A thread on why Sengoku Nadeko is one of my favorite characters

Nadeko first makes her appearance in Bake, theres not much to write home in this arc for her character but some people stating she was annoying feels absurd to me. She was a charming and kind character that obviously kept a lot of stuff to herself,

it gave her this sense of mystery and potential that was brilliantly paid off in one of my favorite arcs in animanga; Nadeko Medusa

Nadekos first interaction in this arc was with Ougi as Ougi tells Nadeko that she shouldnt play the victim forever, that playing victim is the easiest thing to do and that maybe, there is something that Nadeko should be taking responsibility for that she isnt thinking about.

Nadeko takes Ougis advice to heart as when thinking back on the events of Bake she tries to remove the innocence that was being portrayed on her

This was further exemplified with the arrival of Kuchinawa, who was in short her inner thoughts. See Nadeko has been told time after time that she was "cute" and "pure" that after a certain amount of time she believed this herself and embodied what others thought of her

Thus casting aside her actual thoughts and feelings and creating this facade of innocence. Kuchinawa was the Nadeko that she tried to act like didnt exist.

Nadeko has her way of protecting herself in conversations, by using phrases like "that aside" it brushes off what the point actually is and redirects it elsewhere. She doesnt agree with what the point actually is but she also doesnt want to refute it herself

This further emphasizes how she does things to not upset other people, this also comes up with her conversation with Tsukihi. Tsukihi states that Nadeko always says sorry but she doesnt actually mean it, that its another one of her protection methods to avoid confrontation with-

Others. The conversation also brings up Araragi and Tsukihi says that Nadeko only grew to love him because she knew she had no chance and only uses Araragi to avoid confessions from her classmates. This eventually leads to Tsukihi cutting Nadekos bangs for her to be more free

The moment where all of Nadekos pent up emotion bursts out felt so cathartic and Kanas voice acting helped this moment shine even more. Even tho it was for only 2 or so episodes, we were following Nadekos point of view and how she views everyone and everything around her

It allows us to know how she feels and thinks especially towards her teacher and classmates in which she remarked eariler that they were passing their problem onto her. So seeing her finally be able to express this emotion made me feel so happy for her

The reveal of Kuchinawa was phenomenal, its one of those reveals where it wasnt obvious but also made perfect sense. It recontextualizes the arc entirely and really made me realize how amazingly written a character Nadeko is. This nonchalant way of revealing things is something

That I always dig when done right and damn does Monogatari do it right

Towards the end of the arc, Senjo and Nadeko have a conversation as Nadeko remarks that they could have been friends in another life, but Senjo states that it couldnt have happened as Nadeko is the exact type if person she hates

Despite this Nadeko just smiles, as Senjo isnt the only person that hates her, Nadeko hates herself. She hates the person she has become but despite this, she just wants to accept it, accept being the person everyone sees her as

She also hates her dream, her foolish dream of being a mangaka and how unreasonable it is to keep on creating manga as she tells herself she cant do it. That a person as cute and innocent as her couldnt be idiotic enough to think her dream could succeed.

But Kaiki was able to convince her otherwise, that striving for that goal is who she is and should be something that Nadeko should be proud of. That she should cast aside what others might think of her and do what can truly make her happy, which in Nadekos case is making manga

Nadekos character arc is a beautiful arc that i think a lot of us can relate to to some extent, even myself, i have a yt channel that i still havent shared to a single soul because quite frankly, im embarrassed of it. But Nadekos arc teaches us that we shouldnt be embarrassed

and that instead we should embrace what we strive to do, no matter how unattainable we might think something is. That no dream can come true if we ourselves dont believe in it.

Her appearance in Owari S2 brought a smile to my face as seeing this girl work for a dream that she was once embarrassed by made me feel so proud of her

And i just enjoyed her personality in Zoku Owari

I also want to touch on her character design specifically her snake design. The use of 90% white can represent her purity and contrasted by the red in her eyes which can represent danger work so well off each other. I also like how the strands of hair were changed to snakes

Also love how the use of monochrome and red was used a ton visually to exaggerate the red in her design, and gives me the impression of evil slipping in

On a semi related note i also want to touch on her openings. Both Renai Circulation and Mousou express serve their purpose really well as the former makes Nadeko out to be this cute and innocent girl everyone says she is while the latter although still having the cute visuals

Gives a creppy feel with the song that something is off, and the version where the colors are inverted emphasizes this feeling even more. Also theyre both just catchy as hell