Nakano Ichika: A sensitive heart beneath a shell of perfection

Ever since chapter 74, Ichika has been the sandbag of the readers. A lot more people start hating her and the snek memes keep on going. Even though the hate she gets is not unwarranted, I feel like some people are neglecting the good part of Ichika and have forgotten why she has become so aggressive. So today I wanna make an Ichika appreciation post to help Ichika fans be more comfortable about our waifu and hopefully help non-Ichika fans understand why we still love her regardless of her bad actions lately. ^(And also I just want to express my love for best onee-san)

As an Ichika fan, I believe that most of us adore her from a writing standpoint rather than her personality. That is not to say that her personality is not appealing (onee-san is my weakness), but in my opinion, Ichika is consistently the most interesting and complex character out of all the quints.

1/ 1st impression: She's a perfect girl and a model eldest sister.

Ichika is a beautiful girl whose personality is mature with a hint of snark. She radiates a friendly vibe that pulls people toward her, which is probably the reason why she received the most love confession out of all the quints.

The Nakano sisters lost their mother at an early age, because of that, responsibilities weighs on Ichika's shoulder as the eldest sister. To Ichika, the admiration of her sisters is the bridge that connects and brings happiness to her family.

However, it also pressures her.

In the eyes of her sisters, of everyone, she's a perfect girl. Ichika forces herself to be perfect, she won't accept vulnerability. The pressure of being the eldest makes Ichika close off her heart to the people around her, almost.

In the beginning, her role in the story is uncertain. If you notice, the conflict from the family never started by Ichika. Only when conflicts occur between the sisters we get to see a collected side of her. She has always favored everyone before herself.

I honestly believe that Ichika is the most well-rounded. She's sharp in her observation, has a good grasp of every of her sisters' personalities and capabilities. She's the one who everyone can rely on and ask for advice. But in order to maintain her image of a model sister, she needs to build herself a strong and confident shell. Getting her job as an actress is an important step in doing so.

(Unrelated and probably doesn't mean much but I find this pretty cool) One small, but interesting detail in chapter 19: When the foreign kid was asking for the direction to the hospital, Ichika replied in English, fluidly (also take a look at Nino's surprised face in the bottom left panel). Yet, in chapter 20, it's been revealed that only Nino passed the English exam whereas the rest of the quints, including Ichika, failed.

There's something off here. Communicating with foreginers in English is not an easy task, especially with children as kids don't have the capabilty to comprehend different accents. Furthermore, when it comes to studying English as a second language, verbal communication is usually more difficult than writing and grammar. So Ichika should've been able to pass the English exam, at least with the 30 point mark (came pretty close tho).

Bonus result! (that smug can get any man on their knees)

2/ A girl’s sensitive heart.

Ichika acting skill is second to none among the sisters (Well duh. She's an actress), which makes her the most mysterious because no one are sure of what she's hiding. Her deceptive personality helps her get what she wants but it’s also her shackle. Ichika won’t allow herself to be vulnerable in front of her sisters. Even at the place she calls home, she has to put up the act of a strong-willed sister, unable to live true to herself.

Whereas the 4 sisters are performing on stage, every difficulties, challenges Ichika has to face and her efforts are all behind the scenes. It’s ironic that Ichika is an actress yet doesn't want to be in the limelight.

However, she put up with it. She accepts the role of a supporter, quietly fulfills the role of the mother that they have lost. She has a selfless heart, always puts her sisters before herself, even when it involves her feelings for Fuutarou.

Even if it costs her own happiness, for the sakes of her sisters, she would sacrifice it all.

3/ Consequences.

But then, where can Ichika go? Who’s gonna be there for her when she’s the one in turmoil? Who other than our harem protagonist! Suffice to say, Ichika and Fuutarou shares a beautiful and special relationship. He’s the first person to ever looked through her fake smile. Only by Fuutarou side where she can be honest with herself, be vulnerable and rely on someone else, relying on him.

We can see thoughout the story, there’s an internal conflict happening within Ichika. At first, Ichika still feels the need to put everyone’s happiness above her own as the eldest sister. On the other hand, there’s a rebellious side of her wanting to break out off the nice girl act and taking Fuutarou for herself.

Sometimes selfishness is a necessary evil to protect one’s happiness. I’ve seen a lot people say Ichika is boring. And honestly, who can blame them? Until recently, everytime we get an interaction from her had almost always been about her sisters, and that’s what she wants. However, in order to win this waifu war, Ichika needs to be selfish, and fight for her happiness.

Bombarded by the non-stop attacks from Nino and Miku, out of desparation, Ichika's finally snapped. She has finally gotten the resolve to be selfish but still unable to get over her tendency of not confront thing head-on and deceiving people as we saw from her attempt of indirectly confessed to Fuutarou as Miku. This will cost her more than anything she has faced with, making her the villain of the story. But as any good story goes, her redemption arc won’t be far.

If Ichika managed to better herself after this, I believe she’s just as deserving of being Fuutarou’s Bride as her sisters.

Based on: I translated it from a Vietnamese blog so I apologize if somethings are lost in translation