Been thinking about Hiroaki Nakamigawa.
In terms of backstory, we know that he's always known that he wanted to become a fashion designer. However, his parents were against it, focusing more on his grades. It came to a point where, during high school, they prohibited him from sewing or engaging with his passion until he performed better at school.
Despite this, he started running his business behind his parents' backs and became popular rather quickly, which led him to start hanging out with sketchy crowds that introduced him to their vices, leading him to develop an opioid and later heroin, addiction. It is obvious that he dabbled in those substances to fit in with the crowd but he strikes me as the type who priorities productivity above his own health so it wouldn't surprise me if he continued to indulge because they made him better at his job. He does mention at some point that his usage made him a better student.
It seems that his only real parental figure is his manager, Seiko, even saying that he misses her in his Student Spotlight.
Nakamigawa is an individual with an insatiable need to prove himself. To show the world what he is capable of. I'm assuming that his mediocre grades and the lukewarm relationship he has with his parents are the main causes. He takes pride in having made it through hard work alone, describing himself as "self-made". This leads me to believe he probably has a disdain toward fellow influencers who came from money.
In Blue, Ninomiya Youhei recognizes him as one of those influencers who constantly have meltdowns on streams and get into countless controversies, and looking at his Student Introduction video, it all checks out, as he's already criticising another public figure. But despite how emotional he seems, I don't doubt that his meltdowns are calculated on some level. He knows what to do, what to say and who to pick on in order to get attention.
Something that is striking about Nakamigawa is this duality he has, between this projected image of a successful, nonchalant teen millionaire who couldn't care less about "haters" and this insecure, emotional boy who spends his time obsessing over the people who criticise him. He even asks Seki, by the end of his Student Interview, after trash-talking the other students, if they mentioned him at all in their interviews, a clear indicator that despite what he might claim, he still cares about what these random people think of him in order to uphold his self-esteem.
I find him to be an interesting take of the "influencer" stereotype. This mess of insecurity and ego boosts and fragile fame and self-esteem intertwined with addiction and bad influences, all the while having no one who actually appreciates you. The superficiality of it all, the despair of it all.
This all culminates into the person we meet during the killing game.
Already, we can tell that he will be the antagonist character. He's brash, he's opinionated, he goes against the appointed leader (Sasaki Hitomi), and is the first one to suggest doubting each other rather than blindly working together.
I believe the reason he is so harsh towards Sasaki is because he sees her as a hypocrite. So when she tries to take the lead, acting like the paragon of moral righteousness, it is almost insulting. And the thing is, he was right. She did end up acting hypocritically, giving her punishment to Yanagi despite urging everyone else to take their punishments themselves and eventually killing someone despite being the first one to preach about "getting out of here together".
Although, that "I wonder how her grades got so high" comment was unnecessary.
Something I will command him for, is that he has a good head on his shoulders. He is one of the biggest contributors in every single class trial and has often been the one to figure out a decisive clue, like when he made the class realize that Okazaki had no peripheral vision, which meant that she walked right under Chiba's body.
And that's the thing about Nakamigawa. He makes the audience feel conflicted as he does bring up some good points and tries to help the group in his own way but also does not know when to keep his mouth shut. He always ends up going too far, saying the wrong thing and this makes him get on a lot of people's nerves. There are very few characters whom we see supporting Nakamigawa, such as Ojima and maybe Tsuno.
And speaking of Ojima...look. Their relationship directly mirrors Hasegawa and Kamimura's. We have the short, opinionated and brash one and the tall, calm and collected one who is there to calm them down. Both couples are codependent and have some sort of power imbalance. But when it comes to Ojima and Nakamigawa's relationship, it feels almost...forced.
Nakamigawa latched onto Ojima because of his looks. He said it himself that he would "look good next to me". But gradually, he began to use him as his diary. His therapist. Whenever something infuriated him or confused him or provoked a negative emotion, he would go to Ojima. Whether he was there mentally or Somewhere Else. It didn't matter, as long as the physical body was there.
After Chapter 4, he does warm up to him and starts directing his concerns toward him, but I cannot look over all the things he put Ojima through. For example, once Ojima finally tells him in the nicest way possible that he is the one sabotaging his own relationships and he needs to make an active effort to try and be better, he greets him with a suicide note later because he knew Ojima would check up on him. I understand that he genuinely was suicidal but that is not something I can personally forgive as it is not something you do to someone you love. And throughout all of this, Ojima does not act like a person in love but rather a therapist friend.
I do not consider Nakamigawa to be a bad person, as he does show his desire to be better, like when he gave Wada his makeover, allowed Ken to sleep in his room, his indignation over nobody taking responsibility over blinding Ken or when he made up with Tamba at the very end.
He isn't one of those vapid influencers who only think about their own personal gain and have no problem using other people as stepping stones to succeed. What's interesting is he tries to make people believe that he is like this but he clearly isn't. He is capable of empathy and guilt, like when he feels guilty over Sasaki's death. He has a sense of justice and cares about discipline and self-reliance. But he cannot help but chronically sabotage his opportunities to be better.
I do enjoy his interactions with Hasegawa. At the beginning, he calls him unremarkable and shows frustration over how secretive he is about himself and his relationship with Kamimura. But I think behind all this trash-talking is curiosity. How could someone so unremarkable, so frail, also be so rich and influential? How could this wallflower be this useful in trials? I think he is interested in Hasegawa because he sees potential in him. He sees that behind the fidgeting hands and shifty eyes is a cunning mind. And it kind of frustrates him that he limits his world to Kamimura and his family. Nakamigawa is all about ambition, showing all of you to the world. So he doesn't understand how someone so promising could possibly be content living such an otherwise simple life.
Nakamigawa's line of work is all about self-expression yet he himself is unable to show who he truly is, not only to the world but to himself. His pursuit for social acceptance tainted his opportunities to create real relationships. All the people he hangs out with are no different from actors who only hang out with each other to network, not because they care for each other. Even though sex is supposed to be a way to deepen the bond between two people who love each other, he's only slept with those girls for cheap clout.
How could anyone be happy living a life like this one?
