#seventh division

What do you think of Nikaidou? He's my favourite character and I love to hear some insights from you

Hey @moonbirdflies! Thanks for your question, and for the record you have an excellent and quite frankly based taste in favorite characters. I adore Nikaidou (I’ll be referring to know as Kouhei for this post), I’m always happy to see him whenever he pops out! I hope these insights satisfy a Nikaidou stan like you! 

Nikaidou Kouhei Once Whole, Now Disjointed

At first, I didn’t really pay attention to him because he’s…not really someone who stands out (and having an identical twin brother did not help with identifying him as his own individual character). It’s kinda sad that well…since Sugimoto is the main character, you’re meant to root for his survival and his victory against Youhei. But to Kouhei, this was a devastating moment for him — he lost a constant and loyal foundation in his life. Whenever I rewatch the anime, Kouhei’s rage and sorrow at the death of his younger brother breaks my heart. 

There is absolutely no doubt that Kouhei loved his brother. In chapter 76, when Tanigaki tells Tsurumi about his past, the twins are seen whispering and listening to each other in the background. Honestly, the Nikaidous don’t really seem to be close to anyone else in the Seventh Division other than to themselves. I can see them having their own little world that only they share: there’s no one else in their life that means more to them than their sibling. Comparing him to Sugimoto, I can see Sugimoto’s devotion to his found family in Asirpa to be the same love the Nikaidous had for each other. 

Which is why it makes sense that he was absolutely consumed with his desire to avenge his brother and kill Sugimoto. Sugimoto didn’t just kill his blood relative, he killed Kouhei’s heart. The immortal one killed the one person who Kouhei relied on in his life, his responsibility to protect (as an older brother). And his beloved brother was taken from him in such a sudden and grueling way. No wonder his mental health was greatly impacted by his passing. 

Nikaidou’s story is a sad story of someone who gets lost in life because of grief and anger. He’s shown as a picture of how someone drowning turns into vices and even more revenge, rather than find a healthy outlet to heal. He kind of reminds me of Sugimoto in this way: Sugimoto was a man who was lost in his past brutality but was eventually “saved” by Asirpa’s kindness. NIkaidou’s “person” was already lost, and since he didn’t have anyone else who cares about him in his immediate periphery (Tsurumi and Arisaka’s “care” for him as a guinea pig for prosthetics does not count), he got dragged deeper and deeper into that hell and he couldn’t get out of it. 

Aside from his relationship with his brother, let’s talk about him as a character! Kouhei is someone who is treated as a comic relief for most of the story, but honestly, I wished that he was also treated as a serious character too. What I mean by that is that I wished we got a solid backstory with him and how both brothers got into the army. I mean, Usami was introduced later in the series, but he got a solid (albeit very unnerving) backstory. I wish we got more information on the past life of the Nikaidou twins. I wanna see them eating their favorite Mandarin oranges during their season, cutting them into pieces, and sharing it with each other. I wanna see how the two of them got into trouble early on in their lives, having the other as their main confidant and partner-in-crime. 

By the way, I’m glad that despite his several amputations, it does not stop him from being the cool soldier that he is. It’s just very exasperating to see characters who have acquired disabilities (like amputated limbs for example) become reduced to their disability. You know, maybe I’ll talk about disability representation in Golden Kamuy just because of this, but I’m glad that Kouhei wasn’t seen by his other soldiers as a “commodity” or “worthless” because of his amputations. He’s still respected and treated as a soldier, he can still fight (and still wants to, I’m glad they respected his will and desire to keep fighting), and his superior support him getting prosthetics! I like that support from Tsurumi at least. 

admittedly this one is very bad but like... listen. I don’t know how to handle a chart with thirteen categories

(ID under the cut for length)