You must have come across a viral meme video where an annoying little girl repeats the words “nico nico ni” over and over again. You've probably wondered what the hell is this?
In this article, we're going to try to understand the whole origin, meaning and history of the famous "Nico Nico Nii". This complete article will talk about absolutely everything about the viral, anime, memes and more.
Table of Contents
What is nico nico ni?
The word "Nico Nico Ni" is a slogan used in the anime "Love Live! School Idol Project" by the character Yazawa Niko [矢澤 にこ]. In Japanese, the word is written "Niko Niko Ni" [にこにこに] and often appears on forums such as 4chan, reddit and other popular sites in Japan and among otaku in the West.
The character Nico Yazawa from “Love Live” has an aggressive personality and she is quite self-confident. She sometimes needs to take on a brighter personality and moe to act like an idol so she often uses the phrase "Niko Niko Ni" to play cute.
This phrase first appeared in the fifth episode of Love Live, where the character Niko tries to demonstrate her impression of an Idol to the rest of the cast. The scene quickly became notable among fans due to its moe expression, form and behavior. It wasn't just the phrase that went viral, the sign the character makes with her hand, her heart and her expressions are all part of it.
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Niko niko ni going viral
After its first appearance, the term started to become popular on websites, generating thousands of gifs, videos, and FanArt and being used by various people. Even the Korean singer Kim Heechul uses this expression in his shows. The popularity increased even more when they made a remix video that has already reached over 10 million views: (Did the guy delete the youtube account? What?)
Some have started to say that the term "nico nico ni" is from Satan due to its great popularity and the fact that the character Niko has an unsympathetic personality. This only generated more memes, gifs and fan art.
What is the meaning of Nico Nico Nii?
Some may imagine that this phrase has absolutely no meaning. Really the name of the character is Niko which would explain why she uses this expression. But in Japanese there is the expression niko niko [にこにこ] being the onomatopoeia of smiling, so basically it is saying that you are smiling in your heart.
The word "nii" could just be the particle ni [に] depending on the phrase she's using, or she could just be doing like other anime characters who end their sentences by saying "nyan" to sound like cats.
To better understand the expression, let's see the whole sentence that Niko Yazawa says:
Anata no Heart ni Nico Nico-nii
- You are smiling in your heart.
- You - あなた - You
- Coração - Heart
- Niko Niko - Smile
Egao todokeru Yazawa Nico Nico
- And I'll put a smile in your heart!
- Deliver - 届ける - deliver, send
- Yazawa - She referred to herself in third person.
- Smile - 笑顔 - Smile
Nico-nii te oboeteru Love Nico nii
- Remember Nico! Nico loves you!
- Oboeteru - 覚えてる - Remembering, do not forget;
There is a video site similar to youtube called: Nico Nico Douga. This shows that the onomatopoeia niko niko is present in Japanese culture, which facilitated the liveliness of Nico Yazawa's speech.
The Name Nico Yazawa
Some people write Nico Yazawa, but it's not entirely wrong to do so. There is no letter “C” in the Japanese language, so nico is spelled niko [にこ] in the native language of Japan. The first name (niko) is written in Hiragana, so it has no deep meaning, it probably refers to the smile onomatopoeia itself.
In the Japanese language the surname or family name is written first. Yazawa [矢澤] is written with [矢] which literally means arrow or dart, making full reference to his Idol skill that hits the hearts of fans.
Nico Yazawa is 1.54 tall, blood type A, her sizes are B74-W57-H79 and was born on the 22nd of July, in the anime she is 17 years old. She is voiced by Tokui Sora.
We recommend reading: Japanese Names – How are they chosen?
The Legendary Nico Nico Knee
The wrestler Marcellus Black known as Otaku on Twitter yells and does the Nico Nico Knee gestures to finish off a sip on his opponents. You can see in the video below a scene of the influence caused by Nico Yazawa.
Did you have any idea what nico nico ni means? I hope this little article was enough to satisfy your curiosity, we hope to hear your opinion in the comments and also your shares. Thank you and see you next time!
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