness and inability to properly admit her investment in their friendship.

Maki is also quite stubborn. This was shown when she was invited to play at the beach, as she was withdrawn from the group and not interested in playing with them.

Although Maki is not conceited nor-stuck up, there are moments where her pride combined with her privileged and sheltered upbringing with few other friends lead Maki to unintentionally act insensitively or arrogantly. Despite this, µ's understands that Maki has no such intentions, and usually any questionable interaction with Maki is usually because of her tsundere side preventing her from speaking how she really feels.

Her personality often clashes with Nico Yazawa, such as when she called Nico stubborn during Season 2 Episode 4. Rin, however, tells her "You're one to talk", implying that Maki is stubborn as well.

Clubs and Hobbies
Maki is skilled at playing the piano, and is the composer and vocal coach of µ's. Her other hobbies are photography and stargazing. Her special skill is achieving full marks on tests. She also became the Idol Research Club's vice president after the third-years graduated.

Audio

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

Chronology
Season I = Season II = Manga =

General

 * Maki fulfills the cool attribute of the µ's first years.
 * One of her famous lines is "Nani sore? Imi wakannai." (何それ？意味分かんない. ), literally meaning "What's that? I don't understand you" or "I don't get it".
 * For some unstated reason, her summer uniform's cardigan is not yellow (like the others), but a shade of gray.
 * Like Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo, Maki is known to have a ship tease with Nico in most of the media, though whether she is romantically interested in Nico was never canonically confirmed. However, there are some loose implications and close calls, among which:
 * 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 Love Live! The School Idol Movie, Maki does the "Nico Nico Ni" gesture before the credits sequence plays.
 * 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".

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

 * Nico is the only member of μ's Maki addresses using honorifics, specifically "Nico-chan".
 * The lowest score she has ever obtained for a test was 68, which led to an argument with her father and almost being forced to leave μ's. Her father only relented after the other members visited Maki's house to persuade him to let her continue her school-idol activities. Umi, being an heiress to a family business as well, was instrumental in convincing him.
 * This conflict was not shown in the anime adaptation at all, with her father seemingly supportive of her activities by letting them use their holiday homes as well as sending her to the airport in the movie.
 * As well as the piano, Maki is also very skilled at playing the flute, having performed at a recital in the past. A recent card illustration in the Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS game also shows Maki playing violin.
 * Maki is shown to have a maid in the manga adaptation of School Idol Diary,
 * Maki has seen the Harry Potter movies, but it is unknown whether or not she has also read the books. She comments on some of the scenes that are so scary she "had to close her eyes".
 * While it was not said how she got into Otonokizaka in the anime, it was her parents' decision in the manga.
 * In addition to this, in the manga, she wanted to go to UTX and bonded with Nico because of this.

Gallery

 * Please refer to this character's Image Gallery.